Gold investment has become one of hot option in this last 10 years. Basically, investing in gold is by purchasing gold in form of bar, coin or just a paper(paper gold investment will be review in next post).

People tend to see investing in gold is promising high return by times. They keep on thinking that gold price will always hiking up and by times also they can covered up their investment cost. But do you know what will the gold investment charged you hideously?

Jeff Reeves in one of his article written in here is sharing what other gold investment hidden cost that you will have to take.

Five Hidden Costs of Gold


Commentary: Investing in gold isn't as easy as it looks
There's a lot of talk right now about how gold is booming, and how gold bugs who have been stashing bullion under their mattresses over the last decade or so have made a killing.

That may be true if you look at the price of the yellow stuff per ounce. The price of an ounce of gold is up about 30% in the last year, or over 400% in the last 10 years. How does that relate to actual returns for investors?

The truth is that gold has steep hidden costs, and that looking at the numbers on paper doesn't tell the whole story. Here are big costs many investors overlook.

Higher taxes

The affinity for gold investing and a dislike of the government seem to go hand in hand, from predictions that massive government debt will render the dollar worthless to conspiracy theories that there will be another Executive Order 6102 in which Uncle Sam loots your safe deposit box and seizes your gold.

But the biggest reason for gold investors to get mad at the feds is their tax bracket. The IRS taxes precious metal investments — including gold ETFs like the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD - News) and iShares Silver Trust (SLV - News) — as collectibles. That means a long-term capital gains tax of 28% compared with 15% for equities (20% if and when the Bush tax cuts expire next year).

While you may see your gold as a bunker investment, the IRS will treat you the same as if you were hoarding Hummel figurines. And that means a bigger portion of your gold profits go to the tax man.

Zero income

Just as the math game on gold price appreciation doesn't tell the whole story, the lack of regular payouts is another reason why the long-term profits quoted in gold are incomplete. Many long-term investors can't afford to stash their savings in the back yard for 20 years. Income is a very valuable feature of many investments and gold simply doesn't provide that.

Remember, simply looking at returns in a vacuum can't tell you whether an investment is "good" or "bad." Is it a good idea for a 70-year-old retiree on a fixed income to bet on penny stocks because they could generate huge profits? Even if those trades pay off, 99 out of 100 advisers would say something akin to "You got lucky this time, but don't tempt fate. Quit while you're ahead and don't be so aggressive."

Similarly, the volatile and income-starved gold market is not a place for everyone. Just because past returns for gold have been so stellar, that does not mean that gold is low risk or that investors who need a secure source of regular income will be well-served.

Gold scams take a toll

In a previous article, I detailed gold coin scams in detail. They include false gradings on the quality of the coins, the use of cheaper alloys instead of pure gold and even brazen scams where you don't actually even own the gold that you buy. And that's just on the coins front. Scams abound in pawn shops and "cash for gold" enterprises that refuse to give you a true value for your jewelry or other gold items.

You'd think it would be obvious that precious metals should never be purchased from anyone other than a broker or seller of good repute who provides proper documentations. But many investors fail to do their homework, or worse, can't tell forged documents from real ones.

Gold is ready-made to be a retail sales item, and with that comes all manner of unscrupulous activity. Vigilant investors can protect themselves, but do not underestimate the very real price of being taken to the cleaners by a gold scam if you don't do your homework.

High ownership and storage costs

Maybe through some creative accounting or selective amnesia at tax time you can mitigate the tax burden of gold. But one expense you can't as easily avoid is the high ownership cost of gold. After all, it's not like you mined it yourself — and all those middlemen between the ore and you want to get paid.

The first is that old tightwad Uncle Sam again. Even if you can avoid him going on the capital gains front, he gets you coming into gold via sales tax on most jewelry and coins. And then there are the high transaction costs and commissions that gold can carry. Anyone who has bought jewelry knows significant markups are part of the precious metals trade, and that's the same for investment gold as it is for engagement rings. The bottom line is that some of your initial buy-in goes towards the business of gold and you'll never get it back, not unlike realtor fees or broker fees.

And then there's the additional cost of storing your gold. You have to pay a fee for a safe deposit box, and if you have a lot of gold, that can run you a few hundred bucks a year for a good-sized box. Of course if you're afraid of that Order 6102 scam pulled by FDR you likely have your gold at home in a safe — so that's a one-shot deal. But are you really foolish enough to distrust the government but trust your gold stash to be safe without insurance?

The presumed "safety" of gold is good on paper, but obtaining the actual metal and keeping it safely stored is a costly endeavor.

Yes, gold can lose value

Proponents of gold love to claim that gold has never been worthless like Lehman Bros. or GM. And while this is true on its face, it is actually a half-truth. While gold may never become worthless, it is foolish to think it will never lose value.

Consider that after reaching a record high of $850 per ounce in early 1980, gold plummeted 40% in two months. The average price for gold in 1981 fell to a mere $460 an ounce — and continued nearly unabated until bottoming with an average price of around $280 in 2000. For those folks in their 40s and 50s who bought gold at that 1980 high, it took them 28 years to reclaim the $850 level. That's hardly much of a retirement plan, unless they lived to be 80 or 90 and just cashed out recently.

Gold is an investment, period. And no matter how gold bugs spin the metal as a hedge against inflation and a sure thing that will only go up, gold can lose its value — sometimes in a hurry, as in the early 1980s.

Previously, Financial Freedomino has posted an article regarding MLM scheme.

The MLM scheme are now evolving. The conventional one are known for selling ones product, by promoting someone to join and sit under the promoter tree in the scheme and keep on eating the commissions from future promoted person.

In Malaysia, the typical MLM recruiting process are like:

• tell their close friends to come to chosen Food Stall (Normally Mamak's stall). Promised to treat their friend and when the time arrive, blah!. The promoter come but accompanied by the person that he called as Upliner.

• Suddenly receive a call from the relatives that seldom asking how well we are, asking that are we will be home in this day, and this time because wanted to have a visit. Some worst case scenario, they do have sudden visit, also by bringing along what we called as Upliner. Then, the brainwash session started.

Seriously, only these two reason can make me really hate the MLM recruiter. Actually there are other tricks & 'treats' but these two process seems the most popular one
!


As the era changed and evolved, now the MLM scheme is being implemented online. People starts to see that Internet as their gold mines. People also learn internet can help to generate extra income and cash to them. Some people claimed that they can earn $100 (hundred dollars) perday from the internet. Some company also has created their own Internet Marketing strategy and promising future hope to future members/investor if they join their scheme. Back to the basic, when it was MLM, it will always be MLM, acting like the MLM, and finally ended like other MLM too!



The article below listed some tips to avoid the MLM scheme in the internet.

What Is MLM Or Multi Level Marketing...

Ok Here We Go...

• What Is MLM Or Multi Level Marketing, Also Called "Network Marketing"
  

The only people who make money from Multi Level Marketing schemes are those that are high up in the pyramid and having their down line doing all the hard work for them by signing up new members, selling product and what ever it involves for them to make money. I think that if you are new to the whole concept of MLM and you don't have powerful and rich friends who are Heavily involved in MLM and have hundreds of network partners online, then the sad fact is that you will fail! 97% of MLM newbies fail, this business is by far not easy and it's not really a get rich quick scheme. This business model involves a lot of hard work and hands on selling to customers and most of all involve dealing with a product! If you don't have the talent to sell stuff to people and sign up other people for a large sign up fee then i think you will be set sailing to FAIL!

If you are new to MLM concept then steer well clear of it until you have a lot of heavy internet marketing background and marketing experience behind you, you need this to be able to sell the product or the service that you will be required to sell by the company in order to get paid!

MLM Marketing is usually reasonably expensive to get started, Usually between$250 To $1000 Just To Sign Up. As you can see it's a reasonable investment on your behalf and there is Absolutely NO GUARANTEE that you will make money, let alone get any of your sign up fee back!

Once Again, if you are new to MLM concept and you are just starting out in marketing world then steer clear from MLM for now! It's not for you...

Another Famous Load Of Bull, Get Rich Quick Gurus!

"Look at me... Look how rich I am , I live in a million dollar house and own over a million dollars worth of cars !!! Now I Can Teach You To Do The same, because i know a secret to making money online that you don't Order my guides now for only $49.95 and you will start making thousands online using my secrets...."

Haha to that, sure they live a multi million dollar lifestyle but they didn't make it by knowing something most of us don't ! They simply got off their butts, wrote up a couple of vague money making guides that are supposed to teach you how to make money online and whatever else they promise, Build a flashy website with fancy graphics and full of Fake testimonials to convince you that their stuff works for others and write a fancy sales letter how they went from having 5 bucks in their pocket, to discovering a secret to make thousands online and becoming a millionaire online...

Whatever, the reason these guys have this money is because a lot of people are after similar lifestyle that they lead and they just wanted to get the financial freedom they deserve so this guy's website happens to pop up in the right time and YOU BUY HIS PROMISES AND HIS GUIDES!... That's how they make their millions, not by using some super dooper secret to making money online...

You think about it, if they sell 20,000 copies of their guide online which is relatively easy to achieve if your website is fancy and you are damn good at talking peoples ears off and convincing them to buy your stuff... that's A MILLION DOLLARS... That's how they make their millions!

Don't fall for these Hyped Up Worthless Systems, These will only make you a few bucks poorer and make these guys a few bucks richer!

Full post can be read here.

See, stay away from MLM!

Save your savings!

Invest in appropriate portfolio!

When is the best time to invest your money? How do you know it is the best time to invest your money?

This is the question that keep on lingering the future/new investor. When is the best time to invest your money?

The main objective of investing to gain more from what you have spend. By doing this, most of people will need to spend their earnings, resources for starting up their investment. Most people worked hard to earn the money, that's why we don't want to lose it anymore!

So, when is The Best Time to invest money?

This article found here could give some guide to all new investor in choosing the best time to invest money.

The Best Time to Invest Money
By James Leitz


The best time to invest your money is NOW ... if you understand diversification and dollar cost averaging. Look at it this way. If you don't invest your money, you'll either spend it or earn low interest rates as a saver.

The only way to get ahead is to learn how to invest. This is not as difficult a proposition as most folks believe it to be. Let me explain with some simple logic, in the form of a short story.

At a wedding reception in the early Spring of 2009, a young man named Cameron listened as his much-older uncles complained about their investment losses. "My broker's worthless, and I've lost half my money in stocks in the past year", stated Uncle Ron. "I'm earning less than 1% in interest", declared his conservative Uncle Jack. "My real estate investments are under water", Uncle David added.

Cameron had a thought as he vacated the circle of conversation. He applied simple logic to what he had just heard. He knew that both stock prices and real estate values usually went up. That's why most investors make money in both investment arenas.

If both real estate prices and stock prices are low, it might be a good time to invest money, Cameron reasoned. But he had a few unanswered questions on his mind. First, he did not know how to invest. Second, he didn't have a pot full of money. Finally, which was the better investment ... stocks or real estate? Obviously, no one ever gets rich earning low interest rates.

The next morning Cameron sat down for a cup of coffee with Uncle Jim, who was supposed to know all about this investment stuff. They formulated the following plan.

Cameron would open an IRA with a large no-load mutual fund company, since he wanted to invest money for retirement. He would have $400 a month flowing from his checking account to the fund company. It would be divided equally into four different mutual funds: an S&P 500 Index fund, an international stock fund, a real estate fund, and a money market fund.

This would give him diversification in both stocks and real estate. The money market fund offered a bit of safety and flexibility.

Cameron would keep the value of his four funds about equal. If the value of a fund got out of line with the others, he would transfer money from one to another to even things out. Uncle Jim called this "rebalancing" his portfolio. He would do this once a year.

Plus, he would have dollar cost averaging working for him, since he had a fixed amount of money flowing into each fund every month. If the price of a fund fell, the money flowing into it would automatically buy more of the cheaper shares. If the price rose, he would be buying fewer at the higher price.

Should the stock market and/or real estate market get real cheap, Cameron would have some powder dry to take advantage of the situation. He could move the money in his safe money market fund into the other three funds.

Now is always a good time, if you know how to invest.

U.S. treasuries have rallied substantially year to date, driving down their yield to what some believe to be bubble-like levels.

Yet there's another fixed income market booming right now -- Sukuk's, or Islamic bonds. Sukuk's don't technically pay interest, they rather pay a portion of cashflow, similar to a bond yield, related to an underlying investment in order to be compliant with Islamic law.

Bloomberg:

The average yield on dollar-denominated notes that comply with religious principles from Dubai to Malaysia fell 25 basis points, or 0.25 percentage point, so far this week to 5.22 percent, the lowest level since November 2005, according to the HSBC/NASDAQ Dubai US Dollar Sukuk Index. The yield has dropped 204 basis points this year.

Note that low yields equate to high bond prices. Limited supply of new Sukuk issues has been a factor behind the latest 4-year high:

Global sales of Islamic bonds fell 25 percent to US$8.3 billion so far this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A total of US$20.2 billion was sold last year. Issuance may improve in the second half, led by first-time borrowers, Standard & Poor's said in a statement on July 28.

"Flight-to-Quality"

Moreover, sovereign Islamic bonds have done even better:

Government Islamic bonds have outperformed securities sold by companies this year and the trend is likely to continue, according to Kuala Lumpur-based OSK-UOB Unit Trust. Sovereign notes returned almost 10 percent, compared with an 8 percent gain in corporate debt, the HSBC/NASDAQ Dubai US Dollar Sukuk Indexes shows.

American and European debt problems have to be playing into this as well. As the market for Islamic bonds grows, wealthy Muslim investors are likely to give sovereign 'Islam-compliant' bonds a second look, especially those backed by resource rich nations such as Saudi Arabia. In a sense, a sovereign bond backed by a nation sitting on massive natural resources is backed by commodities, such as oil in the case of Saudi Arabia. Some might prefer betting on the value of Saudi Arabia's oil holding up, rather than Uncle Sam's future deficit.

In addition, non-Muslim investors are catching wind of Sukuks' appeal. Saudi Arabia's Islamic Development Bank is planning a US$100 million Sukuk sale to South Korea soon.

Source here.

This is compilation of the articles written in CNN Money.com by Hibah Yousuf, staff reporter. Its divided into 6 section, however Financial Freedomino will compiled and published in on page.


Digging through the rubble: Best bank stocks

It's been two years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers roiled financial stocks. As banks continue to recover, here are 5 that fund managers are betting on.






Banks are back

Two years after the death of Lehman Brothers sent the financial industry into a tailspin, banks are finally emerging from the rubble and standing on their own two feet again (many with the help of a government bailout, of course).
A note of caution: The credit crisis isn't over, and new regulations requiring banks to boost their capital to be better prepared to absorb losses are still casting a shadow over future profitability.

We talked to fund managers to find out which banks they're investing in. JP Morgan Chase is an obvious favorite thanks to investors' love affair with Jamie Dimon, but click through to see which other five banks made the cut and why.


Bank of America: Cheap chic
Total deposits: $1 trillion
52-week range: $12.18 - $19.86
Bank of America's shares plunged more than 21% on Sept. 15, 2008 -- the day Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy and the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank agreed to buy Merrill Lynch as the financial crisis intensified. In fact, Bank of America's stock sank more than 90% by the time the market bottomed in March 2009.

The stock has recovered some since then, but it suffered another hard hit this summer, when executives detailed how new Wall Street provisions -- particularly the so-called Durbin Amendment -- would impact fees that the bank collects from debit card swipes.

The pessimistic outlook initially spooked investors and drove the bank's stock price so low that it's now considered significantly undervalued, said Blake Howells, director of equity research for Becker Capital Management, which owns shares of Bank of America.

"The stock is trading at a price that is fairly cheap even by historical standards," he said. "We know Bank of America has significant exposure to regulations on debit interchange fees because it is so consumer oriented, but we think it will be able to offset the negatives with fees assessed on other product lines and additional cost-cutting measures."

With the risks already priced into the market, Howells said the stock is likely to head higher. In fact, he expects it to top $21 a share over the next few years as credit conditions normalize.


Cullen/Frost Bankers: What bailout?

Total deposits: $14 billion
52-week range: $45.67 - $60.78
Texas was among the most resilient states during the recession, so it's no surprise that San-Antonio-based Cullen/Frost Bankers was one of the banks that happily refused bailout money from Washington.

The bank's CEO, Dick Evans, recently told CNNMoney that the decision allowed Cullen/Frost to stay focused on its customers and avoid distraction from the government.

And that's a good sign for shareholders, too, said John Snyder, manager of the John Hancock Sovereign Investors fund, which owns shares of the bank.

He doesn't think any banks are home run investments due to all the uncertainties surrounding Wall Street reform, but he's a fan of those with clean balance sheets and plenty of capital like Cullen/Frost.

Those types of advantages, he said, have helped the bank consistently pay dividends to shareholders with a yield of almost 3.5%, which is likely to get healthier as the bank increases its dividend over the next few years.


City National: Hollywood glam

Total deposits: $18 billion
52-week range: $36.43 - $64.30
Known as "the bank of the stars," Beverly Hills-based City National Bank boasts a wealthy client base that provides the regional bank with a nice cushion to outlast another credit crisis.

With more than $18 billion in deposits, an extraordinary 92% of them are from customers who have non-interest-bearing accounts.

That gives City National an advantage that has helped the bank aggressively pay back the $400 million it received in government bailout funds, and take over three failed banks in the last year.

Plus, at its current price, the bank's stock is a pretty decent value, according to Jason Tyler, senior vice president and director of research operations at Ariel Capital Management, which own shares of City National. Tyler expects the bank's stock to climb almost 40% over the next two years to about $71 a share.

US Bancorp: Dividend boost

Total deposits: $191 billion
52-week range: $20.44 - $28.43
Though executives at US Bancorp, owner of US Bank, remain cautious and recently warned that the bank will wait to digest recent U.S. and global regulatory changes before increasing its dividend, investors are confident that the bank will be among the first to reward shareholders with a substantially improved payout.

The regional bank enjoys a large footprint in retail banking and has been able to maintain strong levels of profitability over the last several years, said Chris Bingaman, a portfolio manager at Diamond Hill Capital Management, which owns shares of the bank.

Bingaman added that Minneapolis-based US Bancorp is poised to gain market share as it expands its network in the 24 states where it operates and looks for opportunities to acquire other banks in those regions.

And with the recent release of Basel III rules on capital requirements, the bank is one step closer to raising its quarterly dividend from its current 5 cents per shar.


Wells Fargo: Bargain bet

Total deposits: $817 billion
52-week range: $23.02 - $34.25
Shares of Wells Fargo have slowly recovered from a 13-month low hit just three weeks ago, but the stock is still selling at a fairly generous discount.

"The stock doesn't have Wells Fargo's positive attributes priced in," said Chris Bingaman, a portfolio manager at Diamond Hill Capital Management, which owns shares of the San Francisco-based bank. He expects the stock will surge almost 50% as the credit market improves.

With a litany of financial products, healthy profit margins and a diverse geographic base, Wells Fargo is on track to consistently post strong profits, Bingaman said.

And although Wall Street reforms will weigh on some of the bank's practices, Bingaman added that Wells Fargo will be less impacted in comparison to its rivals and will likely be able to mitigate the downside by adapting and continuing to generate profit from other business lines.


For more graphical charts and others, read full article here.

Some say the easiest way to make the bank bankrupt is by asking all the depositors cashing out all their deposits at the same time.

As in previous article, one of the subdivision in stock investment is Blue Chip Stock. What is actually Blue Chip Stock?


Here are some definition of the term, compiled from few resources can be found in the net.


Wikipedia defines Blue Chip Stock as:

A blue chip stock is the stock of a well-established company having stable earnings and no extensive liabilities. Blue chip stocks pay regular dividends, even when business is faring worse than usual. The term is derived from casinos, where blue chips represent the greatest value among the many colors of chips.
The phrase was coined by Oliver Gingold of Dow Jones sometime in 1923 or 1924. Company folklore recounts that the term apparently got its start when Gingold was standing by the stock ticker at the brokerage firm that later became Merrill Lynch. Noticing several trades at USD$200 or USD$250 a share or more, he said to Lucien Hooper of W.E. Hutton & Co. that he intended to return to the office to "write about these blue chip stocks." Thus the phrase was born. It has been in use ever since, originally in reference to high-priced stocks, more commonly used today to refer to high-quality stocks.[1] In contemporary media, Blue Chips and their daily performances are frequently mentioned alongside other economic averages like the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Investopedia refered Blue Chip as:

Stock of a well-established and financially sound company that has demonstrated its ability to pay dividends in both good and bad times. These stocks are usually less risky than other stocks. The stock price of a blue chip usually closely follows the S&P 500.

While About.com mentioned Blue Chip Stock as:

A "blue chip" is the nickname for a stock that is thought to be safe, in excellent financial shape and firmly entrenched as a leader in its field. Blue chips generally pay dividends and are favorably regarded by investors. A few examples of blue chips are Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, Gillette, Berkshire Hathaway and Exxon-Mobile.
Blue chip stocks are sometimes referred to as bellwether issues.

Article Updates

Investing In Indonesia’s Rising Emerging Economy Indonesia is positioned to remain one of the fastest growing economies in Asia after China, India and Vietnam. Investors who wish to participate in Indonesia’s growth prospects can consider investing in Public Mutual’s Public Indonesia Select Fund (PINDOSF) which will be launched on 1 September 2010. PINDOSF provides unit trust investors with an opportunity to achieve capital growth over the medium- to long-term period by investing in a portfolio of equities listed primarily in the Indonesian market. Indonesia has the largest economy in Southeast Asia and is a member of the G-20 group of countries. As one of the emerging economies, Indonesia charted a healthy growth averaging 5.1 percent per annum over the 2000-2009 period underpinned by resilient domestic demand and a series of economic reforms. In comparison, the ASEAN economies registered an average GDP growth of 4.6 percent1 per annum over the same period. Indonesia’s domestic demand is supported by a large population base of around 232 million people, making it the fourth most populated country in the world after China, India and the U.S. In recent years, Indonesia’s political stability and the government’s liberalisation of the economy coupled with sound fiscal and debt management have provided a conducive environment for the country to achieve robust economic growth. *Bloomberg Consensus Forecast, July 2010 Factors Driving Indonesia’s Economic Performance Despite the global economic slowdown in 2009, Indonesia was one of the few countries that managed to register a positive GDP growth of 4.5 percent on the back of resilient domestic demand. Domestic demand was driven by consumer spending, which accounts for 57.4 percent of GDP, and investment spending, which represents 23.4 percent of GDP. In the first half of 2010, GDP growth rebounded by 5.9 percent with consumer spending sustained at 4.5 percent and investment spending rising by 7.9 percent. The factors that contributed to the rapid GDP growth of Indonesia are: Healthy consumer spending: Over the 2000-2009 period, consumer spending in Indonesia grew at a healthy rate averaging 4.1 percent per annum fuelled by higher disposable incomes amidst accommodative interest rates and manageable inflationary pressures. Consumer spending has also been supported by the rising urbanisation trend with the urban population ratio rising from 42 percent2 in 2000 to 51.5 percent2 in 2008. Meanwhile, the central bank kept its reference rate, the benchmark interest rate of Indonesia, unchanged at a historical low of 6.5 percent as Indonesia’s inflation rate moderated from 10.3 percent in 2008 to 4.9 percent in 2009 and 4 percent in the first half of 2010. Strong Foreign Direct Investments: In view of its vast opportunities, Indonesia has enjoyed rising inflows of foreign direct investments (FDI), mainly in the mining, manufacturing and transportation & communication sectors. Total FDI into Indonesia amounted to US$34.4 billion3 over the 2005-2009 period. FDI in the mining sector was driven by higher commodity prices while the transportation & communication sector benefited from increasing urbanisation trends. Robust commodity exports: Exports have also been an important source of growth for Indonesia, accounting for 43 percent of GDP in 2009. Indonesia’s major commodity exports include oil & gas and coal which contribute 17 percent and 12 percent respectively to total exports in 2009. Meanwhile, exports of manufacturing products were driven by machinery and transportation equipment which comprise 14 percent of total exports in 2009. Political stability and economic reforms: Indonesia’s economic growth over the 2000-2009 period was also attributed to the country’s political stability and a series of successful economic reforms. After President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took office in 2004, a comprehensive set of economic programs were implemented, such as creating more jobs, addressing corruption issues and increasing infrastructure investment spending. Subsequently, Indonesia’s economy grew at a respectable average growth of 5.7 percent per annum during his first term (2004-2009). This economic performance has helped President Yudhoyono to secure a second term following a decisive victory in the 2009 general elections where he garnered more than 60 percent of the votes cast. The smooth running and decisive outcome of the 2009 general elections have cemented the country’s democratic credentials, underpinning the country’s political stability and policy continuity. Healthy fiscal position: Due to its sound fiscal and debt management, Indonesia’s fiscal position has improved in recent years. The government maintained a fiscal deficit of less than 3 percent of GDP over the 2000-2009 period. Despite the global economic slowdown in 2009, Indonesia registered a prudent fiscal deficit of 1.6 percent in 2009 compared to 0.1 percent in 2008. Meanwhile, the government’s commitment to reduce public debt resulted in the public sector debt-to-GDP ratio declining significantly from 88 percent in 2000 to 28 percent in 2009, the lowest among ASEAN countries. Stable currency: The Indonesian Rupiah was one of the best performing Asian currencies in 2009 with a gain of 19.5 percent against the U.S. dollar due to the inflows of foreign funds. On a year to date basis to 28 July 2010, the Rupiah appreciated further by 5.3 percent against the U.S. dollar. Over the same period, the Rupiah depreciated by 2.4 percent against the Malaysian Ringgit. The steady accumulation of foreign reserves has enhanced Indonesia’s liquidity position and serves as a buffer against potential financial crises. Foreign reserves rose from US$29.4 billion in 2000 to a record high of US$78.8 billion in July 2010 driven mainly by healthy trade surpluses and capital inflows. Table 1: Performance of Jakarta Composite Index *Year to date as at 28 July 2010 Economic Outlook Due to its large domestic demand base, Indonesia’s economic performance is envisaged to be more resilient than other economies in the event of a slower global economic environment. Looking ahead, Indonesia’s GDP growth is projected to rebound from 4.5 percent in 2009 to 5.8 percent4 for 2010 and 6.2 percent4 in 2011 on the back of resilient consumer spending and investment spending as well as strong global demand for commodities. Domestic demand is also expected to benefit from an accommodative interest rate environment amidst manageable inflationary pressures. Indonesia’s inflation rate, which is driven mainly by food prices, is projected at 4.9 percent5 for 2010 and 6 percent5 for 2011. Nonetheless, the inflation rate is expected to remain manageable in the medium term amidst a stable outlook for the Rupiah. The overall economy is well-positioned to benefit from the positive political landscape as the re-election of President Yudhoyono coupled with the appointment of technocrats to the cabinet is expected to ensure continuity of economic reforms. Outlook for The Indonesian Market Indonesia’s stockmarket is the third largest among ASEAN countries with a market capitalisation of US$261 billion as at 30 June 2010. After registering a 114.7 percent return in Ringgit terms for 2009, the Jakarta Composite Index continued to be one of the best performing regional markets with a gain of 17.5 percent on a year-to-date basis to 28 July 2010 amidst robust economic activities. From 2006 to the 28 July of 2010, the Jakarta Composite Index registered a total return of 143 percent in Ringgit terms (163 percent in Rupiah terms) or a commendable annualized return of 21.4 percent. In terms of valuations, the prospective Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio of the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) is 15.2x based on 2010 earnings and 12.7x based on 2011 earnings as at 28 July 2010, which is comparable to its 9-year average P/E ratio of 12.5x. Selected stocks listed on the Indonesia market are supported by strong corporate balance sheets, sound fundamentals and fair valuations. 1 ASEAN countries excluding Vietnam: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Philippines 2 World Bank 3 Bank Indonesia 4 Bloomberg Consensus Forecast, July 2010 5 Bloomberg Consensus Forecast, August 2010 You are advised to read and understand the contents of the Prospectus of Public Indonesia Select Fund dated 1 September 2010 before investing. The prospectus has been registered with the Securities Commission who takes no responsibility for its contents, and neither should its registration be interpreted to mean that the Commission recommends the investment. You should note that there are fees and charges involved; and that the prices of units and distribution payable, if any, may go down as well as up. Past performance of a fund is not an indication of its future performance. Applications to purchase units must come in the form of a duly completed application form referred to in and accompanying the prospectus. A copy of the prospectus can be obtained from your unit trust consultant or nearest Public Mutual branch.

For updated article visit this link

Investment Tips:

A good investor will always see chance. A good investor will also be prepared.

What is the investment products? Previously the article mention that the investment is more on planning, planning to make you richer, make money works for you to enable Financial Freedom.

In this post, the discussion will be on how to basically knowing the investment products. Firstly, what is the investment products? Generally,they can be defined as the method, way that can help you to achieve success investment.

The investment products listed here are taken from one of Robert T. Kiyosaki famous book; Guide To Investing. In one of the chapter found inside the book, he listed some of differential investments which are:

• Stocks
• Bonds
• Mutual Fund
• Real Estate
• Insurance
• Commodities
• Savings
• Collectibles
• Hedge Funds

To make it clearer, he then divided each of the group into more subdivision.



The subdivision of stocks are:

1. Common Stocks
2. Preferred Stocks
3. Stocks With Warrants
4. Small Cap Stocks
5. Blue Chip Stocks
6. Convertible Stocks
7. Technical Stocks
8. Industrial Stock

As an extra info, one of the successful investor in the world, Warren Buffet has turned into billionaire by investing in the Blue Chip Stock Subdivision

The subdivision of Real Estates are:

1. Single Family
2. Commercial Office
3. Commercial Retails
4. Multi-Family
5. Warehouse
6. Industrial
7. Raw Land
8. Raw Land on the curb

Investing in Real Estates has been known for making people financial free by collecting the wealth via their passive income

The subdivision of mutual funds are:

1. Index Fund
2. Aggressive Fund
3. Sector Fund
4. Income Fund
5. Closed End Fund
6. Balanced Fund
7. Municipal Funds
8. Country Fund

Investing in mutual funds are much more reliable to those passive investor which are afraid of high risk. Approximately the mutual fund annual return are around 5% - 20%, depends on what subdivision you invested

The subdivision of Insurance are:

1. Whole, Term, Variable Life
2. Universal, Variable Universal
3. Blended (whole and term in one policy)
4. First, Second or last to die
5. Used For Funding Buy-Sell Agreement
6. Used For Executives Bonus and Deferred Compensation
7. Used For Funding Estate taxes
8. Used For Non Retirement Qualified benefits

The subdivision of bonds are:

1. Government Bonds
2. Company Bonds
3. Islamic Bonds (Sukuk)

The average return of investment (ROI) of bonds are around 5% - 10% annually.

As can be founded here, there are so many investment products. People normally did not noticed most of the information listed above. They are usually only have information on the surfaces and lacks of the inside information. That's why to gain more, ones have to pain more; putting more effort to gain more knowledge.

By sharing all those info, perhaps people will get more views and knowledge.

What is investment?



Everyday people keep on talking about investment, investment, investment, investment and more and more and more...

The fact is, how many people do realize what is investment really is? Is there any simple word that can describe the term of investment?

If this term asked to most of people, the answer mostly will be like this:

"Investment is about investing your money in stocks, real estates or anything. When you invest, you will gain the profit"

"Investment is about getting more from what you has done. Example, if you buy a house for a value of 100k today, the value will become let say 200k in next 5 years. See, that's is investment really are"

It's not totally wrong and also totally right. Most of the statement above will instantly give a rough picture to people what is investment are.


However, the most accurate definition of the investment term is

"Investment is about planning. You are planning to gain more than what you have now. In simple words, you are planning on multiplying your income in times. The longer you live, the more you will gain. Investment is not what normal people called as stocks, real estate, mutual funds or even bonds. That's all are the rider, transport that can help you achieve your planning. What is your planning here? The planning here is what you call as investment"

This is the definition that can be found in Robert T. Kiyosaki book "Rich Dad's Guide to Investing".

To me, the term definition seems suit with what the situation are.

Well, maybe different people will have different definition. Feel free to share with the worlds.