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Moody’s downgrades UK sovereign credit rating

While traders and investors in the Philippines rejoice over all-time highs in the stock market, favorable economic conditions and positive consumer outlook, the opposite seems to be the state of norm in the Eurozone area — with more news of recession, austerity programs and credit rating downgrade coming from that part of the world.

The latest in the recent spat of bad news from Europe is the announcement of ratings agency Moody’s that it is downgrading Britain’s sovereign credit rating for the first time in the country’s history.

Socioeconomic classes (SEC) ABCDE explained

Market researchers and brand marketers usually use five socioeconomic classes — Class A, B, C, D, E — when describing income segments of a population.

In the Philippines, it’s tough to describe who really comprise these segments and how big the segments are due to lack of credible and substantive researches.

2012 Peso-Dollar Exchange Rate Forecast

UPDATED: Check out the latest Peso-Dollar Exchange rate and other currency exchange rates here: Peso Exchange Rate vs. USD, AED, HKD, SGD, KWD, QAR, SAR, GBP, EURO, JPY

What would the Peso-Dollar exchange rate be by the end of the year?

If we only knew the answer, no doubt that we would be very, very rich. Imagine being able to accurately hedge currencies. Or to know the correct timing to convert US Dollars to Philippine Peso. Or to be able to invest all your money in the currency that would rise in value. Whew, if we only knew.

We looked at some exchange rate predictions issued by top investment analysts in the country that we can use as guide.

The “Greek Debt Crisis” explained

Financial markets worldwide are still on a decline and are being dragged supposedly because of the Eurozone debt crisis. Foremost among these problems is Greece — a country of 11.3 million people with external debt reaching more than $500 billion — currently at the brink of debt default.

What exactly happened? What led Greece to reach this unenviable position? Why are Greek people protesting?

Here’s a simple explanation of the Greek debt crisis.

Impact of the US Credit Rating downgrade by S&P

On August 4, Thursday, US stocks suffered the worst one-day sell-off in two years, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) falling 4.31% and the Nasdaq Composite Index losing 5.08% of its value.

A few hours after US stock markets closed, Philippine stocks followed suit and the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) tumbled 1.4% on Friday, August 5.

My friends and I, together with other investors around the world, were surprised to see such panic and sell-off. A fall is generally expected, given the lingering uncertainty in the US economy partly brought about by the eleventh-hour sealing of the deal regarding the US debt ceiling crisis. But a steep 4%+ decline in the US is unprecedented, considering there were no other major financial news spreading in the market.

Apparently, we were wrong. It looked like several investors already got the leak that credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) was about to downgrade the United States’ credit rating.

Exchange rate to reach $1 = P40?

Market analysts are again expecting the Philippine Peso to further appreciate against the US Dollar.

In a GMA News article, London-based investment bank Barclays Capital says it is revising its earlier exchange rate forecast from P42.50=$1 to P40=$1 within the next 12 months.

Jollibee sells Delifrance business unit

By 2011, gourmet sandwich and pasta company Delifrance will no longer be part of the Jollibee family. This is according to a disclosure by Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) sent to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on September 8.

The company disclosed that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Fresh N’ Famous Foods Inc. (FNF), has entered into an agreement to sell assets of its Delifrance business unit to CafeFrance Corp. for P100 million cash. In connection with the sale, FNF will terminate its franchise agreement with Delifrance Asia Limited on December 31, 2010.

Predictions on the Peso-Dollar exchange rate in 2008

The Philippine Peso is Asia’s best performing currency of 2007, closing 18.8% higher at P41.28 at the end of last year.

The runners-up were: Indian Rupee (which grew 12% in 2007); Thai Baht (7%); Malaysian Ringgit (6.4%); Chinese Renminbi (6.88%); and Singapore Dollar (5.9%).

But the buck does not stop there. The Philippine currency is expected to further strengthen in 2008, with most market watchers predicting that the peso will stabilize below the P40-level. One analyst even predicted that the peso will touch P35 this year.

Below is a collection of prediction of the Peso-Dollar exchange rate in 2008:

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