when the market is ballish, you're bouncing. if it's beerish,you're tipsy
Published on August 26, 2004 By xuzhu In Business
TUESDAY is undoubtedly card-reading day. Since I have been able to catch up with the PHISIX yesterday, I went to a reputable fortuneteller. So my thoughts moved as she flipped two clubs and three hearts.

Then I asked her if what does my card reads.

“You would be lucky if you won’t have any misfortune,” she managed a grin. Then, I started to formulate some questions about the stock market. She again flipped her decks and began reading those cards.

“So, what does it say?” I asked.

“The stock market will be going down, and so with the peso-dollar exchange.”

Sometimes, fortunetellers can be very versatile. They can be a fortuneteller and a market analyst in one. So I justified.

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ONE DOES not need a PhD in Economics to figure out that our country is in trouble. Read the news. It says, “Philippines may have Argentina-type of debt in 2 to 3 years.”

Although it is not surprising but somehow it is still disappointing to note that GMA administration has not addressed the issue after succeeding deposed President Joseph Estrada. It is only now that they start to put up immediate measures in hope that they can pull out some potion to remedy to the situation. They began to lobby new tax laws for a bigger revenue collection and start tracking those tax evasion culprits.

Nothing is new. This is your Filipino style of handling problems. We face problems when it seems too big enough to tackle. There is no such thing as worse case scenario planning. One could only laugh during the elections. Among the presidential candidates, it was only Eddie Gil who explicitly provides solutions to the ballooning debt of this country. But he was labeled nuisance. Yet, he was the only one who has the desire to give specific measures on this matter.

And yes, our President expects us to sacrifice. For Pete’s sake, Congress too should make their sacrifices. Cut their Pork Barrel, even if it means little budget goes to projects. After all, we have been used to having low and substandard infrastructure projects. Another is the hodge-podge solution of our revenue collection. The legislation of new tax law will not, but rather a complete revision of our current tax law framework will somehow achieve the revenue targets of the Bureau.

The United States also has a fiscal deficit for the past months. Ironic but this is true. President Dubya Bush is still pushing for tax cut measures and incentives for businesses.

This sure does make sense.

* * *

I MISSED Tuesday’s Dragon Ball GT series on GMA 7. For now my thoughts are revolving whether Son Gokou has actually surrendered to take his chances against the Super Android 17. If so, the earth would be in deep trouble.

Perhaps, there is still some bag of tricks available to our hero. But we may never know what is he thinking. Anime series are like that, or maybe all superhero stories. The protagonist gets beaten from surmountable odds, until he come up with eye-popping ways to clinch his victory. So it’s not like your Team USA basketball team. It is certain that the hero will most likely win the head-to-head battle.

Ah, speaking of Team USA basketball team. Two defeats are unexplainable. We were made to believe for the past years that the Americans are unbeatable. Even if you put collegiate cagers, they still will have a clean slate all throughout. But this is not the case now. With the overflow of international players in NBA, they can go out there and make sabay with the once viewed as the worlds best.

Several factors say so. First, the real superstars in the guise of Shaquille O’neal, the Big Ticket Kevin Garnett, and the flamboyant Kobe Bryant have declined to play for security purposes. Second, the international three point shooters are just sensational. Imagine a center shooting threes with a nothing-but-the-bottom of the net exclamation point. Lastly, the Team USA is not getting those superstar calls. Physical play is a no-no. And, is there really such thing as superstar calls in the Olympics?

I am still wondering up to now why the Philippines have not registered a medal in Athens. With five players remaining, are we still pinning our hopes on a coveted gold medal? Our Philippine Sports Commission has a lot of explaining to do.

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