Join the new world

Phew! Between issues with my router and not being decisive on a topic to write about, I've managed to put together something AWESOME in the nick of time! Also, please check out this courageous dog's article about treating our newb's with a little respect.

Greetings, everyone. Welcome to another exciting edition of "Eye Contact"!

Tonight, I would like to discuss an issue that's been circulating around more than the water cooler: The Economy.
That's right! The Economy! What did ya think I was gonna say? Taxes? HA!

In all seriousness, taxes are the topic of a HUGE debate right now, thanks to Epic eU.S. Patriot Joe DaSmoe's fairly recent "populist" article.
The topic of the debate is whether or not the eU.S. should begin lowering its Income Tax, giving the regular Citizen a chance to manage his own savings according to his desire.

I had originally begun writing about "The Great Tax Debate", but then I realized that I am far from being truly knowledgeable in this field.
This epiphany hit me close towards the end of writing the article, whilst reading a recent report published by Epic eU.S. Economist Jewitt.

There isn't an eAmerican out there that DOESN'T love a little extra $$$. We've been trained in the real world that the green brings great things and this effortlessly translates over to the world of eRepublik.
AND THEN IT HIT ME AGAIN! Within the blink of an eye, I had understood exactly what Joe DaSmoe was aiming for all along. It wasn't just about saving a few extra eDimes in our wallet's or fighting for the little guy. It was about two things:

Retention & Opportunity

We all understand exactly what Retention is. In fact, I'll address a solution to our Retention woes in next week's article. ("VOTE, SUBSCRIBE, AND SHOUT!" PlugForFutureEpiphanies!)
However, opportunity is surprisingly limited in the eU.S. What exactly do I mean?

As an advocate for stronger, competitive eAmerican business, our current markets are FLOODED with foreign business.
In my eyes, the inundation of our market curbs the native population to really become effective as a living, breathing eNation.
Can you imagine a beast hooked up to gadgets and machines to support its circulatory system?

That is PRECISELY what the Economy is. It is the blood. It is the lungs. It is the heart of our eNation.
Why wouldn't we want to naturally invest in it? Take care of it? Have it flourish without the means of an outside source?

Certainly I have understood the dilemma of those advocating for both sides in the tax debate.
Though I, as well as many others, crave to see a little extra boost on our daily paychecks, the reason why we have met such stout resistance is clear.
We just don't have the resources to be a strong competitor in our markets, especially since the Admin has gifted the New World with new Opportunities.

But let us say that we did have diplomacy on our side. Let us pretend we managed to obtain all the resources our fine eNation needs. What then?
The average guy working day-in, day-out with only small increases in pay due to factors influencing the market.. and a treasure map here or there with, sadly, less Gold than what is to be excited for...
How can he help reclaim our markets? How can eAmerican's become profitable with enduring overseas competition?

One answer?

The eRepublik Stock Market

I may not know a lot about taxes and Government budgets, but I have been learning about the eRepublik Stock Exchange (ER😵 and how it functions.
It may not solve all of our woes, but we can never know without being brave and INVESTING INTO THE HEART OF OUR NATION.

Not new to the ERX, and the ERX isn't all too new itself either, I have been gradually investing my own savings into Stocks.
Stocks are for trade. Whether you buy them or sell them, they exist for the sole purpose of providing investors and Company owners a source of income on the ever-evolving market.

It's not just eAmerican businesses that have taken a shot at the Stock Exchange. The ERX is international, meaning even businesses overseas apply this method of gathering income to support their businesses.
This situation is no different. IF YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING AND SAVING EVERY PIECE OF GOLD YOU HAVE TO START/INVEST INTO BUSINESS, THE ERX JUST MIGHT BE FOR YOU!

To understand a little bit more what the ERX is about, not just my lame attempt at describing what Stocks are, I contacted an old friend.
He has been a Congressman multiple times, having met him when he was representative for California back in V1, and is the CEO of t'jelle, Father Corp of the ERX.

Please welcome, AidenAstrup!

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- Now Aiden. Who runs the ERX? ..I've always been under the impression it was managed by your hand via t'jelle.
*Aiden*: ERX is owned by t’jelle which is my corporation. I run the overall concept of ERX from profit to expansion. Under me are auditors, customer service representatives, etc

- How does the Stock Exchange work?
*Aiden*: Thanks to our brilliant coders, it works due to many pages of code and formulas. Essentially, users place gold inside ERX and invest in corporations that they think are worthwhile investments. The CEO can then withdraw that Gold and invest in his/her corporation and reward the investors with dividends. The original investor can then sell their shares to someone else seeking to invest in the corporation. The entire system runs on the movement of gold and shares inside ERX and transferring gold out to eRepublik again.

- In your thoughts, what kind of impact will the ERX experience with the advent of the new Raw Materials?
*Aiden*: I think in the short term, a lot of corporations are going to get hurt. If they are in a county that used to be highly productive, and now it suddenly isn’t - that is a huge markdown on the value of their corporation. It could also potentially create a huge gold vacuum if the admin turned a majority of previously high productivity regions into low productivity, because GMs will use all their gold to buy new companies in these high production areas.
In the long term though, the market will stabilize itself and GMs will find a away to make the system work.

- Any words of wisdom you can give future investors and Company owners?
*Aiden*: I’m not an expert on eRepublik companies at all, my expertise comes from running non-traditional eRepublik companies like ERX and t’jelle Bank, so my help for company owners will be limited.

Investors:
If you’re new - stick to Certified corporations for the first few weeks, get to know how the system works. After that you can move into audit corporations and way after that, when you are making nice gains and have learned nearly everything, you can toy around with unaudited corporations.
The key to succeeding in the stock market is to analyze risk and to understand and accept the fact that you will lose money sometimes - the goal however, is to make more money than you lose. Spend days researching a CEO and their corporation if you have to, how active they are, the corporation’s dividends history, etc.
Make sure you aren’t just focusing on getting a higher share price or just great dividends. Having both is very important, and if you have been in the market for a while, you will be able to tell if a corporation is going to increase their dividends anytime soon and how current events affect their profits.
Reading newspapers is also very helpful, you catch a lot of small little facts that let you in on what might be happening to certain industries in the future.

Corporation Owners:
Don’t sell all of your corporation’s shares during your IPO, make sure you hold on to some so you can sell them later when your share price goes up! That being said, if you want your share price to go up, you have to be patient, focused and diligent. Be as transparent as you can with your shareholders. Make a monthly report on your profits, revenues, etc - it’s not only a great way to get investors, but to become certified as well. Also, investors love dividends, make sure you share some of your profit with them at the end of the month.
The most important though: don’t have an IPO just because you want to have one. Make sure you know what you are going to do with that money - buy more companies? Upgrade existing ones? Having a business plan is absolutely necessary.
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Major thanks again to Aiden!

Though I had scrapped my previous article at the last minute to see this one bloom, Aiden was a real sport. ~
If you have any questions directed towards Aiden about the ERX, please use the comments section located below. This invitation also extends to any Company owners listed on the ERX that would like to answer questions/share their experience.

OR IF YOU'D LIKE TO GET STARTED TODAY, READ UP ON THE FAQ SECTION OF THE eRepublik Stock Exchange!
It's filled to the brim with knowledge and wisdom alike, and might even answer a question that has not been asked!

Sic Itur Ad Astra ~