Confessions of an ex-HYIP investor (Part 1)

It all started with one spam email. It was the last week of December 2004. I was cleaning out my Yahoo! inbox but instead of deleting all mails in the Bulk Mail folder, I retained one whose title caught my attention. It proclaimed: "40% return after 5 days! No risk!"

I clicked the link in the mail despite the resistance of the voice in my head: "Fool! Don't trust these people! 40% return in 5 days is impossible. It's definitely a scam!"

I know, I told myself, but I'll just try searching for this in Google to see what turns up. Who knows, this might be the 'pot of gold' I've been looking for!

One keyword led to another and I jumped from one site to the next: MinistryofGold.com, MoneyMakerGroup.com, TalkGold.com, HYIPDiscussion.com.

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PMT Christmas Party - December 23, 2006 @ Menu Restaurant, Metrowalk Ortigas

Pics from the PMT Christmas Party and EB held at Menu Restaurant in Metrowalk Ortigas, December 23, 2006.

(All photos are owned and copyrighted by nailbiter.)

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Performance returns of mutual funds in the Philippines (as of 12-22-2006)

Since December 8, for some reason the Investment Company Association of the Philippines (www.icap.com.ph) has stopped updating the daily record of performance returns of Philippine mutual funds. It is highly likely that access to this information is limited to ICAP members alone.

This explains why we did not have the weekly performance update last week. Starting this week, however, we will utilize the daily mutual funds report published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer rather than the ICAP site.

Do take note that this report summarizes the performance of mutual funds over a two-week period from December 8 until December 22 and not a one-week summary of results.

As always, when assessing mutual funds you should not simply look at the NAVPS or Net Asset Value per Share. This number does not necessarily tell you whether the fund is performing well or not, but the change of the NAVPS over time does. Never assume that a fund with a high NAVPS means it is generating high returns. You need to look at actual returns of the fund over a certain time horizon. Read more

Christmas Message from George W. Bush and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Enjoy this Christmas dance message brought to you by US President George Bush and Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo!

We at Pinoy Money Talk (PMT) wish all of you a joyful Christmas and a prosperous New Year!

SHARE THESE VIDEOS! Send these funny Christmas clips to your friends by scrolling to the bottom of this article and clicking "Share This". 

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Tips for young - 30-years-old-and-under - investors (Part 2 of 2)

(Second of a two-part series)

Learning

Your portfolio isn't just for making money - at this stage in your life, it's also an educational tool. Believe it or not, a classroom isn't the best way to learn about the principles of investing. Often, learning by doing is the most effective way to becoming a knowledgeable investor. When you make a decision about your portfolio, always think about what you're doing and look back on it when assessing your results. If you can make connections between your actions and your returns, you're more likely to replicate the good returns and avoid the bad ones.

Stepping into investing isn't often easy. There's a learning curve involved in the stock market, and it's steeper for some than others. If you're having a hard time understanding the investing world, remember that it's not supposed to be easy - that's why the Wall Street wizards make the big bucks. There are resources around to help you, online and in the real world. And if something really has you stumped, ask your broker for help - it's part of his or her job to make sure that you understand what's happening to your money.

It may take you a while to get the hang of it, but there are advantages to being a young investor, too. This generation is probably more financially savvy than the ones that preceded it, and with all of the investing education resources now available (online, in books and magazines, on TV), today's young investors have a substantial edge over their predecessors.

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Tips for young — 30-years-old-and-under — investors (Part 1 of 2)

(First of a two-part series)

Face it, as an individual under 30, you're not the average investor, and modeling your portfolio after that of your parents isn't always a good idea. In fact, doing so can cause you to miss out on some valuable learning opportunities and, in the long run, even cost you money. If you want to make the most of your money, every decision you make about your portfolio is as important as the last. In this article we look at the unique set of challenges involved in portfolio management for young investors and provide some advice to help you succeed.

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StudioTraffic and StudioPay now officially under investigation

We've heard it before — even straight from StudioTraffic moderators themselves — that the now-defunct and now-a-scam program StudioTraffic (also "Studio Traffic" or simply "ST") was being investigated by the FBI. Today I received mail from the Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov) that seemed to officially confirm this.

The letter from IC3 goes:

Dear (my full and real name here):

Studiopay/Studiotraffic is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the FBI and Onondaga County Sheriffs Department. Investigation of this matter has developed information that you have had financial transactions with one, or both, of these companies. If you have been victimized by either of these companies please file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center at the following website:

http://www.ic3.gov/

Please reference Studiopay as the subject of the investigation when filing your complaint. Provide as much detail as possible pertaining to monies invested, individuals contacted, method of contact (telephone, mail, E-mail etc…), amounts, and dates of payment and any amounts received from Studiopay. If possible, include dates of contact, the Studiopay employees contacted and brief summaries of the conversations.

Of course, I had to check first whether this was a genuine IC3 letter. The email header seems to prove this. Part of the header goes:

Received: from smtp.ic3.gov (smtp.ic3.gov [151.205.1.16])
Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of no-reply@ic3.gov designates 151.205.1.16 as permitted sender)

Checking the IP address shows this:

IP Information: 151.205.1.16
IP Location: United States - Virginia - Richmond - National White Collar Crime Center
Reverse DNS: smtp.ic3.gov

Also, the mail addressed me using my full and real name. I don't think there's any way for IC3 to associate me with StudioTraffic or Studio Pay (SP), unless they have information that ST or SP used to own. Like the rest of ST and SP members, I divulged my personal information when we were asked to verify our accounts, especially the StudioPay account. It appears IC3 is now in possession of this ST or SP database.

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Scammers, beware! Egold is out to get you

Is it the end for scammers, money launderers, terrorists, child pornographers, and credit card thieves now that E-gold announced they are cooperating with the authorities in hunting down these scumbugs? E-gold's announcement was published in an article posted in Wired.com:

The founder of PayPal competitor e-gold has grown tired of the government characterizing his business as a haven for money launderers, terrorists, child pornographers and credit card thieves.

So a year after the Department of Justice raided his offices, Douglas Jackson, president of Gold and Silver Reserve, which operates e-gold, has been wading deep into his customer transaction logs to identify and fight back against people who misuse his system. In the last month, he's blocked about 2,000 accounts from his system, and he's voluntarily turned over detailed account and transaction histories to federal law enforcement. (Emphasis ours)

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Pinoy Money Talk (PMT) and “Ituloy AngSulong”

Just FYI, PMT is not competing and does not intend to compete in the Php300,000 Ituloy AngSulong contest. We are not submitting this site as an entry and are not planning to meet the contest requirements (i.e., sponsor linkbacks, etc.).

The use of the phrase “Ituloy AngSulong” as a category title is actually a search engine optimization (SEO) experiment on how high (or low) this site will rank in search engines without actively optimizing the site for that keyword and through mere posting of articles that contain that phrase.

With only one article in the PMT Blog that mentions “Ituloy AngSulong”, PinoyMoneyTalk.com was able to reach the 99th rank in Google.com before falling back to the x-hundredth place. We’ll see whether the ranking will improve now that this second “Ituloy AngSulong” article has been published.

Google Custom Search: My search, my results

Wouldn't it be great to use a search engine that shows results tailored to what you want and what you need? Something customizable to fit your site but still powerful enough to give relevant results? And wouldn't it be awesome to earn money from the search results?

The good news is Google's Custom Search Engine (CSE) is exactly that. In October this year, Google launched CSE that lets site owners and members use a customized Google-powered search engine that prioritizes or restricts results based on what they want.

Think Google Search and digg combined. Site owners can invite their friends and trusted members of the community to add to and help build the search engine. Search results are then based on what these people find relevant.
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