Recession

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

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

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

"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

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 !!!…

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

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

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

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

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.