Financial Crisis: The Philippine Version

[uls]

hahaha

i do not live in Wonderland... where everything's fair, where the playing field is level, where the govt does its job, where good is rewarded and evil is punished.

i live in the real world... where things are unfair, where the playing field isnt level, where the govt doesnt do its job, where good goes unrewarded and evil goes unpunished.

instead of complaining that life is unfair...

and protesting this protesting that...

and demanding the govt should help me,

i just try to adapt to the present environment, learn its rules, and try my best to survive and thrive in it.

You guys know anyone who lives in Wonderland?

hehe

[tidus1203]

As uls said, change yourself rather than change the system its easier that way...

[uls]

yep...

that's how people get ahead.

they adapt to the environment

those who fail to adapt get left behind... and complain.

[jonski]

As uls said, change yourself rather than change the system its easier that way...

I agree

[actor21]

those who fail to adapt get left behind... and complain.

agree ako dito..pero sa oil prices ngayon? maski nag roll back na ng 2pesos sa petrol at 5 sa diesel hindi ako agree hehehe

[4wrider]

There is a danger in always adopting to your environment. As it is clear that the environment we have now is corrupt and unstable adjusting accordingly will make you as a person corrupt and unstable compromising your very core principles and throwing away your belief system just to survive.

The common belief that good guys always finish last is definitely not true except if your working for a few government offices (but there are exception to the exceptions). Actually those who are strong enough to stand on their principles refusing to be moved by the evil around are the true winners in any society. Some of them we call heroes and martyrs are still admired long after they left the living.

On the other hand, we still scorn and deride those who have chosen to conveniently flow with the prevailing power or system. Many of them cloak themselves with anonymity since they know deep inside that what they were doing was wrong but have have rationalized that such was necessary to survive. Exemplary of these survivors are the Makapilis who donned paper bags to cover the despicable acts of capitulation to the power that be and even pointing their own friends to the Japanese just to survive.

I think those who have given up and flow where the current takes them are not better of (though they may appear to be with bigger houses and nicer cars) than those who stand their ground and fight for what is right. I believe the great majority of the thinking pinoys are still standing up with their heads held up high. Others might see them as hoping against hope but hope they still have.

And hope is what we we need in large measure this coming months and even years when the worst of Wallstreet finally impacts on the real economy. And when governments see that democratic ideals like free market and property ownership are no longer ideal and state intervention and strong central government are what can be used best to achieve economic prosperity. Then we'll probably see the return of military rules and great comeback of the euro generals etc.

[True Faith]

hahaha

You guys know anyone who lives in Wonderland?

hehe

ummm.....Alice W. Onderland?:naughty2:

[safeorigin]

i do know somebody who lives in neverland (ranch) though

[Gen. Miting]

The common belief that good guys always finish last is definitely not true except if your working for a few government offices (but there are exception to the exceptions).

actually sir, the saying "good guys always finish last" has a double meaning. most of us just take the negative context pero if we are really to apply this to the world, the good guy really finish last. those who worked hard all their life, get their fat retirement packages in the end (and even if they dont, they are more likely to recover) those who studied and toiled so much, get their dreams/carreers after a long and life-learning struggle.

if we are really to interpret the saying. the good guys always finish last but the bad guy never really finish at all. parang pera lang yan, easy come, easy go.

they may get their Millions at an early age say below 30, but really only a few of them learn the lesson and most of them lose it as fast as they earned it. then they'll spend the rest of their lives trying to re-enact their "15 minutes of fame" or their overnight success. and that becomes a never-ending quest/obsession that will never happen again ... and wasting all their should have been fruitful life altogether

[Gen. Miting]

hahaha

i do not live in Wonderland... where everything's fair, where the playing field is level, where the govt does its job, where good is rewarded and evil is punished.

i live in the real world... where things are unfair, where the playing field isnt level, where the govt doesnt do its job, where good goes unrewarded and evil goes unpunished.

instead of complaining that life is unfair...

and protesting this protesting that...

and demanding the govt should help me,

i just try to adapt to the present environment, learn its rules, and try my best to survive and thrive in it.

You guys know anyone who lives in Wonderland?

hehe

actually, *uls those who complain or rather those who "strategically" complain dont play fair also. kita mo trial by publicity lang, the oil companies gave in. we now have sub P40 diesel hehehe

complaining and protesting are also good tools for adapting to the present environment. so do you think this is fair to your so-called market forces?

[jpdm]

Well, the financial crisis is now affecting SMEs.....

[Monseratto]

Financial crisis worrying the Big Boys...

Property, retail barons review forecasts as global crisis hit OFWs

In Manila's upscale business district of Makati, luxury flats are still fetching record prices, but the country's property barons are getting nervous as the financial crisis takes hold.

Builders have already started to review their plans amid fears that the huge Filipino expatriate work force that last year sent home more than $14 billion, could shrink as jobs are lost in the recession-hit West.

"We haven't experienced changes in default rates," said Alfonso Reyes, chief investor relations officer for Ayala Land, the property firm that built Makati.

"But given the uncertainty of the environment, it is understandable that there's a bit of a wait-and-see attitude that is prevailing in some of the hard-hit markets in the US," he told AFP.

A third of Ayala Land's residential sales last year were to Filipino expatriates, half of them based in the US. The figure excludes sales to locally-based relatives who may be receiving remittance money.

That figure has now dropped to 23 percent, Reyes said.

The SM Group, the country's top shopping mall operator, still expects net profit to rise 13 percent to 14 billion pesos (285.7 million dollars) this year as consumer spending remains firm in the retail sector. But it has since announced it will trim its four billion-peso budget for the middle-income condominium market for 2009.

"Management feels that due to the global financial crisis, demand for housing may be dampened," said company spokeswoman Sarah Kae Llovido.

But experts say that some high-end developments may be recession-proof thanks simply to their scarcity.

Luxury 300-square-meter high rise condo units in Makati, such as Discovery Primea with its private lifts, bedrooms the size of a helipad and Italian marble floors, and the nearby Raffles Residences project are among those residences that developers hope will hold their value no matter how tough the going gets.

Discovery units are still being snapped up at 1.1 million dollars each, and Raffles units are going for a record 1.2 million dollars each -- three years before they are even built, Asuncion said.

Seen from Ayala Land's Tower One headquarters, building activity in the Makati district has slowed, even though construction material costs have fallen substantially since the summer.

Ayala Land retail occupancy rates remain high and demand for the lower-priced segment of its residential market remains strong, said Reyes, adding: "We have not cancelled any project."

But, he said, "we are aware of the changing conditions, and the risks in the market, so our posture is to be a little bit more flexible to be able to manage our risk exposure properly."

Real estate companies that survived the 1997 Asian crisis found new growth in outsourcing, where Western companies cut costs by farming out accounting and other segments of their operations to lower-cost, English-speaking corners of the Third World.

The huge and increasingly affluent market of 8.5 million expatriate Filipino workers also came into play, bringing a boon to the housing as well as retail segments of the property sector.

"The property sector may slow down, but there will still be year-on-year growth," said CB Richard Ellis research director Victor Asuncion.

Asuncion said Filipino builders have learned their lesson, and debt exposure is limited as developers sign office leases even before building them and sell homes off the plans -- helped by a housing shortage estimated by the government at 3.7 million units.

Construction does not start until 40 percent have been sold or leased.

[Monseratto]

complaining and protesting are also good tools for adapting to the present environment.

Childish tantrums is a good example...:loveshower:

[uls]

haha

ok

complaining is an adaptive tool

[Gen. Miting]

like both of you said, it's all about getting what you want. hence,the end justify the means.

if one complains/protests, and gets what he wants in the process, then same results ...

from the looks of it, the multi-sector pressure to oil companies is working.

[jpdm]

like both of you said, it's all about getting what you want. hence,the end justify the means.

if one complains/protests, and gets what he wants in the process, then same results ...

True. Everyone complains/protests to get he whats in the process. And I think no one can claim that they never complained or protest in their life...

Anyway, complains/protests can be both an offensive and defensive tool in any type of relationships (personal, business, diplomacy etc.)...

from the looks of it, the multi-sector pressure to oil companies is working.

Yup, you are right....

So we have to bring it on.....

Anyway, regarding the topic..

Manila Times
November 2, 2008

AFTER a series of preemptive moves in recent weeks to ease domestic access to credit, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is calling on the Arroyo administration to do its part and pump prime the economy.

PGMA must come up with concrete steps to tide us from the recession...

What I see right now is that the government is just not doing enough...

[jpdm]

Manila times
Noember 2, 2008

[SIZE=3]Hedge funds Take A Hit Amid Turmoil[/SIZE]

HONG KONG: The aura of invincibility around hedge funds, the investment pools for the super-wealthy, has been eroded by the global financial crisis and the fallout has helped fuel ongoing market chaos.

Analysts say the industry—often maligned for its secrecy and short-selling tactics, but lauded for its lucrative returns—has struggled in the economic meltdown despite its aim to thrive in both bull and bear markets.


At the same time, the industry’s aggressive attempts to recoup losses and the flight of capital from investors worried about poor returns has helped fuel the swings on the world’s stock markets.


Some funds have already collapsed and more are under pressure with analysts predicting that consolidation is inevitable.


“There will be a reduced number of asset management companies, as there are already reduced levels of capital to go round.”

-- AFP

Well, even the "guys with the killer instinct and super rich or people at the top" are not spared by this contagion....

[tidus1203]

Of course no is spared everyone gets hit, so the killer instinct even becomes more primal than usual.

[uls]

why is it the GOVERNMENT always has to do everything?

can't the people help themselves?

do we live in a nanny state?

---

Well, even the "guys with the killer instinct and super rich or people at the top" are not spared by this contagion....

Most hedge funds are losing money. Most, not all.

there are hedge funds still making money in this down market...

yan ang mga Alpha hedge funds... top of the food chain.

heck, every kind of fund is losing money

mutual funds, pension funds...

ok lang kung hedge funds... pera ng mga mayaman yan e... extra money lang nila yan...

pero yung mga mutual funds... pera ng middle class yan

pension funds... pera ng mga employees na inaasahan pang retirement

[Gen. Miting]

Well, even the "guys with the killer instinct and super rich or people at the top" are not spared by this contagion....

if this goes on, we may see what you've been hoping - distribution of wealth.

the rich are money hoarders. money has been in their accounts for so long kaya siguro kahit san sila tumakbo ngaun, their money is being reduced.

no wonder, Oprah, Bill Gates and Buffet did what they did. if you have so much of everything, even if it's in the most secure vault or investment, nature will find a way to take it away from you.

the 3 billionaires knew this so they tried to beat nature. nauna na sila magpamigay ng limpak limpak na kayamanan nila bago pa nila ma-feel yan na -feel ng mga nadadale ngaun.