Shaun T. Dy's Business & Economics Perspective Blog

Business World Online   The stock market is something that people tend to dismiss as a "scam" (which it isn't) or that people think it's better to get a financial manager. In my case, I prefer to get a managed fund (at times) especially with the rule, "Invest in stocks only money that you don't need for now." Money needs to be set aside for stocks. In my case, I've been paying PHP 3,000.02 every month ever since I bought the AXA Chinese Tycoon Fund which invests in blue-chip stocks and has a premium charge to be used for insurance. Basically, I'm just letting it roll for some time though I also want to do personal investments. Though, it might be a better idea to get a fund manager or plan first how much to invest. Careless players can end up in a suicidal mode like borrowing PHP 1 Million then carelessly buying stocks and losing the money. The volatility is always something to consider. Stock markets are affected by one rule--supply and demand.

Getaway.PH I remembered the time when I had to go to SM City Cebu to renew my driver's license for the new 10-years validity. I could see the signs to buy local, go lokal (the Filipinization of the word local). The campaign to buy local is to support the local businesses and produce jobs. However, the big question is where are we going to get a big amount of customers. People are still in need of recovery. I ended up thinking about international marketing as the solution to help get customers for the ongoing buy local campaign. The Philippines in a glocalized setting  In international marketing, there's the term called glocalization which combines the words global and local . It was a term I heard in my international marketing class at the University of San Carlos-Main Campus. Now, I want to write about it as part of an economic recovery plan.  The definition of glocalization according to Investopedia is as follows: Glocalization is a combination of the words "globalizatio

I could remember one of my memories was having a teacher like the late Miriam Defensor-Santiago in high school. She was a pretty strict and brilliant woman like the late senator. Some say she was unreasonable but I wouldn't say that. She was temperamental but she made sense (most of the time) when she was angry. She did flunk me in the first grading but offered to help me as well. Though, I was thinking that economics in high school was rather hard to understand. When I look back--I had a brilliant teacher but the education system was dumb. Maybe, it was for the best that she left the Philippines with my science and math teacher. I ended up thinking it's too bad I wasn't able to communicate with her during my commerce days. I could think about how learning economics at the University of San Carlos-Main Campus was fun. I think about microeconomics, macroeconomics, and economics during my graduate school days. I think about how the struggle with economics, later on, wasn'

Trying the delicious Okinawa Milk Tea from ITealicious makes me think of the delicious Okinawa brown sugar. I thought about researching Okiwana brown sugar on how it's made. Certain details reveal why the Japanese product is used by certain milk tea establishments around the world.   The method of making the Japanese brown sugar is described by Dore by LeTao as follows: Can you guess the origin of this Brown Sugar? Yes of course it is from Okinawa! It is from sugarcane that is grown in Okinawa. Okinawa is famous for their beautiful place, beach, and their longevity. It is well-known that Okinawa’s climate is perfect for sugar cane. W ith strong southern-island sunlight and minerals delivered by the ocean spray, make Okinawa perfect for growing healthy sugar cane ! Production begins with a healthy sugarcane crop then continues to a slow cooking technique to process the sugar cane juice (this method is referred to as kokuto). This method makes them healthier than the usual brown suga

Schoolessons I could remember hating math while growing up. I actually and frequently had a vicious cycle that went like this--(1) I hate math, (2) I don't study math because I hate it, (3) I'd rather play video games or watch TV than study and practice math because I hate it, (4) I fail math exam because I didn't study, (5) it's always I hate math because I believe I'll never get it. In fact, I even felt like I wanted to quit school altogether and get into a fight with my parents because of math. It was a vicious cycle hard to break from, especially during our K+10 days. I remember being enrolled in Kumon classes for the summer when I was approaching Grade 6 (graduating year), I almost didn't graduate because of mathematics, and I had to have tutorials. I always felt math sucked, I'll never get good at it, and I'll never get better. I just kept thinking how "I hate math!" was my mantra and hating people who were better in the subject than I am

I could remember the problem of having to deal with the older generation that doesn't embrace change. It's often said that the older you get--the more resistant to change you become. I wanted to write this essay about why businesses need to keep up with technological advancement and new information. It's because much has changed from the 1980s to the present. I was born in 1985 which makes me a Generation Y. Generation X people are from 1965 to 1980. That means I've experienced a lot of stuff during the 1990s to the early 2000s which many of those born later wouldn't know. Remembering the "luxury" of the 1990s that became business necessities today I remembered how often I wanted a desktop back in the 1990s. Adjusting to change can be very difficult. I remembered how I wanted a desktop not because it was cool to own one. The typewriter was such a hassle,  especially with how it was a waste of paper. I really hated using the typewriter because of how hard t

Reading the book From Third World to First is really a must. The late Lee Kuan Yew was faced with the mentality of the development economists of his day. Here's an excerpt from "Chapter 4--Surviving Without a Hinterland" which I'd like to share from Pages 57-58: After several years of disheartening trial and error, we concluded that Singapore's best hope lay with the American multinational corporations (MNCs). When the Taiwanese and Hong Kong entrepreneurs came in the 1960s, they brought low technology such as textile and toy manufacturing, labor-intensive but not large-scale. American MNCs brought higher technology in large-scale operations, creating many jobs. They had weight and confidence. They believed that their government was going to stay in Southeast Asia and their businesses were safe from confiscation or war loss. I gradually crystallized my thoughts and settled on a two-pronged strategy to overcome our disadvantages. The first was to leapfrog the reg

As a student, I was living with the modest allowance provided by my parents. I always felt that having coffee or tea from establishments like Bo's Coffee Club, Starbucks, and The Tinder Box were overpriced. I guess it was because I had to make use of the lower allowance I was given. I had to learn to budget the food daily such as eating less than a PHP 100.00 meal in Jollibee. Going to a coffee shop was a luxury and I felt it was overpriced. However, to be overpriced is when the prices don't match the quality like selling a broken bootleg toy for USD 300.00.  Later, I became an MBA student in the same place where I got my bachelor's degree in business administration--the University of San Carlos. I could remember how it was a wide gap between me and those who were studying. I was slowly enjoying some trips to Chatime to get some fruit tea. It was pretty much near Starbucks and there was also Bo's Coffee Club in IT Park. I could also remember going to Starbucks in Ayala

Happy Cow Another food review I would like to publish is on Bharat Spice located in IT Park 3 Jose Maria Del Mar, Apas, Cebu City. I remembered having eaten at Cherry's the Spice before eating at this place. I was pretty much ignorant of the differences between North Indian and South Indian cooking. I tend to prefer Indian vegetable dishes so I didn't get quite a good first impression of this place. However, tasting their meat dishes such as tandoori chicken, chicken dosa, and goat rogan josh practically made me fall for this place. I also enjoyed their garlic naan which is my favorite bread from their menu.  What makes this place unique according to proprietor Vijay Vasandani II: Here, there is no Bollywood music blasting through speakers, no Bollywood movie posters plastered on walls, and no belly dancers. “ We wanted a restaurant where you can tell it’s Indian by its food, not by a sort of caricature of what our culture is ,” said Vijay Vasandani II, proprietor of Bharat Spi