Back to Basics: The Best Response by Banks to The Crisis

Amidst the ongoing global financial crisis, the annual bankers’ speech delivered by the Governor of Bank Indonesia at the end of January emphasized the importance of national banks going "back to basics". The request was directed to all financial institutions, especially banks. This announcement by the Governor was based on the reality that the current crisis faced can be seen as a consequence of financial sector development that is detached from its root, namely the real sector.

The appeal for banks to go back to basics is not merely limited to banks in Indonesia, but also in America, where the current economic turmoil began. Frederick Holmes, a Professor Emeritus of medicine from the University of Kansas wrote an open letter in The Economist, edition 14 on 20th February 2009. In the letter he expressed satisfaction at being a customer of a local bank in Kansas City for 40 years, which operates conservatively. He wrote, "Despite the death knell sounded throughout the media, most people and most banks did not encumber themselves with mountains of unsecured debt. In the conservative heartland of America we have avoided the razzle-dazzle of "sophistication" and “computer-modeling" when managing our finance." Meanwhile, on the other hand the CEO of the bank endeavored to reassure worried customers during these troubling times by declaring: "when the siren song of the subprime-mortgage market came along, we took the long view and turned a deaf ear." This announcement was possible because the bank in question did not engage in subprime lending, which would have endangered the condition of the bank. It is therefore proven that the conservative actions of the bank safeguarded it from the impacts of the financial crisis.

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Oil drifts below $69 as traders eye US economy

Oil prices drifted below $69 a barrel Monday in Asia as traders look to macroeconomic indicators this week for signs of improvement in the U.S. economy.Benchmark crude for August delivery slipped 40 cents to $68.76 a barrel by midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, it fell $1.07 to settle at $69.16.Oil prices yo-yoed near $70 a barrel last week as investors mulled mixed signals on whether the U.S. economy, the world's largest, is poised to climb out of its worst recession in decades.

Investors will be eyeing economic data this week, including the Labor Department's June unemployment report. The jobless rate hit a 25-year high of 9.4 percent in May, jumping from 8.9 percent the previous month.The latest indicators of consumer confidence and manufacturing will also be released. Crude has doubled since March, leading some analysts to predict oil will pullback until definitive signs of economic growth emerge.

"There's concern about sluggish oil demand," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "Unless we see data that shows a clear economic recovery, prices may have peaked in the short-term.

"The oil price rally is running out of steam."

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for July delivery fell 0.66 cent to $1.87 a gallon and heating oil was steady at $1.73. Natural gas for July delivery plunged 6.8 cents to $4.04 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent prices fell 42 cents to $68.50 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Taken from Jakartapost

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Goverment needs to better manage foreign debt: analyst

Despite the fact that incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) has managed to improve the country’s foreign debt to Gross Domestic Products (GDP) ratio, his debt management policy needs to be improved, an economist says.
“The amount of foreign debt is definitely increasing, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. As we can see, the ratio of foreign debt to the GDP has been decreasing,” Sri Adiningsih, from Yogyakarta’s Gadjah Mada University, told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta on Sunday.
“A decreasing ratio between foreign debt and GDP shows that the country’s capability to pay the debt has been gradually increasing,” she added. Public debt has reportedly increased by an average of Rp 80 trillion (US$8 billion) per year during SBY's presidency. As of January 2009, it stood at Rp 1,667 trillion. Around Rp 747 trillion of that debt was in foreign loans and around Rp 920 trillion is from bonds.
Data from the Finance Ministry shows GDP growth has risen faster than foreign debt levels during SBY’s presidency. The ratio of foreign debt to GDP declined to 32 percent during SBY’s presidency, down from 54 percent during the presidency of Megawati Sukarnoputri, who is again running in the July 8 election.

“However, the government also mismanaged the debt allocation in certain policies. For example, the direct cash subsidy (BLT) is also funded by foreign debt,” she said.
“That is the wrong practice of foreign debt allocation. Consumption subsidies must be funded by a predetermined state budget, not by using foreign loans,” she added.
Head of the Anti Debt Coalition (KAU), Dani Setyawan, said that SBY’s presidency showed nothing but a severe mismanagement of foreign debt.
“During SBY’s presidency, the debt was paid using another loan from abroad. The country is pretty much trapped in a circle of unresolved and accumulated foreign debt,” he said. A report provided by the KAU show the country had received around Rp 48 trillion in foreign loans during 2008, but paid around Rp 90 trillion of foreign debt in the same period.
“This condition shows that Indonesia is severely trapped in a vicious debt cycle. The statistics also portray a grim fact that Indonesia is still exploited by the rich countries,” Dani said

Taken from : Jakartapost.com

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Sakuralive

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Qwest Service

The communication across country on very long distance is usual in this milenium era. Everybody can connect each other eventhough they live in different continent. The technology growth is very amazing and quick. All make our lives very comfortable. We don’t need to send post-mail again for our families who lives in other island. By telephone, we can talk to other people eventhough they stay in other country. All make our lifes easier. One of the company related with it is Qwest .
I recommend Qwest because Qwest phone service makes me satisfied. With Qwest Choice® Home and Qwest Choice? Home Plus it's easy to customize a phone service plan to meet our unique needs, with the freedom to change our plan as those needs change. We will get unlimited local calls, no contracts, and streamlined billing. All delivered with the Qwest Spirit of Service.We also get to create the exact plan we need by choosing from Qwest's extensive list of calling features, including Caller ID, Call Waiting, Voice Mail, Three-Way Calling, and many more.

With Qwest Unlimited Long-Distance Plan, we can call anywhere in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico for one low monthly fee. And there are no calling-time restrictions, so we can call any time of the day, any day of the week. With the Qwest Unlimited Long-Distance Plan, we'll have the freedom to talk as long as we want, whenever we want, without having to worry about your long-distance bill!

Qwest also provide internet service. With Qwest high speed internet we get quality, Internet with speeds that blow dial-up out of the water, all for one low monthly price. Qwest high speed internet allows us to download videos, music, images, and other large files at lightening-fast speeds. No extra phone line is necessary, and DSL doesn't tie up our existing line, so we can talk on the phone and surf the web at the same time. And because Qwest High-Speed Internet is always connected, we won't waste time worrying about busy signals and waiting for our modem to connect.

Try qwest now and get many advantage from them !

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Kehidupan Ekonomi Keluarga

Salah satu tujuan dalam hidup setiap orang adalah membina hubungan rumah tangga dengan pasangan yang dicintainya melalui perkawinan. Setiap orang yang telah mencapai usia dewasa di atas dua puluh tahun biasanya sudah mempersiapkan akan hal-hal tersebut. Tetapi perlu diperhatikan bahwa persiapan pranikah memegang peranan penting dalam kelangsungan kehidupan rumah tangga. Masing-masing harus sudah mengenal pasangannya dengan baik, kekurangan dan kelebihannya, dan characternya. Menerima apa adanya kekurangan yang dimiliki pasangan adalah hal yang sangat penting.

Setelah membina bahtera rumah tangga, aktifitas hubungan intim merupakan faktor yang sangat vital dan tidak boleh dianggap sepele apabila ada hal-hal yang mengganjal. Misalnya seorang suami merasa tidak percaya diri karena alat vitalnya, sekarang telah ada solusi melalui penis enlarger . Informasi mengenai hal tersebut bisa diperolah di www.x4extender.net.

Dalam situs tersebut dijelaskan proses penis extender tidak berbahaya karena tidak menggunakan obat-obat seperti lazimnya, tetapi melalui proses alamiah berupa penis stretcher . Alat yang dipakai adalah alat mekanik berupa exclusive Comfort Strap technology dan silicone tubing. Alat ini telah diuji dilaboratorium oleh teknisi-teknisi handal, sehingga dijamin dapat bekerja maksimal.

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Online Trading

In the past, people depended on trading broker company to manage their funds on capital market like stock trading , foreign exchange trading, etc. Only rich people could trade on capital market, because they have much money. They were not free to make decisions, broker also had a right to controll trading transactions. But when clients have lost their trading, broker was not responsible. It was a weaknes of old system.

Now, trading is very easy for everyone even for beginner. People with less money can join on capital market. The information technology growth have also influenced capital market world. Manual broker is not too important now, because people can do trading via online broker . There are many online broker now and we can find them on internet easily. But I recommend one best service, www.firstrade.com.

Firstrade is a leading discount online brokerage serving investors for over 23 years. Many reasons why I choose them, like they provide account protection up to $150 million dollars. No minimum deposit for anyone wanting to invest. They offer 10,000 types of mutual funds. No hidden fees, low margin rates, no fee IRAs, free devident reinvestment, no inactivity or account maintenance fees, and many others. I think Firstrade is best choice for online trading now. Firstrade's commitment as an online discount broker to offer the most for the least struck a chord with investors. Firstrade grew rapidly, providing self-directed investors with fast order execution, excellent customer service, and exceptional site performance. Major industry publications including Barron's, Forbes, and Smart Money have all rated Firstrade as one of the best online brokers for consecutive years.

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Advantage Tax Help

Paying tax is an obligation for every citizen. Tax is main element of country’s revenue. Government needs large revenue to develop and build our state. Our taxes are very useful to help poor people, build many public facilities, preserve global environment, forest and animal, develop educational system, etc. Don’t ever to avoid tax obligation, because it is criminal action and we will be a prisoner.

Sometimes we have financial problem. It will influence our tax obligation. On the other hand, many citizens don’t understand about tax rule. They don’t know what they must do to get free from tax debt when they have financial problem. When we were undergoing serious tax problems such as a tax lien, a salary garnishment or have received an audit notice, things can get extremely complicated. If we don't know intricate tax laws, we could end up paying more than you really owe. So, how do we get back taxes when we have financial problem ? We can get the answer of it from www.advantagetaxhelp.com.

Advantage Tax Help takes pride in offering their clients a wide variety of tax related products and services. They are a team of highly qualified tax attorneys, tax negotiators, Certified Public Accountants and associates who are dedicated to helping taxpayers find the best solution available in order to help us resolve our tax problems quickly. They recognize this is a difficult time for us and we are looking for quality tax help. The tax professionals team from www.advantagetaxhelp.com have years of experience successfully negotiating thousands of cases with the IRS and the State. The team of tax relief expert advisors are highly trained in customer service and will be able to assist us in determining the best course of action to resolve our tax issues.
So, don’t worry about tax again because we can get advantage tax help anytime !

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Tax Refunds of Casino

USA especially Las Vegas is the dream place for every casino player. This place is well known all over the world as gambling town. I have a dream to come to there and try to play casino. Maybe you are, too. But are we ready to lose when playing casino ? Playing casino is full with challenges, we can win or loss quickly. Many factors influence it. Every gambler must understand about it. Sometimes they just think about winnings and not ready for losses.
As we know, US tax rule requires that casinos and other gambling establishments withhold 30% of the gambling winnings of international visitors (internal revenues service/IRS). I think 30% is very large gambling winnings tax , especially for international visitor like me. For canadian players, they can offset gambling losses against the gmabling winnings reported on form 1042-S and get some or all of the gambling tax back. Non US citizens from several countries also qualify for casino tax refunds of the 30% withholding on their casino winnings. We can see these list of eligible countries on www.casinotaxrebate.com.

How can we get the casino tax rebate ? Please visit www.casinotaxrebate.com and you will get much information about it. They have established a reputation as best US tax recovery service in Canada. Now we can enjoy playing casino although we loss.

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Direct TV

I was a loyal customer of tv cable because I got a satisfied service and many good television channel. When my wife told me about Direct TV , I ignored it because I have enjoyed with tv cable services. Then my wife gave me an url address about direct tv on www.directsattv.com. I tried to open and browse on it, there was a tool to compare between cable and direct TV. Wow, it was amazing ! I became understand about Direct TV. Direct TV service is better than usual cable tv, it has over 130 channel including cable and dish network, it offers an incredible value with a lower price per channel than cable, it features crystal clear HD channels with Dolby digital 5.1. sorround sound and 100% digital quality for every channel, it features best sport like NFL Sunday ticket, NASCAR hotpass and NCAA @ Mega March Madness. 
According to American Customer Satisfaction Index, for the eight year in a row Directv scored higher in customer satisfaction than cable companies measured in. It means that Directv service is the best at the moment. They give many special offers and packages, like premier, plus HD DVR, plus DVR, choicextra, choice, and family. On Premier package, we can get over 250 channels including premium movie channels and sports networks and free DVR or HD receiver after instant rebate. On Plus HD DVR package, we can get Over 195 channels including 68 XM Satellite Radio channels, plus DVR and HD service and Free DVR or HD receiver after instant rebate. On Plus DVR package, we can get Over 185 channels including 68 XM Satellite Radio channels and DVR service and free DVR or HD receiver after instant rebate. On Choice xtra package, we can get Over 185 channels including 68 XM Satellite Radio channels and Free DVR or HD receiver after instant rebate. On Choice package, we can get Over 140 channels including 50 XM Satellite Radio channels. On family package, we can get over 40 channels suitable for all ages and offering parental controls.
Now, I decide to order directv now and leave cable tv, because I’m interesting with Directv system .

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