Don't bite too much, be careful

In my January 29 post, I said this is going to be an exciting year. How it is going thus far?

On precious metals, we posted:

Yup, todays price for gold is 640.40, and for silver, 13.12. Some analyst believed that it will rise to as high as 850 for Gold, and 15.20 for Silver by April 2007.

So what are the prices now?

From marketwatch.com: Gold futures climbed near $690 an ounce Monday, sending the benchmark contract to a seven-month high with analysts upbeat about gold's longer-term prospects as continued defiance by Iran over its nuclear program underscored the metal's safe-haven appeal.

And for silver?

Also from marketwatch.com: May silver rose 9.6 cents to close at $14.832 an ounce after a high of $14.86 -- levels the contract hasn't seen since mid-May. The contract has gained about 10% in a month.

And how much would that be in a leverage trading? Depends on how much you bought, hahaha.

On the Peso, dollar front, sad to say, the peso will continue moving down to 45 to the dollar no matter what the Central would do. Why?

From the Int. Herald Tribune: LONDON: Central banks around the world are continuing to diversify their reserves by cutting their dollar holdings, according to a survey sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

So what can we do? What else? Take profit from all these, remember, in whatever direction it goes, we can take profit. We can use this post as guide on how we are going trade in the long term, on leverage. But I am not an expert, seek a professional opinion somewhere else.

Warning: put your stop loss, and do not bite what you can't afford to lose.

PS: My google check for February has not arrived yet by mail. Of course, I am expecting checks to arrive monthly, checks would arrived in March and April, but my May check still needs to be made, hehehe. I am wondering when I would reach four figures a month? Dream on....

Chiz Escudero for Senator

Let us vote for CHIZ.

I predict he is going to top the Senate elections this coming May. Fact is, I already posted his poster on my school supplies shop, on my farm, and on my house. He is one of the great guys running for the Senate. Further, he is going to be a top contender for President soon.

Now, to know more about our CHIZ, below are some information about him, taken from his website: www.chizescudero.com .

Francis Joseph Guevarra Escudero or Chiz was raised by parents who were both educators. His father, Salvador H. Escudero III, served as Department of Agriculture secretary during the Marcos and Ramos administrations.

He earned his bachelor's degree in political science and in law at the University of the Philippines. He later went to Georgetown University Law Center in Washington for his master’s degree in international and comparative law.

He served his first term in the 11th Congress in 1998 and Assistant Majority Floor Leader and Senior Deputy Majority Leader in the 12th Congress in 2001 and in the present 13th Congress as House Minority Floor Leader.

Cool and confident, quick with his words, and unwavering in his commitments and conviction, Chiz at 37, is in his prime. If his political mentors rewarded him with a smile and a pat on the back for what he accomplished as a boy of 28, they now regard him with respect and value his professional advice.

AWARDS

* 2005 The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Awardee in Youth Leadership
Gawad Papuri Awardee, April 2002
* 9th KBP Golden Dove Awardee, Best Public Affairs Program 2000, "Magandang Umaga, Bayan," Angel Radio, DZAR 1026AM
* Legislator of the Year, (Philippine Media Research and Progress Report, Inc.), Sept. 2000
* Outstanding Public Servant of the Year (National Media Statistics Research News Publication), Aug. 2000
* Exceptional Young Achievers (Development of Filipino Writers, Inc.) June 2000
* Grand Advocate of Press Freedom (League of Press Associations of the Philippines.) Nov. 1999
* Youth Achiever in the Government Sector (Development of the Filipino Youth) June 1999
* Top Congressman (Pillars of the New Republic) 1999, 2000, 2001
* Most Outstanding Solon (League of Press Associations of the Philippines.), 1998, 1999, 2000

EDUCATION

Elementary - High School -
U.P. Integrated School, 1975-1985
B.A. Political Science - U.P. Diliman 1985-1988
Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) - U.P. Diliman, 1989-1993
Masters in International and Comparative Law - Georgetown University Law
Center, Washington D.C., 1995-1996

Its bull run, still

I have to withdraw my endorsement of Jericho Petilla's candidacy. Let us not vote for him as Senator - he's no longer a candidate. I am disappointed.

Now let us talk about the Peso and the Philipine stock market. OK, I guess the momentum has been built...a bull run in the stock market and the Peso reaching new highs in the past few weeks and days. This is what I have been saying the past several months...the momentum is there.

Now the crucial question that we should ask, until when? When can we expect to unload and reverse?

As in physics (I hope this really is applicable), this momentum will change once a stronger force opposite its current direction is applied. What are these forces?

Those that we can predict apart from calamities and others are as follows: (again I posted this last January 4).

(1) if the elections in May 2007 gets messy, get out;

(2) if the budget failed to pass, get in; (the budget is now approved making sustained low deficit hard, and probably the budget would not be balanced until 2010)

(3) if Smith gets convicted in the Supreme Court, get out ASAP;

(4) if the El Nino dry spell gets worse, get out slowly;

(5) if the US economy improves, and the Fed increases its rates, watch your trade carefully.

Thus far, only number 2 has an update. As in any game, the most profitable position we can do is hold, watch, and sit tight until a good reason to change directions presents itself.

Good Luck.

Vote for Jericho "Icot" Petilla

Who is he? Since I started posting in MLQ site about Icot Petilla, and in a few forum. I guess I have to post in one of my blogs, a sort of info-campaign for Icot.

Now who is he? Here is what I got from the Leyte website:

Carlos Jericho 'Icot' L. Petilla hails from the bustling and progressive Municipality of Palo, Leyte. The son of former Leyte Gov. Leopoldo E. Petilla and Leyte 1st District Representative Remedios 'Matin' L. Petilla, he finished his Bachelor of Science in Management Engineering (Honors Program) degree at the Ateneo de Manila University, where he also had his high school education. Married to Frances Ann Regis Basilio of Cebu; the couple is blessed with five children.

Truly upbeat and athletic at heart, the governor engages in such sports as Basketball, Badminton and Swimming, while in his pastime he enjoys inter-island jet skiing and computers.

Before entering public service, he taught as a college professor for a number of years at the Ateneo de Manila University and was a consultant to various companies in Manila such as Meralco, Security Bank and Philphos.

His business interests on the other hand, include the International Data Conversion Solution Inc. in Mandaluyong, Manila and Accudata, Inc. in Tacloban City where he is both President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the same time. He is likewise the part owner and consultant of Direct Data Capture with business offices in United Kingdom and New York and Datahold in the Isle of Man, UK.

Coming from the business sector himself the neophyte, yet vision-driven Governor believes in empowering Leytenos for them to achieve a good quality of life, as such he has already geared his programs towards Trade and Investment Promotions, the enhancement of Information Technology facilities in the province, the promotion of Small & Medium scale industries (SMEs), and Eco-Tourism, among others. He recently assumed chairmanship of the newly merged Provincial Tourism Culture and Arts Council.

As Chairperson of the Provincial School Board, the Governor also puts a premium on quality education, believing that a good foundation in education is the only key to success. That's apart from seeing to it the efficient delivery of Health Services in the communities, through proper nutrition, waste disposal, clean water and many other basic social services.

His first 100 days of office saw the drafting of the implementing Rules and Regulations of the Leyte Province Investment Code of 2004. The code aims to encourage investors to locate in Leyte with the salient feature of getting a 100% real property tax holiday for 5 years.

Recently his vision of making Leyte an ICT hub with the creation of an ICT Park is now a reality. The Philippine Economic Zone Authority approved the application of the Province of Leyte to convert the 6.9 hectares lot at Barangay Pawing, Palo, Leyte, where the developed and ready for operation Leyte Academic Center is located, into the Leyte Information Communication Technology Park.

Coming from old political stock, Carlos Jericho 'Icot' L. Petilla is truly a new breed of politico. His no-nonsense style and business savvy make him stand out among politicians and business leaders alike.

Update on the Peso

So, where are we now?

On the peso front, BSP deputy governor for bank supervision Nestor Espenilla Jr. said authorities have yet to finalize the overbought/oversold formula. And to quote him: "If the BSP were to restore the limits to pre-Asian crisis levels, this move should only be taken as a good sign."

"When you start raising it and making it equal (to the oversold limit), that represents a normalization process," Espenilla said. "Our reserves are at very high levels. The balance of payments is strong. We are prepaying our debts. All of these are signs that we are no longer in crisis mode. If we don't feel we are out of crisis mode, we won't even talk about forex liberalization." This is from the Inquirer.

And today's peso rate is at six-year high of 48.50 to the dollar before closing at 48.505. And once this, "overbought/oversold formula" is implemented, then expect the peso to garner more strength. Where will it be a month from now?

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On the Gold front,

"Gold prices soared to a six-month high of US$661 an ounce last Thursday, due to the rising price for oil and expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve may begin cutting interest rates sooner than anticipated, Merrill Lynch analyst Michael Jalonen said in a research note." This is from the Financial Post.

90/10 Principle

I recieved this through email. And I sort of like it a lot. Here, in my City in the Visayas, its been raining almost every other day, and people have been complaining about the rain; and sometimes, when the rains pours more than normal, flooded areas get messy, and peoples head gets heated resulting into arguments, and what else, sometimes fights. hehehe. If only, most of them, including myself, have heeded the 90/10 rule, then most of the head aches would have been avoided.

So what's the 90/10 rule? here it is, enjoy.

by Stephen Covey

It will change your life (at least the way you react to situations).

What is this principle? 10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react.

What does this mean? We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane will be late arriving, which throws our whole schedule off. A driver may cut us off in traffic.

We have no control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. You determine the other 90%.

How? ……….By your reaction.

You cannot control a red light. but you can control your reaction. Don't let people fool you; YOU can control how you react.

Let's use an example.

You are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just happened.

What happens next will be determined by how you react.

You curse.

You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over. She breaks down in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. A short verbal battle follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school. She misses the bus.

Your spouse must leave immediately for work. You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school. Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit.

After a 15-minute delay and throwing $60 traffic fine away, you arrive at school. Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye. After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase. Your day has started terrible. As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse. You look forward to coming home.

When you arrive home, you find small wedge in your relationship with your spouse and daughter.

Why? …. Because of how you reacted in the morning.

Why did you have a bad day?

A) Did the coffee cause it?
B) Did your daughter cause it?
C) Did the policeman cause it?
D) Did you cause it?

The answer is “D".

You had no control over what happened with the coffee. How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day.

Here is what could have and should have happened.

Coffee splashes over you. Your daughter is about to cry. You gently say, "Its ok honey, you just need to be more careful next time". Grabbing a towel you rush upstairs. After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus. She turns and waves. You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff. Your boss comments on how good the day you are having.

Notice the difference?

Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both ended different.

Why?

Because of how you REACTED.

You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90% was determined by your reaction.

Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle. If someone says something negative about you, don't be a sponge. Let the attack roll off like water on glass. You don't have to let the negative comment affect you!

React properly and it will not ruin your day. A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out etc.

How do you react if someone cuts you off in traffic? Do you lose your temper? Pound on the steering wheel? A friend of mine had the steering wheel fall off) Do you curse? Does your blood pressure skyrocket? Do you try and bump them?

WHO CARES if you arrive ten seconds later at work? Why let the cars ruin your drive?
Remember the 90/10 principle, and do not worry about it.

You are told you lost your job.

Why lose sleep and get irritated? It will work out. Use your worrying energy and time into finding another job.

The plane is late; it is going to mangle your schedule for the day. Why take outpour frustration on the flight attendant? She has no control over what is going on.

Use your time to study, get to know the other passenger. Why get stressed out? It will just make things worse.

Now you know the 90-10 principle. Apply it and you will be amazed at the results. You will lose nothing if you try it. The 90-10 principle is incredible. Very few know and apply this principle.

The result?

Millions of people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and heartache. We all must understand and apply the 90/10 principle.

It CAN change your life!