The World's Richest Got Poorer By Forbes

Forbes just released the world's richest for the year 2009, and the big announcement is that they all got poorer (woohoo big surprise!) - only about 4% got richer over the period. A whopping third of them just bowed out of the list while 83% decreased in wealth.

If we're suffering so should they right? Nevertheless, as a result of the financial meltdown we've got two trillion floating around somewhere.

Okay as an overview Bill Gates and Warren Buffett swapped places. Warren used to be number one, but well he's not anymore - Bill Gates owns that spot now. Maybe the stint on tv helped him out a bit.

Mark Zuckerberg, once dubbed as one of the youngest billionaires in the world fell off that pedestal after losing big - approximately $600 million, he must have sunk a lot of investments

For more details, check out the source at Forbes.com

Predictions on How the Philippine Economy will Suffer along with the rest of the World

It's a good thing the Philippines wasn't so advanced in the first place in terms of investment because if we had been, then the Philippines would also be in a pretty bad shape now.

The only reason the Philippine economy is still afloat is because the Philippines was too poor to invest its finances in the riskier financial institutions. Unfortunately the smarter more advanced economies thought that taking smaller more secure investments and reinvesting them into riskier investments made them a lot more money. Unfortunately, that didn't work out the way they planned it.

The Philippines will feel the ripple effect of the US economic slowdown. The impact will be felt first of course in the stock market as well as direct exposure. The latter is minimal while the stock market will hurt PSE among other things. And then in terms of incoming investments. The export industry will suffer - particularly those that service the US and Europe. Yes Europe is also in trouble as a result of the sub prime catastrophe. Iceland has already declared bankruptcy and I'm pretty sure that country was much better off than the Philippines. Both the US and the UK have put in place bailouts as sponsored by their governments. Let's hope they make it through this as well. Because we are all interconnected financially, the Philippines owing money to other countries, make it susceptible to these changes although not on our shores.

Nevertheless the living conditions won't be as bad as it has always been - prices will continue to be high, gasoline prices have at least has gone down because there is less demand for oil now as a result. Business that are dependent on tourism and incoming remuneration from abroad will be hit specifically.

If OFWs abroad will have a difficult time, the Philippine economy will be hit pretty bad although I doubt the the extent to which overseas Filipino income will be threatened any worse than an American or European.

The newspapers these days are just peppered with images of the stock market and how it has just crashed amidst the US economic trouble. The bail-out will take a few months or even years to take effect - as the primary issues now are that people are no longer comfortable with spending money, banks are no longer free to give as much credit as they used to. There is a lack of predictability as to what might happen to the stock market, everything being red now.

Some people are buying stocks while their dirt cheap while most are just unloading what seems like lost causes.

The world will be a lot wiser after this economic slum... if it will survive it

Guess Chocolates Can Also Be Used In Business, Not Just In Courtship - IBM Tries To Win Over Africa With Chocolate

I absolutely LOVE chocolate. I don't know how people can survive without it. Well actually I do know, I just enjoy chocolate so much I think it should be part of the daily diet. Chocolate tastes good, makes you feel good and is not that expensive. It also doesn't take that long - unlike other things that are also considered satisfying.

Anyway moving on, IBM is attempting to endear itself to Africa. It's weapon of choice - you guessed it - chocolate! And why chocolate? Apparently it is Africa's primary crop and source of economic stability. And so understanding cocoa and in turn chocolate will help the region improve over all - the people and the economy.

With IBM's recent million dollar investments in Africa, it would make sense for them to give some back for a change and help the region flourish. So how are they doing this? IBM is having their new supercomputer Blue Gene to understand the genetic makeup of the cocoa genome that could make it more resistant to droughts and pests, which could lead to a steady crop and contribute to Africa's economies.

A noble feat - but also with criticism, apparently there may be some ulterior motive aligned with business and financial returns for the company. Makes sense, IBM after all is a corporation and not a charity foundation. I agree with their business strategy as long as it helps people instead of cause harm then I guess no foul.

If Africa is to gain with IBM's supercomputer profits - then I guess all is well with the world.

Learning Business Strategy From HSBC

In a Wall Street Journal article today, HSBC just made a major presentation to its English investors. After taking impairment charges on bad mortgages this year, HSBC Chairman Stephen Green on Friday said the bank is aligning its strategy with three major trends shaping the world economy:

1. Emerging markets are growing faster than rich countries
2. World trade is outpacing growth in gross domestic product
3. And people nearly everywhere are living longer.

If you think about it, these trends are instrumental to many international businesses and not only applicable to HSBC. Businesses should consider other emerging markets and capitalize on that growth. The world has grown much smaller in the last few years due to the advent of the internet. Medical advancement have led people to age (not exactly gracefully) in a functional length that can be made profitable by businesses.