Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – The Philippine stock market bounced back on Tuesday following the strong performance of US equities. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index rose by 0.61 percent, or 41.47 points, to 6,852.81, while the broader all-share index added 0.74 percent, or 30.35 points, to 4,135.98. Trading volume reached 1.79 billion shares worth p9.7 billion ($221.94 million) with 126 stocks advancing, 61 declining, and 38 unchanged. Of the six counters, only the financials bucked the trend. “The emotional pendulum swung back to positive after the Dow hit a fresh record reflecting a resurgence of confidence in the world’s largest economy,” analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market comment. The Dow Jones industrial average index jumped by 0.68 percent, or 112.13 points, to reach another record high at 16,695.47 on Monday. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Calaycay said activity in the market picked up behind news of acquisitions while expectations that China’s leaders will keep an accommodative stance amid weak economic numbers provided added lift. In the US, the Federal Reserve kept to its tapering pace and reiterated its preparedness to continue supporting the economy. “As the US earning season begins to unwind, the impetus has not been as strong as many believed. Nevertheless, with more than half of the firms having released their reports, there is little reason for the bears to show up,” Calaycay said. He said US companies have reported better-than-forecast numbers and this helped boost Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The peso dipped against the dollar midday Tuesday, settling at 43.772 from the previous day’s 43.71. Total volume transacted at the Philippine Dealing System amounted to $493.4 million in the morning, higher than the $472.3 million posted the same period on Monday. The peso opened Tuesday at 43.73.

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign exchange losses continued to weigh down the income of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) even as it posted higher revenues in the first quarter. In a statement, SMC said its net income was nearly halved to P2.2 billion in January to March compared with P4.2 billion last year. “Without the foreign exchange losses, SMC’s net income was at P4 billion, 23 percent higher than the comparable income for the same period last year,” the conglomerate pointed out. SMC said the strength of the dollar against the peso resulted in a P1.8-billion net loss in the first quarter, reversing the P1-billion foreign exchange gain in the same period last year. But the appreciation of the peso to 43.65 as of May 9 effectively eliminated the foreign exchange losses, it added. Revenues rose almost a tenth to P195 billion in the first quarter, driven by energy units — Petron Corp. and SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. that posted double-digit improvement even as core businesses San Miguel Brewery Inc. (SMB), San Miguel Pure Foods Co. Inc. (SMPF) and San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp. reported better quarter-on-quarter results while liquor unit Ginebra San Miguel Inc. made a solid recovery. The strong performance of Ginebra, SMPF and the power business allowed SMC to record P15.5 billion in consolidated operating income, SMC said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 For its part, SMB’s consolidated sales volume reached 46.6 million cases, down year-on-year due to a trade build-up prior Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Palawan will soon be connected to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah as part of the economic and trade cooperation among the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma said on Monday. Coloma said President Benigno S. Aquino III and leaders of the Southeast Asian countries agreed to concretize the proposed connections of roads, airports and seaports through the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA). Leaders of the four countries met during the 24th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Myanmar and held the 10th BIMP-EAGA summit there. Coloma said aside from direct flights from Puerto Princesa to Kota Kinabalu, private companies also signed a memorandum of agreement to establish the Davao-General Santos-Bitung shipping service, which will connect Mindanao to Sulawesi in Indonesia. He said the economic cooperation is also meant to boost the livelihood of citizens of the four countries. BIMP-EAGA is a subregional economic bloc established in 1994 to spur economic development and trade liberalization in the resource-rich area covered by the entire sultanate of Brunei Darussalam; the provinces of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, West Papua and Papua in Indonesia; the states of Sabah and Sarawak, and the federal territory of Labuan in Malaysia; and the island of Mindanao and the province of Palawan in the Philippines.

Many Filipinos are literally saddled with debt. As such, debt has been viewed negatively. Being in debt connotes a burden, and being buried in debt has a similar connotation as being buried six feet under. However, with all the negative beliefs about debt, debt can actually be your best friend and lifesaver. Debt is made possible through credit. It is important to understand that the word credit has the same Latin roots such as creed and credibility. This root word is credere, which means to entrust and to believe. Credere comes from ker-dhe, which literally means to put one’s heart into. Thus, good debt is a product of kind intentions, since the lender actually entrusts his or her money to you to save you from some predicament. For instance, your remittance is delayed, and someone in your family suddenly suffers from a medical emergency. To pay for this emergency, you can draw from your liquidity pool, but if it is not enough to cover for this, the next best thing would be to ask for financial help from a relative or a very close friend. Personal credit then acts as a bridge, allowing you to meet the expenses associated with the emergency, prior to you receiving your cash inflow. Let me call this kind of debt personal debt. Thus, a credit line can actually serve as a lifeline, in cases where liquidity cannot cover the essentials. However, being an extension of someone’s kindness, personal debt bears a responsibility. Personal debt Read More …