djamoe Blog

Flexter - Bisnis Pulsa yang lagi Booming

2009-05-26T15:28:00.009+07:00

CARA BERGABUNG

Modal awal/biaya pendaftaran sebesar Rp.175.000,- dan Anda langsung mendapatkan :

1. kartu aktifasi yang berfungsi sebagai kartu diskon CCI dan OVIS senilai Rp. 97.500,-
2. keanggotaan seumur hidup, dan dapat di wariskan
3. Mendapatkan Pulsa www.hut-hut.com senilai Rp. 10.000,-
4. flexter memberikan kesempatan seluas-luasnya bagi member yang ingin beriklan gratis seumur hidup secara online lewat website flexter / www.flexterkita.com dengan format kolom dan gambar Senilai Rp. 8.000,- / hari (Sesuai dengan rating tarif iklan internet internasional yang dibuat biro iklan online internasional)
5. Kedealeran Pulsa (Bisa membuat agen dan memarkup harga) senilai Rp. 100.000,-

POTENSI PENGHASILAN

Dalam waktu yang tidak terlalu lama jka member mengikuti program flexter secara serius
maka member dapat menghasilkan sebuah penghasilan yang pasif dan berkesinambungan

1. Potensi penghasilan dari bonus Sponsor Rp.50.000 /Member
2. Potensi penghasilan dari bonus Pasangan Rp. 27.500/pasang
3. Potensi penghasilan dari bonus duplikasi Rp. 1000 Sampai 6 generasi.

* Bonus pasangan menunggu
* apabila terjadi flush out dan masih ada titik yg belum terpasangkan, maka titik terebut tetap akan di pasangkan pada hari berikutnya.

BONUS SPONSOR

Adalah bonus yang di dapat dari mensponsori orang untuk menjadi member flexter kami berikan bonus Rp. 50.000

BONUS PASANGAN

Adalah bonus yang diberikan ketika terjadi keseimbangan kaki, antar kaki kiri dan kaki kanan kami berikan Bonus sebesar Rp. 27.500 / pasang,Per Hari Maximal Bonus 12 pasang (flush out) = Rp.330.000

BONUS DUPLIKASI

Bonus DUPLIKASI adalah, Bonus yang di dapatkan dari bonus pasangan member yang anda sponsori sampai dengan 6 generasi

Jika member bisa menduplikasikan 4 generasi 1 , maka potensi penghasilan dari bonus duplikasi yang baru :
G1 : 4 , masing-masing 1 pasang sehari, komisi duplikasi anda : Rp. 4.000
G2 : 16 , masing-masing 1 pasang sehari, komisi duplikasi anda : Rp. 16.000
G3 : 64 , masing-masing 1 pasang sehari, komisi duplikasi anda : Rp. 64.000
G4 : 256 , masing-masing 1 pasang sehari, komisi duplikasi anda : Rp. 256.000
G5 : 1024 , masing-masing 1 pasang sehari, komisi duplikasi anda : Rp. 1.024.000
G6 : 4096 , masing-masing 1 pasang sehari, komisi duplikasi anda : Rp. 4.096.000

Total Komisi anda, Rp. 5.460.000,- / hari

SHARING PULSA
10% x PROFIT FLEXTER : JUMLAH TOTAL MEMBER FLEXTER
di bagikan dalam bentuk pulsa

SHARING PROFIT
JUMLAH BONUS ANDA : JUMLAH TOTAL BONUS MEMBER FLEXTER X 10% x PROFIT FLEXTER
dibayarkan ketika perusahaan mendapatkan profit

SHARING LOSS
JUMLAH BONUS ANDA : JUMLAH TOTAL BONUS MEMBER FLEXTER X TOTAL OVER PAID

BONUS TAHUNAN FLEXTER

Setiap tahun member akan mendapatkan repeat order bonus dari setiap member yang telah dibangun sebesar Rp. 6000,- / titik sampai dengan 10 generasi, yang didapatkan dari perbaharuan kartu diskon member.

Generasi adalah posisi level dari member yang kita sponsori (seperti perhitungan bonus duplikasi), Bonus ini bersifat repeat order dan dapat berulang tiap tahunnya.

Setiap member akan diberlakukan auto maintenance untuk perbaharuan kartu tiap tahunnya, yaitu dengan memotong Rp. 300,- setiap rekapitulasi bonus sebanyak 300 kali (selama 1 tahun).

MERCHANTS KARTU DISKON AKAN TERUS DITAMBAH SETIAP BULANNYA, SEHINGGA MENINGKATKAN FASILITAS KARTU DISKON MEMBER.

KOMITMEN FLEXTER SEBAGAI SUMBER PULSA ELEKTRONIK

Dalam dunia penjualan pulsa elektronik ada beberapa hal yang harus menjadi perhatian utama anda sebagai agen / member panjualannya, kami FLEXTER memberikan komitmen 3 S terhadap kualitas produk kami, yaitu :

1. SISTEM Transaksi ONLINE 24 Jam

Banyak dealer penjualan pulsa yang transaksinya dibatasi, ini menunjukkan kemampuan sistem server dealer pulsa dalam melayani transaksi Sistem Kami menyediakan Alamat Web yang bisa menunjukkan rekap transaksi REAL TIME di www.flexterpulsa.com

Hal ini sangat memudahkan anda sebagai member / agen dalam mengontrol administrasi keluar masuk deposit pulsa, disertai dengan data tanggal, jam, jenis transaksi, dan mutasi saldo yang lengkap. Semua ini bisa diakses dimanapun dan kapanpun melalui internet. Dealer lain yang tidak memiliki fasilitas ini akan sangat menyulitkan jikalau terjadi miss komunikasi antara member dengan perusahaan, apalagi kalau sampai terjadi kesalahan transaksi untuk melacaknya akan sulit sekali.

Segala Fasilitas Reply SMS FREE / GRATIS

Kami menyediakan report / laporan SMS yang selalu update GRATIS, seperti : Cek Saldo, Cek Rekap transaksi, Report Sukses / Gagal, Ganti Pin, Report terima Deposit, Info, DLL, dimana sebenarnya ini semua membutuhkan BIAYA. Dealer lain yang mempunyai harga lebih murah biasanya banyak laporan yang tidak ditunjukkan, atau dealer tersebut mengenakan biaya tambahan untuk cek saldo atau cek rekap transaksi misalnya.

2. STOK PULSA SELALU READY DAN ADA BACKUP JIKA HABIS
Banyak Dealer pulsa bisa murah harganya, tetapi stock sering habis, ini dikarenakan sistem pembelian pulsa kepada operator (terutama Telkomsel) mengharuskan adanya paket pembelian nominal pulsa, contoh : jika dealer ingin membeli simpati 20 (100 unit) maka dealer diwajibkan membeli juga simapti 50,100,dan 150 dengan ketentuan perbandingan tertentu. Ketika Simpati 20 sudah habis terjual oleh agen / member, maka dealer harus membeli kembali simpati 20, dan sekaligus paketnya kembali, jika ini berlangsung terus menerus, jika modal dealer tidak kuat dan modal terhenti pada stock simpati 50,100,dan 150 yang belum habis,maka dealer tidak mampu lagi membeli simpati 20, dan akhirnya menunggu terlebih dahulu stock simpati 50,100,dan 150 habis baru bisa menyediakan stock simpati 20 kembali.
Kami selalu sedia backup jika stock habis, contoh produk ST dan S (simpati), kalau ST nya habis member bisa memakai S , sebagai beckup.

3. SERVICE
Kualitas service dalam layanan penjualan pulsa elektrik merupakan parameter utama profesionalisme dealer pulsa. Dengan Sistem dan Stock yang selalu ready dan transparan disertai pelayanan custumer service kami yang selalu siap melayani maka service kami sudah cukup untuk membuat member / agen tenang menjalankan bisnis isi ulang pulsa elektrik ini.

FLEXTER ROYALTY PULSA

Program ini merupakan modifikasi dari komisi transaksi dan cash back level 12 pada marketing plan sebelumnya. Flexter mempersembahkan sebuah sistem komisi dari pemakaian dan penjualan pulsa member yang membuat penghasilan yang terus-menerus dan tidak terbatas, mengingat pemakaian pulsa dan penjualan pulsa di seluruh Indonesia sangat besar dan berkelanjutan. SAAT INI TERDAPAT KURANG LEBIH 150 JUTA PEMAKAI HP DI SELURUH INDONESIA YANG SELALU MEMBELI PULSA SETIAP BULAN.

Komisi infinity program diberikan berdasarkan jaringan generasi / matahari (seperti perhitungan bonus tahunan). Terdapat dua macam bonus dalam infinity program yaitu :

1. Komisi transaksi 10 generasi
2. Komisi cashback 10 generasi

Besar komisi transaksi yang didapatkan :

Generasi 1 : Rp. 5,- / transaksi pulsa
Generasi 2 : Rp. 5,- / transaksi pulsa
Generasi 3 : Rp. 5,- / transaksi pulsa
Generasi 4 : Rp. 5,- / transaksi pulsa
Generasi 5 : Rp. 5,- / transaksi pulsa
Generasi 6 : Rp. 10,- / transaksi pulsa
Generasi 7 : Rp. 10,- / transaksi pulsa
Generasi 8 : Rp. 15,- / transaksi pulsa
Generasi 9 : Rp. 15,- / transaksi pulsa
Generasi 10 : Rp. 25,- / transaksi pulsa

Besar komisi cashback yang didapatkan :
Komisi transaksi cashback dihitung dari omzet pulsa selama 1 (satu) bulan yang didepositkan ke flexter dari setiap generasi anda

Setiap generasi akan dihitung setiap bulan berdasarkan perhitungan :

Deposit pulsa :
0 -100 juta mendapatkan cashback : 0,025%
100 500 juta mendapatkan cashback : 0,0375%
> 500 juta mendapatkan cashback : 0,05%

Berikut ilustrasi jika anda membuat duplikasi 4 pada jaringan generasi anda, kemudian masing2 member melakukan 4 X saja transaksi / bulan (minimal untuk pemakaian pribadi & keluarga) dan deposit / member 100.000 / bulan (minimal untuk dipakai sendiri) :

Posisi Member Jumlah Member/ Generasi (Asumsi) Deposit/ Bulan

Total Omzet
Generasi 1 4 Rp.100.000,- Rp.400.000,-
Generasi 2 16 Rp.100.000,- Rp.1.600.000,-
Generasi 3 64 Rp.100.000,- Rp.6.400.000,-
Generasi 4 256 Rp.100.000,- Rp.25.600.000,-
Generasi 5 1.024 Rp.100.000,- Rp.102.400.000,-
Generasi 6 4.096 Rp.100.000,- Rp.409.600.000,-
Generasi 7 16.384 Rp.100.000,- Rp.1.638.400.000,-
Generasi 8 65.536 Rp.100.000,- Rp.6.553.600.000,-
Generasi 9 262.144 Rp.100.000,- Rp.26.214.400.000,-
Generasi 10 1.048.576 Rp.100.000,- Rp.104.857.600.000,-

Total Komisi Cashback/ Bulan
Rp.69.819.700,-

Infinity program mempunyai VISI mengubah kebiasaan orang membeli pulsa dari penjualan konvensional menjadi pembelian via deposit ke flexter (bisa dilakukan di semua ATM yang ada di seluruh indonesia), harga yang didapatkan merupakan harga agen dan bisa dijual lagi atau dipakai untuk pemakaian sendiri.

Dengan mengajak sebanyak-banyak orang mengikuti infinity program ini, anda akan mempunyai potensi penghasilan berkelanjutan yang besar dengan melihat jumlah pemakai HP diseluruh Indonesia yang mencapai kurang lebih 150 juta pengguna.

To-Infinity Club Penghasilan 77 Juta / bulan

* Dapat Pulsa Murah
* Penghasilan 77 Juta / bulan dari
* Smart Dealer-Pasif Income dari Royalty Pemakaian / Penjualan Pulsa

Hanya Dengan Bergabung Di To-Infinity Club Selama 12 Bulan. Klub ini merupakan sebuah program kerja Online untuk member FLEXTER yang memungkinkan pengikut klub ini bisa meraih penghasilan Rp. 77 juta / bulan dari royalty Pemakaian / penjualan pulsa member dia yang mengikuti klub ini juga.

Klub ini merupakan arahan program target kerja, sehingga member bisa fokus pada kualifikasi klub ini, yang pada akhirnya akan membuat duplikasi yang luar biasa dan menghasilkan bonus repeat order yang tinggi

Syarat untuk kualified di to-infinity club adalah :

1. Deposit Pulsa minimal Rp. 150.000,- / bulan (Bisa Dari Bonus atau deposit manual)
2. Transaksi pulsa minimal 4 X / bulan (nominal dan operator bebas)
3. Presentasi bisnis FLEXTER minimal 15 x / bulan
4. Mengajak/mensponsori minimal 2 member baru bergabung di flexter per bulan
5. Menduplikasikan diri dengan cara mendaftarkan minimal 2 member di generasi 1 kita untuk masuk klub ini setiap bulannya

Jika kita secara konsisten menjalankan 5 kebiasaan klub ini dan terduplikasi di dalam jaringan kita,maka selama 12 bulan sejak anda bergabung di klub ini anda akan memperoleh penghasilan :

1. Dari Royalty Transaksi pulsa semua pengikut klub sebesar Rp. 35.005.120,-
2. Dari Royalty Cash Back Deposit Pulsa sebesar Rp. 42.732.600,-

Sehingga total royalty anda Rp. 77.737.720 ,- / bulan

Perhitungan bonus diatas adalah berdasarkan bonus royalty transaksi dan cashback marketing plan FLEXTER. Setelah semua member bertransaksi dan deposit sesuai dengan syarat klub ini, maka dapat dihitung besar royalty anda seperti telah disebutkan diatas.

Royalty ini bersifat repeat order dan pasif income. Mengingat kebutuhan pulsa yang terus menerus dan pengguna HP semakin bertambah setiap harinya. Saat ini tercatat kurang lebih 110 juta pengguna HP di seluruh nusantara dan setiap harinya terus berkembang.

Bonus 77 juta tersebut diatas tidak termasuk bonus recruitment FLEXTER, seperti bonus sponsor,bonus pasangan,bonus duplikasi,bonus pensiun, dan bonus tahunan.

Untuk lebih mempererat / memperkuat to-infinity club, maka akan diadakan to-infinity club meeting setiap bulannya di setiap kota. Meeting ini akan dipimpin setiap leader yang berada di kota tersebut, jika terdapat minimal 50 orang kualified di suatu kota, maka meeting tersebut akan dipimpin langsung oleh top leader FLEXTER nasional, atau bahkan dari perusahaan akan ikut memimpin meeting tersebut. Materi yang disampaikan akan sangat bermanfaat untuk pengembangan klub ini.
To-infinity Club meeting akan diadakan setiap bulannya (jadwal akan diumumkan di website www.flexterkita.com).

Jika anda Join To Infinity Club di website FLEXTER, maka di menu member anda akan ada penunjuk apakah anda kualified atau tidak selama periode bulan berjalan, jika anda kualified maka secara otomatis ID dan nama anda akan muncul sebagai member yang kualified di web FLEXTER, dan semua syarat kualifikasi sudah terhitung secara otomatis sesuai dengan kerja dan transaksi anda, hanya presentasi 15 kali yang memang berdasar kejujuran anda menginput data presentasi anda

Data yang anda input di form registrasi to-infinity club sama dengan data ID anda, termasuk passwordnya juga sama dengan password anda yang dipakai untuk login di web FLEXTER

Keterangan lebih lanjut dapat di lihat di http://www.flexterkita.com
Kalau berminat hubungi Nico email : djamoe@yahoo.com, djamoe@gmail.com
YM id:djamoe , Gtalk ID :djamoe

TDW University - Rencana Menjadi Kaya

2009-04-13T11:11:00.003+07:00

Seberapa cepatkah anda menjadi kaya?

Keterangan :

Jika anda mau membangun rumah maka sebagian orang akan memanggil arsitek dan
arsitek itu bersama anda membuat rencana. Tetapi ketika orang yang sama memulai
membangun kekayaan mereka atau merencanakan masa depan, mereka tidak pernah
mendesain rencana finansial untuk hidup mereka. Mereka tidak mempunyai garis besar
rencana kerja untuk menjadi kaya. Bahkan banyak orang tidak mempunyai rencana,
mereka hanya menjalani hidup saja dan hanya bermimpi sewaktu-waktu mereka akan menjadi kaya.
Banyak juga orang yang menggunakan satu-satunya jurus andalan, yaitu merencanakan
untuk bekerja keras dan mereka tidak pernah kaya. Karena apa yang mereka kerjakan
sekeras apapun memang tidak memungkinkan mereka untuk menjadi kaya.

Contoh, menjadi buruh pabrik atau kuli bangunan, walaupun sekeras apapun mereka bekerja
akan sulit sekali untuk menjadi kaya.

Ada juga orang yang mempunyai rencana yang lambat untuk menjadi kaya, rencana tersebut
yaitu bekerja keras dan menabung. Dengan mengikuti rencana tersebut maka jutaan orang
akan menghabiskan hidupnya dengan memandang keluar jendela dari kereta mereka yang lambat
atau dari mobil mereka yang terjebak dari kemacetan lalu lintas menyaksikan limosin, helikopter,
pesawat jet perusahaan, rumah- rumah mewah.

Dan yang paling menyedihkan ada juga orang yang mempunyai rencana untuk menjadi miskin.
Begitu banyak orang mengucapkan kata-kata seperti ayah miskin Robert Kiyosaki
“Ketika saya pensiun, maka penghasilan saya akan berkurang”. Dengan kata lain mereka
merencanakan untuk bekerja keras seumur hidup hanya untuk menjadi miskin.

“Saya membutuhkan kecepatan.” Kata Tom Cruise dalam Film Top Gun.

Ide bekerja seumur hidup, menabung, dan menaruh uang dalam rekening pensiun merupakan
rencana yang sangat lambat. Rencana ini bagus dan masuk akal oleh 90% orang tetapi bukan
rencana bagi orang yang ingin pensiun muda dan pensiun kaya.

Berikut adalah beberapa ide tentang cara untuk membangun rencana yang lebih cepat:

1. Pilih strategi keluar anda terlebih dahulu . Kita harus mulai dari yang akhir, seperti
yang dikatakan oleh Steven R. Covey dalam bukunya Seven Habits. Jadi kita harus menentukan
dulu umur berapa kita ingin pensiun, berapa banyak uang yang kita miliki saat itu, atau
berapa banyak pasif income kita pada waktu kita pensiun. Kemudian dalam logika saya sendiri maka kita harus;

2. Cari bidang apa yang kita suka atau mungkin kita akan suka yang bisa menghasilkan seperti
yang kita tentukan sebelumnya. Apabila apa yang kita kerjakan sekarang tidak memungkinkan
kita mencapai impian tersebut, Let It Go!

3. Kita cari orang yang sudah berhasil mencapai impian kita untuk diajak kerja sama
atau belajar kepada orang tersebut.

4. Gunakan faktor kali atau leverage.

Maksudnya kita bisa menggunakan RICE (Resources, Ide, Contact, Expertise) dari orang lain.

Sudahkah anda membuat rencana anda untuk menjadi kaya, dan seberapa cepatkah rencana anda?

Semoga bermanfaat. Salam Dahsyat!

untuk melengkapi rencana Anda menjadi Kaya silahkan download materi tambahan :
eBook 24 Prinsip Miliarder yang mencerahkan oleh Tung Desem Waringin dan tiket
seminar 3 hari Financial Revolution senilai Rp. 4.933.500,- ,
silahkan klik disini : http://www.tdwuniversity.com/launch/?id=1156

TDW University - Mengapa yang kaya Semakin Kaya

2009-04-13T11:11:00.001+07:00

Kenapa orang kaya semakin kaya, kelas menengah bergumul terus,
dan yang miskin bablas miskin.

Kenapa orang kaya semakin kaya, karena begitu orang kaya penghasilannya
bertambah besar maka gaya hidupnya sementara tetap (menunda kesenangan).
Penghasilan yang lebih ini diinvestasikan kedalam asset (beli saham yang
menghasilkan deviden, rumah kost kost-an, ruko yang dikontrakkan, Mall yang
disewakan, sarang walet, usaha-usaha yang menghasilkan, dll). Sedemikian
sehingga penghasilan mereka bertambah besar. Dan ketika penghasilan mereka
bertambah besar lagi, mereka investasikan lagi ke dalam asset tersebut diatas,
sehingga semakin kaya dan semakin kaya lagi.

Kenapa orang menengah bergumul terus secara financial? Ketika orang
menengah penghasilannya bertambah besar maka dia mencicil rumah yang
lebih besar, mobil yang lebih besar, handphone yang lebih canggih,
komputer yang lebih modern, televisi yang lebih besar, audio yang
lebih canggih dan banyak sekali uang untuk kewajiban sehingga masuk
kedalam pengeluaran. Orang menengah ini bisa memiliki rumah yang besar,
mobil yang besar tapi tidak mempunyai uang yang bekerja untuk dia. Dan
seumur hidupnya menjadi budak uang karena membayar cicilan semakin besar seumur hidupnya.

Kenapa orang miskin bablas miskin ?

Orang miskin tidak perduli seberapa besar pun penghasilannya semua akan masuk ke pengeluaran.

Contoh :

Orang miskin begitu penghasilannya bertambah besar mereka beli TV yang besar,
beli jamnya yang mahal, beli hp yang lebih baru, beli baju mahal, makan di
restoran mewah, ikut keanggotaan fitness, ikut asuransi yang tidak perlu, dll.

Pertanyaannya :

Bila penghasilan Anda bertambah besar, Anda belikan apa? Hal-hal yang
menghasilkan uang lagi atau hal-hal yang menghabiskan uang. Silahkan dijawab,
Anda yang tahu termasuk golongan manakan Anda?

untuk melengkapi pembelajaran Anda silahkan Anda download eBook
24 Prinsip Miliarder yang Mencerahkan oleh Tung Desem Waringin senilai Rp. 250.000,-
dan seminar 3 hari Financial Revolution senilai Rp. 4.933.500,-
klik disini : http://www.tdwuniversity.com/launch/?id=1156

TDW University - Rahasia Menjadi Kaya dan Bertumbuh Semakin Kaya

2009-04-13T11:10:00.000+07:00

Kekayaan adalah sama dengan kemampuan untuk terus bertahan hidup
dengan gaya hidup yang ada, tanpa harus bekerja.

Keterangan:

Penelitian yg dilakukan oleh Gallup International menunjukkan bahwa
rata-rata eksekutif ibukota & Asia kaya mampu bertahan 90 hari dengan
gaya hidup yang ada apabila besok dia berhenti kerja. Setelah itu mereka
harus mulai menjual asset atau berhutang.

Kaya adalah relatif. Sebagian orang merasa kaya ketika mempunyai uang
10 juta rupiah. Sebagian orang merasa tidak kaya walaupun sudah memiliki
uang 10 milyar. Menurut majalah Forbes kaya adalah orang yang mempunyai
penghasilan 1 juta US keatas setahunnya. Sedangkan menurut Robert T. Kiyosaki
yang mengutip dari gurunya Buckminster Fuller bahwa kaya adalah bukan berapa
besar active income anda melainkan kaya adalah apabila passive income lebih
besar dari biaya hidup. Yang dimaksud passive income disini adalah uang yang
masuk tanpa harus bekerja.

Sebagai perbandingan Mike Tyson, dia menghasilkan 300 juta USD sewaktu bertinju,
tapi hari ini bangkrut dan masih berhutang 35 juta USD. Maka sebetulnya Mike Tyson
bukan termasuk kaya, termasuk pula di dalam kategori orang yang bukan kaya
adalah orang-orang yang punya penghasilan 1 Juta USD/tahun namun pengeluarannya
1,2 juta USD/tahun.

Pertanyaan penting kali ini adalah:

1.) Bila besok anda berhenti kerja, berapa lama anda dapat bertahan hidup dengan
gaya hidup anda sekarang tanpa harus menjual asset-asset anda?

2.) Lalu bagaimana kita bisa kaya menurut versi Robert T. Kiyosaki dimana passive
income lebih besar dari biaya hidup?

Jadi sebetulnya menurut Robert T. Kiyosaki, kaya adalah bagaimana menciptakan
passive income lebih besar dari biaya hidup.

Cara membuat passive income:

- Royalti dari hak cipta
- Rumah yang disewakan/ dikostkan
- Saham-saham yang menghasilkan deviden
- Reksadana
- Usaha-usaha yang menghasilkan

Buatlah rangkaian rencana sumber pasif income anda. Sesuatu yang anda sukai dan dapat anda

kerjakan sementara anda mengerjakan apa yang anda kerjakan sekarang.
Dan untuk mendapatkan materi tambahan eBook "24 Prinsip Miliarder yang Mencerahkan"
senilai Rp. 250.000,- dan seminar 3 Hari Financial Revolution senilai Rp. 4.933.500,-
oleh Tung Desem Waringin bisa Anda dapatkan di :
http://www.tdwuniversity.com/launch/?id=1156

Jadi sebetulnya menurut Robert T. Kiyosaki, kaya adalah bagaimana menciptakan
passive income lebih besar dari biaya hidup.

Cara membuat passive income:

- Royalti dari hak cipta
- Rumah yang disewakan/ dikostkan
- Saham-saham yang menghasilkan deviden
- Reksadana
- Usaha-usaha yang menghasilkan

Buatlah rangkaian rencana sumber pasif income anda. Sesuatu yang anda sukai dan dapat anda

kerjakan sementara anda mengerjakan apa yang anda kerjakan sekarang.
Dan untuk mendapatkan materi tambahan eBook "24 Prinsip Miliarder yang Mencerahkan"
senilai Rp. 250.000,- oleh Tung Desem Waringin bisa Anda dapatkan di :
http://www.tdwuniversity.com/launch/?id=1156

TRADING PSYCHOLOGY AND INVESTOR BEHAVIOR

2009-04-13T10:22:00.002+07:00

1. Know Yourself
If you start sweating when you watch the price swings of a product you have invested in, you either have the wrong trading concept, are in the wrong products, or your positions are too big.
2. Put Your Ego Aside
The biggest losses happen after investors make their first big profits.If you accumulate profits with a proven, tested investment strategy,you can pride yourself on its success.However, if you make profits without an investment strategy, you may lose not only all your prof its but your total investment. Unexpected price moves do not have to mean big losses; they occur because investors work with the wrong trading concept.
3. Hoping and Praying Do Not Guarantee Success
Many traders keep repeating the same mistake: They take small profits and let the losses run. The main reason to work systematically with an investment concept is to get the best average performance.This requires placing a stop-loss with every trading position and calculating the profit target when opening a position. Hoping that losses will become prof its by waiting a “little bit longer” is gambling. It might be appropriate once in a while, but in the long run, it ruins every account.
4. Investors Must Learn to Live with Losses
It is easy to enjoy profits, but everyone hates losses. A market price that drops below the entry price is not the only reason for a loss. If a position with a 100 percent profit is liquidated at the entry price, this is also a big loss in the account, although it may not seem as damaging.
5. Never Double Your Losses
Dollar-cost averaging is one of the best strategies for investors if they execute it systematically as part of a long-term strategy.Almost all huge bankruptcies in trading companies worldwide happened because they doubled up losing positions. Hoping to recover losses through additional leverage never works unless someone is really lucky.
6. Know Your Pain Level
Investors create their biggest problems when they change their investment strategy without sufficient reason. The trouble begins when traders jump from one trading strategy to another to follow the shortterm sentiment, mainly because a product seems to have changed.Each investment strategy has its advantages and disadvantages.
Someone who has expertise in picking stocks should continue to use this approach, despite the risk of big drawdowns. A perfect trading concept does not exist, unless someone has discovered a niche product and keeps quiet. At the same moment that this niche market becomes common knowledge, the profit potential disappears. Each investment strategy has a predetermined pain level that investors can identify. It is important to know this pain level before executing an investment strategy.
7. Diversify the Risk
No matter how promising the future of a product may seem, diversify the risk. Many traders profitably trade the same product every day and are especially successful in intraday trading. But these traders are disciplined and have specific product knowledge that is not available to most people. In general, diversifying the risk with a systematic trading approach will result in a much more stable equity curve than investing in a single product.
8. Making Money by Trading Is Hard Labor
Many people believe that that it is easy to make money by investing in stocks, bonds, stock index futures, or commodities. The opposite is true. Investors who show quick profits through trading either have inside information or are remarkably lucky. Average investors have neither of these advantages.All traders must develop a personal profile of risk preference and find a systematic trading style that fits the profile. Then they have to execute it. Months or years of systematic trading may be necessary before real-time trading results confirm that the trading concept works.
9. Intuition versus Execution of a Tested Trading Concept
All of the information that comes over the tickers, from newsletters, and through the Internet is already old when we receive it. There will always be someone with faster access who can take advantage of that information. Speculating with this “old” information is dangerous. Trading concepts that have been tested and have good historical track records on paper provide valid information only if the advisor is
willing to share how the trading concept works. Real-time trading records are only reliable if market behavior does not change. Many of the successful fund managers in the 1980s did less well in the 1990s because the market patterns were very different. Investors must be highly skilled to identify trading concepts that did not perform well in the past but will perform well in the future.
10. The Importance of a Trading Plan
The secret of success on the exchanges is not to make money fast, but to make it consistently. One of the most difficult accomplishments for traders is to create
a portfolio that builds up equity over the long term, independently of market conditions. To reach this goal, it is essential to work with a reliable investment strategy and to guard against being greedy.
11. Feel Comfortable with Your Trading Strategy
Successful traders begin the morning with a trading concept that they can use comfortably for executing trading signals throughout the day,no matter what the markets are doing.Feel good about your trading strategy as long as the real-time
trading results are in line with the historical test results. If the maximum drawdown gets bigger than the drawdown of the historical test results, reevaluate the trading concept.
12. Nothing Is More Important than Discipline
Discipline is always the most important attribute of successful traders. Many traders fail or have limited success because they cannot control their emotions and execute their established trading strategy in any given market situation.
13. Value of Available Trading Concepts
Many worthwhile trading concepts are available. But none of them will always make money. An effective trading concept does not have to be difficult, but it must be executable. The trader has to believe in it and be willing to trade it even after a string of losses.

Financial Terrorism and You

2009-04-03T15:16:00.001+07:00

Can we just drop the pretense and start calling the bank bailout what it is: Financial terrorism.

Terrorism can be defined as achieving one's aims through fear. And it sure seems to me that bankers and their friends in government are extorting money from the taxpayers (you and me) with a threatening "or else" that goes something like this: "Give us the money or the entire financial system will implode."

And as we fork over the extortion money, these corporate gangsters put us on the hook for trillions of dollars MORE.
Obama's bailout of AIG is just one example of Washington robbing you of your hard-earned money under the pretext of 'fixing' the problem.
Obama's bailout of AIG is just one example of Washington robbing you of your hard-earned money under the pretext of "fixing" the problem.

For example, AIG posted the largest quarterly loss in American corporate history — $61.7 billion — for the final three months of last year. That means the company lost more than $27 million every hour. That's $465,000 a minute, or $7,750 a second.

As a result of its losses, AIG has been awarded hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars. Otherwise, we're told, the company's collapse could devastate the economy.

And that's just ONE of the companies robbing you of your hard-earned money under the pretext of "fixing" the problem.

In fact, one of the ways we know this is financial terrorism is that the steps being taken to "fix" the problem aren't fixing a single thing.

The Roots of the Crisis
Go Back to 1999

Glass-Steagall was passed after the Great Depression, the last time outrageous financial chicanery brought our country to its knees economically. This law placed a barrier between everyday banking, such as lending and deposit-taking, and riskier areas, such as derivatives trading.

But the law was repealed in 1999, thanks to lobbying by the very companies we're bailing out now. And the effort was midwifed by Phil Gramm, a laissez-faire-lovin' Republican senator from Texas who co-authored the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act that repealed many key provisions of Glass-Steagall.

Gramm quit the Senate to go work for UBS AG, one of the beneficiaries of the repeal. I believe that kind of thing — passing a law to help a future employer — should be illegal. We can only be thankful that Gramm didn't go on to higher office — he was an advisor to McCain's Presidential campaign and probably would have ended up as Treasury Secretary had McCain won.

But this isn't just a Republican problem. Oh, if it were only that simple. You see, there were shady characters on both sides of the political aisle in this terrorism caper.

Instead of Gramm, we got Tim Geithner as Treasury Secretary. He's a protégé of Robert Rubin, former co-CEO of Goldman Sachs and one-time Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, who went on to work for Citigroup after whole-heartedly supporting the Glass-Steagall repeal. Due to the current financial crisis, Citigroup lost $27.7 billion last year and has needed $45 billion in government funds to stay afloat.

But Wait, It Gets Better!

Clinton had more than one Treasury Secretary. And the last one was Lawrence Summers. At the time Glass-Steagall was repealed, Summers said:

"Today Congress voted to update the rules that have governed financial services since the Great Depression and replace them with a system for the 21st century. This historic legislation will better enable American companies to compete in the new economy.''

Good thing Summers isn't around anymore, eh? After making such a colossal mistake, he wouldn't dare to show his face. Oh wait — would you believe he is now the Director of the White House's National Economic Council?

In other words, one of the persons who got us into this mess is now in charge of fixing it! Isn't that like hiring an arsonist to put out your house fire?

And people wonder why I'm pessimistic.

You may have heard Washington officials say on TV: "No one could have foreseen what would happen."

Except that someone did foresee EXACTLY what was going to happen. When Glass-Steagall was up for discussion, Senator Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) made an impassioned speech on the floor of the Senate, asking his colleagues NOT to repeal the regulation. He said:

"I think we will look back in 10 years' time and say we should not have done this but we did because we forgot the lessons of the past, and that which is true in the 1930's is true in 2010. I wasn't around during the 1930's or the debate over Glass-Steagall. But I was here in the early 1980's when it was decided to allow the expansion of savings and loans. We have now decided in the name of modernization to forget the lessons of the past, of safety and of soundness.''

Only eight senators opposed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley repeal of Glass-Steagall:

* Richard Shelby (R-AL)

* Barbara Boxer (D-CA)

* Richard Bryan (D-NV)

* Byron Dorgan (D-ND)

* Russell Feingold (D-WI)

* Tom Harkin (D-IA)

* Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)

* Paul Wellstone (D-MN)

If your senator was around in 1999, and he or she isn't on that list, you can be fairly certain that your senator does the bidding of the Wall Street banksters, not you.

While Wellstone is dead, I find it interesting that none of these other, prescient senators have been tapped by President Obama to fix the crisis. Instead, all roads to high-level White House financial appointments seem to lead through Goldman Sachs.

The Goldman Fix
Is in ...

The original plan to bail out AIG was dreamed up last fall at a meeting run by then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. Paulson had been CEO of Goldman Sachs before becoming Treasury Secretary. Also attending the meeting was Lloyd Blankenfein, the current CEO of Goldman Sachs and Tim Geithner, then head of the New York Fed.
Paulson and Geithner set the stage for Goldman: AIG was not going to fail.
Paulson and Geithner set the stage for Goldman: AIG was not going to fail.

AIG was not allowed to fail — remember Geithner has taken both bankruptcy and nationalization off the table. So AIG's trading counterparties are being paid 100 cents on the dollar.

Much of the $170 billion bailout AIG has received has gone to pay off obligations to Wall Street banks, such as Goldman Sachs. Goldman has maintained that it got no bailout money from the Treasury, apart from the $25 billion it was "forced" to take. But in fact, it received at least $13 billion through AIG!

It's almost as if Goldman knew that the money would be coming.

Along with Goldman, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, UBS, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Barclays are all recipients of AIG's payments to its former trading partners.

Former New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer — who knows a thing about financial shenanigans — recently wrote:

"The appearance that this was all an inside job is overwhelming. AIG was nothing more than a conduit for huge capital flows to the same old suspects, with no reason or explanation."

You can read Spitzer's two articles on the AIG fiasco HERE and HERE.

So here's where an administration's spokesperson says on TV: "Well, it's a mess, but we're doing our best to fix it."

Are they? Let's look at the track record (in both the Bush and Obama administrations) ...

* No serious attempt at re-regulation. You'd think the first order of business would be to reinstate Glass-Steagall. The Obama Administration hasn't done that. In fact, while Secretary Geithner recently proposed "sweeping" changes to Federal regulation of the financial system, Glass-Steagall wasn't part of the package.

* Goldman Sachs' unprecedented access to the corridors of power in D.C. continues. Another former Goldman Sachs employee, Gary Gensler, has been nominated to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

* Not even a token attempt at justice. Where are the indictments? Why aren't we seeing Wall Street executives frog-marched to the paddy wagons? And don't tell me about Bernie Madoff — he was a rogue operator who turned himself in, not the head of one of the major Wall Street banks that have ripped us off through systematic pillaging. Indeed, everything I see tells me that our government is a willing co-conspirator with the robber barons.

* The looting continues. In just one example, Citibank and Bank of America are now using the TARP funds they received not to extend more loans as they were supposed to, but to buy up more of the toxic debt they're supposed to be getting rid of! Why? Because they know that, under Geithner's plan, they will be able to sell the toxic debt at a substantial profit as the government props up the market for those troubled assets. These banksters are speculating with the same taxpayer money that was supposed to pull them back from the abyss.

* The threats continue. In the Bush administration, Treasury Secretary Paulson was able to get his original bailout package passed by Congress in a very simple manner. According to Representative Paul Kanjorski, the Capital Markets Subcommittee Chair, Paulson told them, with a great sense of urgency, that there was an electronic run on the banks. And if Congress didn't go along with Paulson's rescue plan, Kanjorski recalled being told, "It would have been the end of our economic system and our political system as we know it."

Well, it's déjà vu all over again. Geithner recently told the House Committee on Financial Services: "The U.S. Government does not have the legal means today to manage the orderly restructuring of a large, complex, non-bank financial institution that poses a threat to the stability of our financial system."

Geithner could be sincere, in which case, we are in a very dire situation indeed. I'm just not sure he's the right man to reform the system, because I can't tell whose side he's on.

After all, last week, the Obama administration urged the U.S. Supreme Court to stop New York and other states from enforcing their fair-lending and other consumer-protection laws against federally chartered banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo & Co. This is the same position that the Bush administration had and a slap in the face for consumer and civil-rights groups.

Our government is going to have to choose whose side it is on. It's a choice that — if not correct — could bring this country to the brink of anarchy.

Could We Go the Way of Argentina?

Desmond Lachman — former chief strategist for emerging markets at Salomon Smith Barney and a long-time official with the IMF — recently wrote in The Washington Post that comparing the economic crisis in the U.S. to Japan's "lost decade" was wrong. Instead, he said a better comparison is to Argentina, Russia, Thailand, and other countries that collapsed both economically and politically, weighed down by their own corruption.

He wrote:

"Watching Goldman Sachs's seeming lock on high-level U.S. Treasury jobs as well as the way that Republicans and Democrats alike tiptoed around reforming Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae — among the largest campaign contributors to Congress — made me wonder if the differences between the United States and the Asian economies were only a matter of degree."

From what we've seen so far, the only response to the catastrophic collapse of major American financial institutions is to try and reinflate the balloon with our tax dollars. There is no serious attempt at reform. And without that, there can be no real recovery. And Lachman's words could come back to haunt us.
Physical gold can be a good investment for economic hard times. But it isn't the only investment you might consider.
Physical gold can be a good investment for economic hard times. But it isn't the only investment you might consider.

What to Consider Investing in When Your
Government Is in Danger of Collapsing ...

Physical gold and silver are good investments for economic hard times. But they aren't the only investments you might consider. Cash is king, at least in the short run. And I've spoken to people from Argentina who said what saved them during their country's collapse was getting their money out of the country — in other words, investing abroad.

The trouble is, this time around, the entire world seems to be going down together.

Land is also a good investment, at least if you think the markets are approaching a bottom. My crystal ball is cloudy on that one.

As for the market, I think certain commodities, especially precious-metals related issues, still have a lot of promise. And if the markets tank, you can always play that move with inverse ETFs.

I think the best lesson is to be diversified. Spread your assets out. You can hope for a speedy recovery, but be prepared for a long-term downturn. When the government isn't seriously addressing the problems we face, that's probably the best you can do.

10 Workplace Motivation Commandments That All Leaders MUST Follow

2009-04-03T10:04:00.000+07:00

10 Workplace Motivation Commandments That All Leaders MUST Follow

Unmotivated employees have rightly been called "the black holes of the business universe." Fortunately, motivation is not something a person is born with or without. Applying these Ten Commandments can go a long way to helping existing employees find their motivation.

1. Commit with all thy heart so others might follow

Before you ask your employees to commit, you must be fully committed yourself as a manager and leader of your organization. Throw your heart over the bar, make that complete commitment, and others will follow.

2. Declare a zero-tolerance policy for dysfunctional behaviors

These behaviors include people saying one thing and meaning another, giving lip service, gossiping and backstabbing. Enlist a company-wide commitment to stop every one of these workplace dysfunctions that lead to conflicts and lower employee productivity.

3. Show that you care, in every way

Show your team members that you care, not just about their productivity, but also about them. A kind word or a "good job," a pat on the back or a question about someone's health can go a long way toward motivating your employees.

4. Celebrate every victory

Recognition of achievements is high on the list of employee motivators. Every Big Project consists of scores of little victories along the way. Celebration builds confidence, and confident people are open to feedback. This means your employees will be more willing to grow with your company.

5. Clean up thy messes

As a manager and leader, you WILL inevitably make mistakes. It is critical to clean up your messes as you make them. Acknowledge the mistake then make a commitment to make things right and prevent a recurrence.

6. Use powerful and positive language

Say what you mean and communicate your position in a clear and powerful and positive manner. Your ability to motivate employees will be INCREDIBLE when people know what is expected of them and why.

7. Be unreasonable with thyself

Being "reasonable" doesn't bring out the best of who you are. Show that you are willing to forego the excuses and happily do what needs doing, regardless of how "unreasonable" it seems. Your employees will then rise to the unreasonable themselves.

8. Reprogram thy limiting beliefs

We all come equipped with self-doubting mechanisms. Begin living "as if" you are smart enough, good enough, and up to the challenge, and guess what - suddenly you will be. Once those limiting beliefs fall away, your actual competence increases, which further reduces self-doubt... and places you in a happy feedback loop of motivation.

9. Choose joy

When you develop a habit of interpreting things as good instead of bad, it actually alters the neural pathways in your brain. Your brain will find it easier to interpret things as good. You've rewired your brain for happiness—and happy people are MUCH more likely to be motivated and engaged than unhappy ones.

10. Give, Give, GIVE

Life gives to the givers and takes from the takers, and life has a perfect accounting system. If you want your employees to shower your company with success, it's time for you to dig in and give like crazy to your employees.

Give them your committed heart. Give them a functional environment. Give them care, celebration, integrity, clarity, and a vision of the impossible made possible. Give them a model of life without limiting beliefs. Most of all, show them the way by choosing joy.

Do these things and you will motivate your employees and end up in the Promised Land together.

Pustaka Pohon Bodhi: Mengenai Krisis Ekonomi 2009

2009-03-06T13:20:00.000+07:00

Pustaka Pohon Bodhi: Mengenai Krisis Ekonomi 2009

How To Tell When The Economy's Getting Better

2009-02-14T15:38:00.001+07:00

The stimulus package is finally finished. President Obama is promising a tough new bank-rescue plan to boost lending and limit outrageous pay. Troubled homeowners may even get some relief. All told, the government could spend more than $3 trillion to help end the recession.

So now all we have to do is sit back and watch the economy grow like a beanstalk, right?

If only. One risk of the unprecedented government intervention is that it won't do all that much to hasten the end of the recession. Another risk is that consumers, expecting a magic-bullet fix, could fail to prepare for tough times that still lie ahead. "This is going to be a difficult year," Obama himself said at his first press conference. "If we get things right, then starting next year we can start seeing some significant improvement."

Next year? Afraid so. Most economists agree that it will take that long, at least, before the biggest problems - mounting layoffs, the housing bust, the banking crisis, and plunging confidence - start to turn around. Here's what to watch for to tell whether the stimulus package is actually working, and when the economy might start to mend.

An improvement in the unemployment rate. Of all the economic indicators, this is probably the single most important. But you might want to avert your eyes for awhile.

Obama has talked about creating 3 to 4 million new jobs, and if the stimulus plan works, it might come close to that - over several years, combined. But it's almost certain that through this summer and into the fall, there will be a net job loss, not a gain. Most economists expect the unemployment rate, now 7.6 percent, to hit at least 9 percent by the end of this year. That represents up to 2 million more lost jobs. Many of those cuts are already in the works - just follow the recent layoff announcements from companies like Caterpillar (20,000), Boeing (10,000), SprintNextel (8,000) and Home Depot (7,000). But the pink slips haven't all gone out yet, so the layoffs haven't shows up in the official numbers.

The first sign of an improvement will be...corporate silence. As in no more draconian job-cut announcements. Once that happens (or doesn't), the unemployment rate will plateau. Then, companies might start hiring again, and a couple of months after that, the unemployment rate will start to fall. Three straight monthly declines would be a good sign that the economy is really on the rebound. That probably won't happen until 2010.

If you're wondering what's the point of the stimulus package if it won't do much to help workers in 2009, look to 2010. And 2011. That's where the plan will make a bigger difference. Moody's Economy.com estimates that by the middle of 2010, the unemployment rate will start to drift back toward 8.5 percent. But without any stimulus plan, it would have hit 11 percent. Viva la government.

More stable home prices. The realestate boom and bust is what torpedoed the economy in the first place, and the economy won't start to recover until the housing bubble fully deflates. The good news is that housing prices have already been falling for more than two years, with prices down more than 20 percent nationwide. And we might be more than halfway toward the bottom: Moody's Economy.com predicts that housing prices should stop falling nationwide by the second half of 2009. Overall, the forecasting firm predicts a 30 percent drop in home values from the peak values of 2006.

Others think it will take longer, but whenever it happens, an end to the housing slide will mark an important turning point. Hardly anybody thinks that prices will shoot back up or there will be another buying binge. But a boomlet, maybe. Once prices stabilize, buyers will stop worrying that they could be purchasing a costly asset that's falling in value. As they buy, other kinds of consumer activity - like shopping for furniture and kitchen upgrades - will follow. Slowly.

A consumer confidence rebound. Since consumer confidence closely tracks the job market, the dismal numbers of the last few months probably won't improve by much until late in 2009, or 2010. Homeowners have lost more than $3 trillion worth of value in their homes over the last three years, and investors have seen their stock portfolios shredded. So even people who feel secure in their jobs are dour.

A turnaround in the housing or stock markets would break the gloom and help some people feel better off. So would easier lending by banks, which would help solvent consumers buy a few more cars, appliances, and other goods. But consumer confidence won't really start to improve until workers start to feel more secure about their jobs and income. Think 2010.

A less volatile stock market. Every investor hopes that beleaguered stocks will come roaring back in 2009 and regain some of the ground lost since the peak in 2007 - when the S&P 500 stock index was nearly 50 percent higher than it is today. But a better indicator of economic health would be a steady recovery - without the manic swings that seem to come from every hint of undisclosed trouble at some big bank or rumor of new government intervention.

The stock market is harder to predict than most other parts of the economy, since it's deeply dependent on psychology and other intangibles. The market could bounce back by mid-summer. Or it could remain stagnant for years, like it did for most of the 1970s. The experts can't be any more sure than you or I.

One hopeful sign would be less market sensitivity to events in Washington. The biggest market mover these days is the federal government, since fortunes stand to be won or lost - mostly lost - depending on how deeply the government intervenes in the activities of megabanks like Citigroup and Bank of America, and how much federal spending will be available to stand in for plunging consumer spending. The markets will be back to their old selves when earnings reports, IPO announcements, and M&A deals are what send stocks up or down, and utterings from Washington amount to little more than an echo. Since the government seems to be the only institution spending money so far in 2009, it could be awhile before Wall Street returns to form.

Economic growth turns positive. By economic standards, the current downturn has already lasted longer than the typical post-World War II recession. Yet there's still a lot more pain to endure. A recent survey of economists by the Wall Street Journal found that the majority think the economy will continue to contract for the first half of 2009, with growth turning positive in the second half of the year. That outlook is much worse than a few months ago, and even when growth turns positive the economy could sputter along without many new jobs or bold moves in the private sector.

It's always possible that impatient consumers will get sick of holding back, and start running up their credit card balances once again (if the banks let them). The bank-rescue plan might spur more lending than expected, goosing businesses and consumers alike. Or the stimulus plan might spread goodwill and optimism throughout the land. If you get the urge to spend, that might be the strongest indicator of all. Call the economists.

Mark Zuckerberg, Founder, CEO & President of Facebook

2009-01-30T22:36:00.003+07:00

Mark Zuckerberg, (born May 14, 1984) is an American computer programmer and entrepreneur. As a Harvard student, he created the online social website Facebook, a site popular among American college students, with fellow computer science major students and his roommates Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. He serves as Facebook's CEO. He has been the subject of controversy for the origins of his business and his wealth.

Time Magazine added Zuckerberg as one of The World's Most Influential People of 2008. Zuckerberg fell under the Scientists & Thinkers category for his web phenomenon, Facebook, and ranked 52 out of 101 people. The list consisted of international revolutionaries that honors people from Barack Obama and Dalai Lama to Michael Phelps and Brangelina.

Mark Zuckerberg was born in White Plains, NY, and raised in Dobbs Ferry, New York, by his parents, Edward and Karen Zuckerberg, who are both doctors. His father Edward is a dentist in Dobbs Ferry, New York. Early on, Zuckerberg enjoyed making computer programs, especially communication tools and games. He started programming when he was in middle school. While attending Phillips Exeter Academy in high school, he built a program to help the workers in his dad's office communicate and a version of the game Risk. He also built a music player named Synapse that used artificial intelligence to learn the user's listening habits. Microsoft and AOL tried to purchase Synapse and recruit Zuckerberg, but instead he decided to attend Harvard University.

Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook from his Harvard dorm room on February 4, 2004. It quickly became a success at Harvard and more than two-thirds of the school's students signed up in the first two weeks. Zuckerberg then decided to spread Facebook to other schools and enlisted the help of roommate Dustin Moskovitz. They first spread it to Northwestern, UCLA, Harvard, the University of Virginia (UVA) and Yale and then to other Ivy League colleges and schools in the Boston area, including Tufts University, Boston University and Boston College. By the beginning of the summer, Zuckerberg and Moskovitz had released Facebook at almost forty-five schools and hundreds of thousands of people were using it.

Zuckerberg moved to Palo Alto, California, with Moskovitz and some friends during the summer of 2004. According to Zuckerberg, the group planned to return to Harvard in the fall but eventually decided to remain in California. To date, he has not returned as a student to the college. They leased a small house which served as their first office. Over the summer, Zuckerberg met Peter Thiel who invested in the company. They got their first office on University Avenue in downtown Palo Alto a few months later. Today, the company has seven buildings and several hundred people in downtown Palo Alto, forming what Zuckerberg calls an "urban campus".

Zuckerberg's Harvard classmates, Divya Narendra, Cameron Winklevoss, and Tyler Winklevoss, claim he stole their idea for their own site, ConnectU. A lawsuit was filed in 2004 and has been dismissed without prejudice on March 28, 2007, but was never ruled on. It was refiled soon thereafter in U.S. District Court in Boston, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for July 25, 2007. At the hearing the judge told ConnectU parts of their complaint were not sufficiently pled and gave them the ability to refile an amended complaint. On June 25, 2008, the case was settled and Facebook agreed to pay an undisclosed amount of cash and stock.

As part of the lawsuit, in November 2007, confidential court documents were posted on the website of Harvard alumni magazine 02138. They included Zuckerberg's social security number, his parents' home address and his girlfriend's address. Facebook filed to get the documents taken down, but the judge ruled in favor of 02138.

Forbes Top400 ranked Mark as #321 richest person in the world with $1.5 billion networth. He is also the youngest person to ever appear on the Forbes list.

On October 24, 2007, Facebook Inc. sold a 1.6% stake to Microsoft Corp. for $240 million, spurning a competing offer from online search leader Google Inc. This would indicate that Facebook had a market value of $15 billion at the time of the sale. However, most analysts believe the actual valuation of to be far less. The $240 million dollars paid by Microsoft includes premiums for both preferred shares and global ad placements.

SIGNS A BEAR MARKET IS ENDING

2009-01-20T10:00:00.002+07:00

1. Bad news abundant. The stock market always seems to start up before the bad news (about lower industrial production, unemployment, lack of consumer confidence, etc.) stops. At that point, the market will be acting ‘‘contrary to the obvious,’’ which is usually a good sign that the market is right in whatever it does.
2. Credit. Still tight. But credit balances in brokerage accounts usually are
considerable. Large holdings in bonds and other cash-related investments. This latent buying power is what will give a new bull market its stamina.
3. Stock Market. Volume low, not much interest. Stocks selling at low price earnings ratios, high yields. But then new lows in the DJIA and S&P occur on even lower volumes. Some key stocks begin to show good rally potential. Volume tends to increase on rallies, decrease on dips. Charts are the way to spot this.
4. Confidence. Nil. Pessimistic forecasts made for the market and for business.
5. Real Estate. Unless it has been an inflationary bear market, real estate prices will be down. It is hard to sell property. Lots of empty commercial buildings. Rents reduced. Foreclosures rise.
6. Bonds. Government bond buying is popular. Corporate bonds are high, yields low.

SIGNS A BULL MARKET IS ENDING

2009-01-20T09:36:00.001+07:00

1. The most important indicator that a downturn still has a long way to go is when investor sentiment is still bullish while the underlying economic structure continues to weaken.
2. Price earnings ratios. In recent years, even rational analysts have puzzled over why they no longer seem to ‘‘work.’’ This is all part of the separation of stocks from the values of the companies they represent. In his book Irrational Exuberance, Yale professor Robert Shiller points out that, since 1870, price earnings ratios for big companies have averaged just under 13 for a yield of 7.75%. In late 2001, that ratio was between 25 and 35, for a yield of about 2–4%,depending which biased source you read. To return to a more traditional price earnings ratio, the DJIA would have to fall to at least 5000. I will discuss that in more detail in a later chapter, but suffice it to say here that it suggests that this bear market has further to fall.
3. The Federal Reserve. Fed action has been the most closely watched indicator in the last 5 years. But, with the most aggressive rate reductions in history, driving US interest rates down to a level not seen since the 1960s and with no result, it is increasingly clear that when the US economy goes south, there is little government can do to stop it.
4. Consumer and Investor Confidence. There is always an abundance of confidence in the future of business and the market, at peaks. Even after markets turn down, as long as that confidence remains high the bear market has further to go. Markets traditionally turn around on low volume in the middle of widespread gloom about the future. Those who buy at the very beginning of major bull markets or sell at the
beginning of bear markets are regarded as equally unhinged, as I was regarded in the Spring of 2000 when I suggested, in my newsletter, the Nasdaq was a sell.
5. Gold. In times of uncertainty, the interest in gold and gold shares picks up.
6. Real Estate. It is normal for real estate prices to rise with stock market prices. There is usually a lot of public speculation in real estate at bull market tops. Whether real estate turns down in a bear market depends on how much inflation there is. In inflationary bear markets, real estate is seen as a haven and prices rise. In bear markets where inflation is low and the currency firm, real estate prices will usually stay firm in the early stages, but will decline as the bear market deepens.
7. Stock market action. At tops, there is what is commonly classified as ‘‘churning’’ (i.e., high volume but not much change in prices, or great irregularity in prices [some up sharply, some down sharply], plus a lot of volatility day to day).
8. Unanimity of bullish forecasts. Business leaders, brokers, advisory services, columnists and broadcasters are, in the main, bullish. Any downturn is dismissed as temporary.
9. Sharp rise in debt. At the top of a bull market, the pervasive mood is that one can make a profit in markets,without risk. Consumer debt,household debt service payments, losses by credit card issuers, bankruptcy filings and mortgage elinquencies all rise sharply.

The Education of Warren Buffet

2009-01-16T17:01:00.001+07:00

Buffett’s dedication to Ben Graham, Phil Fisher, John Burr Williams, and Charlie Munger is understandable. Graham gave Buffett the intellectual basis for investing, the margin of safety, and helped Buffett learn how to master his emotions to take advantage of market f luctuations. Fisher gave Buffett an updated, workable methodology that enabled him to identify good long-term investments and manage a portfolio over the long term, and taught the value of focusing on just a few good companies. Williams gave him a mathematical model for calculating true value. Munger helped Buffett appreciate the economic returns that come from buying and owning great businesses. The frequent confusion surrounding Buffett’s investment actions is easily understood when we acknowledge that Buffett is the synthesis of all four men.
“It is not enough to have good intelligence,” Descartes wrote; “the principal thing is to apply it well.” It is the application that separates Buffett from other investment managers. Many of his peers are highly intelligent, disciplined, and dedicated. Buffett stands above them all because of his formidable ability to integrate the strategies of the four wise men into a single cohesive approach.

Think Like Warren Buffett

2009-01-07T17:15:00.000+07:00

Back in 1999, Robert G. Hagstrom wrote a book about the legendary investor Warren Buffett, entitled "The Warren Buffett Portfolio". What's so great about the book, and what makes it different from the countless other books and articles written about the "Oracle of Omaha" is that it offers the reader valuable insight into how Buffett actually thinks about investments. In other words, the book delves into the psychological mindset that has made Buffett so fabulously wealthy.

Although investors could benefit from reading the entire book, we've selected a bite-sized sampling of the tips and suggestions regarding the investor mindset and ways that an investor can improve their stock selection that will help you get inside Buffett's head.

1. Think of Stocks as a Business
Many investors think of stocks and the stock market in general as nothing more than little pieces of paper being traded back and forth among investors, which might help prevent investors from becoming too emotional over a given position but it doesn't necessarily allow them to make the best possible investment decisions.

That's why Buffett has stated he believes stockholders should think of themselves as "part owners" of the business in which they are investing. By thinking that way, both Hagstrom and Buffett argue that investors will tend to avoid making off-the-cuff investment decisions, and become more focused on the longer term. Furthermore, longer-term "owners" also tend to analyze situations in greater detail and then put a great eal of thought into buy and sell decisions. Hagstrom says this increased thought and analysis tends to lead to improved investment returns. (To read more about Buffett's ideologies, check out Warren Buffett: How He Does It and What Is Warren Buffett's Investing Style?)

2. Increase the Size of Your Investment
While it rarely - if ever - makes sense for investors to "put all of their eggs in one basket," putting all your eggs in too many baskets may not be a good thing either. Buffett contends that over-diversification can hamper returns as much as a lack of diversification. That's why he doesn't invest in mutual funds. It's also why he prefers to make significant investments in just a handful of companies. (To learn more about diversification, read Introduction To Diversification, The Importance Of Diversification and The Dangers Of Over-Diversification.)

Buffett is a firm believer that an investor must first do his or her homework before investing in any security. But after that due diligence process is completed, an investor should feel comfortable enough to dedicate a sizable portion of assets to that stock. They should also feel comfortable in winnowing down their overall investment portfolio to a handful of good companies with excellent growth prospects.

Buffett's stance on taking time to properly allocate your funds is furthered with his comment that it's not just about the best company, but how you feel about the company. If the best business you own presents the least financial risk and has the most favorable long-term prospects, why would you put money into your 20th favorite business rather than add money to the top choices?

3. Reduce Portfolio Turnover
Rapidly trading in and out of stocks can potentially make an individual a lot of money, but according to Buffett this trader is actually hampering his or her investment returns. That's because portfolio turnover increases the amount of taxes that must be paid on capital gains and boosts the total amount of commission dollars that must be paid in a given year.

The "Oracle" contends that what makes sense in business also makes sense in stocks: An investor should ordinarily hold a small piece of an outstanding business with the same tenacity that an owner would exhibit if he owned all of that business.

Investors must think long term. By having that mindset, they can avoid paying huge commission fees and lofty short-term capital gains taxes. They'll also be more apt to ride out any short-term fluctuations in the business, and to ultimately reap the rewards of increased earnings and/or dividends over time.

4. Develop Alternative Benchmarks
While stock prices may be the ultimate barometer of the success or failure of a given investment choice, Buffett does not focus on this metric. Instead, he analyzes and pores over the underlying economics of a given business or group of businesses. If a company is doing what it takes to grow itself on a profitable basis, then the share price will ultimately take care of itself.

Successful investors must look at the companies they own and study their true earnings potential. If the fundamentals are solid and the company is enhancing shareholder value by generating consistent bottom-line growth, the share price, in the long term, should reflect that. (To learn how to judge fundamentals on your own, see What Are Fundamentals?)

5. Learn to Think in Probabilities
Bridge is a card game in which the most successful players are able to judge mathematical probabilities to beat their opponents. Perhaps not surprisingly, Buffett loves and actively plays the game, and he takes the strategies beyond the game into the investing world.

Buffett suggests that investors focus on the economics of the companies they own (in other words the underlying businesses), and then try to weigh the probability that certain events will or will not transpire, much like a Bridge player checking the probabilities of his opponents' hands. He adds that by focusing on the economic aspect of the equation and not the stock price, an investor will be more accurate in his or her ability to judge probability.

Thinking in probabilities has its advantages. For example, an investor that ponders the probability that a company will report a certain rate of earnings growth over a period of five or 10 years is much more apt to ride out short-term fluctuations in the share price. By extension, this means that his investment returns are likely to be superior and that he will also realize fewer transaction and/or capital gains costs.

6. Recognize the Psychological Aspects of Investing
Very simply, this means that individuals must understand that there is a psychological mindset that the successful investor tends to have. More specifically, the successful investor will focus on probabilities and economic issues and let decisions be ruled by rational, as opposed to emotional, thinking.

More than anything, investors' own emotions can be their worst enemy. Buffett contends that the key to overcoming emotions is being able to "retain your belief in the real fundamentals of the business and to not get too concerned about the stock market."

Investors should realize that there is a certain psychological mindset that they should have if they want to be successful and try to implement that mindset. (To learn more about investor behaviors, read Understanding Investor Behavior, When Fear And Greed Take Over and Master Your Trading Mindtraps.)

7. Ignore Market Forecasts
There is an old saying that the Dow "climbs a wall of worry". In other words, in spite of the negativity in the marketplace, and those who perpetually contend that a recession is "just around the corner", the markets have fared quite well over time. Therefore, doomsayers should be ignored.

On the other side of the coin, there are just as many eternal optimists who argue that the stock market is headed perpetually higher. These should be ignored as well.

In all this confusion, Buffett suggests that investors should focus their efforts of isolating and investing in shares that are not currently being accurately valued by the market. The logic here is that as the stock market begins to realize the company's intrinsic value (through higher prices and greater demand), the investor will stand to make a lot of money.

8. Wait for the Fat Pitch
Hagstrom's book uses the model of legendary baseball player Ted Williams as an example of a wise investor. Williams would wait for a specific pitch (in an area of the plate where he knew he had a high probability of making contact with the ball) before swinging. It is said that this discipline enabled Williams to have a higher lifetime batting average than the average player.

Buffett, in the same way, suggests that all investors act as if they owned a lifetime decision card with only 20 investment choice punches in it. The logic is that this should prevent them from making mediocre investment choices and hopefully, by extension, enhance the overall returns of their respective portfolios.

Bottom Line
"The Warren Buffett Portfolio" is a timeless book that offers valuable insight into the psychological mindset of the legendary investor Warren Buffett. Of course, if learning how to invest like Warren Buffett were as easy as reading a book, everyone would be rich! But if you take that time and effort to implement some of Buffett's proven strategies, you could be on your way to better stock selection and greater returns.

Warren Buffett: How He Does I

2009-01-07T17:10:00.000+07:00

Did you know that a $10,000 investment in Berkshire Hathaway in 1965, the year Warren Buffett took control of it, would grow to be worth nearly $30 million by 2005? By comparison, $10,000 in the S&P 500 would have grown to only about $500,000. Whether you like him or not, Buffett's investment strategy is arguably the most successful ever. With a sustained compound return this high for this long, it's no wonder Buffett's legend has swelled to mythical proportions. But how the heck did he do it? In this article, we'll introduce you to some of the most important tenets of Buffett's investment philosophy.

Buffett's Philosophy
Warren Buffett descends from the Benjamin Graham school of value investing. Value investors look for securities with prices that are unjustifiably low based on their intrinsic worth. When discussing stocks, determining intrinsic value can be a bit tricky as there is no universally accepted way to obtain this figure. Most often intrinsic worth is estimated by analyzing a company's fundamentals. Like bargain hunters, value investors seek products that are beneficial and of high quality but underpriced. In other words, the value investor searches for stocks that he or she believes are undervalued by the market. Like the bargain hunter, the value investor tries to find those items that are valuable but not recognized as such by the majority of other buyers.

Warren Buffett takes this value investing approach to another level. Many value investors aren't supporters of the efficient market hypothesis, but they do trust that the market will eventually start to favor those quality stocks that were, for a time, undervalued. Buffett, however, doesn't think in these terms. He isn't concerned with the supply and demand intricacies of the stock market. In fact, he's not really concerned with the activities of the stock market at all. This is the implication this paraphrase of his famous quote : "In the short term the market is a popularity contest; in the long term it is a weighing machine."(see What Is Warren Buffett's Investing Style?)

He chooses stocks solely on the basis of their overall potential as a company - he looks at each as a whole. Holding these stocks as a long-term play, Buffett seeks not capital gain but ownership in quality companies extremely capable of generating earnings. When Buffett invests in a company, he isn't concerned with whether the market will eventually recognize its worth; he is concerned with how well that company can make money as a business.

Buffett's Methodology
Here we look at how Buffett finds low-priced value by asking himself some questions when he evaluates the relationship between a stock's level of excellence and its price. Keep in mind that these are not the only things he analyzes but rather a brief summary of what Buffett looks for:

1. Has the company consistently performed well?
Sometimes return on equity (ROE) is referred to as "stockholder's return on investment". It reveals the rate at which shareholders are earning income on their shares. Buffett always looks at ROE to see whether or not a company has consistently performed well in comparison to other companies in the same industry. ROE is calculated as follows:

= Net Income / Shareholder's Equity

Looking at the ROE in just the last year isn't enough. The investor should view the ROE from the past five to 10 years to get a good idea of historical performance.

2. Has the company avoided excess debt?
The debt/equity ratio is another key characteristic Buffett considers carefully. Buffett prefers to see a small amount of debt so that earnings growth is being generated from shareholders' equity as opposed to borrowed money. The debt/equity ratio is calculated as follows:

= Total Liabilities / Shareholders' Equity

This ratio shows the proportion of equity and debt the company is using to finance its assets, and the higher the ratio, the more debt - rather than equity - is financing the company. A high level of debt compared to equity can result in volatile earnings and large interest expenses. For a more stringent test, investors sometimes use only long-term debt instead of total liabilities in the calculation above.

3. Are profit margins high? Are they increasing?
The profitability of a company depends not only on having a good profit margin but also on consistently increasing this profit margin. This margin is calculated by dividing net income by net sales. To get a good indication of historical profit margins, investors should look back at least five years. A high profit margin indicates the company is executing its business well, but increasing margins means management has been extremely efficient and successful at controlling expenses.

4. How long has the company been public?
Buffett typically considers only companies that have been around for at least 10 years. As a result, most of the technology companies that have had their initial public offerings (IPOs) in the past decade wouldn't get on Buffett's radar (not to mention the fact that Buffett will invest only in a business that he fully understands, and he admittedly does not understand what a lot of today's technology companies actually do). It makes sense that one of Buffet's criteria is longevity: value investing means looking at companies that have stood the test of time but are currently undervalued.

Never underestimate the value of historical performance, which demonstrates the company's ability (or inability) to increase shareholder value. Do keep in mind, however, that the past performance of a stock does not guarantee future performance - the job of the value investor is to determine how well the company can perform as well as it did in the past. Determining this is inherently tricky, but evidently Buffett is very good at it.

5. Do the company's products rely on a commodity?
Initially you might think of this question as a radical approach to narrowing down a company. Buffett, however, sees this question as an important one. He tends to shy away (but not always) from companies whose products are indistinguishable from those of competitors, and those that rely solely on a commodity such as oil and gas. If the company does not offer anything different than another firm within the same industry, Buffett sees little that sets the company apart. Any characteristic that is hard to replicate is what Buffett calls a company's economic moat, or competitive advantage. The wider the moat, the tougher it is for a competitor to gain market share.

6. Is the stock selling at a 25% discount to its real value?
This is the kicker. Finding companies that meet the other five criteria is one thing, but determining whether they are undervalued is the most difficult part of value investing, and Buffett's most important skill. To check this, an investor must determine the intrinsic value of a company by analyzing a number of business fundamentals, including earnings, revenues and assets. And a company's intrinsic value is usually higher (and more complicated) than its liquidation value - what a company would be worth if it were broken up and sold today. The liquidation value doesn't include intangibles such as the value of a brand name, which is not directly stated on the financial statements.

Once Buffett determines the intrinsic value of the company as a whole, he compares it to its current market capitalization - the current total worth (price). If his measurement of intrinsic value is at least 25% higher than the company's market capitalization, Buffett sees the company as one that has value. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, Buffett's success, however, depends on his unmatched skill in accurately determining this intrinsic value. While we can outline some of his criteria, we have no way of knowing exactly how he gained such precise mastery of calculating value. (To learn more about the value investing strategy of selecting stocks, check out our Guide To Stock-Picking Strategies.)

Conclusion
As you have probably noticed, Buffett's investing style, like the shopping style of a bargain hunter, reflects a practical, down-to-earth attitude. Buffett maintains this attitude in other areas of his life: he doesn't live in a huge house, he doesn't collect cars and he doesn't take a limousine to work. The value-investing style is not without its critics, but whether you support Buffett or not, the proof is in the pudding. As of 2004, he holds the title of the second-richest man in the world, with a net worth of more $40 billion (Forbes 2004). Do note that the most difficult thing for any value investor, including Buffett, is in accurately determining a company's intrinsic value.

3 Popular Strategies For Stock combine with Options

2009-01-07T13:18:00.003+07:00

Covered Call

What Does Covered Call Mean?
An options strategy whereby an investor holds a long position in an asset and writes (sells) call options on that same asset in an attempt to generate increased income from the asset. This is often employed when an investor has a short-term neutral view on the asset and for this reason hold the asset long and simultaneously have a short position via the option to generate income from the option premium.

This is also known as a "buy-write".
Investopedia explains Covered Call...
For example, let's say that you own shares of the TSJ Sports Conglomerate and like its long-term prospects as well as its share price but feel in the shorter term the stock will likely trade relatively flat, perhaps within a few dollars of its current price of, say, $25. If you sell a call option on TSJ for $26, you earn the premium from the option sale but cap your upside. One of three scenarios is going to play out:

a) TSJ shares trade flat (below the $26 strike price) - the option will expire worthless and you keep the premium from the option. In this case, by using the buy-write strategy you have successfully outperformed the stock.

b) TSJ shares fall - the option expires worthless, you keep the premium, and again you outperform the stock.

c) TSJ shares rise above $26 - the option is exercised, and your upside is capped at $26, plus the option premium. In this case, if the stock price goes higher than $26, plus the premium, your buy-write strategy has underperformed the TSJ shares.

Synthetic Call

What Does Synthetic Call Mean?
An investment strategy that mimics the payoff of a call option. A synthetic call is created by purchasing the underlying asset, selling a bond and purchasing a put option. The strike price on the put option is equal to the face value of the bond, which serves as the exercise price of the synthetic call.

Investopedia explains Synthetic Call...
A synthetic call produces the same overall payoff as a call option. The synthetic call will finish in the money when the price of the underlying asset is greater than the face value of the sold bond at the time of expiration. It will be out-of-the-money when the value of the bond is greater than that of the underlying asset. When the synthetic call is in the money, the profit is the difference between the price of the underlying asset and the face value of the bond. If the call finishes out of the money, the put option absorbs the loss from the underlying asset, with the exercise price of the put paying for the bond.

Collar

What Does Collar Mean?
1. A protective options strategy that is implemented after a long position in a stock has experienced substantial gains. It is created by purchasing an out of the money put option while simultaneously writing an out of the money call option.

Also known as "hedge wrapper".

2. A general restriction on market activities.

Investopedia Says Icon

1. The purchase of an out-of-the money put option is what protects the underlying shares from a large downward move and locks in the profit. The price paid to buy the puts is lowered by amount of premium that is collect by selling the out of the money call. The ultimate goal of this position is that the underlying stock continues to rise until the written strike is reached.

2. An example is a circuit breaker which is meant to prevent extreme losses (or gains) once an index reaches a certain level.

Collars can protect you against massive losses, but they also prevent massive gains.

Mutual Fund Hedge Fund Target Risk Fund Fund Of Funds

2008-12-24T22:22:00.003+07:00

What Does Mutual Fund Mean?
An investment vehicle that is made up of a pool of funds collected from many investors for the purpose of investing in securities such as stocks, bonds, money market instruments and similar assets. Mutual funds are operated by money managers, who invest the fund's capital and attempt to produce capital gains and income for the fund's investors. A mutual fund's portfolio is structured and maintained to match the investment objectives stated in its prospectus.

Investopedia explains Mutual Fund...
One of the main advantages of mutual funds is that they give small investors access to professionally managed, diversified portfolios of equities, bonds and other securities, which would be quite difficult (if not impossible) to create with a small amount of capital. Each shareholder participates proportionally in the gain or loss of the fund. Mutual fund units, or shares, are issued and can typically be purchased or redeemed as needed at the fund's current net asset value (NAV) per share, which is sometimes expressed as NAVPS.

What Does Hedge Fund Mean?
An aggressively managed portfolio of investments that uses advanced investment strategies such as leveraged, long, short and derivative positions in both domestic and international markets with the goal of generating high returns (either in an absolute sense or over a specified market benchmark).

Legally, hedge funds are most often set up as private investment partnerships that are open to a limited number of investors and require a very large initial minimum investment. Investments in hedge funds are illiquid as they often require investors keep their money in the fund for at least one year.

Investopedia explains Hedge Fund...
For the most part, hedge funds (unlike mutual funds) are unregulated because they cater to sophisticated investors. In the U.S., laws require that the majority of investors in the fund be accredited. That is, they must earn a minimum amount of money annually and have a net worth of more than $1 million, along with a significant amount of investment knowledge. You can think of hedge funds as mutual funds for the super rich. They are similar to mutual funds in that investments are pooled and professionally managed, but differ in that the fund has far more flexibility in its investment strategies.

It is important to note that hedging is actually the practice of attempting to reduce risk, but the goal of most hedge funds is to maximize return on investment. The name is mostly historical, as the first hedge funds tried to hedge against the downside risk of a bear market by shorting the market (mutual funds generally can't enter into short positions as one of their primary goals). Nowadays, hedge funds use dozens of different strategies, so it isn't accurate to say that hedge funds just "hedge risk". In fact, because hedge fund managers make speculative investments, these funds can carry more risk than the overall market.

What Does Target Risk Fund Mean?
A fund that attempts to expose its investors to a specified amount of risk. The fund manager of a target risk fund is responsible for overseeing all the securities owned within the fund, to ensure that the level of risk isn’t greater or less than the fund's target amount of risk exposure.

Investopedia explains Target Risk Fund...
Target risk funds typically label themselves as "conservative", "moderate risk" or "aggressive" in terms of their risk exposure. Regardless of the label applied, the intent is to offer a relatively constant level of risk exposure to investors.

This allows investors who are considered highly risk averse to identify and select a fund of funds that has a conservative risk exposure target, and once invested in the fund, remain confident that their level of risk exposure will not change substantially.

The manager of a target risk fund is responsible for ensuring that the fund's level of risk exposure is on target, and the fee’s charged for operating the fund (on top of the fees charged by mutual funds owned within the target risk fund) is compensation for the value-added service.

What Does Fund Of Funds Mean?
A mutual fund that invests in other mutual funds.

This method is sometimes known as "multi-management".

Investopedia explains Fund Of Funds...
A fund of funds allows investors to achieve a broad diversification and an appropriate asset allocation with investments in a variety of fund categories that are all wrapped up into one fund. However, if the fund of funds carries an operating expense, investors are essentially paying double for an expense that is already included in the expense figures of the underlying funds.

Historically, a fund of funds showed an expense figure that didn't always include the fees of the underlying funds. As of January 2007, the SEC began requiring that these fees be disclosed in a line called "Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses" (AFFE).

HOW TO SAVE IN BAD TIMES

2008-12-18T16:26:00.002+07:00

HOW TO SAVE IN BAD TIMES
Bad times are likely to bring deflation, and deflation can make you poorer, even drive you into bankruptcy. Or it can make you significantly richer. The choice is yours. One thing you can do that will make the biggest difference is saving! If you can’t save, deflation could hurt you. If you can save, deflation will help you reap some very nice benefits:
Benefit 1. Your savings will go a long way. When you do spend, you will get more for less.
Benefit 2. At the right time, you will be able to buy great investment bargains. The investment world will be like one giant clearance sale at a major department store.
Benefit 3. Income! Right now, interest rates are low. But even low interest rates are better than a high-interest expense. Moreover, if you wait for a time when bond markets have fallen and their yields have risen, you could lock in a relatively high rate for many years to come.
Benefit 4. Even if there is no deflation, you will sleep better at night knowing that you have a good cushion to fall back on in case of any unexpected event. And even if inflation heats up again, you can largely keep up with the inflation by keeping your savings in a money market mutual fund—your interest income is likely to go up more or less in synch with the inflation.
To reap these benefits, follow these steps:
Step 1. Figure out how much you can comfortably save each month. Many people aim too high, fail, and then give up. Better to aim low and then stick with it religiously.
Step 2. If at all possible, make sure that money is saved automatically. Your employer, your credit union, or your bank will provide additional information on how to set it up. However, make sure it is a safe institution. For a rating on almost any bank, visit www.weissratings.com; for a rating on a credit union, visit www.veribanc.com.
Step 3. If you cannot set up an auto-savings program, resolve to never spend a dime until after your monthly savings have been set aside. There is absolutely no expenditure (except basic necessities, of course), which is more important than savings. This has always been true. In bad or deflationary times, it’s not even an option. Unless you already have a substantial nest egg, you almost invariably have to do it.
Step 4. Let time work for you. You will be absolutely amazed at how much money you can accumulate just by putting the same small, comfortable amount away month after month. And that’s even without any interest. Once you add the interest, plus the interest on the interest, you will be even more amazed.

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR JOB IN BAD TIMES

2008-12-18T16:21:00.001+07:00

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR JOB IN BAD TIMES
The job cuts of 2002 were unusual for two reasons: (1) they took place when the economy was supposedly “recovering” and (2) they affected almost everyone in equal proportion—regardless of ethnic group, origin, gender, profession, job status,or income level. The same will probably be true in the future as well. To protect your job, follow these steps:
Step 1. Check the financial prospects of your company. If its shares are listed on a stock exchange, you can get a rating on the stock by checking with an independent rating agency. If you feel you can’t afford to spend a few dollars for the rating, you can also get a free risk rating from Risk Metrics (212-981-7475 or www.riskgrades.com).
Step 2. If your employer does not have shares listed on an exchange, ask for the latest financial statement. If your employer says it is confidential, you can acquire an independent report from Dun & Bradstreet (www.dnb.com).
Step 3. If your company has a weak risk rating or a poor report from Dun & Bradstreet, it’s not a good sign. It might do OK in good times, but your job—and possibly the entire company—may be vulnerable in bad times.
Step 4. Needless to say, to secure your income, there are two strategies you can follow:
Strategy A. Do your utmost to make yourself a valuable employee. Seek company-sponsored opportunities for learning new job skills. And even if none are available,
allocate at least an hour per day of your spare time to learn skills of value to the firm. With the Internet, you’d be amazed at how much you can learn for free or at
a very low cost. And if you do not have access to the Internet from home, free access is available at most public libraries. The librarian should be able to give you some excellent tips on the latest, best sites.
Strategy B. Do your utmost to continually stay on top of the job market. Visit www.monster.com and similar sites to take advantage of a wealth of free information on the most marketable job skills, tips on how to get a job, and updates on what’s going on in various industries. Also use these sites to keep your résumé posted on the Web as much as possible.
Step 5. Use the following guidelines to decide which strategy to pursue:
■ If the economy is strong and your company is low risk: Pursue Strategy A almost exclusively but continue to stay in touch with what’s going on in the job market. If
the economy is weak but the company seems to be low risk, pursue both strategies with equal energy.
■ If the economy is strong but the company is high risk, pursue both strategies with equal energy.
■ If the economy is weak and the risk is high, make Strategy B your first priority but do not neglect Strategy A, especially with respect to job skills. If you do change jobs, you will still need those as well. Don’t be afraid of what your employer might think or say about any job-search activities. Make it clear that you
always stay in touch with the job market no matter what,and if you have no intention of leaving, say so.

HOW TO REDUCE DEBTS IN BAD TIMES

2008-12-18T16:16:00.002+07:00

HOW TO REDUCE DEBTS IN BAD TIMES
Not all debt is bad. But it’s well known that debt can be a financial drug that is highly addictive. Yet banks mail tens of millions of unsolicited credit cards to American households every year, effectively putting free samples of this potential
narcotic into the hands of nearly everyone except the homeless. Mortgage companies make millions of unsolicited phone calls offering their “low-rate” mortgages. And even the Federal Reserve chairman himself, in testimony before Congress, urged Americans to spend and borrow more. The consequences are mind-boggling: The most personal bankruptcies in history. Countless divorces attributed to, or aggravated by, debt troubles. Many suicides. And that’s in relatively good times! In bad times, it’s worse. If your debt is already feeling burdensome, any loss in income that you may suffer can push you over the brink. And even if you feel your debt is currently manageable, a decline in the economy can suddenly make any debts loom far larger. Deflation (falling prices and incomes) can be especially painful: It makes all debts much harder to pay. If bad times or deflation strike your household, you may find yourself making only minimum payments on your credit card. You may notice that the balance of your checking account is running low—or running down completely—before the end of each month, and you’re drawing into savings to cover the shortfall. You could find yourself filling out applications for extra loans (more debt!) or borrowing from your retirement fund or life insurance policy. Act quickly to prevent these problems. If they are already happening, act even more quickly!If you have significant debts right now, you could be sleepwalking toward bankruptcy.Is bankruptcy an easy way out? No. It can be a lot tougher than you think. And if bankruptcy reform laws are enacted, tougher still. So if there ever was a time to eliminate your debt, this is it. Follow these steps:
Step 1: Declare your own personal war on debt. If debt has the potential to disrupt your life and cause your family serious grief, we assure you it is not your friend.
Focus your mental energy on reducing it.
Step 2: Attack your credit cards first. Get a pair of scissors. Put the scissors on your dining room table. Collect all credit cards in the household, including your own, your spouse’s, and those of anyone else for whom you’re financially responsible. Put them on the table too. Next, delight in that crisp “snip-snip-snip” sound as you cut them all in half. Enjoy the satisfaction of gathering them all together with one, clean sweeping motion of the hand. Watch with glee as they tumble neatly into the wastebasket.
Step 3: Attack your credit card statements next. Gather every last statement you have. If you don’t have all of them, don’t fret. You certainly will by the end of the
month. On the statement, find the annual percentage rate (APR). At the top of each statement, write down the APR in large numbers. Then, sort the statements with the largest APR at the top, the lowest at the bottom.
Step 4: Add up your minimum monthly payments. Let’s say it comes to $200. Isn’t it enough to just pay the minimum? No! Credit card companies deliberately require
very, very low minimum payments. Their agenda is to let you pile up as much debt as possible so they can earn as much interest as possible. How long would it take you to
pay off a credit card with minimum monthly payments alone? It’s a joke. Even with all your credit cards now in the trash, if you owe $2,000 on a 17 percent card, it could take you 24 years and cost you $979 in interest alone (on top of the $1,000 principal). So minimum payments are definitely not the way to go.
Step 5: Figure out how much you can pay over and above the total of all the minimum payments. Try to pay at least triple your minimum. So if your total is $200, that means your goal should be to squeeze at least another $600 out of your budget each month.
Step 6: Pay off the worst ones first! Use 100 percent of the extra $600 to pay off the credit card with the highest interest rate. If two or more cards have the same or
almost the same interest rate, send the extra $600 to the one that has the highest balance.
Step 7: Consider using your savings to get out of debt. The rate you’re paying is probably close to 10 times higher than the rate you’re earning! Not exactly a good deal.
Step 8: Avoid new credit cards. Period. Once you’ve kicked the credit card habit, don’t go back. If you need the convenience of a card, get a debit card. But ask your
bank to give you a true, pure debit card—not one that comes with a built-in credit card feature. If new ones come in the mail, trash them immediately.
Step 9: Start paying down any other personal loans you may have. If you’ve been able to get along with $600 less per month in spending money until now, and if your
circumstances don’t change, you should be able to stick with it. Use it to pay down any other personal loans you may have.
Step 10: Pay down your mortgage. Most people don’t realize that all you have to do is to write a larger check than normal, put it in the business reply envelope, and
send it to the mortgage company. They will automatically deduct the extra amount from your principal. So, continuing with the earlier example, if your regular mortgage payment is $1,000, write the mortgage company a check for $1,600 every month. You’d be surprised how much more quickly your mortgage will be paid off.

9 Predictions For '09 In The Markets

2008-12-15T15:42:00.002+07:00

Predictions: 9 For '09 In The Markets
Posted By:Patti Domm

Last year at this time, we happily said goodbye to 2007 with a naive hopefulness that 2008 would be better. The credit crisis would end, the economy would show its resilience, and stocks, well stocks, were supposed to go up. Instead, the credit crunch worsened, the government rescued (or didn't rescue) a series of financial institutions and stocks hit an 11-year low.

So much for year-end prognostications. It only makes sense to turn up the gloom factor on 2009 predictions, and hope for the best.

1. Manic Markets

Volatility in the stock market continues to be the norm as the New Year starts. But stocks could slip into a protracted, quiet period before ultimately moving slightly higher later in the year. Credit markets begin to heal but not before more market calamity and dislocations.

2. 'R' Word

Last year, nobody wanted to say it but it's now clear, the economy could be in full-blown recession for most of the year. Third quarter will hopefully be a turning point.

3. Jobs

Unemployment numbers get pretty bad. Look for a high of close to 10 percent by the end of the year, or greater depending on how the next fiscal stimulus package is dispersed.

4. Financial Institutions

More fail, more merge, and the government has a new group it helps in the first quarter. But by year end, look for some institutions try to shake loose their new government shareholder. Other will have the government riding along for a long time to come.

5. Housing

It's the starting point and end of the financial meltdown and unfortunately, it doesn't get better any time soon. By year end, it may start to seem like there's a faint light at the end of the tunnel, not a train. The first part of the year could be just ugly.

6. Washington

The government continues to find creative ways to jump into the inner workings of the financial markets and to save companies from themselves. By the spring, everyone agrees it's now a bad idea and there's been enough interference. In the first quarter, the government's role as shareholder starts to take shape, and we see just how much meddling regulators will do with the companies they oversee.

7. Foreign Affairs

Economic recovery and the functioning of the international banking system are dependant on the cooperation of world leaders and central banks. So far, there's been an unprecedented, far reaching level of cooperation. The challenge in 2009 will be how these forced allegiances perform under pressure. But because each country knows its survival depends on the whole planet thriving, they continue to work on a global solution.

8. Currency

The dollar holds its gains against the euro and other currencies. Risk aversion fades, pushing the yen higher.

9. Uncharted Territory

We hear that about a million and a half times when those who give out advice and make forecasts tell us they could not have predicted what the markets and economy would do next.

Why Buffett's Buying Today

2008-12-09T09:54:00.000+07:00

In the midst of economic chaos, Warren Buffett recently made a bold prediction. He said that now is the time to buy American stocks.

Of course, this call seems utterly insane. Banks are failing, the credit markets are deadlocked, unemployment is skyrocketing, and there's likely to be terrible news for months.

On the other hand, this is Warren Buffett, and he's made these sorts of predictions before.

1974: Stagflation
The years 1973 and 1974 were two very bad ones for the market. OPEC had started flexing its muscles, causing oil to quadruple. This resulted in a long recession, with inflation spiking to 12.3% in 1974, while real GDP growth fell by 0.5%. America experienced stagflation -- the ugly combination of a recession and high inflation rates -- and people were terrified. The situation was even worse in the United Kingdom, where the government was bailing out banks after real estate crashed. Over those two years, the S&P 500 plunged by 42%.

It was then, on Nov. 1, 1974, at the height of the pessimism, that Buffett made his first well-publicized bullish market call. He noted that he was well aware that the world was in a mess, but that stocks were simply too cheap. "If you're only worried about corporate profits, panic or depression, these things don't bother me at these prices."

To be totally clear, Buffett made one of the most direct predictions of his entire career: "Now is the time to invest and get rich." Buffett himself was buying shares of The Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) and advertising agency Interpublic (NYSE: IPG).

It worked out pretty well for him. The market jumped 32% in 1975, and another 19% the next year. Even today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 38% gain in 1975 stands up as its biggest increase since 1955.

1979: An oil crisis
That excellent performance was followed by two poor years. Once again, we were experiencing double-digit inflation and falling GDP growth. Again, we were going through an oil crisis, this one coming in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. As a result, when Buffett made his next call on Aug. 6, 1979, the Dow Jones Average was actually trading lower than it was at the end of 1975.

This time, Buffett noted that stocks were far more attractive than bonds. He believed that pension managers, who were piling into bonds yielding 9.5%, were investing using the rearview mirror. They were avoiding the equities that had recently lost them money. But Buffett recognized that the underlying businesses were actually performing well. A combination of falling stock prices and improving business fundamentals made stocks an attractive investment.

Buffett figured that stocks were probably offering long-term returns of 13% or better. He bought oil producer Hess (NYSE: HES), GEICO, and General Foods, which later became part of Kraft (NYSE: KFT).

This time, Buffett's timing wasn't perfect -- the S&P 500 fell a bit more over the next few months. But his long-term prediction was spot-on. During the 1980s, the S&P 500 rose 13% annually before dividends.

1999: The Internet bubble
In November 1999, during the height of the Internet bubble, Buffett made his only bearish call. At the time, the market was in a speculative fervor, with Internet stocks showing huge price increases seemingly every day. In the five years between 1995 and 1999, the S&P 500 tripled, with compound annual returns of 26%. Many considered Buffett a relic for refusing to buy into the technology boom.

Buffett, however, noted that, because of a combination of cheap initial valuations and falling interest rates, stocks had achieved unprecedented annual returns of 19% over a 17-year period. These results made investors unreasonably optimistic. New investors were expecting 10-year annual returns of 22.6%, while even experienced investors predicted 12.9%. But the huge boom was only supported by modest GDP growth, and therefore wasn't sustainable. So, Buffett expected about 4% real returns.

He continued to hold Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), and M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB), though he noted in the 2004 annual report that he should have sold some of Berkshire Hathaway's overvalued holdings.

Buffett's bearish prediction proved optimistic. The market continued to rise for a few months, with the S&P 500 topping out 9% above where it was when Buffett made the call. But that was followed by a crash. Since his call, the S&P 500 has dropped by 39%, for average annual losses of about 5%, well below Buffett's estimates.

The Foolish bottom line
The common theme of all these predictions is that Buffett didn't care about short-term fears. He wasn't worried about stagflation in the 1970s, and he didn't buy into the unrealistic optimism of the late 1990s. Instead, he rationally valued stocks, and made the right long-term calls. His biggest mistake was the 4% number he threw out in 1999 -- long-term returns have been much worse than his bearish prediction.

But that prediction was too optimistic partly because stocks are so unreasonably cheap right now. And that's why Buffett's buying today.

7 product that are getting cheaper

2008-12-06T10:56:00.003+07:00

Your financial ship is taking on water from all sides: a plunging stock market, alarming spikes in food costs and a home value that's headed in the wrong direction. Now, Congress is enlisting your help to bail out Wall Street as well.

Ready for some good news?

Preposterous though it may seem, we have identified seven islands of relief in this dark sea of economic uncertainty.

That's right -- seven categories of consumer goods and services in which prices have actually declined over the past decade.

The good news comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index, or CPI. The Federal Trade Commission coordinates with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, to make sure the CPI reflects an apples-to-apples value comparison before adjusting for inflation.

An improvement in the quality of a product over time is an important factor in this calculation.

"When they examine, they try to correct for differences in the quality of products," says Tom Kelly, who used to work for the FTC and is now director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

"So when you make comparisons, you're comparing two similar-quality products. If the price remains the same and the quality goes up, that effectively reduces the price."

Following are seven categories of goods and services that are comparatively cheaper today than they were 10 years ago. All figures are based on a BLS comparison of like products and services from August 1998 and August 2008.

Items That Have Grown Cheaper

1. Phone bargains: Can you hear me now?
Motormouths rejoice: The price of wireless telephone services dropped 31.6 percent during the past decade, while the price of long-distance telephone calls fell 23.1 percent.
Why the cell phone bargains?
"Cellular telephone service was a relatively new item 10 years ago," says Dan Ginsburg, BLS supervisory economist for the CPI services section. "Usually, items that come in with new technology start off higher priced, but as sophistication in delivering the service becomes greater and competing companies develop more high-tech solutions, the costs keep coming down. Competition helps keep the prices low."
You can thank competition for the long-distance savings, too.
Ginsburg credits the 1983 deregulation of telephone services that resulted in the "Baby Bells" for reducing the cost of long-distance calls.

"As competition crept into the market, it became much less expensive with newer technology to make long-distance calls, so the prices just came way down," he says. "Suddenly, the Sprints and MCIs and other companies were eligible for long-distance service. It worked the way they thought it would."

2. Electronics: Applause, applause
It's hardly news that the prices of personal electronics have dropped to what would have been garage-sale prices a decade ago. This is true of televisions (down 77.9 percent); computers (down 88.3 percent); audio equipment (down 39.3 percent); and videocassettes, video discs and other media, including rentals (down 20.4 percent).

"Televisions and audio equipment have benefited from technological change," Ginsburg says. "It became much less expensive to manufacture TV sets. With the advent of high-definition TV in more recent years, older televisions that couldn't capture high-definition TV became less valuable and the prices dropped, even though they were still being manufactured."

Increased competition and cheaper labor costs associated with overseas outsourcing played a big role in price declines. These factors, combined with new technology, helped lower the prices of other recreational electronics, including photography (down 19.3 percent) and musical instruments (down 4.1 percent).

"The switch from conventional film to electronic capturing of pictures, moving into an electronic rather than a chemical-based methodology, apparently had big savings," Ginsburg says.

What about those bargain-basement Fender Stratocasters?

"That's been affected a lot by competition," Kelly says. "Particularly, you're getting more standardized products like guitars, which are made in China and other countries."

3. Footwear: These boots were made for savings
The recent "Sex and the City" movie would have us think that every woman's closet is stuffed to overflowing with Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo shoes.
Not so, says BLS apparel economist Nicole Shepler.
"I don't have any hard-and-fast data on that, but that is a very small part of what we price overall," she says. "So, I think that doesn't have much of an impact."

In fact, shoe prices have declined by 3.9 percent, thanks in large part to lower-cost foreign imports and the growth of discount outlets and big-box stores.

"You still have $200 Nikes," Shepler admits. "But I would hypothesize that that may be one of the reasons why footwear has not declined as much as some of the other clothing areas."

4. New vehicles: More features, fewer buyers
Kelly isn't afraid to state the obvious: "People are not buying cars."

Reduced demand tends to lower prices, as witnessed by the 6.6 percent drop in the price of new cars and trucks over the past decade.

Ginsburg says the automotive industry has tried to hedge consumer disinterest by using less expensive materials and boosting the features: cup holders, seat warmers, DVD players, backup cameras and the like.

Because the Consumer Price Index takes functionality into consideration, the CPI's decline in the price of new cars and trucks may in part reflect that increase in features and options.

"Motor vehicles are a relatively mature industry," Ginsburg says. "As technology improvements are brought out, we usually quality-adjust for those because they have certain value for the consumer.

"If you look at the actual price-page of the vehicle today versus 10 years ago, today's Chevy Impala is probably quite a bit more expensive but it also has quite a bit more safety features and enhancements that are deemed desirable by motorists. If you remove those quality aspects, the price difference falls quite a bit."

5. Toys: Not all fun and games
The good news for parents is that the price of toys has declined 44.4 percent over the past decade.

The bad news? In some cases, quality may have been sacrificed for profit, as witnessed by recent lead-based toy scandals.

"Most of your toys have been outsourced to other countries where labor costs are lower," Kelly says.

On the bright side, Ginsburg says the declining cost of electronics has helped drive down the price of playthings.

"Toys, games, hobbies and playground equipment are down," Ginsburg says. "I would think that's due to outsourcing and moving toward electronic devices that have become very inexpensive to produce."

6. Apparel: Dress for less

We may be struggling to fill the gas tank or feed the family, but we can take some solace in the fact that the cost to clothe the family has dropped 11 percent during the past decade.

Shepler theorizes that as a society, we have shifted our measure of fashion away from clothing and toward more ostentatious displays of bling, such as plasma TVs and iPhones.

"In a sense, electronics has replaced clothing as the fashionable item," she says. "It's about having the latest iPod or toy instead of apparel as reflecting status.

"The demand for clothing has certainly fallen as more and more shoppers are looking to electronics as being the fashionable item."

Lower-cost foreign imports and volume buying by discount and big-box stores have helped lower price tags. This is particularly true for the cost of boys and girls clothing, which has dropped 23.3 percent and 18.6 percent in 10 years, respectively.

"Children's apparel certainly declined a bit more, likely due to more shoppers going to discounters," Shepler says. "Outlet and big-box stores didn't exist to this extent 10 years ago."

But Ginsburg warns that the quality of those garments may not measure up.

"The length of life of a garment may be a quality factor, but it's not measurable without being able to have someone wear the garment for six months, then wear an American-made equivalent for six months and see the differences between how they wear," he says.

7. Watches: Time to save big

You may not be able to buy time as easily in a slowing economy, but you certainly can tell time for less. The cost of a timepiece fell 6.2 percent in the last decade.

Shepler says for every Rolex, there are hundreds of thousands of Timex watches that account for the Consumer Price Index figure.

"Watches are an item where you do get a little bit of the high-end goods but it's more going to focus on what shoppers are actually buying, which is going to be more of the less-expensive items, and those are going to be bought more at discounters," she says.

In fact, the price of watches, especially with the widespread adoption of digital inner workings, has declined to such a degree that many of us consider them disposable.

"Rolexes haven't really caught on with everybody; they're still buying the throwaway watches -- planned obsolescence," she says. "We would have some of those higher-end watches, but it's certainly not going to make up the bulk of our sample."

The Downside

Kelly says these seven relative bargains may actually exceed their CPI-estimated savings due to the recent bumpy ride of the U.S. dollar.

"If you look at the dollar, for a long time it was falling fairly rapidly, causing some of these prices to hold up a little," he says. "Now, the dollar is stabilizing in terms of its rate of decreasing. If the dollar goes up in value, it makes foreign-made goods cheaper; in other words, it lowers the price of foreign currency so importers can buy those items cheaper."

However, there's a downside to falling prices as well, Kelly says.

"When prices are falling, people will postpone buying," he says. "So you don't necessarily want deflation; you want disinflation.

"If you start having prices going down -- as in the housing market right now where housing prices are collapsing -- people say, 'Why should I buy a house now? It's obviously a buyer's market, I'll just wait a few more months and get something even better.'"

Such prudence will likely characterize consumer behavior as the economy slows, world markets struggle to stabilize and the effects of the Wall Street bailout on Main Street become clearer, Kelly says.

"You'll find that even more of those people who have money to spend are going to sit back and wait on the big-ticket items," he says. "Those are durable items that they've already got in hand but maybe don't have the latest high-def, 52-inch version of.

They're going to live with the one they have for six more months to get something better."

Copyrighted, Bankrate.com. All rights reserved.
Taken From finance.yahoo.com

Recession

2008-12-05T16:42:00.003+07:00

What causes a recession?
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), recession is defined as "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real gross domestic product (GDP), real income, employment, industrial production and wholesale-retail sales". More specifically, recession is defined as when businesses cease to expand, the GDP diminishes for two consecutive quarters, the rate of unemployment rises and housing prices decline.
Many factors contribute to an economy's fall into a recession, but the major cause is inflation. Inflation refers to a general rise in the prices of goods and services over a period of time. The higher the rate of inflation, the smaller the percentage of goods and services that can be purchased with the same amount of money. Inflation can happen for reasons as varied as increased production costs, higher energy costs and national debt. (For more on this topic, see All About Inflation.)
In an inflationary environment, people tend to cut out leisure spending, reduce overall spending and begin to save more. But as individuals and businesses curtail expenditures in an effort to trim costs, this causes GDP to decline. Unemployment rates rise because companies lay off workers to cut costs. It is these combined factors that cause the economy to fall into a recession

Recession: What Does It Mean To Investors?
When the economy heads into a tailspin, you may hear news reports of dropping housing starts, increased jobless claims and shrinking economic output. How does this affect us as investors? What do house building and shrinking output have to do with your portfolio? As you'll discover, these indicators are part of a larger picture, which determines the strength of the economy and whether we are in a period of recession or expansion.

The Phases of the Business Cycle
In order to determine the current state of the economy, we first need to take a good look at the business cycle as a whole. Generally, the business cycle is made up of four different periods of activity extended over several years. These phases can differ substantially in duration, but are all closely intertwined in the overall economy.

Peak - This is not the beginning of the business cycle, but this is where we'll start. At its peak, the economy is running at full steam. Employment is at or near maximum levels, gross domestic product (GDP) output is at its upper limit (implying that there is very little waste occurring) and income levels are increasing. In this period, prices tend to increase due to inflation; however, most businesses and investors are having an enjoyable and prosperous time.

Recession - The old adage "what goes up must come down" applies perfectly here. After experiencing a great deal of growth and success, income and employment begin to decline. As our wages and the prices of goods in the economy are inflexible to change, they will most likely remain near the same level as in the peak period unless the recession is prolonged. The result of these factors is negative growth in the economy.

Trough - Also sometimes referred to as a depression, depending upon the duration of the trough, this is the section of the business cycle when output and employment bottom out and remain in waiting for the next phase of the cycle to begin.

Expansion/Recovery - In a recovery, the economy is growing once again and moving away from the bottoms experienced at the trough. Employment, production and income all undergo a period of growth and the overall economic climate is good.

Recession and recovery are the areas of the business cycle that are more important to investors because they tell us the direction of the economy.

To further complicate matters, not all business cycles go through these four steps sequentially. For instance, during a double dip recession, the economy goes through a recession followed by a short recovery and another recession without ever peaking.

Recession Versus Expansion
Recession is loosely defined as two consecutive quarters of decline in GDP output. This definition can lead to situations where there are frequent switches between a recession and expansion and, as such, many different variations of this principle have been used in the hope of creating a universal method for calculation.

The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is an organization that is seen as having the final word in determining whether the United States is in recession. It has a more extensive definition of recession, which deems the following four main factors as the most important for determining the state of the economy:

Employment
Personal income
Sales volume in manufacturing and retail sectors
Industrial production>
By looking at these four indicators, economists at the NBER hope to gauge the overall health of the market and decide whether the economy is in recession or expansion.

The tricky part about trying to determine the state of the economy is that most indicators are either lagging or coincidental rather than leading. When an indicator is "lagging" it means that the indicator changes only after the fact. That is, a lagging indicator can confirm that an economy is in recession, but it doesn't help much in predicting what will happen in the future. (Learn more about this in Economic Indicators To Know.)

What Does this Mean for Investors?
Understanding the business cycle doesn't matter much unless it improves portfolio returns. What's an investor to do during recession? Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. It really depends on your situation and what type of investor you are. (For some ideas, see Recession-Proof Your Portfolio.)

First, remember that a bear market does not mean there are no ways to make money. Some investors take advantage of falling markets by short selling stocks. Essentially, an investor who sells short profits when a stock declines in value. Problem is, this technique has many unique pitfalls and should be used only by more experienced investors. (If you want to learn more, see the tutorial Short Selling.)

Another breed of investor uses recession much like a sale at the local department store. Referred to as value investing, this technique involves looking at a fallen stock not as a failure, but as a bargain waiting to be scooped up. Knowing that better times will eventually return in the economy, value investors use bear markets as buying sprees, picking up high-quality companies that are selling for cheap.

There is yet another type of investor who barely flinches during recession. A follower of the long-term, buy-and-hold strategy knows that short-term problems will barely be a blip on the chart when taking a 20-30 year horizon. This investor merely continues dollar-cost averaging in a bad market the same way as he or she would in a good one.

Of course, many of us don't have the luxury of a 20-year horizon. At the same time, many investors don't have the stomach for riskier techniques like short selling or the time to analyze stocks like a value investor does. The key is to understand your situation and then pick a style that works for you. For example, if you are close to retirement, the long-term approach definitely is not for you. Instead of being at the mercy of the stock market, diversify into other assets such as bonds, the money market, real estate, etc.

Conclusion
The financial media often takes on a "sky is falling" mentality when it comes to recession. But the bottom line is that recession is a normal part of the business cycle. We can't say what the best course is for you - that's a personal decision. However, understanding both the business cycle and your individual investment style is key to surviving a recession.

Taken From http://www.investopedia.com

CRASH PROTECTION

2008-12-04T13:48:00.004+07:00

If you cannot liquidate vulnerable stocks, consider these steps:
Step 1: Learn more about reverse index funds. If you put money in a typical stock market mutual fund, the managers will generally invest it in various stocks that
they pick, depending on their research and opinion of the market.Index mutual funds are more restricted. The managers’job is strictly to buy stocks or other instruments to match,as closely as possible, the performance of a particular stock market index, such as the Dow Jones Industrials, the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq 100. Reverse index mutual funds use the same principle—but in reverse. Instead of helping you make money when the market goes up, they are designed to help you make money when the market goes down. They invest a good portion of your money in safe instruments, such as Treasury bills, to generate interest income. Plus, they allocate a portion to investments, such as futures and options, that appreciate as the market goes down, balancing the exact quantities of these instruments so that
■ There is always enough cash and equivalent in the fund to cover any losses. You cannot lose more than you invest.
■ The fund matches the performance of the index in reverse. If the market goes down, you will make a profit; if the market goes up, you will incur a loss
Step 2: Evaluate your remaining stock portfolio. Is it almost entirely tech stocks? Or is it mostly blue-chip and other stocks, with just a small amount of techs?If you have blue-chip or other stocks that you can’t sell, consider placing a modest portion of your money into shares of the Rydex Ursa fund or quivalent. That way, if your stock portfolio is falling, your Ursa shares will be rising, helping to offset the loss.If you have a large portfolio of tech stocks that you can’t sell, you should buy shares in the Rydex Arktos fund. That way, even if your tech stocks fall still further, at least your Arktos shares will be rising, helping to offset the loss.
Step 3: Estimate your risk of loss. No one knows for sure whether the stock market is going up or down—let alone how much or how quickly. But based on recent history, it is not unreasonable to assume that a stock portfolio could fall 50 percent. If your portfolio is worth about $100,000 at
Step 4: Decide how much of that risk you want to protect yourself against. If you wanted to protect yourself against the entire amount, you’d have to invest about dollar for dollar in one of the reverse index funds. If that is too much, consider covering half your portfolio. Then, for every $1 of current value in your stock portfolio, you would simply put 50 cents of your money into the appropriate reverse index fund (see Step 1). Assuming that your stock portfolio is worth $100,000, you’d be investing about $50,000 in the fund.
Step 5: Raise the funds for your crash protection program. Where do you get the extra $50,000? You could take it from your cash assets. But if you did, you would in effect be moving money from a safe investment to a more aggressive investment. That may not be prudent. Instead, a prudent alternative is to liquidate at least enough from your remaining stock portfolio to finance this program.
The formula is simple: If you want a program that will protect you against half your risk, and you don’t want to take money from another source, you should liquidate one-third of your shares to generate the money.
Taken From Crash Profit - Martin Weiss

Dow Theory

2008-12-03T11:10:00.003+07:00

Dow Theory
A theory which says the market is in an upward trend if one of its averages (industrial or transportation) advances above a previous important high, it is accompanied or followed by a similar advance in the other.
The theory also says that when both averages dip below previous important lows, it's regarded as an indicator of a downward trend.
Dogs Of The Dow
An investing strategy that consists of buying the 10 DJIA stocks with the highest dividend yield at the beginning of the year. The portfolio should be adjusted at the beginning of each year to include the 10 highest yielding stocks.
The strategy was formulated in 1972 and has proven to be successful. In fact, as Dog of the Dow investors readjust their portfolios each year, it places pressure on the stocks involved.
Dow Jones Industrial Average - DJIA
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted average of 30 significant stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq. The DJIA was invented by Charles Dow back in 1896.
Often referred to as "the Dow", the DJIA is the oldest and single most watched index in the world. The DJIA includes companies like General Electric, Disney, Exxon and Microsoft. When the TV networks say "the market is up today", they are generally referring to the Dow.
Theoretical Dow Jones Index
A method of calculating a Dow Jones index (most often the DJIA) that assumes all index components hit their high or low at the same time during the day.
In other words, the "theoretical Dow" uses the daily highs for all 30 Dow components to calculate the index high, and the lows to calculate the index low. In January of 1992, Dow Jones started using the "actual" method, which calculates the index at 10-second intervals throughout the day. Before this point, the theoretical calculation was the only way to compute the high and low of the index. This method assumes that all stocks hit their high or low at the same time. Because this rarely happens, the theoretical high will almost always be higher than the actual, and the theoretical low will almost always be lower than the actual.
Who or what is Dow Jones?
Dow Jones, or more precisely "Dow Jones & Company", is one of the largest business and financial news companies in the world. The firm was founded in 1896 by Charles Dow, Edward T. Jones and Charles Bergstresser. In 1889 they founded The Wall Street Journal, which remains one of the most influential financial publications. It is easy to confuse Dow Jones with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). Often referred to as "the Dow", the DJIA is one of the most watched stock indexes in the world, containing companies like General Electric, Microsoft, Coca-Cola and Exxon. Dow Jones (the company) owns the Dow Jones Industrial Average as well as many other indexes that represent different sectors of the economy. In the world of finance, you'll often hear people ask, "How did New York do today?" or "How did the market perform today?" In both cases, these people are likely referring to the DJIA as it is the most widely used index, above both the S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq Composite Index.

Mengelola Stres

2008-12-02T13:09:00.002+07:00

"Ketika Anda berbicara tentang pendidikan, karir, atau jasa, Anda sedang berbicara tentang kehidupan. Dan kehidupan harus dinikmati. Kehidupan mestinya menyenangkan. "-- Barbara Bush, mantan Ibu Negara Amerika
DAMPAK krisis keuangan di Amerika terhadap perekonomian global semakin serius. Bahkan Bank Indonesia mengakui krisis yang terjadi di luar prediksi mereka. Saham di Bursa Efek Jakarta diberitakan rontok secara drastis pada awal Oktober kemarin. BEJ pun menutup perdagangan saham selama tiga hari. Pemerintah mengatakan bahwa krisis keuangan di AS akan memberi dua dampak kepada Indonesia, keterbatasan likuiditas dan perlambatan ekonomi. Dampak tersebut akan dirasakan dalam kurun waktu enam bulan hingga satu tahun.
Tetapi, belum enam bulan berjalan, dampak itu sudah terasa di sebagian sektor. Yang paling membuat pening kepala pertama kali, tentu saja para pemangku kepentingan perusahaan dan pemilik saham begitu tahu sahamnya jeblok. Di beberapa daerah, para pengusaha yang mengekspor kerajinannya ke Amerika dan Eropa dikabarkan mengalami penurunan pengiriman barang secara drastis. Hal ini menyebabkan beberapa pengusaha merumahkan karyawannya sampai batas waktu yang tidak ditentukan. Sementara itu, pedagang barang elektronik kesulitan mendapatkan pasokan barang menyusul kenaikan harga akibat naiknya harga dolar. Sedangkan sebagian turis mancanegara dikabarkan membatalkan kunjungannya ke Indonesia.
Memang ada yang tenang-tenang saja melihat krisis global yang terjadi saat ini. Tetapi, tidak sedikit pula yang ketar-ketir melihat situasi ini. Daya beli masyarakat memang cenderung menurun seiring kenaikan harga BBM yang terjadi pada bulan Mei lalu. Kenaikan harga BBM ini tentu juga mengakibatkan efek domino terhadap naiknya kebutuhan pokok, barang dan jasa lainnya. Sayangnya, kenaikan BBM ini tidak disertai dengan kenaikan pendapatan masyarakat. Nah, dengan ditambah krisis global yang terjadi saat ini, membuat sebagian masyarakat menjadi semakin was-was dan tidak sedikit pula yang menjadi stres.
Stres? Betul. Jika hal ini terjadi, tentu saja akan menambah panjang deretan penderita stres di negeri ini. Mengingat penderita gangguan kejiwaan di negara ini mengalami peningkatan yang signifikan semenjak harga BBM naik. Bahkan WHO sendiri mengingatkan, krisis keuangan global yang terjadi saat ini, bisa membuat banyak orang mengalami depresi, stres, gangguan kejiwaan dan mudah putus asa.
Stres yang dialami seseorang, sejatinya sesuatu hal yang sulit untuk dihindari. Stres memikirkan beban hidup. Stres di tempat kerja atau stres karena sebab lain. Masalahnya adalah bagaimana mengelola stres dengan baik agar tidak berdampak negatif bagi kesehatan jiwa dan tubuh. Stres yang tak terkendali akan memicu naiknya tekanan darah dan berisiko terkena serangan jantung. Stres dapat pula menaikkan kadar kolesterol dalam darah. Kondisi ini yang nantinya membuat pembuluh darah tersumbat, sehingga penderita rentan terhadap stroke.
Bagaimana tanda-tanda stres dapat dikenali? Ada sejumlah sinyal yang sesungguhnya dapat Anda rasakan ketika Anda mengalami stres, seperti: mudah tersinggung, naiknya tekanan jantung, meningkatnya tekanan darah, merasa berkeringat atau sering menggigil, sulit tidur, sakit kepala, sakit pencernaan, sakit di leher, sakit punggung bagian bawah, mengalami sakit yang tidak biasa, pergi ke toilet lebih sering dari biasanya, lebih banyak merokok dan minum, merasa gelisah tanpa sebab, kehilangan selera makanan, kesenangan atau bahkan seks, selalu dirundung kesedihan, menjadi pelupa, atau gejala-gejala lain yang tidak biasanya
Pada hakekatnya, stres dapat dikendalikan secara dini bila seseorang menyadari datangnya stres di awal. Bagaimana mengelola stres yang terjadi pada diri kita? Beberapa saran berikut semoga dapat membantu Anda.

Melakukan perawatan terhadap tubuh
Anda dapat mengusir stres dengan memanjakan tubuh Anda. Apa saja misalnya? Berendamlah di air hangat. Hal ini dapat membuat Anda merasakan rileks sekaligus mengendurkan otot-otot yang kaku. Pijatan yang lembut di tangan, kaki, dan wajah juga dapat membuat peredaran darah menjadi lancar. Untuk mata Anda, taruhlah irisan buah ketimun di mata sembari terpejam. Anda bisa juga menyalakan lilin amoterapi. Dan dengan diiringi musik alunan lembut, tutup mata anda, dan bayangkan hal-hal yang menyenangkan dalam hidup. Atau Anda dapat juga melakukan pedicure atau facial.

Berolahraga, melakukan meditasi atau yoga
Anda dapat melakukan olahraga yang ringan seperti jogging, jalan sehat, aerobik atau angkat beban. Olahraga membuat tubuh Anda menjadi segar dan sehat, sehingga Anda dapat berpikir dengan jernih. Jika Anda dapat berpikir dengan jernih, maka Anda dapat melihat dan menyelesaikan masalah dengan lebih baik. Anda bisa juga melakukan meditasi atau yoga. Dengan yoga, tubuh akan lebih rileks. Bagaimana bila ketegangan menunjukkan kenaikan yang signifikan? Ambillah nafas dalam tiga hitungan, kemudian keluarkan juga dalam tiga hitungan. Secara bertahap lakukan dengan menaikkan hitungan menjadi lima, enam, tujuh dan seterusnya. Membaca buku dan mendengarkan musikLuangkanlah waktu untuk rileks dengan membaca buku atau mendengarkan musik.

Menyingkir dari rutinitas
Menyingkir dari rutinitas? Tentu saja. Jangan berpikir ini hal yang sulit. Anda bisa melakukannya secara sederhana. Mencuci pakaian, menyetrika pakaian, berkebun. Atau bisa juga melakukan rekreasi yang murah meriah dengan keluarga atau teman sejawat.

Makan dan minum dengan baik dan benar
Konsumsilah menu secara seimbang terutama yang memiliki kandungan serat seperti sayuran dan buah. Kurangi pula mengkonsumsi gula rafinasi. Dan ingat, kurangi rokok, alkohol, dan kafein. Orang yang bersahabat dengan alkohol, kafein, nikotin seringkali tak dapat melawan stres. Perbanyaklah minum air putih. Tubuh bisa jadi tak mengalami dehidrasi walau tubuh tak merasa haus. So, saat Anda ke kamar mandi, pastikan urin Anda berwarna terang. Dan jangan lupa, tidurlah dengan cukup.

Sesungguhnya, krisis ekonomi yang terjadi hanyalah bagian dari sekian banyak masalah yang dihadapi manusia. Walau begitu, tetap saja harus disikapi secara arif dan legowo. Krisis global saat ini bisa jadi jauh dari perkiraan banyak orang. Oleh karena itu dalam diri seseorang, harus tertanam kesadaran bahwa ada hal-hal yang tak bisa dikendalikan. Hal-hal yang di luar perkiraan sebelumnya. Ini penting, agar kita tidak kecewa nantinya jika ternyata rencana-rencana yang sudah diatur jauh meleset dari harapan. Kekecewaan itu mungkin menghalangi tujuan yang telah kita tetapkan di awal. Untuk menghadapi hal-hal seperti ini, mental kita harus sudah siap. Inilah sesungguhnya pondasi dasar dalam menghadapi stres yang terjadi. Mental yang siap, kuat, dan tahan uji.
Betapapun beratnya badai krisis, tetap harus kita hadapi dengan bijak. Karena, walau katakanlah ada bagian yang hilang akibat krisis tersebut, kita patut bersyukur bahwa masih terdapat kelebihan-kelebihan yang kita miliki. Kita masih bisa hidup dengan sehat, gaji yang dibayar cukup, dan kelebihan lainnya yang mungkin orang lain belum tentu dapatkan. Dan pada akhirnya, kunci dalam menghadapi stres sesungguhnya bagaimana Anda dapat menikmati hidup ini, ikhlas dan sabar dalam menghadapi cobaan, serta selalu bersyukur atas segala yang diberikan olehNya. Dan terakhir, berdoalah untuk selalu memohon kepadaNya agar senantiasa Anda diberi petunjuk dalam menjalani hidup ini.

Sumber: Mengelola Stres oleh Sonny Wibisono, penulis, tinggal di Jakarta

Market Update For Today

2008-12-02T12:57:00.001+07:00

A sharp sell-off in the stock market Monday snapped a five-session winning streak as inventors digested a weak manufacturing survey, the possibility that the Federal Reserve may buy longer-term Treasuries, word that the U.S. economy officially entered recession in December 2007 and concerns regarding financials.
The S&P 500 dropped 8.9%, settling near its lows following a late session surge surge in selling interest. Volume was slightly above the year-to-date average. The decline was broad-based, with 498 of the components within the S&P 500 posting a decline.
The financial sector (-17.0%) got hit the hardest. Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney said the U.S. credit card industry may cut credit lines by well over $2 trillion, or 45%, over the next 18 months, citing risk aversion, funding challenges and regulatory and accounting changes. Whitney's opinion is well respected after she correctly predicted much of the turmoil on Wall Street.
Weakness in commodities (-3.6%), with oil dropping 9.5%, weighed on the energy (-10.3%) and material sectors (-9.8%).
In economic news, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. economy remains under stress despite the efforts of the Fed and other Policy makers. To help alleviate the stress, he laid out possible further policy actions, including lowering the fed funds rate, purchasing longer-term Treasuries or agency securities on the open market.
The latter comment, along with a flight-to-safety bid, sparked a rally in Treasuries, with yields of both the 10-year note and 30-year bond dropping too record lows. The 10-year note rose 48 ticks to yield only 2.75% and the 30-year bond rose more than four points to yield 3.23%.
The November ISM Index, a national manufacturing survey, declined to 36.2 from the October reading of 38.9. This was worse than the consensus estimate of 37.0 and, represents the most contraction in U.S. manufacturing since 1982. The survey shows continued signs of dropping prices, with the ISM Prices Paid Index declining to 25.5 from October's reading of 37.0. The industrials sector dropped 8.5%.
The National Bureau of Economic Research announced that December 2007 marks the end of a 73 month expansion in the U.S. economy and the beginning of a recession. Assuming the U.S. is still in a recession, the duration of decline the peak to trough decline will surpass the recessions of 2001 (8 months) and 1990/1991 (8 months), marking the longest recession since 1981/1982 (16 months).
Black Friday sales were better-than-feared. Depending on the research firm, sales were up between 2% and 7% year-over-year. However, there are concerns that the sales came at the expense of steep discounts and buying has since tapered off. Retailer stocks dropped 9.3%.
In the end, the S&P 500's decline of 80 points erased nearly all of last week's 96 point gain. The index is up 10.2% from its multi-year low reached on Nov. 21, and down 44.4% this year.DJ30 -679.95 NASDAQ -137.50 NQ100 -8.0% R2K -11.9% SP400 -10.9% SP500 -80.03 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2353/416/1.95 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2809/356/1.63 bln

Mengenal sosok Obama si Anak Menteng !!!…

2008-12-02T12:49:00.000+07:00

Sejak dua tahun terakhir ini, nama Obama telah menjadi pembicaraan media diberbagai penjuru dunia, tepatnya ketika ia mulai mencalonkan diri sebagai kandidat Presiden Amerika Serikat (AS) pada awal Februari 2007 lalu. Terpuruknya ekonomi AS yang klimaksnya ditandai dengan bangkrutnya beberapa perusahaan raksasa seperti Lehman Brothers membawa dampak positif terhadap Obama sebagai calon Pemimpin AS yang paling diharapkan.

Siapakah sebenarnya Barack Obama? Barack Obama terlahir pada tanggal 04 Agustus 1961, dengan nama lengkap Barack Hussein Obama di Kapi’olani Medical Centre for Women & Children di Honolulu, Hawaii, Amerika Serikat (AS) dari pasangan berbeda ras. Ayahnya bernama Barack Husein Obama Sr. adalah seorang kulit hitam asal Kenya, Afrika sedangkan ibunya bernama Ann Dunham adalah seorang kulit putih keturunan Amerika yang berasal dari Kansas, AS.

Perjalanan hidup dan karir politik seorang Obama mungkin tak seberuntung para bangsawan-bangsawan Inggris yang terlahir dalam keluarga yang mewah dan berkelas hingga akhirnya pasti menjadi Raja. Sejak usianya menginjak 2 tahun, kedua orang tuanya telah bercerai. Ayahnya kembali ke Kenya sebelum akhirnya meninggal pada usia 46 tahun karena kecelakaan mobil pada tahun 1982 di Nairobi, Kenya, Afrika Timur, sedangkan ibunya menikah lagi dengan pria yang bernama Lolo Soetoro yang merupakan warga negara Indonesia. Keduanya bertemu saat kuliah pada universitas yang sama, yakni di University of Hawaii, Manoa, AS.

Sejak menikah dengan Lolo Soetoro, Dunham dan Obama diboyong ke Jakarta, Indonesia, tepatnya tinggal di daerah Menteng Dalam, Jakarta Pusat. Obama menghabiskan masa kecil dan sekolah dasarnya di Jakarta, namun saat usianya menginjak 10 tahun, ia pindah kerumah neneknya di Honolulu, AS. Disana Obama melanjutkan sekolahnya di Punahou School hingga selesai ditahun 1979.

Setelah menamatkan high school-nya, Obama hijrah ke Los Angeles (LA) dan sempat kuliah di Occidental College selama 2 tahun, namun kemudian pindah ke Columbia University di New York dengan mengambil fakultas Ilmu Politik, jurusan Hubungan Internasional. Obama berhasil meraih gelar B.A. dari kampusnya pada tahun 1983 lalu mulai bekerja pada Business International Corporation dan kemudian pindah kerja ke New York Public Interest Research Group.

Setelah 4 tahun bekerja di New York, Obama memperoleh kesempatan untuk menjadi seorang Direktur Developing Communities Project (DCP) di Chicago, selain itu Obama juga bekerja sebagai konsultan dan instruktur pada Gamaliel Foundation.

Pada tahun 1988, Obama kembali melanjutkan kuliahnya pada sebuah fakultas hukum bergengsi di Harvard Law School di Massachusetts AvenueCambridge. Disana, Obama berhasil memenangkan kompetisi menulis yang pada akhirnya membawa Obama menjadi seorang editor pada Harvard Law Review. Selain itu, Obama juga terpilih menjadi orang kulit hitam pertama yang menjadi Presiden pada Harvard Law Review. Prestasi inilah yang pada akhirnya membuat Obama mendapatkan kontrak dari University of Chicago Law School untuk menulis sebuah buku berjudul “Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance” yang diterbitkan pada tahun 1995.

Saat menjalani kuliah di Harvard Law School, Obama juga pernah bekerja pada Law Firms Sidley & Austin (1989) dan Hopkins & Sutter (1990). Obama kembali ke Chicago setelah menyelesaikan kuliahnya pada tahun 1991 dengan meraih gelar Juris Doctor (J. D.) magna cumlaude.

Di awal tahun 1992, Obama memperoleh kesempatan untuk menjadi seorang dosen Constitutional Law pada University of Chicago Law School. Kurang lebih selama 12 tahun Obama mengabdikan dirinya sebagai dosen pada universitas tersebut, yaitu sejak tahun 1992 hingga tahun 2004. Disela-sela kesibukannya mengajar sejak tahun 1993 hingga 1996, Obama juga tergabung dalam Davis, Barnhill & Galland sebagai pengacara khusus dalam bidang “Civil Rights Litigation” dan “Neighborhood Economic Development”.

Obama juga terlibat dalam beberapa organisasi, seperti founding member of directors of the Public Allies (1992), board of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago (1994-2002), board of directors of the Joyce Foundation (1994-2002), board of directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (1995-2002), board of directors of Chicago Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, dan the Lugenia Burns Hope Center.

Karir politik Obama dimulai dengan menjadi senator pada negara bagian Illinois, AS, sejak tahun 1997 hingga tahun 2004. Pada tahun 2000, Obama sempat gagal terpilih untuk menduduki posisi pada U. S. House of Representatives. Akhirnya pada tahun 2004, Obama mulai berkampanye untuk menjadi U. S. senator melalui partai Demokrat dan pada bulan November 2004 Obama berhasil meraihnya, maka sejak 4 Januari 2005, Obama sudah mulai menjalankan tugas barunya sebagai U. S. Senator. Dalam sejarahnya, Obama merupakan keturunan Afrika-Amerika kelima yang menjadi seorang U. S. Senator.

Pada tanggal 10 Februari 2007, Obama resmi mengumumkan dirinya sebagai calon kandidat Presiden AS melalui pidatonya di gedung Old State Capitol, Springfield, Illinois, yaitu tempat yang sangat bersejarah dimana Abraham Lincoln pernah juga menyampaikan pidatonya pada tahun 1858.

Pada tanggal 23 Agustus 2008, Obama mengumumkan Joe Biden sebagai wakil yang akan mendampinginya dalam pemilihan umum tanggal 04 November 2008. Setelah mengungguli pesaingannya Hillary Clinton, Obama di aklamasikan melalui Konvensi Nasional Partai Demokrat di Denver, Colorado, sebagai kandidat presiden dari Partai Demokrat, kemudian pada tanggal 28 Agustus 2008 Obama secara resmi menyampaikan pidatonya dan menerima pencalonan dirinya sebagai kandidat Presiden AS dari Partai Demokrat.

Melalui pemilihan umum yang sangat demokratis pada tanggal 04 November 2008 kemarin, akhirnya Obama berhasil mengungguli pesaingnya John Mc Cain dari Partai Republik dengan kemenangan yang cukup telak melalui Electoral College Vote dan membawanya menjadi Presiden AS terpilih yang akan menggantikan kepemimpinan George W. Bush, sekaligus menjadi orang kulit hitam pertama yang akan menjadi Presiden AS.

Sebuah perjalanan panjang yang menegangkan dan sangat dramatis akhirnya ditutup dengan senyum kemenangan dan penuh kebanggaan oleh Obama si “Anak Menteng”. Yeah…, he is the first black President of United State of America, now !!!…..”

U.S. is recession, and it began in December 2007

2008-12-02T11:31:00.000+07:00

Official recession watchers at the NBER said today that the U.S. is recession, and it began in December 2007. Here is the text of their statement. The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research met by conference call on Friday, November 28. The committee maintains a chronology of the beginning and ending dates (months and quarters) of U.S. recessions. The committee determined that a peak in economic activity occurred in the U.S. economy in December 2007. The peak marks the end of the expansion that began in November 2001 and the beginning of a recession

How to Care for Your Facial Skin

2008-12-02T00:11:00.001+07:00

Good skin helps us 'face' the world with more confidence. It can even become a matter of good health.
Instructions

Step1 The first step in taking good care of your skin is to identify what kind of skin you have. Is it dry, normal, oily or have areas of more than one type?
Step2 For people with oily skin or acne, it is common to believe that constant washing will help. Unfortunately, this washes off the acid mantle that actually protects your skin and leaves it open to infection. Try for balance with you skin by using a toner.
Step3 As skin starts to age keeping it a consistent color will help it look younger. Increasing moisturizers, using pigmentation creams and increasing collagen and anti-oxidants will keep skin looking younger.
Step4 Sun damage is showing up at earlier ages than it used to. It creates a loss of tone. Melanocytes will normally start burning out in the skin in our 30's and 40's and these help protect from sun damage. Sunblock is important at any age, but becomes even more vital as our resistance to damage lowers.
Step5 Mature skin will have varying degrees of structural breakdown in loosing collagen and elasticity. Here come the wrinkles. Skin can also become dull and flaky so regular exfoliation will have a more noticeable impact. Retinoids and anti-oxidants can help rebuild skin somewhat. For major changes more intrusive methods can be used under the skin.
Step6 Everyone has their own skin type. It's part of each person's own 'look'. Try to appreciate your skin as it serves you well no matter how you judge it. So, whatever type of skin you have, it will look better and keep you healthier if you care for it well.

How to Choose the Right Scent for Your Personality

2008-12-01T23:41:00.002+07:00

Perfume is hundreds of years old. The Egyptians understood the power of the sense of smell and perfected the whole concept of "scent." However, they were not the only civilization to explore the sense of smell. Many believe that perfume is much older than we think, perhaps being used in very early religious rituals. Next to sight, the sense of smell is the most powerful to those seeking a base connection. It draws others to us because it evokes an essence about "who" we are as individuals. Choose the right scent and you just may draw the right individual to you. However, choose the wrong one and the results may not be so successful. So how do you go about choosing the right scent? Let's explore.

Instructions

Step1 Make a list of the scents that you particularly like such as fruits, spices, or florals. If you have specific favorites within those categories (like the smell of a rose or patouille spice) be sure to highlight them.
Step2 Make a list of the scents that you don't like. Be detailed.
Step3 If you already have perfumes on hand, take a look at the ones that you tend wear most often versus those that you barely wear at all. This will give you insight into your more subconscious scent preferences. For example, if you discover that you tend to wear more floral scents, that tells you something about yourself. On the other hand, if you tend use spicy scents, that says something else altogether. Or perhaps you even combine floral and spices together, which is another clue. On the other hand, if you find that you tend to avoid certain types of scents like floral-based or spice-based scents, that tells you that they likely do not reflect who you are as an individual.
Step4 If you haven't explored new perfumes in a while, take a trip to a local department store that has an extensive fragrance department. Better yet, if one is available in your area, visit a perfumery. Speak with a representative who is specifically trained in helping you to find the exact right scent for you. They will ask you questions about yourself and then steer you in the direction of scents that match. Or, in the case of a perfumery, they will help you to build your own personal scent(s). Ask for samples of your top choices if they are available. If not, often they can spray the scent choices on a card for you to make a temporary sample for further review. Pay attention to the price of the scent samples you choose since cost may ultimately have some kind of impact on your final choices.
Step5 Take your samples home and share them with people who know you well. Ask them to choose the sample scent that seems to reflect who they think you are as a person. If that matches with your own choice of scent then you likely have a winning fragrance. If, on the other hand, you get a lot of different responses, that may tell you that there are a lot of different sides to your personality and that finding a single signature scent may be virtually impossible. That need not be a bad thing, however, it will likely change the idea of a single signature scent.
Step6 Write down the attributes of your personality that best define you as an individual. If they remain virtually within a narrow corridor like "intelligent, serious, and sophisticated" or "bubbly, outgoing, and sensitive," then you may be able to find a single scent that will suit you. On the other hand, if your characteristics are all over the map, choosing a single scent to represent who you are may be much more difficult. Be sure to ask yourself if you respond to different scents at different times. For example, you love floral scents during the spring and summer when your sparkling personality is at its height. However, you prefer spicy musk-like scents in the fall and winter when you tend to be a bit more grounded and serious. You prefer lighter variations of the scent during the day and heavier versions when you're out on the town at night. That lets you know that purchasing a single purfume may not work for you because you won't likely wear it during the day since it will be too heavy.
Step7 Be honest with yourself about what you want your scent to accomplish. Is it just to reflect who you are as a person? Is it to lighten your mood or tone? Is it to attract others to you? Understanding what you want from your scent will help you to zero in on the one that may best help you accomplish that goal.
Step8 Match the personality attributes that you have written down and the things that you want to accomplish with your scent to the perfume samples that you have obtained. If there is a natural match, then that fragrance or fragrances may be just the ticket for you. Keep in mind, that you really don't have to be limited to a single scent. I personally have about a half dozen. There is one that I wear when I just want to be me. It is a light floral scent with a focus on gardenia. There is one that I wear when I want to draw my husband's attention. It is a clever mixture of floral (me) and spice (sex). There is one that I wear for professional occasions. It is light and fresh with a fruitier base that most people find less annoying. While obviously, if you can find a single scent that accomplishes everything, it may be less expensive that should not be your only reason for choosing it. If it is, you won't likely be happy with your choice.
Step9 Once you have narrowed your choice(s) down, then match that against the amount you are willing to spend on your signature fragrances. You may find that you can afford the parfume in some instances but only the eau de toillette in others. You must then decide if you can be happy with those selections. If so, then you are ready to make your purchases. If not, you may need to back up and start over by collecting some new samples and moving forward again.
Step10 Once you have made your scent choice, wear it for a period of time before deciding whether or not it really meets your requirements. Ask yourself the following questions. How does it make you feel? Does it adequately reflect who you are as an individual? Does it accomplish what you want from your scent? How does the scent mix with your personal body chemistry? Have your received compliments or complaints about it? I once wore a perfume called "Poison." I loved it. I thought it adequately reflected me as an individual; complex with both a rich floral and fruity scent. However, my friends were kind enough to tell me that the scent didn't work with my body chemistry; that it came across too strong. Consequently, I moved on to a similar scent that worked better overall for me as well as for those around me. If you are not ultimately happy with your choice over the long haul, then back up to Step 4 and start over.

Perfume on the use

2008-12-01T23:35:00.003+07:00

Perfume is a tricky solution that can smell different on different materials. Using the perfume right can be as easy as just smelling it. perfume on the right areas of your body can last longer. spraying perfume directly on to the skin is not advisable as it penetrates deeper and the chemicals can be a little allergic to some people. perfumes on that favorite dress can cause a stain, better avoid it while smelling great.
Instructions
Step1 Spray the perfume like a cloud in the air in front of you and just walk through the cloud for that subtleness.
Step2 spray perfume on to a cotton ball and dab it on behind the ear for your man to smell it just when he lowers to whispers into our ears.
Step3 Dab a little bit more on your wrist as the perfume lasts longer on the pulse points. Back of your knees, ankles.

Preman Internet - Fokus fokus fokus dan fokus

2008-11-30T22:08:00.000+07:00

pernahkah Anda mendengar atau mempunyai teman seperti ini ??

orang mau belajar google adwords ama amazon karena banyak temannya yang dapet cek dari amazon. Terus mau lagi belajar SEO, karena temennya make money dari jasa menaikkan website kliennya. Gak cukup liat lagi temennya jagoan eBay, apapun bisa dijual ama dia, bahkan ranting nemu ditengah jalan pun bisa dijual dan make money $800, akhirnya ikut2an lah dia belajar. Bulan depan belajar lagi ama temannya gimana seh caranya koq dari list-building bisa make moneynya gampang ,tinggal kirim-kirim eMail doank. dan seterusnya dan seterusnya :) . Pertanyaan Saya, mungkin dia ini adalah yang paling pintar karena hampir menguasai keseluruhan bagaimana caranya bisnis di Internet. Tapi kalo ditanya incomenya ?? … NOL BESAR..

Koq Saya bisa tau ?, gejala penyakit ini bukan cman ada di Indonesia doank boo.. Bahkan Internet Marketer kelas dunia pun sudah pernah bilang seperti ini. Anda lebih baik, jagoan di 1 bidang sampai master. Sampai kalo orang ingat Anda karena spesialisasi Anda.. Jangan orang sampai bingung, sebenarnya dia itu paling jagonya dimana seh ??

Fokus, fokus dan fokus lah pada 1 hal yang paling Anda sukai (ingat bukan yang paling Anda bisa). Karena dari suka akan berubah menjadi bisa dan master. Bisa bukan berarti Anda bisa menjadi master dengan cepat, tapi bisa ada kemungkinan karena dulunya dipaksa , akan lebih baik kalau Anda suka akan sesuatu hal.

Jika Anda membaca buku good to great, Ada 1 kisah tentang rubah dan landak. Rubah ini adalah orang yang sangat pintar sekali, belajar banyak jurus. Tapi landak ini hanya tahu 1 jurus Saja, yakni menggulung dan mengeluarkan duri. Sontak saja, setiap kali si rubah ingin menganggu si landak, pasti akan lari terbirit-birit karena terkena duri dari si landak. Ini karena si landak hanya menguasai 1 jurus, dan dia ulangi terus-menerus sampai master. Coba kalau si Landak belajar lari, lompat menghindar, atau menggali lubang, sudah pasti tertangkap duluan sebelum sempat melakukan ketiga hal tersebut. Inilah kuncinya dari belajar internet marketing , selama Anda mengikuti gerakan si landak, belajar 1 hal dan terus menerus diulangi hingga menjadi master, maka sukses di Internet Marketing sudah terlihat di akhir perjalanan Bisnis Anda di Internet.

Demikian dari Saya, semoga bermanfaat bagi Anda.Jika Anda ingin mendapatkan Ilmu atau tips dan trik tambahan Anda bisa mendapatkan eBook karangan teman Saya, Peter Kohar
secara Gratis di http://www.premaninternet.com/?ke=5474

Ingat Fokus fokus fokus dan fokus

Preman Internet - 7 Cara Menghasilkan Duit dari Internet

2008-11-30T22:05:00.000+07:00

Pada tulisan Saya yang kali ini, Saya mengambilnya dari eBook Preman Internet,
yakni ada 7 cara menghasilkan uang dari Internet. yakni :
- website konten
- resale right
- product creation
- affiliate marketing
- forum
- domain parking
- services

Mungkin dalam tulisan kali ini tidak mungkin Saya bisa membahas semuanya,
Saya akan menjelaskan Salah satunya, yakni services. salah satu services
yang dapat menghasilkan uang adalah dengan membuat website konten.

Yang pertama sekali mungkin akan saya bahas adalah Website Konten,
Cara menghasilkan duit dari website konten lebih banyak dari iklan-iklan yang
terpampang di dalam website tersebut, karena website konten sendiri lebih fokus
kepada memberikan informasi secara gratis dengan demikian pemilik website konten
akan lebih banyak memberi. Contohnya blog yang bagus adalah JohnChow.com

Jika Anda langsung mengakses kesana terlihat jelas di sisi kanan dan kiri dari website tersebut terisi begitu banyak banner-banner.
Perlu diingat blog dan website portal juga termasuk dalam website penyedia konten,
blog juga sarana memberikan informasi apalagi website portal semacam detik.com .
Pemilik website konten lebih fokus memberi terlebih dahulu baru menerima

belakangan dari biaya pemasangan iklan dari orang lain yang tertarik untuk
memasang iklan di website tersebut.

Saran saya bagi yang ingin memilih jalur ini : Lebih banyak Waktu daripada Uang
( yah jangan sampai ga ada uang sama sekali juga yah ;p) Karena untuk mengupdate
konten saat awal-awal tentunya membutuhkan waktu Anda sendiri, jangan pernah
meng-outsource hal-hal yang belum terbukti menghasilkan, karena sebelum
mengeluarkan biaya Anda harus sudah lebih tau dahulu berapa ROI yang akan Anda
dapatkan. Setelah Anda mendapatkan profit dari sana, baru Anda gulung profit
tersebut untuk menggaji GhostWriter ( Penulis bayangan ) untuk melanjutkan
konten di website Anda.

Demikian dari Saya, jika Anda merasa ini bermanfaat dan ingin mendapatkan tips
dan trik lainnya,Saya mempunyai seorang teman ahli internet marketing, Peter Kohar
yang akan membagikan eBook-nya Preman Interent secara Gratis
silahkan mengunjungi http://www.premaninternet.com/?ke=5474

Preman Internet - Bagaimana Mendapatkan $1.185,33 dalam waktu 1 hari

2008-11-30T22:01:00.001+07:00

esungguhnya banyak sekali cara untuk mencapai pendapatan tersebut dalam waktu 1 hari.
Tapi ijinkan Saya membeberkan cara yang revolusioner ala Preman Internet.
Memang cara yang akan diajarkan tidaklah mudah, tapi akan membuat Anda mendapatkan income tersebut secara konsisten.

Yang perlu Anda perhatikan dalam Bisnis Internet Anda adalah, sudahkah Anda memiliki jumlah subscribers list yang mengunjungi website Anda.
Jika Sudah, sudahkah Anda secara konsisten memberikan tips atau sekadar say hi kepada mereka.
bangunlah hubungan baik dengan list Anda. Karena dari sinilah Saya menghasilkan $1.185,33.

Tanpa bisa mendatangkan traffic yang bagus pun, Anda tidak bisa menghasilkan uang,
sangat dibutuhkan traffic yang berkualitas, bukan traffic yang bisa Anda beli,
biasanya itu adalah traffic sampah.

Inti dari cara Saya ini adalah bagaimana Anda bisa
menghasilkan uang dari 1 kali mengirimkan eMail kepada list Anda.
Jangan berharap pertama kali Anda mengirimkan eMail bisa mendapatkan hal besar seperti Saya,
tentunya butuh waktu untuk bisa mendapatkan hasil yang sama.

Demikian dari Saya, Jika Anda ingin mendapatkan informasi lebih banyak lagi, Anda bisa mendapatkannya secara Gratis sebuah eBook Preman Internet karya teman Saya Peter Kohar sebuah panduan untuk memajukan bisnis internet Anda,
Anda bisa mendapatkannya di sini :
http://www.premaninternet.com/?ke=5474

Bear Market History

2008-11-21T10:57:00.001+07:00

THE BEAR’S RECORD BOOK
The first step to creating that composite model to see what the future may look
like is to glance over past bear markets. You’ll find this of great help as
reference material in the years to come (and especially for all the bear
markets ahead).
No single past model exactly applies to today.
My list begins in 1900, because this was the first bear market after Dow
created the DJIA in 1897. Panics and crashes from earlier times also have
things they can teach us, but prior to 1897 market statistics are vague, so
anything earlier can only be referred to in a general sense:
1900 DJIA declined 31.8%. Duration of bear market: 12 months. Crash came
in December 1899. Bear market low in June 1900.
1903 DJIA declined 37.7%. Duration: 10 months. Crash occurred in
November 1902. Bear market low in September 1903.
1907 DJIA declined 45.0%. Duration: 10 months. Had two crash phases, the
first in February (DJIA fell 21.8% in this first phase); rallied in March
and April.
The second crash was July to November, a 4-month fall known historically as
the ‘‘Panic of 1907.’’ A bull market started at once after the second crash.
Stocks lost almost 50% (many much more) from the bull peak. A further
fall was prohibited by the fact that business did not fall much further after
the October economic collapse. Business coasted in a top area for 8 months
after the start of the first market crash, then, suddenly and without an alarm,
plunged down almost vertically in the midst of the second market crash.
Business indicators hit bottom 3 months later, stayed there for 4 months,
then began a healthy recovery:
1909 DJIA declined 26.2%. Started in November 1909, with the crash phase
in February 1910. The bear market low came in July 1910. Duration: 8
months.
1912 DJIA declined 23.5%. Duration of bear market: 26 months. Crash came
in June 1913, but bear had started in November 1912. Bear low came in
December 1914. Since the stock market was closed for 4 months in 1914
by the war, a true picture of the decline here is impossible. One source
says it was 36.3%. But I’ll take the more conservative published DJIA
figures as my base.
1917 DJIA declined 40.1%. Duration of bear market: 13 months. Crash
phase came in December 1916. Hit bear market low in December 1917.
1919 DJIA declined 46.6%. Duration: 21 months. Three crash phases. Initial
crash November 1919 to February 1920 (DJIA fell 25% in this first
History of Bear Markets 21
phase). Second crash in late 1920. Final crash in summer of 1921. Hit
low in June.
Business topped out slowly during the first market crash, then coasted rather
indecisively just below its top area for 6 months after the crash. Then it plunged
sharply, right after Labor Day, 1920. A depression lasting 1 year followed.
Business then recovered simultaneously with the stock market. The year 1921
was notable for a downswing that lasted 6 months nonstop, the second longest
downswing in bear market history.
1923 DJIA declined 18.6%. Duration of this baby bear market: 7 months.
1926 DJIA declined 16.6%. Duration of baby bear market: 2 months.
1929 DJIA declined 90.0%. Duration 34 months. Six successive market
crashes comprised this famed bear: (1) September to November 1929
(DJIA fell 40% in this first phase). (2) April to June 1930. (3) September
to December 1930. (4) March to May 1931. (5) July to January 1932.
(6) March to July 1932. A new bull market then started immediately, as
did a business recovery.
Business had topped out mildly, a month before the first crash; a gradual mild
decline continued to April 1930, then fell sharply into a depression simultaneously
with the end of the 1930 stock market rally. The business decline
halted in December 1930, stayed level for 6 months, then plunged again in
steep economic decline that didn’t lose its downward momentum for a full
year, until July 1932. Business improved intermittently thereafter but still
remained at depression levels through most of the 1930s except for a short
recovery in 1936–37.
1934 Rarely included among bear markets. But a fall of 24.1% in the DJIA
gives it a deserved berth here. Duration: 9 months. Then the market
took seven more months to get back up to where 1934 began.
1937 DJIA declined 51.8%. Duration: 56 months. Five crash phases: (1)
August to November (DJIA fell 40% in this first phase). (2) February
to March 1938. (3) January to April 1939. (4) May 1940. (5) October
1941 to April 1942. Business peaked out and fell violently, simultaneously
with stocks. Economic indicators bottomed out 9 months
later (May 1938). The recovery began mildly at first, but was later
boosted by the World War II production boom which eventually
lifted the country out of the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The period 1941–42 contained the longest bear market nonstop downswing (71
2
months) in history. Certain analysts call this two separate bear markets, one
from September 1937 to March 1938, and the second from May 1940 to April
1942. If you are simply looking at market action this view may be correct. But
22 Bear Market Investing Strategies
if you take a wider view within the context of the depressed mood of the times,
then it can be viewed as all part of a single bear market.
1946 DJIA declined 24.6%. Duration: 37 months. There was only one crash
phase (August–September 1946), and the bottom was hit within 4
months. But the market moved sideways for almost three years and
tested the 1946 low area three times. The final time was in 1949, after
which the market rose almost without interruption for the next 12 years
(160 to 741 in 1961).
1953 This was a very small bear market, but, as it was caused by war (Korea)
uncertainty, I include it here. DJIA declined 13.9% (295 to 254).
Duration of this quasi-bear market: 9 months.
1957 DJIA plummeted 106 points (522 to 416) for a 20.3% fall. Duration: 6
months.
1960 Opinions differ on whether this was a real bear market. But Dow
Theory signals were given, so it is included here. DJIA declined
18.0%. Points lost: 124. Duration: 10 months.
1962 DJIA declined 29% in 6 months. Extent of 1962 damage: the first crash
phase of 1929 lost 40 billion dollars. The 1962 crash lost over 100 billion
dollars. Even if we adjust those values in terms of 1929 purchasing
power, the 1962 crash still lost one and a quarter times as much as in
1929.
1966 Market plunged from 1001 to 735 in just over 8 months. This was the
end of the postwar super-bull market. At this point, the whole atmosphere
of the stock market changed. A new factor entered the investor’s
reasoning. Not only must he now assess the direction of the economy,
he must also consider government monetary intervention, which might
make him think he was making a profit, when in fact, in real value
terms, he was not. We will discuss this at greater length in Chapter 19.
1968 This was a long, drawn-out bear market. The DJIA declined from a
high in December 1968 of 994, down to a low of 627 in May 1970. This
was the first of the new-era bear markets, caused not so much by a
simple downturn in business but by currency woes.
1973 This one was scary! From a high of 1067 in January 1973, the market
slid relentlessly down to its final low of 570 in December 1974. Its
catalyst was the oil crisis. For the first time in American stock market
history, a foreign power, or group of powers, were able to precipitate an
economic slowdown. We had entered a new level of globalization after
which the world would never be the same.
1977 DJIA fell fairly gradually, though gathering some momentum as it went
from just over 1000 in January 1977 to a low of 736 in March 1978.
Nothing dramatic caused it; rather more of the same of the past decade:
increasing oil prices with dollar stability problems steadily worsening.
History of Bear Markets 23
TEAMFLY
1981 This bear snuck up on people. DJIA made a rare quadruple top that
convinced most investors it was building strength to break through.
DJIA fell from 1025 in April 1981 to a low of 770 in August 1982, or
255 points. A mere 17-month-long bear, it led to a recession which was
more severe than the stock market fall would indicate.
1984 Though this is not even considered a bear market by most, it scared a
lot of investors because it broke below a giant support area and
appeared to be heading back to the 1000 level, whence the bull
market of late 1982 and all of 1983 had come. It fell 16%, from 1295
to 1080 in 7 months.
1987 This was a heart-stopper for the very reason that there was no apparent
economic reason for it to occur. There were two catastrophic days of
multi-hundred point drops, with one of those days being the largest
one-day point drop in history. It came about because of computer
programming (explained earlier), computer insurance schemes, and
the globalization of markets. It was history’s first simultaneous global
bear market where all major world markets were hit badly at the same
time. Australia was among the hardest hit, Japan among the least, but
all had considerable damage. DJIA fell from 2747 to 1616 (i.e., 36.1%),
in less than 2 months. It took nearly 2 years to surpass its prior high.
1990 This was the direct result of Iraq invading Kuwait, and was halted when
the US launched Desert Storm. DJIA declined 17%. Duration: 4
months. This bear market, along with that of 1987 are the shortest
bear markets in history.
2000 By October 2001, the Nasdaq was down a whopping 72% though the
DJIA was only down around 25%. But most worrying, well before the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, was that the underlying economic
health of the US and most world economies showed increasing signs of
weakness. It is already clear that this bear market has damaged the
broader economic health of all major economies, more than any other
bear market in the last 60 years. But more of this later in our predictions
chapter.

PackageFromSanta.com

2008-11-21T10:31:00.000+07:00

"7 Simple Techniques for Keeping Your Child Believing in Santa Claus”

Many parents love to see the joy and excitement Santa Claus can bring to their child. For many people, their childhood memories of Santa Claus are the best Christmas memories they have. Keeping your child believing in Santa, however, can be a daunting task. Children are smart these days, and some of the old Santa tricks just don’t get by them anymore. Many children are perpetually plagued with the question, “Is there a Santa Claus?”

Every family may have slightly different Christmas traditions with regards to Santa Claus, but there are some very easy things any person can do to keep the belief in Santa at an all time high. The following 7 techniques will keep your child believing in the magic and wonderment of Santa Claus and you don’t have to be familiar with the history of Santa Claus to apply them.

1) Have your child write a Santa Letter. This can be a simple letter that your child can write to Santa Claus. Children absolutely love to write a letter to Santa, but they occasionally need a little parental guidance to pull it off.

Help your child include a special list of gifts they desire for Christmas into the Santa letter. Many children enjoy getting more creative by drawing or cutting out pictures that represent the gifts they want.

Once the child’s Santa letter is finished, simply mail it to the North Pole. Mail it to the following Santa Claus address: Santa Claus, 1 Candy Cane Lane, North Pole 00001. Don’t bother using a return address, you wouldn’t want it to return as ‘undeliverable’ for any reason.

2) Write a Letter from Santa and have your child receive it in the mail. Create a personalized letter from Santa by directly mentioning your child’s name and certain information about your child in the text. This will make for a much more believable Santa letter. Be sure to make these letters from Santa different for each child in the same household. The child will have no doubt that Santa Claus is coming to town after they receive their personalized letter from Santa!

“I can honestly state as a parent that the personalized letter from Santa has single handedly restored my son’s belief! The look of shock and amazement on his face when he got an ‘authentic letter from Santa’ quickly abolished any doubt he previously had about Santa Claus.”

Print the Santa letter on authentic looking letterhead, as this will help to reinforce the believability. Many different styles of paper can be found at your local office supply store.

You can add to the fun by getting your letter from Santa postmarked at the North Pole. Simply send your Santa letter inside another sealed, stamped envelope to: North Pole Christmas Cancellation, Postmaster, 5400 Mail Trail, Fairbanks, AK 99709-9999. (It needs to arrive by December 15th)

Many parents add a certificate for being on Santa’s “Nice List” along with the Santa Letter for added effect. Another great item to add with the Santa letter is a Santa Claus coloring sheet. Combining the personalized Santa letter, the nice certificate, and the Santa Claus coloring sheet is a sure fire method for keeping your child believing.

3) Have your child leave milk and cookies out for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. This is simple enough to do with your child. It lets your child know YOU still believe, too. Make it a bonding experience for you and your child by baking the cookies together on Christmas Eve. Don’t underestimate how powerful this can be for creating joyful memories of Santa Claus, for both you and your child. Did you know that Santa’s favorite cookie recipe is Chocolate Chip?

Put the fresh cookies on a plate next to a glass of cold milk. You can even put a short letter to Santa Claus next to the cookies and milk. These tasty treats will give Santa the energy he needs to continue traveling to the millions of other households awaiting his arrival.

Don’t forget to leave some crumbs on the table Christmas morning. Your child will feel honored that Santa Claus ate the whole plate of cookies and drank all of the milk before rushing on his way.

4) On Christmas Eve, have your child sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn. Santa Claus gets milk and cookies on Christmas Eve, but what about Rudolph and the rest of the joyful gang? What do they eat? Well, reindeer food, of course!

You can make a batch of environmentally friendly reindeer food with common grocery items such as oats or granola. (Do not use potentially hazardous items, such as glitter in your reindeer food. Although this may make the reindeer food appear to be magical in some way, it can be extremely dangerous if ingested by small children, should they decide to ‘sample’ the reindeer food. It can also be potentially hazardous to the small animals outside such as rabbits, dogs, or cats that may eat the food.)

Once you have the reindeer food mixed up, walk outside with your child on Christmas Eve night and explain the importance of making sure Santa’s sleigh team stays fed. Sprinkle a small amount onto your yard near bushes or trees.

This healthy reindeer snack will give Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer the nourishment they need to continue flying Santa’s heavy sleigh into the night. Your child will be proud for helping Santa Claus on his journey, and is sure to raise the belief in Rudolph and the other reindeer as well.

5) Leave Santa Claus tracks in your house on Christmas Eve. Being sure to not stain your carpet, leave some dirty boot prints by the fireplace (or doorway). Be sure to draw attention to the Santa Claus footprints on Christmas morning. To a child, this is solid evidence that Santa had been to their house.

6) A month or so after Christmas, send your child a postcard from Santa Claus on vacation. This not only keeps your child believing, but reminds your child that Santa is in their hearts all year long. It also answers the common question posed by children after Christmas, “Where is Santa Claus now?”

Be sure to make the postcard from somewhere very warm and sunny. After all, Santa does need a break from all that North Pole snow.

7) Mail your child a birthday greeting from Santa Claus. This technique works in tandem with the personalized Santa Letter you mailed your child previously. Mailing your child a simple birthday card from Santa is an excellent way to keep your child’s belief high throughout the year. Your child will think, “Wow! Santa actually knows my birthday!” The shock on your child’s face will be priceless.

Parents that have extremely intelligent kids or kids that are getting slightly older will genuinely need to utilize all 7 techniques mentioned above to keep their child believing in Santa Claus.

These techniques will assure your child is one of the millions of children that write Santa Letters each and every holiday season… one of the millions of children that believe wholeheartedly in Santa Claus.

A reputable, inexpensive website that offers all of this as a service can be found here: www.PackageFromSanta.com

Mineral Hygienics

2008-11-21T10:14:00.002+07:00

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Mineral Hygienics makeup is pure and natural—finally a makeup that’s good for your skin! Contains no harmful chemical additives dyes or irritants. Mineral makeup is so gentle on the skin it’s recommended by plastic surgeons, dermatologists, and estheticians. Find your perfect shade at Mineral Hygienics today.
Mineral Hygienics mineral makeup is made with 100% natural minerals and backed by a 60 day satisfaction guarantee. Find your perfect shade at Mineral Hygienics and save over $100 on the starter kit!

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Testimonial By: Helen Schneider Reno, Nevada

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Testimonial By: Hillary Mackel San Diego CA

My Email Address

2008-11-20T11:41:00.001+07:00

djamoe@gmail.com

Promotional Video

2008-11-18T17:25:00.001+07:00

Click Here to Sell Your Products or Become a Super Affiliate

Why I think PayDotCom is the Best Affiliate Marketplace on the Net!

2008-11-18T17:04:00.001+07:00

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Kemenangan spektakuler

2007-11-28T08:54:00.003+07:00

Kemenangan spektakuler melawan kesebelasannya si kribo... bantai abissss...

Welcome to another Planetarium Manager match!
A crowd of 6903 arrived at the stadium (with a full capacity of 20000 terraces) to see Idioters - FC Djamoe! The weather is very bad today, it is snowing heavily. It will be a hard game!

Idioters's players seem to be lacking some strength in comparison with their opponents on the hard pitch. After 3 minutes, some great play from FC Djamoe. Eka Kuswanto gets the ball, puts it on the entrance of the box, where Cosimo Di Leo appears and moves his foot back for a shot... and makes an enormous mistake. This ball won't be returning to the stadium. After 7 minutes, Suwita Oktavian dribbles through the opponent's defensive line, and passes the ball to Rahmawadi Irfansyah, who tries to chip it over the keeper... but Anocha Thongloa predicts this one and catches the ball without any problem! After 11 minutes, Agus Sabani makes the supporters of FC Djamoe jump out of their chairs, when showing great style he dribbles past two defenders. When another one gets in his way, he passes to Ali Nurdiyantoro who races clear to the goal... Ali Nurdiyantoro tries to offer the goal to a teammate but he completely misses the pass. Goal kick. At 14 minutes, with the scoreboard marking 0-0, Rahmawadi Irfansyah combines with Hamid Muaziz... outside the area Rahmawadi Irfansyah tries his luck with a powerful shot. However the ball goes into the crowd. The shot could have been much more accurate. Another play at about 16 minutes, a crossed pass to the box by Arief Nirwan finds Setia Bauw clear, who shoots strongly... no chance for the keeper! A rewarding goal for Idioters! The scoreboard now reads 1-0! The pressing made by the players of FC Djamoe seems to be working alright. Their opponents show some problems when they try to pass the ball among themselves. Another play at about 19 minutes, Hamid Muaziz recovers the ball with great effort, gets around two opposition players and with a subtle pass puts the ball on Rahmawadi Irfansyah's foot who shoots first time home, but the ball hits the bar and goes wide. Great shot. After 23 minutes, Cosimo Di Leo dribbles through the opponent's defensive line, and passes the ball to Rahmawadi Irfansyah, who shoots powerfully... goal kick for Idioters. After 25 minutes, Nanang Amin makes the supporters of Idioters jump out of their chairs, when showing great style he dribbles past two defenders. When another one gets in his way, he passes to Setia Hermawan who races clear to the goal... he tries to dribble around an opponent, but loses it. Great tackle by Hamid Muaziz. After 27 minutes, Cosimo Di Leo passes to Rahmawadi Irfansyah, who hits first time home... but Anocha Thongloa tips the ball out for a corner kick! Brilliant save by Anocha Thongloa which avoided what could have been a goal for FC Djamoe. Another play at about 31 minutes, Ali Nurdiyantoro receives a short pass from Rano Kusdaryanto, and still very far away from the box he slowly moves towards the goal... and without any warning Ali Nurdiyantoro shoots from 30 yards, but the ball goes straight to the hands of Anocha Thongloa. The goal-keeper of FC Djamoe is doing his job very well. His style is confusing the opposite forwards in this game. The goal-keeper of Idioters is doing his job very well. His style is confusing the opposite forwards in this game. After 42 minutes, Rahmawadi Irfansyah passes to Suwita Oktavian, who immediately returns the pass. Rahmawadi Irfansyah dribbles his way into the box... where Marwan Kartasasmita shows up, stopping this play showing a lot of positioning sense.

The game went to half-time, with the score at 1-0. In this first-half the ball possession was quite even, the home side kept the ball 44% of the time and the visitors 56%. Although the small difference in ball possession, the home team is in the lead. The second-half promises to be quite interesting.

After 46 minutes, a free kick occurs that can be very dangerous for the defensive line of Idioters. Cosimo Di Leo runs to the ball, shoots..... and it's a goal. Cosimo Di Leo smashed it past the keeper with a powerful shot!! With this goal, the result is now 1-1. After 49 minutes, Rahmawadi Irfansyah combines with Cosimo Di Leo... outside the area Rahmawadi Irfansyah tries his luck with a powerful shot. However the ball goes into the crowd. The shot could have been much more accurate. After 52 minutes, Agus Sabani recovers the ball with great effort, gets around two opposition players and with a subtle pass puts the ball on Ali Nurdiyantoro's foot who shoots first time home, but the ball hits the bar and goes wide. Great shot. Another play at about 60 minutes, Cosimo Di Leo combines with Mahyadi Hermawan... he dribbles past one, two, and when confronted with the one-on-one against the keeper he shoots successfully for the goal. Great play. With this goal for FC Djamoe the result is now 1-2. Even though they are still attacking, Idioters seems to be trying to do it in a different way. 64 minutes, after a pass by Cosimo Di Leo, Rahmawadi Irfansyah gets around his marker and enters the box where he only has to put it into the net! 1-3 is the result after this goal for FC Djamoe. At about 69 minutes, Mahyadi Hermawan crosses brilliantly to the box where Suwita Oktavian gains position and heads the ball... but the ball goes over the bar! The time is now 73 minutes, when a crossed pass to the box by Suwita Oktavian finds Cosimo Di Leo clear, who shoots strongly... no chance for the keeper! A rewarding goal for FC Djamoe! The result is now 1-4. Substitution for FC Djamoe at 74 minutes. Eka Kuswanto is leaving and will give his place to Setia Karim. Substitution for FC Djamoe at minute 75: in the place of Agus Sabani goes Mansour Djorkaeff. After 81 minutes, Hamid Muaziz recovers the ball in the opponent's midfield area and with a magnificent pass manages to play Rahmawadi Irfansyah clear who, in front of the goalkeeper, manages to take the ball out of his reach and with a simple touch scores. A subtle goal! The scoreboard now reads 1-5! After that last goal, it's easily noticeable that the forwards of FC Djamoe are now just waiting for the final whistle to arrive.

In this second-half the history of the game was completely different from the first-half, as the visitors controlled the match and reversed the score to a result that leaves no doubt to anyone.

Pertandingan Friendly lawan si kribo

2007-11-05T18:47:00.000+07:00

Kemenagan gue lawan timnya si kribo...

Welcome to another Planetarium Manager match!
A crowd of 6922 arrived at the stadium (with a full capacity of 10000 terraces) to see FC Djamoe - Idioters! The sky is pretty cloudy and it might rain! However, with a little luck the rain won't fall and we will have a good match!

After 20 minutes, after a pass by Mahyadi Hermawan, Jafar Arnata gets around his marker and enters the box where he only has to put it into the net! With this goal for FC Djamoe the result is now 1-0. Idioters seems to be changing their style even though they kept attacking. 22 minutes, Bintang Badudu dribbles through the opponent's defensive line, and passes the ball to Setia Hermawan, who tries to chip it over the keeper... but Jafar Muaziz predicts this one and catches the ball without any problem!

Half-time. The result is 1-0. The statistics are pretty clear in terms of ball possession: the away side dominated with 73% of ball possession, while FC Djamoe held it much less, with 27%. It's a strange match so far. While Idioters throws away goal chances, the home side is much more effective and they are scoring. Clearly an unfair result.

The goal-keeper of FC Djamoe is doing his job very well. His style is confusing the opposite forwards in this game. Around 68 minute(s), substitution for FC Djamoe. Reza Roy leaves the field, and in his place Kurnia Kadiman is set to enter. Another play at about 69 minutes, Nanang Amin makes the supporters of Idioters jump out of their chairs, when showing great style he dribbles past two defenders. When another one gets in his way, he passes to Bintang Badudu who races clear to the goal... Bintang Badudu tries to offer the goal to a teammate but he completely misses the pass. Goal kick. FC Djamoe's coach brought a new face onto the ground. For their second substitution, Ali Kadiman will come on, in the place of Suwita Oktavian. All this at 70 minutes. Substitution for FC Djamoe at 72 minutes. Gedong Siswantoro is leaving and will give his place to Rahmawadi Irfansyah. After 75 minutes, Rahmawadi Irfansyah recovers the ball and dribbles around one, another, and yet another defender before passing the ball to Jafar Arnata... Jafar Arnata under pressure from the defence shoots straight into the hands of Kurnia Rohiman, who in turn nearly makes a meal out of it and only safely grabs the ball after dropping it the first time. At 82 minutes, with the scoreboard marking 1-0, Jusuf Iswadi crosses brilliantly to the box where Agus Satria gains position and heads the ball... but Jafar Muaziz was paying attention and saves it easily. After 90 minutes, some great play from FC Djamoe. Jafar Arnata gets the ball, puts it on the entrance of the box, where Rahmawadi Irfansyah appears and moves his foot back for a shot... but Marwan Kartasasmita with an excellent tackle intercepts the ball before the shot.

At the end of the match, FC Djamoe wins as they kept the advantage they had at half-time.

Pertandingan Liga PManager

2007-11-01T08:30:00.000+07:00

Aduh seri lage nehhh...

Welcome to another Planetarium Manager match!A crowd of 10000 arrived at the stadium (with a full capacity of 10000 terraces) to see PSDS Jakarta - FC Djamoe! The weather is reasonable, where through the light rain the sun often appears.
The goal-keeper of FC Djamoe is doing his job very well. His style is confusing the opposite forwards in this game. Half-time. The result is 0-0. The statistics are pretty clear in terms of ball possession: the home side dominated with 64%, while FC Djamoe held it much less, with 36%. With some surprise, FC Djamoe is keeping this result very well. Let's see for how much longer.At minute 68, FC Djamoe makes its first substitution. Reza Roy leaves for Kurnia Kadiman. At 70 minutes, FC Djamoe makes its second substitution. Suwita Oktavian leaves and Ali Kadiman enters in his place. At 72 minutes, FC Djamoe makes its third substitution. Gedong Siswantoro leaves and Rahmawadi Irfansyah enters in his place. 80 minutes, Batara Arief dribbles through the opponent's defensive line, and passes the ball to Monang Kuncahyo, who shoots powerfully... goal kick for FC Djamoe. After 88 minutes, Ali Nurdiyantoro recovers the ball with great effort, gets around two opposition players and with a subtle pass puts the ball on Rahmawadi Irfansyah's foot but he confuses himself, allowing Khusnul Iswadi to recover the ball. Nor PSDS Jakarta nor FC Djamoe scored the goals to change the draw reported at half-time. They both took a draw to their homes.

Pertandingan Friendly

2007-10-30T16:02:00.000+07:00

Welcome to another Planetarium Manager match!A crowd of 4397 arrived at the stadium (with a full capacity of 33000 terraces) to see Real Valladolid C. F. - FC Djamoe! The conditions are bad, it is raining so the pitch is quite wet. These aren't conditions for technical football!
4 minutes are counted, Amir Refoua crosses brilliantly to the box where Dmitry Shekel gains position and heads the ball... but Jafar Muaziz was paying attention and saves it easily. Real Valladolid C. F.'s players seem to be lacking some strength in comparison with their opponents on the hard pitch. Another play at about 8 minutes, Dömötör Koszta shows a great understanding with Amir Refoua, they make a combination move all the way to the area... Dömötör Koszta still with the ball, tries to chip it over the keeper... and scores! Great goal by Dömötör Koszta. With this goal, the result is now 1-0. After 13 minutes, Alejandro Delgado makes the supporters of Real Valladolid C. F. jump out of their chairs, when showing great style he dribbles past two defenders. When another one gets in his way, he passes to Dmitry Shekel who races clear to the goal... he tries to dribble around an opponent, but loses it. Great tackle by Hengky Matalkah. Another play at about 17 minutes, Dömötör Koszta dribbles through the opponent's defensive line, and passes the ball to Dmitry Shekel, who tries to chip it over the keeper... but Jafar Muaziz predicts this one and catches the ball without any problem! The goal-keeper of Real Valladolid C. F. is doing his job very well. His style is confusing the opposite forwards in this game. 21 minutes, a free kick occurs that can be very dangerous for the defensive line of FC Djamoe. Jiang Tet Yung runs to the ball, shoots..... but the ball hits Hengky Matalkah and it's a corner kick for Real Valladolid C. F.. After 25 minutes, Dömötör Koszta combines with Dmitry Shekel... Dömötör Koszta gets himself clear and goes into the box where Jafar Muaziz blocks the ball near his feet and puts an end to the potentially dangerous play. 29 minutes, a free kick occurs that can be very dangerous for the defensive line of FC Djamoe. Dmitry Shekel runs to the ball, shoots..... great shot for a miraculous save by Jafar Muaziz. Real Valladolid C. F.'s coach brought a new face onto the ground. For their first substitution, Óscar Portero will come on, in the place of Fernando Sanz. All this at 31 minutes. The marking style applied by Real Valladolid C. F.'s players is working very well today. At 32 minutes, Real Valladolid C. F. makes its second substitution. Jorge Gómez leaves and Jesús Badajoz enters in his place. 32 minutes, Dmitry Shekel manages to release himself from his marker, and with excellent vision drives a pass that falls beautifully for Dömötör Koszta who in turn makes a hooked shot, for the almost impossible save by Jafar Muaziz! Substitution for Real Valladolid C. F.: at 33 minutes, David Soto replaces Francisco Macías. After 36 minutes, Marcos González Palacios passes to Dömötör Koszta, who hits first time home... but Jafar Muaziz tips the ball out for a corner kick! Brilliant save by Jafar Muaziz which avoided what could have been a goal for Real Valladolid C. F.. 39 minutes according to the clock, Juan Gama recovers the ball in the opponent's midfield area and with a magnificent pass manages to play Dömötör Koszta clear who shoots first time home straight into the hands of Jafar Muaziz. Dömötör Koszta could have been more calm in the moment of that shot. After 42 minutes, Dmitry Shekel dribbles through the opponent's defensive line, and passes the ball to Dömötör Koszta, who tries to chip it over the keeper... but Jafar Muaziz predicts this one and catches the ball without any problem! 45 minutes, Dmitry Shekel shows a great understanding with Marcos González Palacios, they make a combination move all the way to the area... Dmitry Shekel still with the ball, tries to chip it over the keeper, but Jafar Muaziz manages to avoid what could have been a great goal by Dmitry Shekel, tipping the ball over the bar. The game went to half-time, with the score at 1-0. In this first-half the ball possession was quite even, the home side kept the ball 56% of the time and the visitors 44%. The stats seem to justify the result at the moment, despite the good performance from FC Djamoe to date.After 52 minutes, Dömötör Koszta shows a great understanding with Dmitry Shekel, they make a combination move all the way to the area... Dömötör Koszta still with the ball, tries to chip it over the keeper, but Jafar Muaziz manages to avoid what could have been a great goal by Dömötör Koszta, tipping the ball over the bar. The pressing made by the players of Real Valladolid C. F. seems to be working alright. Their opponents show some problems when they try to pass the ball among themselves. After 56 minutes, Marcos González Palacios makes the supporters of Real Valladolid C. F. jump out of their chairs, when showing great style he dribbles past two defenders. When another one gets in his way, he passes to Dmitry Shekel who races clear to the goal... Dmitry Shekel tries to shoot, but Jafar Muaziz opposes him very well and makes a great save. 60 minutes are counted, Marcos González Palacios recovers the ball with great effort, gets around two opposition players and with a subtle pass puts the ball on Dömötör Koszta's foot but he confuses himself, allowing Rano Kusdaryanto to recover the ball. The defensive line of FC Djamoe is able to put the opponent forwards in offside frequently. After 63 minutes, Marcos González Palacios crosses brilliantly to the box where Dömötör Koszta gains position and heads the ball... but Jafar Muaziz was paying attention and saves it easily. Substitution for FC Djamoe at 68 minutes. Reza Roy is leaving and will give his place to Kurnia Kadiman. After 68 minutes, Real Valladolid C. F.'s players are calmly passing the ball near FC Djamoe's box. Juan Gama passes to David Soto who is able to find some space. He is going to shoot... but Jafar Muaziz, safely, takes two steps ahead and saves it. Substitution for FC Djamoe: at 70 minutes, Ali Kadiman replaces Suwita Oktavian. FC Djamoe's coach brought a new face onto the ground. For their third substitution, Rahmawadi Irfansyah will come on, in the place of Gedong Siswantoro. All this at 72 minutes. At 74 minutes, with the scoreboard marking 1-0, a free kick occurs that can be very dangerous for the defensive line of FC Djamoe. Dömötör Koszta runs to the ball, shoots..... great shot for a miraculous save by Jafar Muaziz. At 78 minutes, with the scoreboard marking 1-0, Marcos González Palacios passes to Jesús Badajoz who cleverly waits for Marcos González Palacios to get himself clear to receive the return ball... he controls well the ball, but Hamid Muaziz tells him who's the boss there and recovers it. At about 81 minutes, Amir Refoua dribbles through the opponent's defensive line, and passes the ball to Dmitry Shekel, who tries to chip it over the keeper... but Jafar Muaziz predicts this one and catches the ball without any problem! Despite continuing to play in the same style, Real Valladolid C. F. seems to be trying to pass in a different way. After 84 minutes, some great play from Real Valladolid C. F.. Jiang Tet Yung gets the ball, puts it on the entrance of the box, where Dömötör Koszta appears and moves his foot back for a shot... but the shot is weak and Jafar Muaziz saves it easily. 87 minutes are counted, after a pass by Amir Refoua, Dmitry Shekel gets around his marker and enters the box and shoots... The goalkeeper doesn't even move... But Hengky Matalkah cleares it off the line! Another play at about 90 minutes, it is the excellent vision of Dömötör Koszta who makes a slashing pass which soars over FC Djamoe's whole defensive line to a well positioned Dmitry Shekel... Dmitry Shekel takes advantage of this great pass and races clear to the goal, but Jafar Muaziz gets out of the goal very quickly and makes a first-rate save! After 94 minutes, a free kick occurs that can be very dangerous for the defensive line of FC Djamoe. Dmitry Shekel runs to the ball, shoots..... great shot for a miraculous save by Jafar Muaziz. After the end of the match, the one goal difference at half-time was kept by the home side, and so Real Valladolid C. F. wins by the minimum advantage.

Pertandingan PManager

2007-10-29T17:07:00.000+07:00

Laporan paandangan mata FC djamoe VS Persija
Welcome to another Planetarium Manager match!A crowd of 10000 arrived at the stadium (with a full capacity of 10000 terraces) to see FC Djamoe - Persija! The weather is reasonable, where through the light rain the sun often appears.
Another play at about 19 minutes, Reza Roy receives a short pass from Kurnia Kadiman, and still very far away from the box he slowly moves towards the goal... and without any warning Reza Roy shoots from 30 yards, but the ball goes straight to the hands of Surya Arnata. The game went to half-time, with the score at 0-0. In this first-half, the visitors dominated the match with 73% and the home team with 27%. With some surprise, FC Djamoe is keeping this result very well. Let's see for how much longer.Around 72 minute(s), substitution for FC Djamoe. Gedong Siswantoro leaves the field, and in his place Rahmawadi Irfansyah is set to enter. Nor FC Djamoe nor Persija scored the goals to change the draw reported at half-time. They both took a draw to their homes.

Laporan pandangan mata pertandingan PMANAGER

2007-10-25T08:30:00.001+07:00

Laporan Pandangan mata dari kemenangan yang cukup spektakuler melawan FC Nusantara dari pertandingan di PManager.

Welcome to another Planetarium Manager match!A crowd of 25044 arrived at the stadium (with a full capacity of 30000 terraces) to see FC Nusantara - FC Djamoe!
The conditions are bad, it is raining so the pitch is quite wet. These aren't conditions for technical football!
FC Nusantara's players seem to be lacking some strength in comparison with their opponents on the hard pitch. 9 minutes, Gedong Siswantoro passes to Jafar Arnata, who hits first time home... but the shot goes very wide, not bringing about any danger for FC Nusantara's goalkeeper. The goal-keeper of FC Nusantara is doing his job very well. His style is confusing the opposite forwards in this game. After 12 minutes, a crossed pass to the box by Kurnia Kadiman finds Jafar Arnata clear, however Mochtar Sofyan tackles well and concedes a corner kick for FC Djamoe! The marking style applied by FC Djamoe's players is working very well today. At about 17 minutes, Jafar Arnata passes to Hengky Matalkah, who immediately returns the pass. Jafar Arnata dribbles his way into the box... nobody tries to stop Jafar Arnata, so he takes the chance to shoot and scores!! The keeper didn't even see it. What a shot by Jafar Arnata. The result is now 0-1. Another play at about 20 minutes, Suwita Oktavian manages to release himself from his marker, and with excellent vision drives a pass that falls beautifully for Jafar Arnata who without any marker, fires a hooked shot that hits the post and flies out of play. The players of FC Djamoe are winning the majority of one-on-one confrontations. 24 minutes are counted, Jafar Arnata recovers the ball in the opponent's midfield area and with a magnificent pass manages to play Gedong Siswantoro clear who in turn makes a strong shot from the wing and the ball passes just a few millimetres off the post. Great goal opportunity. 30 minutes, Reza Roy dribbles through the opponent's defensive line, and passes the ball to Gedong Siswantoro, who tries to chip it over the keeper... but Satrio Hutabarat predicts this one and catches the ball without any problem! The goal-keeper of FC Djamoe is doing his job very well. His style is confusing the opposite forwards in this game. Another play at about 38 minutes, Reza Roy recovers the ball in the opponent's midfield area and with a magnificent pass manages to play Suwita Oktavian clear who shoots first time home straight into the hands of Satrio Hutabarat. Suwita Oktavian could have been more calm in the moment of that shot. 42 minutes according to the clock, Gedong Siswantoro manages to release himself from his marker, and with excellent vision drives a pass that falls beautifully for Jafar Arnata who shoots immediately and manages to squirm the ball under the legs of the goalkeeper, scoring the goal. He was a bit lucky with that shot. With this goal, the result is now 0-2. The defensive line of FC Djamoe is able to put the opponent forwards in offside frequently. The game went to half-time, with the score at 0-2. In this first-half, the home side were the bosses in ball possession with 58%. The visitors held it 42%. However the away team has been more effective and the current result is not as fair as it should be.After 49 minutes, Hamid Muaziz makes a pass to Reza Roy all the way on the other wing. He is going to make a cross... but the first to head the ball is Mochtar Sofyan, and his header clears it from the dangerous area. At 55 minutes, with the scoreboard marking 0-2, a free kick occurs that can be very dangerous for the defensive line of FC Nusantara. Gedong Siswantoro runs to the ball, shoots..... great shot for a miraculous save by Satrio Hutabarat. Around 60 minute(s), substitution for FC Nusantara. Muhammad Amin leaves the field, and in his place Pidato Fatahillah is set to enter. Substitution for FC Nusantara at minute 60: in the place of Nuzran Siswantoro goes Abdul Muaziz. FC Nusantara's coach brought a new face onto the ground. For their third substitution, Abdul Fatahillah will come on, in the place of Suwita Manaf. All this at 60 minutes. After 64 minutes, after a pass by Reza Roy, Gedong Siswantoro gets around his marker and enters the box and shoots... The goalkeeper doesn't even move... But Pidato Fatahillah cleares it off the line! After 69 minutes, it is the excellent vision of Reza Roy who makes a slashing pass which soars over FC Nusantara's whole defensive line to a well positioned Gedong Siswantoro... but Gedong Siswantoro wastes too much time which allows Kurnia Iswadi to close in and tackle him. 73 minutes according to the clock, a crossed pass to the box by Jafar Arnata finds Gedong Siswantoro clear, but Gedong Siswantoro wasn't able to do any better than put it well over the bar... Ball into the crowd. At 82 minutes, with the scoreboard marking 0-2, Ali Nurdiyantoro recovers the ball in the opponent's midfield area and with a magnificent pass manages to play Jafar Arnata clear who in turn makes a strong shot from the wing and the ball passes just a few millimetres off the post. Great goal opportunity. At 86 minutes, with the scoreboard marking 0-2, Suwita Oktavian receives a short pass from Kurnia Kadiman, and still very far away from the box he slowly moves towards the goal... and without any warning Suwita Oktavian shoots from 30 yards, but the ball goes straight to the hands of Satrio Hutabarat. After 91 minutes, some great play from FC Djamoe. Ali Nurdiyantoro gets the ball, puts it on the entrance of the box, where Suwita Oktavian appears and moves his foot back for a shot... and makes an enormous mistake. This ball won't be returning to the stadium. At the end of the 90 minutes, the two goals advantage of the away team was enough to win the match. FC Nusantara wasn't able to change the course of the game. During the game, it was clear that the players of FC Djamoe played at 200%.

Ngomong-ngomong masalah THR nehhh.....

2007-10-08T17:15:00.000+07:00

ASAL MUASAL THR
Sambil menunggu THR..., berikut sekilas tentang asal muasal THR.:)
=====================================================
Mengapa THR menjadi hak karyawan?
Misalkan Gaji per-bulan :Rp. 5 Juta
Maka Gaji per-minggu :Rp. 1,25 Juta.
(Sebulan ada 4 Minggu, sehingga 5 Juta dibagi 4 = 1.25 juta)
Dalam setahun ada 52 minggu.
Gaji 1 tahun = Gaji 52 minggu = 52 x 1,25 juta = Rp. 65.000.000
Gaji 1 tahun = 12 bulan x 5 Juta = Rp. 60.000.000
----------------------------------------------------------
Selisih = Rp
5.000.000
Ternyata ada selisih Rp. 5.000.000,- Inilah yang disebut THR atau gaji
ke-13.
Makanya, jangan ge-er dulu bila memperoleh THR..., itu memang uang kita
sendiri .

Kongres Setan

2007-10-08T17:10:00.000+07:00

Semoga kongres setan ini dapat menjadi berkat !
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Suatu ketika para setan berkumpul mengadakankongres setan se dunia.Pada pidato pembukaannya, sang pemimpin berkata:"Kita ngak mungkin menjauhkan umat kristianidari gereja.Kita tidak bisa mencegah mereka membaca Alkitab dan mengetahui kebenarannya.Kita bahkan tidak bisa mencegah mereka berhubungan dengan Sang Penyelamat.Sekali mereka memperoleh kontak dengan Jesus, maka kekuasaan kita akanhancur."" Biarkan saja mereka ke gereja.Begitu mereka selesai makan malam, curilahwaktunya, sehingga mereka tidak punya waktu untuk membangun hubungan denganJesus Kristus. ""Inilah yang harus kalian lakukan," kata setan."Jauhkan mereka dari Sang Penyelamat, dankonsentrasilah ke jaringan-jaringan vital yang mengatur hidup merekasepanjang hari .""Apa yang harus kami lakukan ?" teriak setan-setan yang hadir."Buat mereka sibuk untuk hal-hal yang sepeledalam hidup mereka dan dapat mempengaruhi jalan pikiran mereka," jawab SangPemimpin." Perbanyak waktu luang mereka dan sibukkan.Usahakan ibu2 rumah tangga bekerja lebih lamadan suaminya juga bekerja 6 - 7 hari seminggu, 10 - 12 jam sehari, sehinggamereka tidak sempat bersosialisasi.Buat mereka tidak punya waktu luang buat anak.Begitu keluarga mereka terpecah, maka kesibukan menjadi tempat pelarian.""Arahkan jalan pikiran mereka sehingga tidakmendengar hati nurani lagi.Usahakan mereka memutar kaset atau mendengarkan radio pada saat mengemudi.Jaga agar TV, VCD Player, CD dan komputer tetap diputar terus menerus dirumah mereka dan usahakan tidak terdengar lagu-lagu rohani di setiap tokomaupun restoran yang ada didunia.Ini akan mempengaruhi pikiran mereka danmemutuskan hubungan dengan Kristus.""Isi ruang tamu mereka dengan majalah dan suratkabar.Penuhi pikiran mereka dengan berita selama 24jam.Pasang billboard / iklan disepanjang jalan, agarterbaca pada saat berkendaraan.Banjiri kotak suratnya dengan katalog barang,promosi barang, undian dan segala macam penawaran barang gratisan denganjanji-janji palsu.""Percantik semua model yang muncul di majalah - majalah dan TV, sehinggapara suami merasa kecantikan lahiriah lebih penting dan merasa kecewa denganpenampilan istri sendiri."" Buat para istri kelelahan, sehingga tidak adawaktu romantis dengan suaminya.Jika mereka tidak bisa saling memberikan kasihsayang sebagai suami istri seperti layaknya, maka mereka akan berpaling keorang lain aliasselingkuh.Ini akan mempercepat keluarga tersebut berantakan."Buat mereka sakit kepala juga."Berikan kepada mereka Sinterklas, agar paraorang tua tidak memahami & tidak sempat menerangkan arti Natal yangsebenarnya kepada anak-anaknya.Berikan mereka telur Paskah, sehingga merekabingung & tidak pernah berbicara tentang arti sebenarnya dari kuasapenebusan dari darahKristus atas dosa dan maut.Bahkan saat rekreasi, biarkan mereka bertingkah berlebihan & terjadikonflik2, sehingga begitu mereka pulang dari rekreasi, maka badan & pikiranmereka akan kecapaian. jangan Biarkan mereka pergi ke alam bebasyang bisa membuat mereka kagum atas ciptaanTuhan.Usahakan mereka tetap sibuk dan kirim mereka ke taman bermain, tempatberolahraga, mal, konser musik dan bioskop."Pokoknya bikin mereka sibuk, sibuk, sibuk terus terutama sibuk mencari &mengumpulkan uang, buat mereka terus kuatir akan hari depannya, supayamereka menjadi sakit & melakukan ber-macam2 dosa dengan bebas &kreatif !""Biarkan saja mereka menghadiri kebaktian ataupersekutuan doa, tapi libatkan mereka dalam gossip dan basa basi, jangansampai pikirannya terfokus kepada Allah & hatinya terbuka untukdibentuk ulang & menjadi berubah, tapi buat mereka menjadi orang yangmunafik, pura2 rohani & sehingga mereka hanya ber-main2, cuek & tidak sadarapalagi takut sekalipun sedang berada di hadapan Allah saat itu.Paling baik lagi, bila mereka " diakali " agar merasa tidak puas & kecewaoleh orang2 gereja sendiri, sehingga dengan penuh kesadaran tidakmau datang lagi ke gereja.Kacaukan tujuan hidup mereka dengan harta benda yang menyebabkan merekatidak punya waktu utk bersandar, berharap & meneladani kehidupan dari Jesus.Ini akan membuat mereka bekerja dengan kekuatan sendiri mengorbankankesehatan mereka dan keluarga hanya utk harga benda atau materi."Biarkan harta itu dibawanya kekuburan atau menjadi biang keributan diantaraanak2nya nanti." Ini pasti berhasil.... .. ! " "Ini pastiberhasil.... .! "BUSY (sibuk) berarti : Being UnderSatan's Yoke[ berada di bawah kuk yang dipasang setan ]Walaupun ini adalah sebuah rencana sederhana.Nampaknya setan2 ini telah berhasilmelaksanakan tugas mereka, sehingga byk umat kritiani di dunia ini terlihatbegitu sibuk pontang panting ke sana ke mari, sehingga hanya mempunyai waktusedikit sj dengan Tuhan dan keluarga!!!! ...Bahkan dibuat sampai tidak punya waktu untukmenceritakan tentang kuasa Tuhan yang telahmenyelamatkan & merubah hidup mereka kepada orang lain.Apakah setan telah sukses dengan rencananyakepada Anda juga ? Don't let this happen.
Semoga hikmat dari Tuhan kita Yesus Kristusmenyertaimu saat ini !

My First Blog

2007-10-08T12:13:00.001+07:00

Halo semuanya.. gue mau coba2 neh maenan blog... jadi maklum aje yah kalo blog nya tampilannya masih jelek banget... gue mau tampilin poto anak gue.. hehehehe...