PAGE 8, WIIITBFREE PRE8S& WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 19U OPINION ACT: Why funding. reduced? PRBIZES f rom Thunderbird Golf and Country Club, RLD games and the Whitby Mlassage Therapy CIinic are up for grabs in a 9BIre a Studente promotion. Phono ini your job gorder to Patty (above) or Denise at the Canada Employment Centre for Students before Friday for your chance to win. la photo below, Lois.Slelghtholm (right) is op.e of two people who woin three hours of free labour in a draw put on iiy the centre. She's with Whitby students Karen Tatchefl and David LeGrndwho work at the Whitby Seniors' Acti. vityCet. By Durham legfian Acion Coenmittee'ferainlng (ACT) With ail the now economic dvelopmnents happening around te world, experts are saying that the moit important capital stock that a company cmi possess is the skilbs that their workforce acquires and maintains. The enliancement of ekilîs te a country's labour force willbeh the cornerstone cf that countrys economnic survival. Without it, a country will eventually be reduced te third world status. As Canadiens, we should bo very concerned with tis, especially as our competitiveness rating has just been reduced from flfth te eeventh place on the worbd market. AUl residents cf Durhiam Region should b. very concerned with this significant drop in competitiveness because our economy is se closely tied into the manufacturing sector. Therefore, at a time when training and skcilbs upgrading is se critical, net only to our nation7s livobihood but also the econoniic survival of our own Region cf Durham, we at Durham Region ACT really do have te, shakeoaur heada in wonderment in understanding why the fedoral government, would decide te reduce fundin for skiils upgrading in DwUb Region. Durhami Reion ACT ie one cf 57 non-prefit Community Industrial Training Conunittees <CITO) that operate in Ontario federal goverriment) bThe comitteos are comprised cf volunteers- from business, industry'labour and education. >The undamental priority cf a CITO," as instructed by B. Valceurt's Ministry cf Emplo nt and I mrtion, is upgrading the ikilis and technical knowledge base of our respective regions -in order te -impreve the c:ompetitiveness cf business by increasing praductivity and efficiency. The by-product cf increased praductivity and efficiency is ecanomic growth and econornic growth means more jobs. At a time when aur region lias boit upwards cf 48,000 *jobs (since 1990), many cf these jobs nover te return, and with the rate cf unemployment hevering around 13 per cent, the prospect cf creating new jopbs makes sense. Again, in bowilderment, we flnd ourselves asldng what was the. government thinldng when it slashed up te 8,500,000 man-hours cf kilis onhancoment training from our region? The, very fact that there was no warning, ne, phasing-ut pztocess and, ne -dialogue fr -m-the gcverznent before*" this mystilfring action was. taken, would seem te, indicate that the govornientlias merely paid lir service te training and isnt committed te thie critical endeavour at all. Uness you are prepared te. watch opportunities ,,anhd a-secure future pass you ,, the time cf indifference an 'd complacency is mver. We muet îal begin te tako an active robe lobbing our government of1icials te, ensure our future. The time t ',AGI' is now. Panclal» Cail me now for an overview of your financial health! concep DEREK DUTKA Serving the Whitby - Oshawa Area 416-446119 Groupý ~w loi-lu..>-je ii UWvJluIVV I U0Q ~uJ~ivv Your Financial HeâIth,> Derek Dutka 1Leverag ing Whenmotpol buy a heuso or condomùiuni they pay a 20 to 251 r oeowZn ymnt, thon finance the remaidor of the purcaso pricoit a mortgago. Within several yoar, the vau f te hoo nereases and so dos the owner's equity. This is an examplo of usinlg lovorage ta, make your monoy work for y ou. flio samo principlo can be apphied to such invostments as stocks, bonds or mutuai funds. Inviestors can use borrowod monoy to increase their own woalth. Howovor, leverago can aloc lead to lome. Used wisely' and properly, lovorago can reap significant rowards. Horo s an example that illustratos just lhow effective a financial- tool lve n can béo Suppose you invested $50,000 in an -q.ity-basd muul fn. You p ut down $25,000 of your own money and borrow $25,000 for lireo ea at a rate of 12 per cent a year. Your interest coite total $ee,000. During those three years, yur mutual fund umits rose invalue by8060 per cent to Tou decide to. seil your umits. After ou repay your $25 000 boan and deduct your intereat coaeof *9,000, you have $46',600, a profit of $2100or 84per cent. However, fhad u not leveragod yaur investinent b borrowing 25 Jyour net pr-ofit Would have 'been îosdera 5,0l0s.Four original $25,001o now b. Worth f40,000, a gain of $15,000 and only a 60 ent return. on your investment. By loveraging you earnod anoextra 24 per cent Remomber,youcoeuld ao los money. Suppose youImvested the sanie $0,000 ina nother mutual funid. Instoa.d of cmi the imita 0120 per cent in value to, $40,000. Now, yeu o"u[d face a severe losi.After re wthe$200lonadiert coaeof *9,000, you WoCle.v $6,000. But you began with $25,000 of your own money. So you h~avé suffered a capital lwo cf $19,000 or 76 per cent. You can cut your loi seomewhat by doducin our'interest cos but it won't do much to restore your fai"th in stcksý, mutual fnoor levoraging. If you had invosted your own money you would not have lost as much. Your $25,000 investment ;wud have sbrunk by *5,000 or 20 per cent. The law protects investors by im la n limit that dictates howr much he/she can bo6 lly both marin limit is 50 per cent cf the investor's a~~ ul h Obvously, investors must know whon to lveag. Thoy should try to avoid doing se in hýghIy volatile markets. However,, this is easier said than done. The surprising crash inOctober 1987 reduoed the value of investojs hoding.by 25 per cent or more. The truth is you should bo prepared to accept aul consequences, both good and bad. The advice is 'use leverage with caution! Borrow te, invest when prices are low, not when the market is heated. Make sure you are secure enogh financially to, ride eut the rough patches, and have enough collateral se that you do not end upin difficulty. Follow the rules carefully, and leverago -will work for you., I - m 1 . -- i