An Inquirer article published today reported that the richest 10% of families in the Philippines holds more than a third of the country’s total income.
According to the National Statistics Office, the richest 1.74 million families earned 36% of the aggregate family income of around P3 trillion ($74 billion) in 2006.
Who are these families? Well, they include the Ayalas, the Sys, the Tans, the Tys, and the rest of the 40 richest Filipinos.
How about the family of Juan de la Cruz? According to the same report, the average income of a Filipino family is $12 a day or $4,380 a year, or roughly P180,000 per year.
Withdraw PayPal via Xoom from same country — allowed or not?
One of our members, Joanna (ani*****@gmail.com), wrote to tell us about Xoom.com‘s confusing policy on intra-country transfer of PayPal funds.
Joanna wants to convert her PayPal funds to cash via Xoom. She contacted Xoom to inquire whether it is indeed possible to make an intra-country transfer, that is transfer funds from a PayPal Philippines account to an account holder in the Philippines.
Google scraps Adsense Referrals units in some countries
Bad news for Google Adsense publishers located outside North America, Latin America, or Japan: you cannot earn commissions anymore if you refer someone to the Google Adsense program.
Google announced that it is retiring its Referrals units that promote Adsense. The company cited that it did not perform as expected in regions outside the three mentioned.
Widgetbucks drops $25 signup bonus, lowers referral commission
Is Widgetbucks trying to be more efficient or are they on the way down? Widgetbucks recently announced that, effective January 15, they are getting rid … Read More
How to cope with declining US Dollar and rising Peso?
A lot has already been written explaining the reasons behind the fall of the US Dollar but very, very few have offered solutions on how to deal with it. In this article, we give some suggestions on how to face the challenge of a depreciating US currency.
The fall of the US Dollar is very much apparent in the Philippines, with the Peso appreciating by as much as 18.8% in 2007 — making it the year’s best performing currency in Asia.
Although the peso’s rise has brought economic benefits such as lower inflation and higher purchasing power, it also hurts exporters who are currently struggling with rising prices and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their families who are now getting less from their dollar earnings.
What then to do in order to deal with a depreciating dollar and appreciating peso?
Here are a few tips.
Predictions on the Peso-Dollar exchange rate in 2008
The Philippine Peso is Asia’s best performing currency of 2007, closing 18.8% higher at P41.28 at the end of last year.
The runners-up were: Indian Rupee (which grew 12% in 2007); Thai Baht (7%); Malaysian Ringgit (6.4%); Chinese Renminbi (6.88%); and Singapore Dollar (5.9%).
But the buck does not stop there. The Philippine currency is expected to further strengthen in 2008, with most market watchers predicting that the peso will stabilize below the P40-level. One analyst even predicted that the peso will touch P35 this year.
Below is a collection of prediction of the Peso-Dollar exchange rate in 2008:
Western Union’s November MTCN for Adsense now out
Surprise, surprise! I logged in today to my Google Adsense account and saw that the Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN) for my November Adsense payout … Read More
Window Dressing to push stock prices up?
Today, December 28, is the last trading day of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). On Monday and Tuesday next week, the markets are closed for New Year celebrations, and the first trading day in 2008 is on Wednesday, January 2.
Is the market set to close higher today because portfolio managers and traders might try to “window dress” their portfolios in time for year-end 2007?
A bit likely. In a previous article, we explained that Window Dressing is a strategy employed by fund managers wherein they try to make their portfolio look as attractive as possible before presenting it to clients or stockholders.
In the days leading up to the end of the quarter or the year, fund managers would purchase recent winners while selling old holdings at a loss, in an attempt to show that they own the best-performing stocks of the period.