The Learner's Journey

Watchout: ABACORE (ABA) stock on Jan 11

2021-01-08T20:19:00.001-08:00

If you are a stock trader in the Philippine Stock Market, then I presume you have basic idea to know which account are bullish and bearish. There are widely used tools out there to see before a break happens, one of this is the MACD.

So, without further ado, ABA has all the signs and is poised to have another breakthrough on the early days of the following week.

I urge you to double check on your end before putting your egg on this basket.

Social Awareness

2021-01-01T00:39:00.006-08:00

What is Social Awareness? How it can help and Improve an Individual and the Nation as a whole?

Social Awareness is an ability to know and understand the needs of other people - and do something about it. It is being sensitive and knowing what to do with it. If a person has a low social awareness, their attitude and behavior will appear to be selfish or self serving to the society in which they are involved.

Getting the right response to the needs of other people improves social standing and success. It is a must attribute for a leader or manager. This is why, in a corporate world, the management puts an emphasis on their managers to be socially aware. This skill will bring a person a long way and of course their organization as well. It is needless to say that being socially aware is a de-facto core competency aside from the technical skills or managing skills.

A harmonious society needs its people to be respectful towards its other, a pre-requisite of productive and prosperous nation. In this modern times and age of the internet, we observe many alternate egos appearing online - or the troll mentality. This attitude and behavior is detrimental to harmony. Negative emotions or negative campaigns sometimes make a number of followers, that somehow give validation to their negative thoughts and feelings.

The year 2020, has been a good specimen to observe the level of Social Awareness because of many not ordinary challenges that occurs this year. In this aspect, many nation has shone and some were dim.

The Cores of Social Awareness, according to Daniel Goleman are:

Service - the ability to understand and meet the needs of clients and customers.
Organizational Awareness - the ability to understand the politics within an organization and how these affect the people working in them.
Empathy -understanding the other person’s emotions, needs and concerns. However, it must be in the level that it doesn't disturb your emotional state or otherwise known as overly empathetic.

Awareness of social situations means you carefully consider what people want, and plan to communicate with them in a way that is intended to meet that need.

Some people says it is somehow a form of manipulation, and it yes it can be one of the application. However, it is better to have a genuine considerate feeling towards others as it unloads your conscience. It makes you feel better that you did the right thing, and nothing more.

Great leaders and public speakers are skilled in this ability as it helps them build support and pursue the agenda.

A society that has more socially aware members, tend to be peaceful and helpful towards the other. And because conflict is avoided, they can focus more of their time to be productive.

Unfortunately, according to studies - people are now less caring than before. The USA (United States of America) has been observed to have an eroding level of empathy in this recent years as compared to before. This is not different to the Philippines, this Asian Country in its early years and decades are more compassionate towards each other than today. The changes came with rapid growth of technology. westernization of ideas and the biggest contributor or worst is because of Politics (or the Political ideas).

Six ways on How to be Socially Aware.

Improve the listening skills. This is a requirement to be effective in communication.
Be aware of what people say, how they say it and what they do. Pay attention to the interaction.
Have a time for your self, meditate and recenter your thought every day.
Know the emotional state of the other people. Take note on how they respond to external events.
Acknowledge what you feel with regards to other's people emotion.
Give a clear level-headed answer after listening to them. Maintain an eye contact once in a while.

Self-Assessment

Am I actively listening to people who talks to me? Was I too busy to listen?
Did I interact or respond correctly on their emotion, story and feelings?
How did I react? How is my body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, and other elements in order to meet the needs of the other person?

Tips on how to improve your social awareness.

Interact often
Limit the use of social media
Read short classical books
Listen to audio of great speakers. Take note how they empathize and deliver their ideas..

Seek first to understand, then to be understood ~Stephen Covey

I hope this helps in a way. If it does, hit the like button and share.

Normalcy of the New Normal

2020-12-25T23:07:00.002-08:00

At the end of 2020, people are now hopeful that the incoming new year will be better. The economic outlook and the morale of citizens are positive as compare to previous months.

We are now accustomed to the New Normal- wearing face mask, face shield in public and observing social distancing: in shops, grocery and in the churches.

In the early months of the community restriction, several industries has been greatly affected. Today, this industries as seen to be soaring high - many have already recouped. This factors contributes to positive outlook and restimulate the economy back to its former strenght.

The Government should aid in the reinvigoration of the economy while at the same time keeping balance in maintaining the COVID cases to a manageable level.

Learning Resource: 12 Angry Men (1957) Movie

2020-12-22T19:22:00.004-08:00

Im sure you are familiar with the phrase "OLD but GOLD". This phrase wants to emphasize that wisdom of the past never goes out of fashion.

Modernization brought new ideas and technology. Now, we observed that generation gap is evident more than ever. But the foundation of our humanity remains unchanged. The kindness prevailing over selfishness and the unjust, the inquisitive mind - always curious and ready to challenge the norm - these traits never change.

If you are a parent, an executive, a teacher, a leader or somebody looking for an entertainment but with lessons that you can apply on making an important decision then I suggest you watch the movie - 12 Angry Men (1957).

Yes it was released in 1957, but its worth never fades. Recent remakes of this movie proves that this is something you shouldn't ignore. The story is socially relevant even today. It teaches critical thinking and not hastily handing out important decision just because majority said it.

The 1957 version will make you feel nostalgic at the same time you will be amazed to the screenplay and storyline - detective style.

The story started with the Judge executing an order to 12 men to decide whether the accused is guilty or not. The decision has to be unanimously agreed by the 12 Men or should be beyond reasonable doubt.

An 18 year old teenager is accused of murdering his father. All of the evidence and witness' testimonies points towards the accused. The penalty to the crime during the time of making the movie is Death by electrocution.

The 12 men started with 11 votes as guilty and 1 vote as undecided.

Watch the movie and you will be reminded that wisdom of the old is still applicable in this modern time.

The lessons here is applicable in a corporate workplace, parenting, analysis, school or classroom management and public office.

Source: https://www.publicdomainmoviess.com/movie/309-12-angry-men

Tips in Active Stock Trading

2020-12-15T08:26:00.012-08:00

If you are a neophyte in investing on stock market, you might be wondering what to do on how you are going to start. The first and foremost is to understand the platform you are using. Being familiar with the platform is primary thing that a newbie should do.

Also be aware and consider the Macroeconomics. At this time of Global Crisis, that is brought by COVID-19, the market has become very volatile as compared to previous years. One wrong move and that might cost a lot of your investment.

What to do after I have familiarized my trading platform? What are things that I need to consider on Active Trading in this time of pandemic?

Here are 5 Tips on Active Stock Trading

Create a Trading Plan

Before anything else, have a plan.

That means, knowing your entry points and exit points. Stick to it.

Favor investing in short term and remain extra vigilant on the stock price movement.

Be extra vigilant on the volatile stock price movements

There is more benefit in trading in short term now, rather than long term - this has something to do with the current market volatility. Short term investing is more nimble and can adapt quickly on any changes.

Trade in smaller quantities

Not all small are less

As we are more unsure than before it pays well to lessen the risks. Trading is risks in itself,and many are not able to accept more risk brought by the uncertainty due to Covid-19

Choosing your chips or stock

If you are a neophyte, start with at most 4 stocks.

Don't just go and buy the blue chips. Remember that you are now in short term active trading. It is preferable to enter into stocks that are active.

Check the Trade Prices of the stocks, traded volume and the prominent buyers

Table of buyers and sellers in Stock Market

Knowing the traded price of stocks gives you an idea on what range of price the buyers and sellers agree on. This should give you a better idea if the stock price is going up tomorrow or going down.
The traded volume, gives you an idea about the: weight of the stock price, the price you should be wary about - because like you - all traders doesn't want to sell their stocks to price lower than they bought it. If you cannot understand it, you better learn it now.
Their are buyers that are known to be composed of good traders. (eg. JP Morgan ), when you see them buying a certain stocks that means they studied it and has a good chance to get a profit - but don't just follow them - do a research on your own and see if it fits your trading plan.

By the way, don't lose heart when you see your stock falling. Its not always your predictions and analysis is accurate, learn from it and if you don't give up, you will not only recover it but also gain. Consider losses as challenge to improve, a tuition fee - as some calls, it to learn in Stock Market investment and trading. Keep in mind, nobody learned to swim by reading the books, watching videos and or even watching from the sideline - all of those who learn got it by getting themselves wet. The same thing is true in Stock Market.

There are ways and technique to take back those losses, which I plan to share here in my next articles.

I suggest to enrich yourself and study more about the stock trading. Professional Traders are very acquainted to tools and index - which are a good indicators of a stock market trends.

For newbies, it is good to mention and on study on this - DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average), RSI (relative strenght index), PSEI (Philippine Stock Index) if you are trading in the Philippines, Nifty 50 if you are trading in India, Moving average, MACD, Bollinger and many more. Explore all of it, one at a time.

Happy Trading.

The Year 2020 & Stock Market

2020-12-14T05:42:00.002-08:00

The Year 2020 is a really a bumpy ride, and it does throw many of us out of seats - our comfort zones. Many human lives has been lost and perished not only because of the Global COVID-19 Pandemic but because of its effect to the psyche and outlook of many people.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has proven that the human society is a fragile fabric. It is evident to the performance of the Stock Market early this year. Many business are forced to closed or trimmed down their operations - forced to adapt and forced to lay-out many employees and workers. This has caused many sufferings.

In some parts of the World, there are still domestic and inter-countries strife that has intensified and has been going since years before. The most recent is the Azerbaijan-Armenian conflict. There are also ravaging typhoons that happened in South East Asia, which destroyed livelihoods and homes of thousands of people - particularly in the Philippines.

Leaders tried many things to address the issue of Pandemic, many are directly confronting it thru science, some just waiting for the other countries to have cure and vaccine while trying to minimize the spread of the virus. And there are some who are somewhat do a bizarre approach, by downplaying the effect or severeness of the Covid-19.

But as men are social and sentient creature are capable of adapting to challenges. The effect of Covid-19 is somehow dampened in this previous months. Many business are seen to be recovering, while many are still struggling.

Note: Stock index of the PSEI, it appears to be in the path to recovery

So what can a Stock Market Trader hope for before the end of the Year? What are the types of Industry that they can bank or are there any? What does many analyst think of the Stocks this end of the year will be?

Before we go there, let it be known that in the effort to keep the society in place and surviving in the pandemic. Many country leaders had resorted in using their nation's coffer and when that is emptied they resorted on borrowings. According to many analyst, it will be years before many can regain the losses and if it is not resolved as early as 1 year timeline - the recession may follow.

India, recently have conducted a rally with an estimate of 250M attendants just to show their country's leader the discontent primarily of their farmers, the social class that is providing food to their tables.

In the Philippines, even before the Pandemic, the Agriculture and Food Industry is already having a problem in producing satisfactory results, especially, the Rice Production. It is more severe now because of the effect of Covid-19 and the number of recent typhoons that has caused destruction of many crops.

But there are also industries that grow during this pandemic. Among that benefited on the New Normal are the Telecommunication Industry, Services related to Telecom and E-Commerce. Still, they are outnumbered by industries that has gone below the normal relative strength.

Because of the bearish trend of Stocks this previous quarters of 2020, that has been observed even in NASDAQ and NYSE, Long Term Investors have become defensive on their stocks. Some shifted as a Short Term Trader.

There is key difference between the two - and that the short term trader comes in and out in a very short time, some staying only for an hour.

We can say that an investor has gone defensive, if they diversified their stocks to types of stocks that that rarely move and is resilient to change. One of which is the Mining and Oil industry.

Note: The Mining and Oil industry has continuously goes up since April up to now. Its in the same level as last year - the trend is still bullish up to Nov. 27,2020

In last 2 months, there are stocks and industries around the world that are bullish and rallying, bringing euphoria on many investors and traders alike.

Active Stocks or Stock Market doesn't automatically necessarily means that economy is booming - but certainly that means there are traders that sees potential in being an active in trading. As mentioned earlier, long term investors many shifted to short term trading.

According to Analyst and Observers, Stock Market will be continuously lively until a few days before the closing of Stock Exchange for this year - a period when it is expected that many will be profit taking rather than investing.

The Telecom Industry, IT sector, Mining and Oil, Finance and some services will be a good chips before end of this year. However, be vigilant on the quick movements of the stocks. Basic review of stock's health is still the fundamental before buying or selling it.

If you are a long term trader and still unsure then better wait for next year until the dust has settled. This is a good way to protect equities.

In the year 2021, in the middle of January and February, when the dust has finally settled, the long term play can be put on deck after a careful review -while still being an active trader on active accounts. At the least, the level of the stocks will be nearly the same as it was on 2019 prior the effect of the Global Pandemic.

Are you Stressed or are you Pressured in your Job?

2020-12-03T09:05:00.003-08:00

Stressed or Pressured? Which is which?

In a corporate world, you might hear some sayings that being stressed is bad and being pressured is better than the latter. Why is that?

But what do you really feel?

According to the dictionary, stressed is defined as "experiencing mental or emotional strain or tension". While, Pressured is described as a "compelling or constraining influence, such as persuasion or negative attitudes, on the mind or will."

But if you are familiar to the engineering definition of both words, then at least you will have an idea why being pressured is better than being stressed. This is the reason why usually you will hear that it is better to be pressured.

Here are the definition of Stress and Pressure according to principle of Physics.

Stress - It is the intensity of the INTERNAL resisting force, developing at a point. It can be acting normal (90 degrees), parallel to the surface or both.

Pressure - It is the intensity of the EXTERNAL resisting force, developing at a point. It always acts normal (90 degrees) to the surface.

If you will replace the point as your mental state and the force as external and internal - then it is really is less concerning to be pressured. Being pressured in a corporate world means able to attack the challenges head-on as driven by goals of the organization. While stress, is something negative is happening on the mental state of the person and this is a problem that an individual must notice.

But one thing is sure, both consumes mental, emotional and physical energy. Stress is causing us to lost our drive and motivation to deliver the expectation to be a productive individual - and that is not good for to our journey to become successful.

Both of this feeling cannot be avoided, these are what motivate us to change and improve. Instead we must face them head-on and headstrong especially if you already have a family - or a dream you want to achieve.

According to the studies, people working in freelance, engineering, analyst, management, finance, online jobs and those that just have started or are in entry level jobs - are susceptible to stress. The lack of sleep, short in patience and nausea are symptoms that you are already stressed.

It has to be emphasized that it is important to keep yourself fit to tackle all the challenges. As a Learner just like you, it is essential to keep track of our emotional and physical health because it is our prime enabler. If we are not healthy to cope up with all the challenges, we will fail ourselves and the people who are depending on us.

When our body calls for rest, then give it a rest. Nourish it with healthy food and enough exercise. Mingle out and release all the anxiety that builds out on your psyche, laugh out loud as it convince your brain to releases hormones to let you relax.

Be kind to yourself while keeping yourself competitive. Have fun on your way up.😁😁😁

Free! Cloud Storage - 50GB

2020-12-03T05:29:00.193-08:00

In this age and digital era, we always wants to keep a part of memory. This is always true if you are a learner that strives to keep more knowledge and information.

And there are many platforms that offers online storage - or the Cloud Storage. These are the following and most common cloud providers;

Google Drive (by Google, Inc.)
One Drive (by Microsoft Corporation)
Smart Phone Sponsored Cloud Storage (capacity and quality varies on brand)
Dropbox

Cloud computing and cloud storage are now the trend for sharing large files and even Company applications are now using this. In this time of pandemic, the Cloud solution has provided many business an alternative and saving costs in its maintenance. Cloud computing has proven its worth more - it is really the future. It transform people in sharing files and how people collaborate together.

But one cloud provider has captured attention of the many netizens and business companies. This is because, cloud computing is their flagship, and so, their attention is more on keeping their customer to use their services.

For an individual, they are offering a starting Cloud Storage Capacity of 50 GB.

Without further ado, if you want to know more about this solution - Check this link.. This is MEGA Cloud Drive.

Once you are in, check out and be amazed to the built in features! It also support many platforms and allows easier collaboration to its users!

Not only that, Did you know? You can also refer your own link to a friend and MEGA will reward you an incentive. It could be an additional storage or if they subscribe for a paid MEGA service they will pay the person who referred via their referral programme. You too can earn commissions by referring others to MEGA. So take advantage to this opportunity if you have friends or know a business who are now looking for a new Cloud Service Provider.

For a paid services - Here is the Plans and Pricing.

I hope this can help you in some way in keeping your precious memories, especially your notes, documents, articles, assignment and proprietary information.

If you like this. Share it to your friends.

Scope Of Work: The function, importance and purpose in Project Management

2020-11-29T04:49:00.005-08:00

If you are working in a corporate environment, you probably always hear the S.O.W. (short for Scope of Work) on the conversation among your peers.

If you are in a Project Team, you are surely an active part of it. If you have not heard it, it doesn't mean you are/were not part of it.

So, what really is the Scope of Work? What is its function? How important it is to have a clear SOW? These are the basic question that everyone in the team or stakeholders should know about However, it is not enough that it is known but should also be understood and acknowledge - most of the time by affixing the signature on it.

What is the Scope of Work?

Scope of Work is a set of description of work to be done in the Project, with the defined responsibilities per party and the ultimate objective of the work - or Project being deliberated. Most of the time, it discusses how the proponent wants a specific task is done, the methodology and manner to do it. In a sense, it contains the work specification.

In our everyday's life, we always have a scope of work: as a student, as a sibling, as a father, a mother and so on. In a basic definition of scope of work, it is the expectation we have from us and each other according to their responsibility and purpose to us.

What is the Function of SOW?

The SOW guides and formally draw the line of what should be done, how it is to be done and who should do it. As the project progress, occasionally the SOW must be revisited and reviewed to check if all the prior agreement are being followed. It is sacred document in the Project and whenever there is a disagreement, the team can return and confer on this document that they worked on together.

What is the Importance of the SOW?

In the event of disagreements, the SOW is one of the document that can tell which is accurate. Though, not all the times that it is correct thing to do especially if the project is in a dynamic set-up. Any delineation on the original SOW, means that there is something that has to be done - commercially and technically. Commercially, because there is cost involved and Technically because the method, manner and who should do it.

What is the purpose of the SOW in Project Management?

The SOW as a Formal Document, ties and bind everyone on the task that has to be done in order to meet the objective of the Project. It is legally binding especially if the scope of work is signed. This signifies, that each party has accepted that they are willing to undertake and deliver the tasks or activities written therein in accordance to the specification.

Without the SOW, the Project cannot start even if there is a goal to meet. It is like having a plan to go on the vacation but cannot agree on who will bring a car, contribution to give and so on.

The SOW is the most important part of the contract.

There are more to learn on Scope of Work and I will make a continuation of the discussion more of it.

Watch out for more articles for Project Management. Hit Subscribe and Like button.

<<--------------------------------------------->>

If you want to know more, watch this video:

Basics and Fundamentals of Data Cleaning

2020-11-28T08:58:00.295-08:00

In every formal study and research, a presentation of Analysis is necessary. It is to give weight and justification on case that is being proposed and presented, without the analysis it cannot be properly called a study and will only classified as an article. In the same context, the data cleaning or how is the data presented and utilized must be discussed and defended in order to make the proposal, research or study be believable.

There are many types of study and research, and most (if not all) of them requires data gathering, a survey or an experiment to a specimen.

Commonly, data cleaning comes after the fact. Or after the data are gathered on subjects. This is the most common type or the Reactive Data Cleaning. There is another type of Data Cleaning and that is the Proactive Data Cleaning.

The Proactive Data Cleaning involves planning of the Data Gathering, crafting a threshold, setting up conditional tests and properly defining the tests, questionnaires and forms. The keyword is planning.

And here we are -the Basic Idea and Fundamentals of Data Cleaning. It requires the researchers to have at least an intermediate knowledge on using MS. Excel.

1 The Building Blocks of Data Cleaning

Variables and respondents (or specimens) are prepared and encoded usually in MS Excel.

1. Columns – by standard it contains the information related to one particular variable or question

2. Rows – by standard it contains the unit (or the sample). If the data came from a survey, row signifies the particular respondent.

3. A row must have a (UID) unique identifier (like a student number, serial number etc.) to allow easier identification and processing of the data.

4. Cell – is an intersection of the row and column. This represents a response on a specific question by a specimen.

2 Sanity Checks

The sanity checking of the gathered data is best done in tabular format of MS Excel. Below things are to watch out and look into;

• The number of rows must be equal to the number of respondents. Checking for duplicate entries must be carried out to ensure that all respondents are unique.

• The number of columns must be the same as the number of questions (or test in a sample). It can be done by checking data types in the column (eg. Numeric, text, etc.).

• Time stamp – the time format should be uniform in the table to avoid any misrepresentation.

• Geo-coded variables – it is necessary when a part of the study includes the actual location. This is usually tagged by Longitude and Latitude to pinpoint the location.

o To ensure that the coordinates is correct or the respondent is in the location covered by the study. Upper and Lower limit of the long/lat can be defined by the researcher, then use the “IF” & “AND” function of MS Excel.

3 The Different Question Types

This is basically finding responses or answers that are not within the defined limits or predetermined response.(e.g., Response should be ordinal –1st to 5th, ratio, whole number, character length etc.) Each question should have a definite character type / response type from the questionnaire. By anticipating this, data cleaning will be easier to do. However, this should be noted that it is only done to make the processing faster without diluting the results.

In excel, inconsistencies are detected by Data Validation and by Sorting and Filtering.

4 The Missing Data

Planning/ Data Gathering

The missing data can be avoided during the Data Gathering or survey by carefully planning the questionnaire or tests to specimen / respondents. During planning, the ambiguous choices are limited or eliminated. If the survey is to be done online, the forms are made with limited exit points and that the pages per forms must contain as much as possible the majority of the needed data.

Questionnaire can also be improved by introducing the independent and dependent variable (predictor and response). The dependent variable establishes the pattern while the independent variable shed light on the behavior

Missing Data on Post-survey

There are two common ways to deal with the missing data – the first is by deleting it, if there is no sense keeping it and there is no significant data that can be extracted from the rest of the variables.The other one is the by imputation by means (any) of mode, mean and median – which is applicable to numeric data. This can be done and processed in excel.

However, the researcher should limit on how much they can use this option, as it may dilute the data. The common acceptable limit is not to use it in 3 consecutive stages.

There is one more that is rarely used, but is applicable Geo location data. It is known as the Last Observation Carried Forward. It is basically guessing but with consideration of its previous data. If further study is to be used, then Mode and Median will be applicable to this.

5 The Outliers

The Outliers are data or variable that is abnormal or significantly different. It can be correct or is wrong and therefore can make the plot skew significantly.

To find the outliers in the data set, the table can be visualized thru graphs in excel, commonly used are; histogram scatterplot. It can also be checked by using “sort” in excel.

If upon validation (or resurvey), it is proven that the value is correct, then keep it. This is an interesting findings on the study. However, if it is incorrect then there is no reason to keep it on the data table.

6 Conditional Questions and Tackling Them

Sometimes a conditional question must be incorporated to the study, and because of it. The data cleaning might be a bit complex.

To clean the variables in conditional question, the flow chart must be first clearly understood. Once it is clear then the “IF” and “Else” function of excel will be very handy to find any errors on the data.

7 Joining, Delimiting and Concatenating

Sometimes, data or variables must be pre-processed in order to give more insights. Variables are sometimes- joined, delimited and concatenated. All of this can be done in excel.

Delimiting is when the cells (can be a range, column or row) containing similarly formatted information are separated. (eg original format of 11292020T01300 is delimited to form a two separate cell and becomes 11292020, T01300.

Concatenating is the opposite of the delimiting. It combines the contents of other cells into one cell.

Reference:The Ultimate Guide to Basic Data Cleaning - Atlan

<<<____________________________________________________________>>>

If you want to know more, have time to watch this video made by Data Engineering.