By Jackie Jarvis
Maybe you are wondering if there is a secret to making your marketing work . . . if there is a special system . . . a key to success . . .
Imagine if I told you that the answers you are looking for are inside your own mind and all you really need is the right system, the right questions and the right guidance to enable you to unlock them.
As a successful marketing consultant and business coach I have been amazed by the people I have worked with over the years and how much they have found they already know when stimulated by the right set of questions.
Think your way through the maze
This simple process begins with where you are right now with your business, product or service and takes you to exactly where you want to be. Every step you take will add a vital piece to your ultimate marketing plan of action. At the end of the process you will have a marketing plan that you have created yourself. You will know which marketing strategies are going to offer your particular business the greatest leverage and you will know exactly what you need to do to apply them.
If you need to revive the enthusiasm for your business and bring back the passion you had for it – reading and working through this book is the stimulant you need right now.
If you own a business and you find that you are often too busy ‘working in the business’ to spend time ‘working on the business’ reading this will inspire you to take time out and move things forward. Most of all I hope that reading this will provide you with new inspiration and stimulate a new active approach to the successful marketing of your business.
President Benigno S. Aquino III will convene the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) next month where they will be discussing updates on the pending proposed legislative measures and the presentation of the Philippine Development Plan.
In a radio interview over government-run radio station dzRB Radyo ng Bayan, Presidential Deputy Spokesperson Abigail Valte said that part of the agenda in the second LEDAC meeting on July 12 were the updates on the common legislative agenda and the master plan for the country’s development efforts.
“Sa akin pong pagkakaalam ay magkakaroon po ng update doon sa common legislative agenda noong mga miyembro po ng LEDAC at magkakaroon po ng presentation nung Philippine Development Plan,” Valte said.
At present, Valte said, there would be no additional proposed measures to the 19 pending bills but the council would discuss the updates on those submitted during the first LEDAC meeting held last Feb. 27.
During the first LEDAC meeting, the Chief Executive presented 22 priority bills to the members of Congress.
Among the priority bills passed by Congress since the first LEDAC meeting include the postponement of elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm), the Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations Act of 2011, the extension of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) and the removal of the prohibition on night work for women.
How to Read Stock Market Chart
Ascending triangles indicate an upward bias, with a flat top and a se-
ries of higher lows. Generally, the bottom slope of the triangle coincides
with the trend or a trend to be. The example on the soybean chart, coming after an island gap and a gap higher, indicates a very strong upside reaction could occur, which, in fact, did happen. In this case, the market was too impatient to fill in the entire triangle with price action between the flat top resistance line and the upward sloping support line to complete the price action to form the apex of the triangle.
Similarly, the descending triangle indicates a downward bias–a flat
bottom support off which prices bounce for a time and a series of lower
highs that come together into an apex. It also flows with the direction of the
trend or the trend to be.
As a rule, triangles are used as continuation patterns and serve as a
measuring guide for the extent of a move. The length of time it takes the
triangle or congestion area to form is regarded as the distance a market will
move once it breaks out of the triangle pattern. The more powerful break-
outs seem to occur when the triangle does not entirely complete the coil-
ing process to the apex or tip of the triangle–the market appears to be
impatient to advance or continue the move, as with the ascending triangle
on the soybean chart.
If you buy the upside breakout of a symmetrical triangle in an uptrending
market, then you should place a stop below the first low point that estab-
lishes the bottom support line. The reverse is true when you sell a downside
breakout in a downtrend.
Here is a cautionary note: Triangles, just like other techniques, are not
a completely reliable trading pattern. They do have false breakouts, and
traders need to be aware that the longer the triangle takes to form, the less
power the breakout usually has behind it. Generally speaking, based on a
daily chart time frame, triangles can take 6 to 10 trading days or up to 2
weeks to develop, occasionally even longer. They can develop on intraday
charts such as 15-minute and even 60-minute charts, and they can show up
on weekly charts.
Monthly charts occasionally show triangles, but considering the length
of time and rolling out of expired contracts in commodity markets, triangles
are not so prevalent in my research. Due to the difference of seasonal price
pressures on most commodities–harvest supply pressures for agriculture
products, for example–pricing of deferred contracts makes triangles on
monthly charts ineffective, in my opinion.
The value of open interest figures comes from combining them with both
price movement and data from volume to evaluate the condition of the mar-
ket. If there is a price increase on strong volume and open interest increases,
then this is a signal that there is more buying interest that could mean a
continued trend advance. If prices increase but volume stays relatively flat
or declines and open interest declines, then this reflects a weakening mar-
ket condition. This is considered to be a bearish situation because the com-
bination of rising prices and declining open interest indicates that shorts
are covering by buying back their positions rather than new longs entering
the market. That activity would give a trader a clue that there is a potential
trend reversal coming.
It is important to understand the concept of matching price and trad-
ing activity. If you are watching a continuing long-term trend in a futures
contract, whether the direction is up or down, and prices start to fluctuate
with wider than normal daily swings or ranges–that is, extremely volatile
movements–combined with unusually strong volume and a decline in open
interest, you may be in a climaxing market condition and seeing a clue for
a potential major trend reversal coming.
It appears that bond traders who were short threw in the towel by buy-
ing to cover their positions and that the longs took profits by selling out of
their positions. All of this activity would explain the higher than normal vol-
ume. When the longs liquidated their positions, this was reflected by a de-
cline in open interest.
As for the wild price advance, shorts were bailing out of the market
almost in a panic state of mind, and longs were not willing to sell too cheap,
explaining the upward price behavior. These three characteristics are needed
to complete a climaxing top or bottom. Most volume and open interest
followers watch for this setup as a major sell signal. This condition is ex-
actly what happened to the bonds, producing a truly remarkable textbook
sell signal.
These concepts of volume and open interest can help any trader under-
stand the underlying market condition and the current trend. With that in-
formation, you may decide to buy dips instead of selling intraday rallies.
The fact that the exchanges do not publish open interest data for many
markets until the following day at about noon is a problem for analysts. Es-
timated volume figures are available after the markets close but not the ac-
tual numbers. Most financial papers report the information the day after that.
So it is important to know where to get the information faster than by read-
ing it in the newspaper.
One more aspect about deciding on the future price direction of this mar-
ket was that the overall pessimism of analysts, traders, and the media was
high. Bullish Consensus and the Commodity Futures Trading Commis-
sion’s Commitments of Traders report revealed that large and small spec-
ulators were mostly short this market and that commercial traders were
long.
Here’s a summary of how a decision was made to go long or to buy call
options:
· The investment community was extremely bearish.
· The monthly long-term chart showed the current market price was dig-
ging into the area where the moving average lows (not price lows) had
occurred in 1998.
· The daily chart was demonstrating that prices were supported near the
7450 level.
· On a fundamental note, the Japanese Central Bank was intervening to
support the yen’s value, adding a strong buying force to the market mix.
Now you have a market that has made a significant decline back down
to an area where governments step in to provide price protection and the
speculating community was bearish after the fact. The daily candle charts
were signaling to me that the down move was subsiding. The third chart
shows what had happened on the June yen chart and why it
helps not to get too “bearish in the hole.” The fact that the charts from dif-
ferent time frames helped me conclude that a buying opportunity might exist
was also the correct call.
The move that occurred between the 7450 and 7950 levels resulted in a
short, sharp 500-point rally. Notice that it took this market nearly another
month to begin moving, but move it did! Of course, you might say, “Well,
that was too long to wait around to make money.” Fine. The important point
is that you can see that selling short would have been a bad decision with
prices near the 7450 area. This type of charting analysis may not have got-
ten you to buy the low and stay with the position, but I do believe that by
checking different time periods you would not have sold short either, risking
a lot of money.
Marginal tax rate is defined as the tax rate on the last unit of income. Average tax rate is calculated by taking the total amount of tax paid divided by taxable income.
A progressive tax means the higher one’s income, the larger the percentage paid in taxes. Taxable income is defined as gross income less a set of exemptions and deductions which are spelled out in the instructions to the tax forms individuals must file.
Market value added is the difference between the market value of the firm (i.e., the sum of the market value of common equity, the market value of debt, and the market value of preferred stock) and the book value of the firm’s common equity, debt, and preferred stock. If the book values of debt and preferred stock are equal to their market values, then MVA is also equal to the difference between the market value of equity and the amount of equity capital that investors supplied. Economic value added represents the residual income that remains after the cost of all capital, including equity capital, has been deducted.
Capital gain (loss) is the profit (loss) from the sale of a capital asset for more (less) than its purchase price.
Ordinary corporate operating losses can be carried backward for 2 years or forward for 20 years to offset taxable income in a given year.
Improper accumulation is the retention of earnings by a business for the purpose of enabling stockholders to avoid personal income taxes on dividends.
Accounting profit is a firm’s net income as reported on its income statement. Net cash flow, as opposed to accounting net income, is the sum of net income plus non-cash adjustments. Operating cash is defined as the difference between sales revenues and cash operating expenses, after taxes on operating income. NOPAT, net operating profit after taxes, is the amount of profit a company would generate if it had no debt and no financial assets. Free cash flow is the cash flow actually available for distribution to investors after the company has made all investments in fixed assets and working capital necessary to sustain ongoing operations.