Name: Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro
Birth date: February 5, 1985
Birthplace: Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
Height: 184cm
Playing position: Left/right winger, striker
First club: Sporting Lisbon
Career debut: 1999 vs Moreirense
Current club: Manchester United
International team: Portugal
International debut: August 20, 2003 vs
Kazakhstan
Cristiano Ronaldo started playing competitive football at 8-year-old for amateur club Andorinha, and then for local team CD Nacional when he was 10. He then move to one of Portugal’s largest football clubs, Sporting Lisbon in 1996.
Ronaldo trained in the youth team before playing his first senior game for Sporting in 1999 against Moreirense, and scored a double on his debut.
Ronaldo played for Portugal’s youth side in the UEFA U-17 Championships and drew attention internationally. Liverpool under manager Gérard Houllier back then was reported to have interest in signing Ronaldo, but it was Manchester United that made the move in 2003 to fill the void of departed David Beckham.
Ronaldo’s signature came after Sporting Lisbon beat Manchester United 3–1 in a friendly; on the way back to England the United players spoke enthusiastically about the young winger and suggested manager Sir Alex Ferguson to secure his signature, which they did.
Ronaldo made his memorable debut for Manchester United as a substitute against Bolton. His 30 minutes performances created hype with United fans and the English media with his dazzling dribbles.
Ronaldo’s first two seasons at United received mixed reviews; despite praised for his skills, Ronaldo was often being criticized for lack of consistency and poor decision making on the field. However his consistency level has been greatly since the 2006/2007 season, which saw him becoming one of the best player in EPL.
Cristiano Ronaldo made his senior debut for Portugal shortly after being signed by United in a match against Kazakhstan in August 2003. He has become one of the key players for Portugal since then.
The controversial moment of Ronaldo’s career was in World Cup 2006, where he was alleged to influence referee to send off his Manchester United team mate and England striker Wayne Rooney in their quarter finals clash.
Ronaldo was being used as the scapegoat for England’s defeat in the World Cup and the hatred towards him had prompted his intention to leave England and Manchester United. In the end United managed to keep him, and Ronaldo had a wonderful season in the Premiership against all odds.
Ronaldo won both the PFA Player and Young Player of the Year Award in 2007. He is the first player since 1977 to bag the double in the same season. Ronaldo was also voted Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association for the same year.
Ronaldo’s performance was crucial to help Manchester United securing their first Premiership title in 4 years in the 2006/2007 season.
Ronaldo was the top 3 finalists for both the FIFA World Player of the Year and European Player of the Year awards in 2007. The eventual winner however went to AC Milan’s Brazilian playmaker, Kaka instead.
Ronaldo continued his fine form in the 2007/2008 season, netted in 40 goals in all competition (31 in Premier League), and was again voted as the PFA Player of The Year and Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year. His performance contributed to United’s double for the season; winning the Premiership in succession as well as bringing home the UEFA Champions League trophy.
Right in the acknowledgment part of the book, Dev Raj Dahal has said that people are not born democratic, they need to be educated and trained on the principles, ideals and values of democracy. It is the education, training and debate on democratic principles, values and institutions that make people avid democrats. The education, training not only raise the level of awareness and build opinion and values of democracy but also help create develop democratic culture and conduct in individuals and society. Believing in democracy and practicing democracy are two different things that hardly match in many of the people especially in the Third World countries.
Many people talk more about democracy but miserably fail when it comes to translating the ideals and principles of democracy. There are only few people who profess and practice democracy simultaneously. It is because the democratic education is not adequate. It is more so in new democracies including Nepal, where meaning of democracy is different to different people. Many take it as a means to grab power. There are many instances in the world where once established democracies, after a hard and long struggle, have suffered setbacks. History is witness that some most popular democratic leaders have either failed or turned to be neo-dictators in some countries in the world. This is because the understanding about democracy is flawed.
Against this background, the conclusion that can be drawn is that the education and training on democracy is more important than fighting for democracy. The fight and trek to democracy is definitely difficult. But more difficult is to sustain this system. For this, leaders must be democratic both in words and action. Similarly, the political cadres and general mass also need to be educated properly to develop democratic behavior and culture.
The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has been working in the area of democratic education and training in Nepal. Recently, this organization has brought out a handbook called Handouts on Democracy. This small booklet has provided a lot of practical knowledge on what democracy is and what is not.
Much of the content and components in the books mainly consist of the ideas and opinions of Professor Thomas Meyer who is a well-known German political scientist. Professor Meyer has written and spoken a lot on democracy and its various tenets. Professor Meyer is, of course, a treasure of knowledge on the contemporary global political trend and democracy. The book has mentioned some of the important aspects of democracy in brief and in a simplified manner. The way professor Meyer's views on democracy have been put in the book is in itself a praiseworthy work. The book has given basic but clear ideas about fundamental issues of democracy and helped the readers learn about what democracy is.
Democracy is not merely a political system. It is a way of life and culture. Genuine democracy contains so many fundamental aspects and in the absence of even a single component, democracy is imperfect. This book thus deals with these fundamental principles and components of democracy. Thus, it is very useful for those who want to know about democracy. Most importantly, this book must be read by the politicians themselves. If they read it thoroughly, it will not only give them opportunity to learn about principles of democracy but also may persuade them to practice what they profess.
Foreign currency exchange market is an attractive and lucrative online investment opportunity. More people worldwide are trying out their skills and luck in forex trading. And who can really blame them?
Online currency exchange is a golden door to cash balance where currencies are traded simultaneously for one another, to flexibility where every financial world headline plays an important role in decision making, to financial freedom where you can make thousands in minutes sitting next to your computer at home! The question many ask is how much do forex traders really earn? Assuming that the average forex trader is responsible, serious, well-read and patient, what is the average profit? And what factors play important role in earning cash in forex trading?
In case you are new to all of this, forex means foreign currency exchange and it basically deals with buying and selling different currencies simultaneously. Profits are based on the success of the trade. You make money in case you buy-low and sell high. You loose money when you buy-high and sell-low.
Forex trading is still considered a high risk investment overlooking the fact that high risk evolves from the lack of knowledge, practice and money management. Forex is complicated for those who don't invest enough time into learning the basics. Funding your account with couple of hundreds will not ensure you a profitable trade if you have no idea what trading really is. So, before you seek fast and easy money, you should consider understanding the market you are getting into.
Forex profits also depend on the initial investment capital. If the initial deposit is just $5, it is most likely that you won't collect anything larger than $10 per month.
Another overlooked trading issue is choosing the right lot size. The lot size plays a crucial role in profit making and should be taken seriously. By trading large lots with a small account fund usually leads to a complete disaster. Instead of quick-and-easy-cash you get fast-and- nonrefundable-losses.
Last month ForexExplore.com has conducted a survey "What is the maximum profit you've ever made in forex?" Below are results of the monthly poll:
$1- $5(12.3%)
$6-$50(5.3%)
$51-$500 (10.5%)
$501-$1,000(12.3%)
$1,001 - $5,000(21.1%)
$5,001 - $10,000 (21.1%)
$10,000 - $50,000(12.3%)
$50,001 - $100,000(1%)
more than $100,001(5.3%)
So, there you have it. Making consistent income working from home is not just a dream. Buying a new car after a month of trading is not an illusion. Spending some time with your family instead of coming home exhausted and grumpy after yet another day in a cubicle is not an unreachable goal.
There is no magic... no focus-pocus... Get serious about forex trading, dedicate your time and mind to learning the basics, practice with demo accounts and build yourself a better life, because if you won't nobody else will.
The Foreign Exchange market, also referred to as the "Forex" is the biggest and largest financial market in the world. It has a daily average turnover of US$1.9 trillion- just imagine that amount of money! Don't you want to join this trillion-dollar industry?
Forex is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another. Currencies are traded in pairs, for example Euro/US Dollar (EUR/USD) or US Dollar/Japanese Yen (USD/JPY). So basically, Forex is trading.
There are two reasons to buy and sell currencies. About 5% of daily turnover is from companies and governments that buy or sell products and services in a foreign country or must convert profits made in foreign currencies into their domestic currency.
The other 95% is trading for profit, or what you call speculation. Investors frequently trade on information they believe to be superior and relevant, when in fact it is not and is fully discounted by the market.
On one side of each speculative stock trade is a participant who believes he has superior information and on the other side is another participant who believes his information is superior.
For speculators, the best trading opportunities are with the most commonly traded (and therefore most liquid- meaning its in cash or convertible to cash) currencies, called "the Majors." Today, more than 85% of all daily transactions involve trading of the Majors.
A true 24-hour market, Forex trading begins each day in Sydney, and moves around the globe as the business day begins in each financial center, first to Tokyo, London, and New York. Unlike any other financial market, investors can respond to currency fluctuations caused by economic, social and political events at the time they occur — real time- day or night.
The Forex market is considered an Over The Counter (OTC) or 'interbank' market. This is because the transactions are conducted between two counterparts over the telephone or via an electronic network. Trading is not centralized on an exchange compared to stocks and futures markets.
Understanding Forex quotes
Reading a Forex quote may seem a bit confusing at first. However, it's really quite simple if you remember two things: 1) The first currency listed first is the base currency and 2) the value of the base currency is always 1.
The US dollar is the centerpiece of the Forex market and is normally considered the 'base' currency for quotes. In the "Majors", this includes USD/JPY, USD/CHF and USD/CAD. For these currencies and many others, quotes are expressed as a unit of $1 USD per the second currency quoted in the pair. For example, a quote of USD/JPY 110.01 means that one U.S. dollar is equal to 110.01 Japanese yen.
When the U.S. dollar is the base unit and a currency quote goes up, it means the dollar has appreciated in value and the other currency has weakened. If the USD/JPY quote we previously mentioned increases to 113.01, the dollar is stronger because it will now buy more yen than before.
The three exceptions to this rule are the British pound (GBP), the Australian dollar (AUD) and the Euro (EUR). In these cases, you might see a quote such as GBP/USD 1.7366, meaning that one British pound equals 1.7366 U.S. dollars.
In these three currency pairs, where the U.S. dollar is not the base rate, a rising quote means a weakening dollar, as it now takes more U.S. dollars to equal one pound, euro or Australian dollar.
In other words, if a currency quote goes higher, that increases the value of the base currency. A lower quote means the base currency is weakening.
Currency pairs that do not involve the U.S. dollar are called cross currencies, but the premise is the same. For example, a quote of EUR/JPY 127.95 signifies that one Euro is equal to 127.95 Japanese yen.
When trading Forex you will often see a two-sided quote, consisting of a 'bid' and 'offer'. The 'bid' is the price at which you can sell the base currency (at the same time buying the counter currency). The 'ask' is the price at which you can buy the base currency (at the same time selling the counter currency).
