NEWS/BLOG

How Travelers Can Help Save Galapagos

It’s no secret that the extraordinary diversity of Galapagos is endangered. Now though, in celebration of Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday, Adventure Life, an eco-travel company, is offering discounted eco-tours to Galapagos, while at the same time raising money for critical scientific, conservation, and education work in the Galapagos National Park.

Adventure Life now includes a voluntary minimum donation of $50 per person on Galapagos tours. The donation goes to the Galapagos Conservancy, which supports the work of the Charles Darwin Foundation. Donors are rewarded with a voucher matching their donation to use on their Adventure Life tour. As of last June, the company’s tours have raised nearly $40.000 for conservation projects on Galapagos.

Founded in 1999, Adventure Life specializes in small group tours to Central and Sough America. Tours are designed to have positive impact on the local culture and environment. Travelers get to explore local culture, including life from remote villages to bustling city markets, as well as the local ecology. The company is committed to relying on local guides, family run hotels and local transportation.

For more information, call 800-344-6118 or visit www.adventure-life.com. For specific information on discounted tours, see www.adventure-life.com/specials.php. Current discounts are as much as $1,900.

The Long and Short of It

Selling short isn’t for everybody and it’s not even permitted in a retirement account. But there is a way to profit from the current volatility, including the downturns, even in retirement accounts. A new breed of index funds lets you buy shares just as you would in any fund or stock and the fund does the trading for you. Direxion Funds are the newest of all with their triple index funds. Profunds have been around longer, which means their charts make some sense. Just a few of their funds are listed here.

Whatever you do, be careful. These are some of the riskiest trading possibilities available. Some experts recommend only using them as a hedge against losses in other investments. If you’re an active trader, set your stops, even if you don’t plan to leave your computer. These funds can climb faster than you can believe, but they can fall just as fast or even faster.

Direxion Funds
Large Cap Bull 3X Shares – Russell 1000 BGU
Small Cap Bull 3X Shares – Russell 2000 TNA
Energy Bull 3X Shares – Russell 1000 Energy ERX
Financial Bull 3X Shares – Russell 1000 Financial Services FAS

Large Cap Bear 3X Shares – Russell 1000 BGZ
Small Cap Bear 3X Shares – Russell 2000 TZA
Energy Bear 3X Shares – Russell 1000 Energy ERY
Financial Bear 3X Shares – Russell 1000 Financial Services FAZ

Profunds
Short QQQ Inverse of the NASDAQ-100(R) Index PSQ
Short Dow30 Inverse of the D-J Industrial Average(SM) DOG
Short S&P500 Inverse of the S&P 500(R) Index SH
Short MidCap400 Inverse of the S&P MidCap 400 Index MYY
Short SmallCap600 Inverse of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index SBB
Short Russell2000 Inverse of the Russell 2000(R) Index RWM

UltraShort QQQ Double the inverse of the NASDAQ-100(R) Index QID
UltraShort Dow30 Double the inverse of the D-J Industrial Average(SM) DXD
UltraShort S&P500 Double the inverse of the S&P 500(R) Index SDS
UltraShort MidCap400 Double the inverse of the S&P MidCap 400 Index MZZ
UltraShort SmallCap600 Double the inverse of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index SDD
UltraShort Russell2000 Double the inverse of the Russell 2000(R) Index TWM

Latin America Eases Drug Laws

Argentina’s Pesident Cristina Fernández de Kirchner would like to decriminalize personal use of illicit substances, which would allow Argentina to join other countries which have liberal drug policies.  “I don’t like it when people condemn someone who has an addiction as if he were a criminal, as if he were a person who should be persecuted,” she said. “The ones that should be persecuted are the ones who sell the substances, who give it away, who traffic in it.”

Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Mexico have also recently moved to decriminalize small-scale possession for personal use. Cocaine and ecstasy are widely used by middle and upper-class young people, especially at electronic musical events and raves, which can go on for days at a time. Argentina has the highest per capita use of cocaine in the Americas after the United States, according to a 2006 United Nations survey.

One reason for the change in drug laws in Latin America is the overcrowding of prisons with individuals convicted only of possessing or using drugs. Laws still exist to incarcerate those who sell or distribute drugs. Opponents to liberalizing drug laws claim that one result is that teenagers are more likely to use drugs.

Punishment for distribution of illegal drugs can lead to difficulty interpreting laws, especially in Brazil, where prison sentences for users has been eliminated in favor of treatment or community service. But well-to-do young people sometimes cannot resist the temptation to travel to Holland to buy ecstasy, which is legal and cheap there. Back home, they may simply decide to share with a few friends, however, there is also the temptation to sell it, since the price in Brazil is about 50 times what they paid.

Interestingly, Brazil’s drug laws protect anyone with a university degree, allowing those convicted of drug dealing to serve their time in special prisons. However, lacking even a single credit for a degree means serving time among murders and rapists. What’s more, the maximum sentence for drug dealing is 8 to 20 years in Brazil while the sentence for murder is 6 to 20 years.

It’s no surprise that Brazilian police are able to extract huge sums of money in bribes in exchange for not charging those caught with ecstasy as drug dealers. Wealthy parents of young people who’ve been apprehended are eager to pay whatever is asked. The less affluent can end up serving sentences harsher sentences than murderers.

Complete articles on drug uses and penalties in Argentina and in Brazil appeared in The New York Times, February 15, 2009.

Shipping News

Forget the Dow, which some traders are now calling the Dow Junk Average. An index that’s pointing upwards of late is the Baltic Dry Index, which tracks dry bulk shippers. The BDI tracks the changes in prices for shipping raw materials by sea. Dry bulk shipping is the strongest sector in the market as of today, February 4, with the following shipping stocks all showing gains of over 10%: EGLE, EXM, OCNF, GNK, DRYS and DSX. The BDI has made its biggest gains since 1985, having gained over 70% from its lows over the past month, according to Bloomberg.

It’s no surprise that the credit crisis brought the shipping index down. What’s buoying it up now includes a number of factors. One is seasonal demand for iron ore, another is the Chinese New Year and the fact that Chinese banks have resumed lending. There is also the U.S. stimulus package which will necessitate shipping raw materials.

The Baltic Dry Index has recently shown its greatest gains since at least 1985, according to Bloomberg.com. The BDI measures the changes in prices for shipping raw materials by sea. The index has been rising modestly for the past month, gaining more than 70% off its lows. It’s about time. The BDI was down more than 90% from its 2007 highs to its lows last December.

The BDI is issued daily by the London-based Baltic Exchange. The index defines itself as providing “an assessment of the price of moving the major raw materials by sea. Taking in 26 shipping routes measured on a time charter and voyage basis, the index covers Handymax, Panamax and Capesize dry bulk carriers carrying a range of commodities including coal, iron ore and grain.” Its roots are actually in the Virginia and Baltick Coffeehouse in London’s financial district in 1744. 

U.S. Students Return from Study Abroad in Cuba

Studying abroad doesn’t often mean studying in Cuba, but that’s just what a group from Brown University did last semester. Arriving in late August, they managed to observe Cubans reaction to the election results as well as experience to Hurricane Ike.

One student reported that Cubans perceived President Obama as a representative of the American people rather than part of the U.S. government. The students observed that many of the islands’ inhabitants are hopeful that the new administration will bring about a shift in U.S. - Cuba relations. U.S. students were able to vote in the election at the U.S. Interests Section, an office which represents the American government and its citizens in Cuba.

The Americans students enjoyed red-carpet treatment. They were only permitted brief stays in Cuban homes and instead were given a residence of their own. During Hurricane Ike, the students were evacuated to the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, They studied at Casa de las Americas, a research institute, rather than the University of Havana. Some Cuban students were also enrolled at the institute, but they were older and the Americans would have preferred being integrated into typical university life.