Funny you should ask, I am actually writing a post now about investing in Shell after all the troubles BP have had.

$5 a day, or over £1000 per year is not a bad return from blogging. The good news is the time required to run a blog doesn't increase significantly as your site grows, but the revenue can grow rapidly. The number of people earning more than minimum wage from blogging is tiny so no one should be in it just for the money.

As for the nights drawing in as winter approaches, could that affect peoples confidence in the economy? For what it's worth I reckon retailers could struggle in October & November as people start saving for Christmas, and the housing market is surely heading towards a winter of discontent!