Part 2: Stocks Investing

Part II: What is the minimum amount needed to invest in the stock market?

Trading stocks is done though board lot or round lot system, which means there is a minimum number of shares one can buy or sell at a specific price range.

The Board Lot Table determines the minimum number of shares one can purchase or sell at a specific price range. Therefore, the minimum amount needed to invest in the stock market varies and will depend on the market price of the security as well as its corresponding board lot. Prices of stocks move through a scale of minimum price fluctuations.

The Philippine Stock Exchange uses the Board Lot Table.

How can i profit in the stock market?

Investors can profit in the stock market thru any or a combination of the following;

• Capital Gains - These are profits made due to an increase in the market price of a stock from the buying price.
  

• Cash Dividend - A dividend given to shareholders in the form of cash. It is computed by multiplying the number of shares held by the cash dividend rate declared.
  

• Stock Dividend - A dividend given to shareholders in the form of additional stocks. It is computed by multiplying the number of shares held by the percentage of the stock dividend declared.
  

• Stock Rights - Stock rights offering is the option given to the present shareholders to buy additional shares of stock at a price lower than its market price.

Is there any risk involved in investing?

Yes, since risk is always a part of any investment. And because stock investment is the most volatile, a better attitude would be to limit and manage your risk. A maximum level of gain or loss should be set and calculated decisions should be made when this level is reached.

Do I need to keep track of my investment?

Yes! Having placed some amount in stocks, you should spend some time and effort in studying your investment. You should keep track of the stock price and follow closely the developments of the company. This way, you are able to foresee possible gains or losses that will guide you in making sound and wise investment decisions.

Daily quotations of stock prices can be obtained from your stockbroker or from all leading newspapers. You may also get information from our official website: www.pse.com.ph or from the PSE-Public Information and Assistance Center (PIAC) at telephone numbers 688-7602 to 03.

Source: http://www.pse.com.ph

Part 1: Stocks Investing

What are Stocks? Securities?

Stocks are shares of ownership in a corporation. When you become a stockholder or shareholder of a company, you become part-owner of that company. Securities, on the other hand, are proof of one's ownership or indebtedness in a company. Examples of securities are treasury bills and commercial papers, which are considered as short-term and are traded in the money market; and stocks and bonds, which are long-term and traded in the capital market. Securities are easily bought and sold in the stock market.

What are the types of Securities that I can buy in the Stock Market?

Most of the issues listed in the PSE (Philippine Stock Exchange) are common stocks. Other types of securities such as preferred stocks, warrants, PDRs and bonds are also traded.

1. Common Stocks - These are usually purchased for participation in the profits and control of ownership and management of the company. Holders of common stocks have voting rights. They are also entitled to an equal pro rata division of profits without preference or advantage over another stockholder. However, they have the last claim on dividends and are the last to collect in case of corporate liquidation.
   

2. Preferred Stocks - Its name is derived from preference given to the holders of these stocks over holders of common stocks. Holders of preferred stocks are entitled to receive dividends, to the extent agreed upon, before any dividends are paid to the holders of common stocks. However, preferred stocks usually have a specified limited rate of return or dividend and a specified limited redemption and liquidation price.
   

3. Warrants - A corporation can also raise additional capital by issuing warrants. A warrant, normally issued on a detachable basis, allows its holders the right, but not the obligation, to subscribe to new shares at a set price during a specified period of time. It is usually provided free of charge and traded separately in the securities market.
   

4. Philippine Deposit Receipts (PDRs) - A PDR is a security which grants the holder the right to the delivery or sale of the underlying share, and to certain other rights including additional PDR or adjustments to the terms or upon the occurrence of certain events in respect of rights issues, capital reorganizations, offers and analogous events or the distribution of cash in the event of a cash dividend on the shares. PDRs are evidences or statements nor certificates of ownership of a foreign/foreign-based corporation. For as long as the PDRs arenot exercised, the shares underlying the PDRs are and will continue to be registered in the name of and owned by and all rights pertaining to the shares shall be exercised by the issuer.
   

5. Small-Demominated Treasury Bonds (SDT-Bonds) - The SDT Bonds are long-term and relatively risk-free debt securities issued by the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) of the Republic of the Philippines. The bond is a certificate of indebtedness of the Republic of the Philippines to the owner of the SDT-Bonds.

Where can i buy or sell shares of stocks and/or bonds?

In the Philippines, the only operating stock exchange is the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). Its main function is to facilitate the buying and selling of stocks and other securities through its accredited trading participants.

The PSE has two trading floors - PSE Centre in Ortigas, Pasig City and PSE Plaza in Ayala, Makati City - where trading participants trade daily - from 9:30 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. except Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays and days when the Central Bank Clearing Office is closed.

You can purchase shares of stock either through IPO (Initial Public Offering) or through the open market. Shares sold through IPOs are offered for the first time to the public by the company (primary market) whereby proceeds of the sale go directly to the company. Shares of listed or publicly traded companies are bought during trading (open market). These shares have since been transferred from one owner to another (secondary market) and proceeds of the sales do not go directly to the company but to the owners of the shares.

The Trading Cycle

All equity transactions, whether buying or selling has a settlement period of T+3 (trading day + 3 working days). This means that a seller should be able to deliver the stock certificate, if any, to his broker and the buyer must have paid the cost of transaction to his broker within 3 working days after the trade was done. Historically, settlement was done manually (27-day cycle). With the advent of scripless trading wherein settlement is done via the book-entry-system (thru Philippine Central Depository or PCD), transactions are settled on the third day after trade date. Under this system, the investor has the option to hold on to his certificate (uplift) or deposit (lodge) this certificate in PCD through his broker-participant account.

SDT-Bonds transactions, however, are settled on the same day when the trade is transacted (T+0). There shall be no physical transfer of bond certificates. The transfer of securities shall be conducted electronically by the BTr's Registry of Scripless Securities (RoSS). On the other hand, cash settlement will be coursed through the PSE's two settlement banks namely, Equitable-PCI Bank and Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation.

Part II: Minimum Amount Needed to Invest in the Stock Market

Source: http://www.pse.com.ph; photo from freeimages.co.uk

How to Start a Bakery

If you love to bake, have at least P250,000 in capital, know a good location, and are looking to start a business with a steady and growing customer base, then you should consider setting up a bakery.
By Prime Sarmiento

Although bread is only the second staple food for Filipinos, bakeries can be found everywhere in the country – from the neighborhood panaderia where you get your morning pandesal to popular bakeshops in malls selling pastries and cakes of every ingredient and recipe. The Trade and Industry department reports that there are 30,000 bakeshops in the Philippines.

Given this number, you might think it’s foolish to go into this business as the market seems to be heaving with loaves and rolls. But master baker Ric Pinca, executive director of the Philippine Association of Flour Millers (PAFMIL) says “there’s dough in the bakery business.” “The bread market in the Philippines is under-utilized,” pointing out that a Filipino consumes only 1.75 piece of bread everyday. Singaporeans and Malaysians eat double this number – up to three pieces of bread per day.

The growing population and a slow yet steady economic growth are boosting the market for bakeries, according to Pinca. Combine this with the fact that you can sell bread and other baked goodies at a markup of 45 to 50 percent and you can see why owning bakeshop is a viable business.

But while profitable, putting up a bakeshop is no piece of cake. You need to invest a substantial amount of time, money, and energy to make it in this highly competitive industry.

The first thing you should do is to learn how to bake if you don’t know it yet. Rolando Dorado, lecturer at the Asian Baking Institute, says developing a winning recipe is one of the key factors behind a successful bakeshop. You can’t stay in this business unless you can offer a variety of bread products.

“You have to sell cakes, cookies, tasty bread. Kasi ang iba sasabihin, anong klaseng bakery ito, iisa lang ang produkto?” says Dorado. Not only that, you have to constantly change your product offering to keep up with the customers’ changing preferences. And unless you know how to bake, you won’t be able to keep up.

It also means that as an entrepreneur, you can't just rely on your workers to sustain your business. “You must know how to bake your breads even without your baker’s help. Your operation must not be paralyzed if your baker does not show up,” says Nini Reyes, owner of Pan De Anna, a modest neighborhood bakery in Pateros.

Prior to setting up Pan De Anna last year, Reyes didn’t have a clue about baking. But she was looking for a business opportunity to supplement the family income, and she decided to place her bet on a bakery because there was none in their neighborhood. Reyes studied baking at the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center and surfed the Internet to supplement her new-found knowledge.

Unlike Reyes, Aggy Villabona, co-owner of the 17-year-old Aggy’s Cakes & Sweets, grew up having a mother and an aunt who loved to bake and who served as her teachers. Aggy attended a number of seminars to hone her baking skills, and this was not to put up a business as much as to impress her husband Meo, who was then her boyfriend.

Aggy experimented with various recipes, guided in large part by her mother and aunt. Later, she and cousin Audrey put up a home-based bakeshop called Aggy and Aud’s Home Baked Goodies. They stamped their boxes and sold their cakes and pastries to friends and neighbors.

Their baked goodies were so well received that Aggy was getting orders on her honeymoon night. Aggy would continue the business with Meo as her partner and together they were able to lure corporate clients who bought their baked goodies for giveaways. In 1989, Meo and Aggy borrowed P160,000 from their parents to finance their first store in BF Homes, Parañaque.

Since then, the couple had grown the business to three stores. Aggy and Meo put up their second store at the United Parañaque Subdivision in 2004, and their third in Makati a year later. From the six people they hired to man their first store, the Villabonas now count 30 people in their employ.

Dorado says you can start looking for a good location once you’re done formulating your recipes. Once you have several choices, you should visit each one several times to know the area’s foot traffic and who your customers would be. Your customers’ demographics (their income and age group) and their preferences will determine your product line.

But first, don’t forget to file the necessary business papers. You need to register your business name with the DTI and secure a barangay clearance, a certification from the Bureau of Food and Drugs, and cash register, mayor’s, and sanitary permits. You also need to have your receipts registered with the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

You should set aside at least P250,000 to buy the necessary equipment, including a commercial oven, mixer, stainless table, and molder, and ingredients enough to make your initial product batch. If you’re short in cash, you can buy used equipment, but this isn’t a good option. “It’s better to buy new equipment because you don’t know the quirks of the (used equipment). You might end up wasting time (and money) on repairs,” Meo says.

You also need to hire workers because this business is time consuming. “You prepare the dough in the evening, then you sell your pan de sal early the next morning. After that, you look how much pan de sal you sold that morning. Then you start preparing the dough again to be used for other products like monay, ensaymada and cookies. Yun naman ang ibebenta mo para sa merienda. Sa gabi, mag-uumpisa ka na naman,” Pinca says. When she was starting her business, Reyes says she did everything by herself. But after two months, Reyes had to hire a baker, a helper and a front liner so she could take care of her children.

The best marketing strategy in this business is word-of-mouth – which will only happen if your products taste good. Dorado says you could recoup your investment in two to three years, although Aggy and Meo were able to break even in a year’s time due to loyal clients who spread the word.


BAKERY SETUP 101

Do you think managing a bakery can be your bread and butter? Here are a few tips to make it a hot business for you:

• Keep it sweet. Filipinos have a sweet tooth, and Ric Pinca of the Philippine Association of Flour Millers suggests that if you're planning to set up a bakery, make sure that you prepare sweet and soft breads. This is why cakes and donuts are popular in the Philippines.
  

• The secret is in the recipe. It's not enough that you know how to bake; you must also come up with your own formulation and keep it a secret, says Rolando Dorado of the Asian Baking Institute. Otherwise, one of your bakers might steal your recipe and use it to set up his own bakeshop. Having your own formula also means you'll always come up with good products no matter what. Bakeshops that close down are the ones that depend on their experienced bakers. When the bakers leave, the taste of the product changes, the business loses its regular customers, and later, the bakery closes down.
  

• Look for a good location. The best place to set up is where there's a lot of foot traffic. Pinca says it's good to set up a store near a school, a commercial building, and at bus terminals. A good location doesn't only ensure that your bakeshop will be profitable, but you could also easily sell the business when you're tired of running it. "What will make your business saleable is your good location. In fact, people might wonder why you're selling your shop when you're in a good location," Pinca says.
  

• Keep on learning. Consumer trends are always changing, so bakeries have to constantly adapt and innovate. "You don't stop learning in this business. You have to keep studying to stay on top," says Aggy Villabona of Aggy's Cakes & Sweets. Both Aggy and Meo take seminars regularly--from baking to food styling to designing packages--to keep abreast of new developments in the business. They also read a lot of books and magazines.

WHERE TO TRAIN:

Technology and Livelihood Research Center
Telephone: (02) 727-6205 local 208 or 209

Asian Baking Institute
Telephones: (02) 525-0390; (02) 818-4610

CONTACT DETAILS:

PAN DE ANNA
29 P. Rosales Street, Pateros

AGGY'S CAKES & SWEETS
44F Aguirre Ave., BF Homes, Paranaque Telephone: (02) 807-6674

PHILIPPINE ASSOCIATION OF FLOUR MILLERS
Telephones: (02) 811-4366; (02) 811-4387
Faxes: (02) 810-9462; (02) 811-4033
E-mail: pafmil@mail.com.ph

Source:

http://www.entrepreneur.com.ph; photo from http://bakery-display-case.com/

Earth Hour 2010

Last night, me and my mom turned off all the lights & switched off all our appliances as our small contribution for our planet. Some of our neighbors too. I just stayed outside and did stargazing which I really enjoyed.

Even the simplest everyday activities can make a real difference to the environment. We can make a big difference in our homes simply by making a few small adjustments to our routines. I've been trying to conserve water and energy, not burning plastic/styro/packaging, recycle what can be recycled and telling my friends to do the same thing.

I would like to share the following tips I read from world wide fund philippines

Save energy

• Switch off all lights and electrical appliances when not in use – your TV left on standby can still use a quarter of full power
• Choose energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs
• Let clothes dry naturally rather than using a tumble drier
• Keep lids on pans when cooking to prevent your cooker having to work extra hard
• On average using a gas oven costs a quarter of the price of running an electric one. Switch to gas if you have the option

Save water

• Fix dripping taps – they can waste up to 13 litres of water a day
• Don’t leave the tap running while you clean your teeth
• Take a shower instead of a bath

Save wood and paper

• Return unwanted mail and ask for your name to be removed from the mailing list
• Always use both sides of a sheet of paper
• Use e-mail to stay in touch, including cards, rather than faxing or writing. Re-use envelopes
• Always recycle paper after use
• Share magazines with friends and pass them on to the doctor, dentist or local hospital for their waiting rooms

Reuse and recycle

• Use washable diapers instead of disposables if you can
• Recycle as much as you can – if there are no recycling facilities near you, contact your local council
• Give unwanted clothes, toys and books to charity shops or garage sales
• Use main electricity rather than batteries if possible. If not, use rechargeable batteries
• Use a solar-powered calculator instead of one with a battery
• Instead of a plastic ballpoint, use a fountain pen with bottled ink, not plastic cartridges
• Store food and other products in ceramic containers rather than foil and plastic wrap

Reduce waste and pollution

• Dispose of old appliances – particularly refrigerators with units containing CFCs – responsibly. You may check envirocycle for more information on e-wastes.
• Choose environmentally friendly cleaning products containing plant extracts that degrade quickly when washed down the drain
• Put sanitary waste and wrappings in the dustbin, not down the toilet.

Source:
http://www.wwf.org.ph

Portable Solar Chargers

A mobile phone going "low-batt" or losing its last bit of power during a crucial business call is a dreadful thing to happen to any entrepreneur. The search for a timely recharging source to allow resumption of the call--whether a wall outlet, a car's cigarette lighter outlet, or a charging station at a mall or convenience store--can be very troublesome as well.

But it need not be like that anymore. Portable solar chargers are now available for entrepreneurs who use mobile phones or PDAs (personal digital assistants) extensively while out of the office--and they need not fear running out of electrical "juice" ever again.

Among the sun-powered chargers now in the market are three variants of the GreenMobile brand, which are distributed by a local firm, Tritec Integrated Philippines Inc. The product is targeting businessmen on the go and young people who frequently use mobile devices like digital music players, movie players, handheld video games, and cameras. Another major selling point of these solar chargers, of course, is their use of the sun as a renewable energy source, which thus can show their users' awareness of the need for environmental conservation.

The three variants--the clamshell-like GM30, the GM50 with detachable solar panels, and the pop-up GM90--share several things in common. Each has two mono- or multi-crystalline solar cell panels no wider than a grown-up's palm. The 3.7-volt lithium-ion rechargeable battery that stores the energy converted from sunlight can also be recharged using a USB (universal serial bus) charging cable that comes with the product package. Thus, before hitting the road again, the user can alternatively recharge the GreenMobile by simply plugging it into the USB port of the office computer or Internet cafe‚ PC that he or she happens to be working on.

When fully charged by exposure to sunlight for about 10 hours or via USB for about four hours, each of the three GreenMobile models can provide an output voltage of 5.5 to 6 volts, making them capable of fully recharging a mobile phone in two hours. The GreenMobile charger has an output cable with nine different connectors compatible with most mobile phone brands and digital devices.

Tristan San Buenaventura, president of Tritec, says that with April 22 being "Earth Day", it will be very timely for itinerant entrepreneurs to buy a solar charger this month. Aside from enjoying the convenience it offers, he says, they will have such a handy, highly visible way of showing their concern for the environment.

"We are all worried about global warming and climate change," he explains, "and now we have this amazing, eco-friendly gadget that dramatically reduces the energy cost of running our electronic gadgets. It will encourage and enable people to use renewable energy like solar power. It will allow them to power the billions of gadgets worldwide, thus reducing the use of energy from fossil fuels and helping to actually help fight climate change--one gadget at a time."

TRITEC INTEGRATED PHILIPPINES INC.
Unit I, 7/F Westgate Tower, Investment Drive
Madrigal Business Park,
Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City
Telephone: (02) 807-4211
Fax: (02) 807-3819
E-mail: info@gmsolarcharger.com;
tritecintegratedphil@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.gmsolarcharger.com/