China Archives » Pinoy Money Talk

‘Ghost Month’ in August affecting stocks?

Is the “Ghost Month” to blame for the recent rollercoaster ride in stock markets around the world?

During the first two weeks of August, stock markets worldwide had a freefall, went back up again, slid again, then back up once more. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), for example:

plummeted 4.31% on August 4 after credit rating agency S&P downgraded the United States
declined 5.5% more on August 8
bounced back 3.98% on August 9
fell another 4.6% on August 10
but rose 3.9% on August 11

And it’s probably just starting.

Photos & Videos of Fake Apple Store in China

Just when we thought China has produced a fake version of almost anything — from mobile phones to designer bags to apparel and even branded cars! — here comes another one that can be added to that list: a fake Apple Store.

An American blogger, who goes by the name BirdAbroad, recently posted in her blog photos and a video of the rip-off Apple store. According to the blog entry, the store is located in the city of Kunming, capital of China’s southwestern Yunnan province.

The similarities with authorized Apple stores are uncanny, with the blogger describing in detail:

[PHOTO] Giant tuko (tokay gecko) sold for $20 million?

Tuko for sale!
We buy geckos for millions of pesos!
You’ve probably seen such lines in classified ads websites, watched the reports on TV about the supposed “tuko trading,” or heard the rumor from a neighbor or friend, but is it really true?
Can tokay geckos or tuko — supposedly with their medicinal properties that can cure AIDS or HIV — really be sold for hundreds of thousands or even millions of pesos?
PinoyMoneyTalk did a bit of online research and it seems to us that the current frenzy over the sale and trade of tuko in the Philippines stemmed from a news report published more than a year ago in an Indonesian newspaper claiming that a 64-kg gecko was sold for $20 million.

Cheap Prices of Apple iPad 2

Last year when the first Apple iPad was launched, we compared prices in various online Apple stores in Asia to determine where the cheapest iPad price can be found. We discovered that in Asia Pacific, the cheapest Apple iPad can be found in Apple’s online store Hong Kong, then Singapore, then Japan.

Is the same pricing applicable in the case of the new Apple iPad 2?

Apple iPad 2 reviews, prices, specs, photos

A total of 15 million Apple iPad units were sold during the first nine months of its release, according to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. That’s more than the total number of all other tablet PC sales combined.

But Apple seems bent on dominating that market further. Less than a year after the first Apple iPad was released, here comes a thinner, lighter and superbly faster upgrade: the Apple iPad 2.

Power Balance, Scalar Energy, Quantum Pendants — SCAM?

You have probably witnessed a demo of how a seemingly innocent bracelet or pendant have made someone stronger. Perhaps you yourself have participated in that Endurance and Flexibility Body Test.

Astonished by what you saw, you wonder: do these Power Balance wrist bands, EFX bracelets, and Scalar Quantum Energy Pendants really produce that effect?

We found several reasons below to convince us that they DO NOT. Read on.

Crying Babies – Transcript of Lozada-de Venecia wiretapped conversation

The plot thickens in the NBN-ZTE issue.
While the Senate interrogates witnesses in the corruption-laden National Broadband Network project, a video appeared on YouTube supposedly containing the wiretapped conversation between NBN-ZTE “star witness” Jun Lozada and Congressman Joey de Venecia.
The conversation, laced with profanities from both parties, dealt with the supposed bribery in the NBN deal and discussed another potential kickback with regard to the “Chinese embassy thing.”
The Inquirer reported that de Venecia did not deny it was his voice talking about a $130-million kickback allegedly demanded by former Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos. He claims it was Abalos who probably masterminded the release of the wiretapped conversation on YouTube.
Listen to the alleged Jun Lozada- Joey de Venecia conversation and read the transcript after the jump.