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September 16th, 2009 Page 3 Tourists Follow
Monarch Butterflies to Mexico
Travel Video
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September 21, 2009
Angangueo, Mexico - The monarch butterfly seemed to appear out of
nowhere, flapping its delicate orange and black-veined wings in the
winter sun. It flitted up the pathway next to the plodding horses that
have traversed this trail so many times they know it by heart. Up and
up, past the groves of oyamel firs, white birch and oak trees. It
stopped at a spot where so many of its brethren slumbered, nestled next
to each other like bunches of dead leaves, that they made the strong
tree limbs sag.
Monarch Butterflies of Michoacan (Larry
Bennett Photography)
The horses stopped in a clearing and shed their loads of camera-toting
tourists eager to glimpse a phenomenon that draws perhaps half a billion
monarch butterflies each winter.
The monarchs at Sierra Chincua Butterfly Sanctuary had traveled as far
as some of the tourists - from Canada, Wisconsin, New York,
Pennsylvania, to name a few locations.
The butterflies arrive each year near Nov. 1, the Mexican Day of the
Dead. No one knows how they navigate - whether they use visual cues,
some sort of magnetic orientation, light or a combination of the sun,
moon and stars. But their global positioning systems are right on
target.
As they get close to Mexico, their pathways begin to converge like rush
hour at O’Hare. They gather in the forests between 10,000 and 12,000
feet high in the Transverse Volcanic Mountains and hibernate for several
months.
Then in March, the internal compass swings north and the monarchs set
off for Texas and Louisiana, where they’ll mate, lay eggs on milkweed
and die. Their offspring will transform into pretty striped caterpillars
and then beautiful butterflies with wings like tiny stained glass
windows. They will continue the northward trek to repeat the life cycle
several times each year in what amounts to a passing of the DNA torch.
The monarchs are a big draw in this area of Mexico, a four- to five-hour
drive northwest of Mexico City. Some of the sanctuaries within the
124,000-acre Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve are easy to get to,
though all involve driving high into the mountains followed by hiking
and sometimes horseback riding. Other sanctuaries are remote and get few
visitors.
On weekends, many Mexican families make the pilgrimage to the well-known
sanctuaries such as El Rosario, Chincua and Piedra Herrada, which are
also popular for school field trips.
Monarchs are big in the pretty town of Angangueo, which boomed until a
nearby mine closed several decades ago. They’re painted on the sides of
buildings and taxicabs. A monarch festival is held every winter. Even
the local soccer team for Michoacan state is called the Monarchs.
Small hotels cater to tourists eager to see the winged insects, and
guides offer their services. While tourists can rent a car, drive to the
area and hire guides, many visitors come on packaged eco-tours from the
United States.
Piedra Herrada Sanctuary gets many visitors because it’s the closest to
Mexico City. Along the winding two-lane road leading up to the
sanctuary, signs caution motorists against traveling faster than 20
kilometers/per hour when butterflies are present. A couple of police
officers are stationed in the middle of the road handing out tickets to
a few speeders as cars, trucks and buses slowly wind their way past.
On a warm, sunny day in late January, the butterflies snoozing in
branches in the Piedra Herrada Sanctuary woke up when the sunlight fell
on their branches. At times, hundreds decided to take flight from the
evergreen branches, their collective wings sounding like a slightly
windy fall afternoon. The few butterflies that remained looked like
orange bows adorning a Christmas tree.
Some of the butterflies alighted on flowers and even the white pages of
a reporter’s notebook to rest. They needed their strength. They had a
long journey ahead of them.
Source: stltoday.com
2nd Annual
Earthdance Festival at Boca de Tomatlán, Sept 26-27
Roberta Rand - SF Productions
September 21, 2009
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Entrance to the festival will be $150 pesos per person, with a percentage to be donated to Mundo Ceiba A.C., a civil organization dedicated to planting trees and promoting ecological awareness.
The event will feature live Mexican musical acts, Mexican cultural dances, fire performances, drumming, DJ's, reggae bands, Yoga sessions, ecological workshops for kids and native dishes prepared by local women. Other featured performers include:
• Hunab Tech
• Cosmonautica
• Surat
• Belsa
Camp sites will be available. Campers should bring anti-mosquito lotion, extra clothes, toilet paper, tents, and lanterns.
Earthdance was conceived in 1996 by artist/musician Chris Deckker, as a vision to unite the world through the universal platform of dance and music. Rising out of the global electronic music scene, Earthdance has now grown to include a diverse cross-section of musical genres including world music, jazz, conscious hip-hop, folk and reggae. It is the largest global synchronized dance event in the world, with 60 countries participating.
According to promoters of the event, Earthdance shows how the potent combination of music, dance and technology can be harnessed for positive and humanitarian aims. For one night all around the globe, people join together to dance as one global community, united with a common vision for peace and humanitarian aims.
To become an officially recognized Earthdance public event, each promoter must donate 50 percent or more of their profits to a local charity that falls into one of the following categories:
• The Welfare of Children & Urban Youth
• Indigenous Peoples & Cultures
• International Relief and Development
• Environmental Sustainability & Protection
• Organizations that help Promote Peace
For more information, visit earthdance.org
Directions to Boca de Tomatlán:
Boca de Tomatlán is located on the Horcones River, 10 mi. south of Puerto Vallarta on the Mismaloya highway. To read about Boca de Tomatlán, visit BocaDivers.net.
Roberta
Rand is Public Relations Manager for SF Productions TV, a full service
production and marketing company in Puerto Vallarta. Prior to relocating
to Mexico from Colorado Springs with her dog, Bo, Roberta worked as a
magazine editor, web editor and marketing copywriter. She is also an
essayist and author, whose book "Playing the Tuba at Midnight" explored
the quirks of living single.To learn more about SF Productions, click HERE or visit SFProductionsTV.com.
Mexican Stocks,
Silver and Real Estate - A Ten Year Review
Jim
Scherrer - PVNN
September 17, 2009
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For example, a CPI of 215.3 in 2009 indicates 115.3% inflation since 1983. Below is the inflation calculator based on data provided by the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics showing inflation during the past decade:
CPI Inflation Calculator
If in 1998
I purchased an item for $100
then in 2008
that same item would cost: $132.09
Rate of inflation change: 32.1%
The above calculator shows that if you put $100 under your mattress ten years ago it, through the inflation of goods and services during the past decade, it would be worth $76 ($100/1.32) today, i.e., worth 76% of its original value or a loss of 24% in terms of 1998 purchasing power.
In order to hedge against inflation, many advisors suggest that you buy various commodities, oil and gas, foreign dollars, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS), Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), gold, and silver, etc. All of these investment vehicles are now available through Exchange Traded Funds (ETF’s) where you don’t have to take physical possession of the commodities; for relatively small investments, gold and silver in the form of bullion or coins is readily available and simple to purchase and hold. All of these forms of hedges against inflation can be excellent, however for the purpose of this article, we’ll concentrate on silver.
Silver has always been one of Mexico’s major export materials; in fact, until just a few years ago, Mexico was the largest producer and exporter of silver in the world. Let’s assume ten years ago, instead of putting your $100 under the mattress, you bought $100 worth of silver selling at approximately $5.50/ounce.
Today, at $16.65/ounce, you can sell your silver and enjoy a gain of more than 200%, i.e., your $100 investment is now worth $303 resulting in a 1999 purchasing power of $230 (76% of $303); not bad! If you’re concerned that the recent increase in silver prices is only a temporary spike, it should be known that silver was selling at $20/ounce in 1981 and when the Hunt brothers were speculating in 1980, it was driven up to over $50/ounce; now that was a spike!
The last time silver was selling for $16.65/ounce was in 1981. Taking the CPI inflation index of 2.37 (1981 to 2009) into consideration, $16.65/ounce in 1981 was equivalent to almost $40/ounce (2.37 X $16.65) in today’s money and therefore it’s not too difficult to imagine a much further increase in silver prices! This logic is further reinforced when you take into consideration the weakening dollar forecasted for the near future. (see the ten year silver price graph below)
The world’s leading miner and producer of silver is the Pan American Silver Corp. (PAAS), headquartered in Vancouver, B.C. This publically traded company has silver mines throughout Latin America with a couple of its largest mines in Mexico.
In fact, one of these two mines is their only open pit mine and the other huge Mexican mine, located north east of Puerto Vallarta, has been producing the purest silver of all their mines since 1929. The graph below reveals the PAAS stock performance during the past ten years.
Next, let’s analyze the performance of the US stock market during the same ten year time frame. If your $100 had been invested in SPY, the S&P 500 ETF, it would be worth 80 dollars today per the graph below. Let’s take it a step further and adjust for inflation; that $80 would have only $61 (76% of $80) of 1999 purchasing power. Yes, that’s correct; if you were invested in the US stock market and your return was better than average, you’ve lost almost 40% of the purchasing power that you had ten years ago!
Now, let’s compare the ten year performance of the Mexican stock market (Bolsa) to the US stock market. If you had purchased EWW, the ETF basket of Mexican stocks, in 1999, you would have realized a 150% gain and your initial investment would now be valued at $250, with a 1999 purchasing power of $190 (76% of $250); pretty decent, especially when you compare it to the $61 left from investing in the SPY’s!
Review the graph below and you’ll immediately see how much the ETF basket of Mexican stocks (EWW) and the Pan American Silver Corp. (PAAS) stock had appreciated in value through 2007 and then fell precipitously in the second half of 2008. More importantly, you can see how both are recovering beautifully as the world recovers from the global recession. Comparing both of these Mexico related stocks to the SPY’s; you may never again want to invest your $100 in a US related stock! Assuming that the global economy continues its gradual recovery, it seems quite apparent from extrapolating the curves below that Mexican stocks and silver are very attractive areas for investing a portion of your portfolio at this time. It’s amazing to see how closely the EWW and the PAAS stock prices have correlated over the past decade!
Finally, let’s look at Mexican real estate. Along the prime region of the Mexican Riviera, property values have tripled from 1999 to 2008 (we don’t have any empirical data but after being invested in the real estate market in Puerto Vallarta for more than a quarter of a century, we can state it as a fact; some properties have quadrupled in value!), after which they have remained flat to perhaps dropping by as much as 20%. Therefore, a real estate investment of $100 in 1999 was worth about $300 in 2008.
Assuming a depreciation of $60 (20% of $300) over the past 18 months, it’s now worth $240. In terms of 1999 purchasing power, it’s worth $182 (76% of $240); about the same as EWW and PAAS, not as much as silver, but a whole lot more fun than owning either! When comparing these facts and figures to the $61 of 1999 purchasing power remaining from the $100 invested in the SPY’s, it’s truly disheartening to think of those of you that were fully invested through IRA’s or 401k’s during the past decade. Fortunately, it’s not too late to recoup your losses; in fact, the time could never be better!
The recent drop in Mexican real estate values was caused mainly by the global recession; however, the recent border town drug cartel war news (1,200 miles between PV and Juarez!) and the swine flu scare (three confirmed cases in PV!) contributed significantly to the local real estate recession. The border town drug cartel war and the swine flu scare effects will vanish over time and in all probability, the property values will soon recover to their 2008 highs.
Unlike the 20% property value drop in the US, there are virtually no foreclosures dragging down the housing values in Mexico. The housing crisis in the US will probably continue for a couple more years resulting in further erosion of home values by an additional 10-20%. Currently, millions of Real Estate Owned (REO-lender owned) properties exist in the US but you won’t find any in Mexico!
In summarizing, $100 placed under the mattress ten years ago has a 1999 value of $76 today, $61 if in the S&P 500 SPY’s, $230 if in silver, $190 if in the Mexican EWW fund, $185 if in the silver company PAAS, and $182 if in Mexican real estate.
Regardless of where in Mexico you had invested your $100 ten years ago, whether it was in Mexican silver, stocks, or real estate, you’ve now got at least three times as much as you would have had if you had invested in the S&P 500 SPY’s!
So, here we are in 2009; the question is where best to invest your remaining money after the fiasco of the past decade? With real estate prices 20% off recent highs, long term mortgages of 50% (or more) available in Mexico, and many developers willing to short term finance up to 50%, there has never been a better time to invest in Mexican real estate.
Why hesitate; isn’t it about time that you at least consider making an investment decision totally contrary to those recommendations that you’ve been receiving from your personal financial “guru” that have cost you 40% of your life’s savings?
Come on down and retire in Mexico; maybe you’ll even want to buy a bag full of Mexican Libertads or dabble in the Mexican Bolsa through a vehicle such as the EWW fund while enjoying retirement to its fullest!
Who knows; as you’re relaxing in your beach front condo on the Mexican Riviera, perhaps your investments in Mexico will gain enough over the next couple of years to recover what you’ve lost during the past decade!
The
founder of Puerto Vallarta Real Estate Buyers' Agents (PVREBA), Jim
Scherrer is a retired entrepreneur who has owned property in Puerto
Vallarta for more than 25 years. Utilizing his experience and extensive
knowledge of the area, Jim's series of informative articles about travel
to and retirement in Puerto Vallarta reveal the recent changes that have
occurred in Vallarta, while dispelling the misconceptions about living
conditions in Mexico.For more articles by Jim Scherrer, click HERE or visit PVREBA.com.
US
Border Fence to Cost $6.5B Over 20 Years
Eileen Sullivan - Associated Press
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September 17, 2009
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| The $6.5 billion price tag is in addition to the $2.4 billion that's been spent to build more than 600 miles of fence segments along the southwest border. |
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But as the Obama administration realizes the long-term costs of the border fence, it does not have a way to evaluate whether this investment has helped control illegal entries into the country, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Thursday.
The $6.5 billion price tag is in addition to the $2.4 billion that's been spent to build more than 600 miles of fence segments along the southwest border. As of May 14, there have been 3,363 breaches in the fence, which cost about $1,300 each to repair, GAO found.
"We can't empty the federal treasury to satisfy some bumper-sticker notion of border security," Rep. David Price, D-N.C. said in a statement. Price said comprehensive changes to the country's immigration laws is what will improve border security.
The fence is a Bush administration initiative that has faced several delays and cost increases.
The technological part of the government's plan to secure the border continues to be delayed, GAO said.
Until the entire technology piece is complete, it is impossible for Border Patrol to know if the security measures are working, GAO said.
Boeing Co. has the contract for the technology piece and has received about $400 million for work on the physical fence, company spokeswoman Jenna McMullin said.
On Thursday, Customs and Border Protection extended the contract option to continue to assign tasks to Boeing for another year, said Mark Borkowski, the government's director of the secure border initiative.
Borkowski said he understands the frustrations about the project's delays. But he said he's confident that Boeing and the government will find the right technology for the long stretches of the border.
Tim Peters, Boeing's vice president of global security, told lawmakers that the company has learned valuable lessons from its initial projects on the border. Peters said it's not "uncommon" to run into technological challenges in these sort of projects.
Depending on funding, the there would be fencing or technology along the whole southwestern border except for about 200 miles around Big Bend National Park by 2014, Homeland Security officials have said. But GAO said it's more likely to be completed in 2016.
On Thursday officials told Congress that the remaining 38 miles of physical fencing is held up because of legal issues related to obtaining land.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security committee, called the fence a "serious challenge" that the Obama administration has inherited. In remarks prepared for a hearing Thursday, the Mississippi Democrat said the GAO's findings are troubling.
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