Masamania (JAP)
Dretheislandgirl (PHI)
Retecool
Geenstijl
Joey's MSN Space
Even more bigger trouble on Wall Street than yesterday. DJ reached another year-low and I must admit that this is all but promising. I should have covered some of my calls. Should have, could have, would have. On Monday, I will suffer further and I fear that my portfolio will be on a year-low. I am going to buy May index puts to cover my positions.
If I were a CEO, my words would have been that this is an extremely 'challenging' month. However, in plain English, this has been a piss poor month so far. Challenging for sure.
-Respond-
Joey interviews President George W. Bush
Joey: "Mr President, how do you see Freedom of choice?"
Pres. Bush: "Yes, well, we value Freedom of Choice in America. Everyone should be free to make his or her own choices in life."
Joey: "Also with regard to abortion?"
Pres. Bush: "Uhhh, no. Of course we strongly object to abortion, because it would be wrong to take the life of an innocent foetus."
Joey: "And what about euthanasia?"
Pres. Bush: "We also object to euthanasia. That too concerns lives and those lives have been created by God and who would we be to touch that?"
Joey: "But capital punishment is still used in America, isn't it?"
Pres. Bush: "Yeah well, see... that's different. That is the Department of Justice deciding."
Joey: "And in Florida? I read that as of this month it is allowed to kill a burglar?"
Pres. Bush: "Yeah, because those are people attacking you and they are on your territory. They are bad people and God does not like bad people. That is why good citizens should have the right to defend themselves against such evil people."
-Respond-
05/04/2005
Why the EU is doomed to fail...
International trade is based on a very simple principle. Let me give an example.
In the early beginning...
Country A sells apples at € 0.25 / piece and bananas at € 0.40 / piece.
Country B sells apples at € 0.35 / piece and bananas at € 0.30 / piece.
Country A then decided to:
1. Export apples to country B where people are willing to pay a slightly higher price
2. Import bananas from country B as the bananas can be offered at lower prices or might offer higher margins when sold at same price as domestic bananas.
Country B is happy to have cheaper apples and can now sell more bananas at the same time.
This examples gets more interesting after doing some calculations, showing that the economies of both countries will improve. Then came import duties. These made international trade more expensive and hence, country A and B decided that they should start a "Trade Union" with some other countries. No more import duties! Great! Now we can trade with each other without having to pay expensive import duties. We will have one single currency and country A can benefit of country B's low-cost workers. Country B will see its unemployment decrease because of increased demand for its workers.
Firstly, country A's working population had trouble competing with country B's working population.
But then... Wages in country B went up and demand for country B's workers decreased. Unemployment increased and increasing wages in country B meant that country B's bananas suddenly weren't as cheap as they used to be. Country A decided to get the bananas from country C, outside of the Trade Union.
This is just a simple vision. I could go on and on for days, but I hope this kind of shows why I think the EU won't work. In reality, things are a bit more complicated but the basic idea is that international trade within a union is no longer international trade when a trade union is formed. This is kind of a self-destroying prophecy, if you like...
-Respond-
30/03/2005
Love, adventure and limited stomach problems
It's been an absolutely fantastic holiday in Indonesia. Together with my girlfriend, I've travelled from Jakarta, via Bandung and Yogyakarta to Bali and back to Bandung and Jakarta again. I must say that Yogyakarta and Bali inland are absolutely worth paying a visit. Jakarta is an extremely dirty city that I did not find worth visiting again. Bandung is nice in its own way. The mosques will wake you up at 4:30am and as a white man, you will be considered a tourist attraction at some places, but there's god places for food, clothing and cheap DVDs!
It was a special trip as we hadn't seen each other in two months and it was more than great catching up again. At first, I did find Bali a bit disappointing but when we rented a Suzuki Katana and drove inland, we got to see the real Bali and I am very thankful that we got the chance to see the rice fields and the Sukawati market. Those are absolutely some of the most interesting places I have seen in my life so far. Worth going back to.
All and all, I think I could live in a place like Yogyakarta and also Bali. Bandung and Jakarta would be a bit too much for me, as the busy cities exhausted me from the very first moment. I thought traffic in the Netherlands was bad, but those cities in Indonesia are much much worse. Don't be in a hurry! We hope to go back again next year. I miss the food already and am back to the same old Dutch sandwiches again...
-Respond-
22/03/2005
Away for two weeks
I am hoping to go on holiday for two weeks and will therefore not update my website until I return. I said "hoping" as my holiday kind of depends on local weather here. It's been freezing down to 20 degrees Celsius and there's lots of snow on the airport's runways. Many passengers have been stranded and spend the night at Schiphol Airport on stretchers. The greater part of both incoming and outgoing flights have either been cancelled or are delayed.
I must say that the park around my house has never looked better than these days with 30 cms of snow, but having to ask your colleagues to help push your car out of the snow and driving slowly because of extremely slippery roads is not always fun. So, in order to allow me to fly to Indonesia and enjoy the equatorial temperatures, let's just hope that the weather gets better tomorrow :-)
Till we meet again!
-Respond-
03/03/2005
Update on the Bandung floods
In a week from now, I will be flying to Jakarta to meet up with my girlfriend again. It's going to be quite a holiday. The floods in Bandung have not stopped as the rain keeps pouring and pouring. According to The Jakarta Post, one hundred thousand people are effected in South-Bandung and the rain starts to take its toll in Yogyakarta now as well. Diseases are spreading and victims are running out of fresh water and food. Power has been unavailable for about a week now and there is little government aid for people as the local government is occupied with drainage.
Thank God I recovered from my flu now. I have to watch out though, cause I have no idea what I am going to run into in Bandung. And in a two-weeks' holiday, I'd rather not be sick again. I did ask whether there was anything I could bring from home to help the family, but I was advised that all I need to bring is myself...
Leaves me with one question: if 100,000 people are affected, many are homesless, many died and many will be sick and starving, how come this is not shown anywhere on televisions and how come I can't find anything on this in any Dutch newspapers? I bet if a flood of the same magnitude would take place here, which might be the case later this year considering the amount of snow that has fallen in the Alps this Winter, it would be on all the newspapers worldwide. Even though a flood won't cost a fraction of the lives it does in Asia.
-Respond-
25/02/2005
Such an F-week: Flu & Floods
Yesterday I went home sick, cause I felt very cold and a bit dizzy and feverish. When I got home, I decided to just lie down a bit. Knowing that my entire family and any other people around me had already had the flu, the best thing for me to do was to take things easy and take lots of vitamines. That evening, I got a text message from my girlfriend. She mentioned there had a flood due to heavy rainshowers in Bandung and the area where she lives was the hardest hit. She told me that she had to swim to her house and I read in the Jakarta Post that at some places there was three metres of water, meaning that many people are now still stuck on the rooftops of their houses. She also told me that there is no more electricity which means I cannot call her for the time being. Thank God for the internet! Most of her neighbours have no tap water but thankfully her family has the only house with running water. They are now living on Indomie noodle soup. Hopefully this will all be over within one week...
-Respond-
22/02/2005
A day of metallic lacquers, engines, burning rubber & bling bling
Some women say that it's such a typical testosteron thing to do: visit a car salon to look at all the new types and take dozens of pictures. I couldn't agree more. We're guys. C'mon. We don't go to a hair salon, we call up 'the boys' and go to a car salon. How do you get there? Certainly not by car. First of all, the parking will be crowded and probably even the roads leading towards the parkings. Secondly, what better way is there to enjoy all those beautiful cars than with a nice cold beer in your hand! Needless to mention that I did take the necessary pictures.
If you're a guy, enjoy my pictures. If not, stay away.
-Respond-
13/02/2005
How to deal with Dutch people
We are a strange people. So say tourists, especially those that have been to Amsterdam. If you're planning a trip to Amsterdam, here's a top 10 of things to keep in mind:
(10) Don't ever try to eat 'drop'. (Dutch Licorice) Drop is a sort of candy that can only be eaten by Hollanders. It can be recognized by the colour: black. The taste is a blend between earwax and paint (black). Hollanders absolutely adore the stuff and eat many kilo's of it. There is a nationwide conspiracy to look at the faces of foreigners that were made to believe the stuff is actually edible.
(9) Don't buy wooden shoes. They will look completely ridiculous. Which is the reason they will try to sell them to you. A Hollander himself would not want to be found dead wearing them.(Preferably a Hollander doesn't want to be found dead at all).
(8) It is not necessary to fake interest for tulips, mills, wooden shoes or cheese. Every Hollander knows you came for the soft drugs and the Amsterdam red-light district. Both are widely spread and easy to find. Just ask any Hollander over age 6 or a French tourist.
(7) Avoid soccer fans at all times. Soccer in Holland is just an excuse to crush the skulls of practically everybody else, including yours. This mainly takes place when the game is lost or tied or won. It is extremely foolish to stand next
to a cop during these festivities. Also remember never to mention the 1974 cup finals near a Hollander. He will instantly pull you into a long-lasting litany about how good 'Orange' played then and how goodblablablabla
(6)Hollanders do not like spending money. They would rather cut off an ear. A Hollander will be your friend for life if you give him something for free. This might explain the great success of McDonalds in Holland. The story that copper wire is an invention of two Hollanders fighting over a found cent is absolutely true.
(5)There is a fast and foolproof way of embarrassing yourself in Holland.Enter a coffeeshop and ask for a cappuccino with a biscuit. Coffeeshops -remember this- do not sell coffee. They do however have a large variety of stimulating products at reasonable prices. For unknown reasons, coffeeshops are very popular amongst young French tourists.
(4)Don't bother renting a car. Not only will you be able to steal more bikes then you can use but car traffic in Holland is not something to enjoy. Where the rest of the world uses kilometres to express the lengths of traffic jams, in Holland
these are measured in weeks. To be honest, the most steadfast ones are worth a visit. The sight of starving people in an expensive Mercedes can greatly improve your mood if your somewhat philosophical. Bring some pieces of bread to throw through the open windows. The fights over them are often very spectacular.
(3)Holland is a kingdom.It just doesn't have a king but a queen and her husband is not king but a prince. The queen does not rule -much- but she's very capable in cutting ribbons and visiting other countries. She is also very decorative at state banquettes. Her son, the crown prince, will take over if she stops queening. His wife in turn will be queen so that Holland will finally have a king and queen again.April 30 is queensday but it is not the birthday of the queen but princes Juliana's, who used to be queen. With things like this it's only logical that more and more people want Holland to be a republic. Queensday, by the way, is just an excuse to drink lots of beer and sell all their old junk on the streets.
(2)If one of your Dutch friends invites you for a birthday, prepare for a unique experience. Unique in the way that you can only compare it to taking a seat in a wooden chair with a sharp nail driven trough the seat and afterwards not being able to move for a month. More then one foreigner has been driven to the brink of madness by attending a
Dutch birthday. The regular Dutch birthday party consists mainly of sitting still and talking to others about your job, your car, politics and foreigners. You are expected to leave somewhere about 23:00 and you will be grateful you can.
(1)Holland has more cities than Amsterdam.There is... eh... and... Well, there are more cities.
-Respond-
(13/02/2005)
Be careful. Be very careful.
Today might have seemed a usual day at the stock exchange. But I don't think it was. Let's look back at what's happened the past few months. Back on 13 August 2004, the AEX closed at 310.68 and analysts started talking about the worst scenarios ever. The AEX could even dip below the 200, which would be the 'real bottom'.
That didn't happen. Instead, the AEX rose to reach a top of 365.46 on the 2nd of February 2005. Or in other words: 17.7% in less than six months. However negative the macro data was, one thing was sure: the exchanges and especially the European exchanges, had to go up. What happened now is that the RSI (Relative Strength Index) has hit heights that haven't been reached since 1999.
This could mean two things:
1) Confidence of investors might be back, and
2) Stocks are clearly 'overbought'.
The first is a factor that has its influence in the medium-long to long term. It means that this year might be a very positive year and it also means that the good years may be back. The second however, might show its influence in the very short term. The RSI being overbought is destined to lead to a short-term sell-off or if you like, a rebound. Which means that I would advise selling shares or investing money in non-cyclical shares until the rebound has taken place. It seems to me that this is the perfect time for short positions or put options. I decided to short sell some Aegon calls today to safeguard my profitable long position in Aegon as shown on the right of this screen, I might do the same for the rest of my call positions.
Click here to see the AEX chart and the RSI levels of the past decade.
-Respond-
(03/02/2005)
Some tips on trading
I got a question from a friend today, asking me to give some tips on trading with stocks. I decided to start drawing up a small book of rules and here are the first five tips:
1. Find a good broker.
This is absolutely vital to be successful. This can be a bank, but preferably a broker specialised in trading. Make sure you have a broker which offers you real time share prices. And make sure that the broker has the lowest tariffs in your country. For instance, depending on the broker, in Holland you might pay either 15 EUR or 11 EUR fixed for a share purchase in addition to a variable fee. This makes a hell of a difference! It is also important to check the experiences of other people with certain brokers, as they will be able to tell you things like whether the broker’s platform is stable or not. (It is rather annoying if you can’t reach your online account at the moment you are planning to sell or buy shares).
2. Determine what kind of investor you are
Decide how much risk you are willing to run and your desired ROI (Return On Investment). If you are trading with ‘left-over’ money like myself, you might accept a high risk vs high ROI. In that case, derivatives would be your cup of tea, e.g. trading in options and futures. I would then advise to invest a minimum of 65% of your ‘trading money’ in shares and a maximum of 35% in derivatives. If you are looking for medium risk vs medium ROI, then avoid options, or at least invest 90% of your trading money in shares. Choose the more stable shares like financials, maybe producers of consumer goods, food & beverages. This depends on your country. Avoid technology stocks, internet companies, bio technology stocks if you are looking for medium risk.
3. Avoid buying falling stocks or fast rising stocks
This third rule is one that might be criticised by some. My rule is simple: never buy falling stocks. Wait until stocks have bottomed, then buy. Similarly, never buy fast rising stocks. Chances are very big that you are one of the last one trying to benefit from the fast rising stock. You decide to buy and once you have bought, most people will be selling (taking profit) and the share price plummets. Hence, be critical about your timing. Spend some time reading about technical analyses: supports, resistances, trendlines, etc…
4. Don't believe the hype
If all banks give ‘strong buy’ ratings for a certain stock, it does not necessarily mean that the stock will go up. Be critical. I tend to focus more on the ‘sell’ ratings, as this often indicates that a stock is bottoming out, which means it might be a good buy.
5. Use a stop loss
Whatever you invested money in, whether stocks or options, there will be a time when they fall and no one likes to sell at a loss. But be smart and decide beforehand how big a loss you will accept. Decide that for yourself and sell when the share price reaches this stop-loss!!
-Add more tips-
(01/02/2005)
Job vs Relationship
It's something I am sure we've all had to deal with to a certain degree. There's a certain minimum amount of attention that your partner requires. But sometimes, your boss can put tremendous pressure on you. Funnily enough, you never feel appreciated at work until all of a sudden you need some time off and your boss tells you that he really needs you during that time. That happened to me today. I had made up my mind: I want to go to Indonesia to visit my girlfriend as otherwise it will take at least until April before I can see her again. I asked my boss whether it was possible to go away for two weeks end February. His answer was short and clear: "I'm afraid not, cause we have the business unit strategy plan coming up".
This means that February is not gonna happen and my last chance would be end March or early April. But would it be worth it to pay almost 700 Euros to fly to Indonesia right before she flies to Holland? Isn't it better to wait until she's here and go on a holiday to Indonesia together with her at the end of the year ? It probably is, but it still means that we can't see eachother in the coming two-and-a-half months or so. Difficult.
Let's hope the procedure goes a bit more quickly, for two reasons. One: I just wanna see her as soon as possible. Two: Our Minister of Alien Affairs (read: Immigration) wants to change the law. The change would demand from immigrants that they do an Adaptation Course in their home country before coming to the Netherlands. The Course asks them questions like: "If you visit your neighbours, what do you bring for them?"The answer would be: something small.
Oh, such wisdom. Sometimes I wonder where this country is heading...
-Respond-
(31/01/2005)
Not a good week
Up until last week, my trades seemed to run very smoothly. But this week, things have changed for the worse. Bad GDP Q4 figures, together with hampering European exchanges have led to some serious erosion. From +10%, my portfolio fell to -4.8% in one week. This is not necessarily disastrous as I only have one position which needs urgent improvement with February expiration on its way. I shall see what actions to take, but investors seem to be hesitating, which can also be seen in the Put/Call-ratio which is now standard on my charts page.
Let's see what next week brings. I also hope to have an important update with regard to the MVV procedure...
-Respond-
(29/01/2005)
It is alright to kill people in self-defence
OK, this title may sound a bit odd, but this is hot news in Holland now. As every Dutchman knows and probably all people that have ever been to any of the big cities in Holland, there are great problems in Holland with criminality among boys and young men of Moroccan origin. This statement probably shocks people already as you shouldn't generalise and blah blah blah. Correct, you shouldn't and I couldn't agree more. But the newspapers are full of it these days so the Dutch population in its entirety seems to be generalising. And yes, the good Moroccans do not have an easy life here and I do feel sorry for them, but ever since the Dutch filmmaker got shot by a Moroccan, things have gone from bad to worse and now, something happened again...
Imagine, you are inside your car, waiting for the stoplight, when all of a sudden some 19-year old Moroccan kid on a scooter drives up to you and opens the car door on the passenger side to steal your purse. OK, I might want to add that in this example you are a woman. Anyway, you are furious and as you see the scooter trying to fly into the opposite direction, you put your car in reverse and speed backwards as you want to hit the guy to get your purse back. Accidentally, he gets stuck in between your car and a tree and dies.
You get arrested. Next thing you know, you are prosecuted for killing the crook. This actually happened in Amsterdam this week. The family and friends of the crook organise a silent march for the kid and say to the press that the kid was such a good guy and an example to so many, whereas the police have almost endless criminal records of him.
In America, you have the right to defend yourself and your properties, even if it means that violence is needed. In Holland, you get prosecuted for that.
I am happy to add that the woman has been released now and charges have been dropped as public opinion was too strong: "It was his own fault", said the biggest newspaper on the front page. But the question remains: what measures should you be entitled to in order to protect and defend people, your property or your life?
-Respond-
(24/01/2005)
Update on the immigration procedure
The procedure of getting my lady into the Netherlands is not going very smoothly, but we are still as hopeful as we were before we started. It might however take a little bit longer than expected.
My papers have all been sent to Indonesia. This includes my employment contract, my last three paychecks, a copy of all pages of my passport, an employer's declaration and a Government declaration of employment (UWV in Holland). From her side, the Dutch Embassy in Jakarta asks for a single status certificate, a civil register certificate and possibly a birth certificate. The first and second document she needs can be obtained within a week, if all goes well. The birth certificate would take one month (!) to obtain, unless you know someone who works for the Government and who can help you. It then takes two weeks only. So hopefully, we will be able to submit the request for a temporary stay permit (MVV) early February. After that, it will take at least six to eight weeks until you are informed about a positive or negative outcome. If the outcome is positive, it will take a week or two until you can get the MVV sticker for your passport. That means that a realistic date for us to be together again would be mid April...
Unless... I hop on a plane to see her in Indonesia for one or two weeks...
-Respond-
(19/01/2005)
Bush looking to further 'democratise' Middle East
It is no secret that American military presence in the Middle East has been a fact for many, many years. Having the yanks in Saudi Arabia was one of the things that pissed off Osama big time. Apart from having unsuccessfully tried to make Iraq into a playground for Exxon-Mobil, Texaco and some other oil companies from coalition countries, Bush is now looking to invade both Iran & Syria. Meanwhile, Russia supplies Syria with some arms to challenge Bush.
New York Times states, referring to alleged plans to invade Iran, that Bush is creating another false sense of urgency about a nuclear menace from a Middle Eastern country. Hard-liners talk about that country's connections to terrorists.
Is this president really looking for peace in the world? Is he after the oil? Is he a war-loving criminal? Is he mentally challenged? You tell me.
(17/01/2005)
How Holland hates immigrants
On Wednesday morning, I took her to the airport, knowing that the great times we spent were now over. At least, for two or three months. Probably three, if I'm realistic. I didn't like seeing her go through the passport checks, but it made me feel better that when she's back in Indonesia, the procedure can finally be started. Now we have to get all her forms and get them legalised and translated. Then we can submit them together with the request for a temporary residence permit (MVV)... If all goes well, she will be back in the Netherlands soon.
These procedures used to be so much easier some decades ago. If you fell in love with someone from elsewhere, you could easily bring him or her to the Netherlands without too much trouble. Now, you have to earn 15% more than minimum wages to be able to 'import' your partner. These rules have been set to make it more difficult for the ethnic minorities to import their future brides or grooms. And yes, we do have many immigrants in the Netherlands. Mohammed is the most popular name for a newly-born boy in Amsterdam. The question is: is mass-migration alright? Can these different cultures be mixed successfully, in spite of the differences? Or should be try to limit migration because of the amount of jobless people and the very high crime rates among ethnic minorities?
I personally think that it very much depends on the culture. We Dutch like our immigrants here to integrate into Dutch culture and society. This means we force them to take Dutch courses, we force them to take an integration course about Dutch culture and we want them to be like us. But is that really fair?
No one here seems to complain about the Chinese people in Holland. Despite some mafia practices and gambling activities, they hardly ever bother anyone. Chinese people are generally very hard workers, own restaurants or supermarkets and treat their customers very well. Their knowledge of Dutch language however is often poor.
Moroccans are known to be the most problematic group of immigrants. Women complain that Moroccans consider Dutch women whores and sluts by definition. Most Moroccans youngsters feel very discriminated and unwanted in Holland. They are hardly ever allowed into Dutch clubs, purely based on the fact that they're Moroccan. Bouncers refuse them based on what they have seen happen in the past in their clubs. Is that right? Difficult. Ethically, no. But club owners do have a business to run with customers.
Political asylum seekers are, during their procedure, kept in AZC's (asylum seeker centres). These are camps with big fences around them, like prisons. You have a bit more freedom inside than in a prison, but you're still locked up. If after as many as eleven years, your request for asylum is rejected, you might just be kicked out and deported like 26,000 others. Even though you might have worked here during that time, which they used to allow after rejection of an asylum request, and even if you now speak fluent Dutch.
After on the '2001 Law on Foreigners', the asylum procedure has been speeded up. It needs to be decided within six months whether an asylum seeker is granted asylum or not. If research is needed, the term can be stretched by a maximum of another six months. If the asylum seeker is then rejected and afraid to be prosecuted in his or her home country, he or she is entitled to start a legal procedure to fight the decision. If that does not work, the rejection is definitive and the asylum seeker will then be forced to leave the country within 28 days.
That is where the problem starts. Asylum seekers will, after the 28 days have expired, be kicked out of the AZC and hence often end up homeless. 16,000 Asylum seekers are now lost. They have been kicked out of their AZC's and should have left the country but probably did not. Part of this group will have illegally travelled to other countries, mostly with fake ID, and the others, sometimes with children... might have ended up sleeping under bridges, without money and without food. This is why I say: Holland hates immigrants.
-Respond-
(13/01/2005)
One more day...
Reality bites sometimes. My import kerupuk and I shared a wonderful time together but thanks to inhumane regulations in Holland, it will take her at least three months to get a temporary stay permit (MVV). Some couples are very unlucky and for them it might take six months or even longer until there papers are finished. But generally that only applies to problem countries like for instance Pakistan and India. We hope to have her here with me to celebrate her birthday in Holland in early April, but with all her documents needing to be legalised and translated in Indonesia, it might take us longer. We both know this but prefer not to think about it. Always stay positive and hope for the best.
Our luck is that I am above the nett monthly income minimum that our Government set for Dutch partners (so-called sponsors) of foreigners, This means that cross-cultural love is only possible for those who have good jobs. Ridiculous if you think about it. Love cannot be tied by rules or regulations, you would think. But somehow, in Holland it can.
-Respond-
(10/01/2005)
To Apry
My brain is like a train of thoughts - I try to retain control but the pain messed with my heart - in vain I tried to master the art of falling in love - but some broke my heart - I decided to depart, back to the start - like through the sharpness of a dart my confidence was hit - i thought that was it - blinded by sadness i focused on my duties and forgot to enjoy the beauties of life - balancing on the edge of the pool of misery I took a dive - thought God was mean - became a working machine - until one day I met my queen and she is here to stay - together we flew away - never to be seen...
-Joey-
(10/01/2005)
Cross-cultural relationships?
With today's globalisation of societies, business and tourism, more and more couples find their partner abroad. Especially in Amsterdam, mixed marriages are very common. Some politicians have stated that mixed marriages are the best way and maybe even the only way to help ethnic minorities integrate into local society. According to 2001 data, in 13% of Dutch marriages at least one of the partners was not born in the Netherlands. Many Dutch men seem to marry women from Argentina, Philippines and Thailand. Contrary, two-thirds of Dutch/Italian marriages is made up of a Dutch women married to an Italian man. Turks and Moroccans are not very likely to get have cross-cultural marriages: 85% chooses a partner with the same country of birth.
Why this subject? I myself was born out of an Indonesian-born father and a Dutch mother, a combination which (often) leads to kids that are generally referred to as 'Indisch'. And now, I am in a situation similar to many Dutch people. I am planning to go through the entire immigration procedure as I am trying to 'import' my Indonesian girlfriend into the Netherlands. The procedure starts with getting all the necessary documents from my side and from her side. For every document you need, the Government wants money. The entire procedure generally takes about 2 to 3 months and starts with obtaining an MVV, which is a visa for temporary stay in the Netherlands. Once this has been granted, the next step is a residence permit, which also takes time. For now, we are about to be separated as per 12 January as she has to leave the Netherlands. To be continued...
-Respond-
(06/01/2005)
Happy Traders update: 2,562 EUR transferred to giro 555 for tsunami victims
I am happy to report that our club of traders made a considerable contribution to help the victims in South Asia. Although this is only a small amount compared to the total amount of money needed, any bit will help. With the total financial aid being several billions of dollars, the countries hit by the forces of nature will definitely be helped.
-Respond-
(05/01/2005)
April 2005 -12.4% (curr.)
March 2005 +4.6%
February 2005 -1.2%
January 2005 +12.7%
December 2004 +5.6%
November 2004 +5.5%
Joey's AutoRai 2005 pics
Joey's Livecharts
Your Past Life
Quotes
Forum
Recipes
Brasil 2004
Caribbean Carnaval
New Year 2003
Fund - Latest - Opened at - Gross ROI
3 x ASL May05 c11 1.00 (1.00) -0.0%
5 x VPK Dec05 c20 0.90 (0.85) +5.9%
Amsterdam Comm. 3.63 (3.75) -3.2%
10 x ING Dec05 c23 1.10 (1.15) -4.0%
15 x HGM Jun05 c1.50 0.40 (0.45) -11.1%
I spy with my crooked eye:
Buy: -
Hold: -
Sell: everything you have
Closed transactions so far
Apr '05: 3 x AAB Dec08 c20 -13.0%
Apr '05: 3 x AEX c365 -100%
Apr '05: 4 x AEX c370 -100%
Apr '05: 2 x AEX p370 -13.0%
Apr '05: 10 x AKZ c36 +77.8%
Apr '05: AAB Quanto RICI -3.4%
Apr '05: 2 x AEX c370 +15.1%
Apr '05: 4 x FOR c20 +64.7%
Mar '05: Tulip -15.7%
Mar '05: AEX p375 +180.6%
Mar '05: AaiPharma -4.2%
Mar '05: RT Company +13.5%
Feb '05: 3 x AEX p370 -49.3%
Feb '05: Tie Holding +7.7%
Feb '05: Ariba -11.4%
Feb '05: 12 x AGN c10,00 -4.5%
Feb '05: Isotis -6.3%
Feb '05: Magnus +16.8%
Feb '05: 12 x AGN c10,50 -29.4%
Feb '05: 3 x PNK Feb05 c 14 -43.8%
Feb '05: AEX Feb05 c360 +24.8%
Feb '05: Pharming +39.3%
Jan '05: Corus +2.7%
Jan '05: 1 x AEX c350 +14.5%
Jan '05: RTC -21.0%
Jan '05: 6 x MOO p6 +24.1%
Dec '04: -12 x AGN c10,50 +4.8%
Dec '04: 1 x AEX c350 +27.8%
Dec '04: 1 x AEX c345/-c350 -80.5%
Dec '04: 5 x AFA c13,07 -13.9%
Dec '04: 10 x ASL c11 +19.4%
Dec '04: 5 x AEX c345 +93.8%
Dec '04: Kardan -0.3%
Dec '04: Hagemeyer +16.7%
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