The Pains & Fun Of Stockmarket

Introduction


Pain or Pleasure is determined at the moment in decision-making.

When small countries collapsed, few blink an eyelid. Zimbabwe collapsed financially and Vietnam revalued her Dong. Stockmarket sharp correction is irrelevant if it did not happen in unison. Nobody seems to get hurt; at least not the majority!

Asia had her Financial Crisis in 1997/98 and the Financial Crisis 2007-2010 burned through US to Europe. While the former is a result of ignorance and blind expansion, the latter is the result of greed; Predatory lending, reckless valuation and leveraging, inaccurate credit ratings or selective ratings, off-balance sheet financing, Regulatory avoidance, you name it, you have it; greed under the cover of 'financial products innovation'.

If DEBTs can be used as collaterals to borrow more, if Insurance Company callously INSUREs 'vested interest' instruments larger than itself and Credit Rating agencies rate institutions who support their livelihoods, who rates them? Capitalism at its extreme breeds greed and selfishness.

Looking Back ...


Wall Street has its fair share of superlatives in gainers and losers:

Top Gainer                                           Top Losers

        %    Date                                        %     Date

1. 15.3    15 Mar 1933                          -22.6   19 Oct 1987
2. 14.9    06 Oct 1931                           -12.8   28 Oct 1929
3. 12.3    30 Oct 1929                           -11.7   29 Oct 1929
4. 11.4    21 Sep 1932                            -9.9     6 Nov 1929
5. 11.1    13 Oct 2008                            -9.9    30 Aug 2010
10. 9.5    31 Aug 2010                           -7.9    15 Oct 2008

US, being the world's largest economy, influence other nations and they dance to her tune.


Now ...


When the US was overwhelmed with toxic financial instruments, off balance sheet financing and creative accounting, tsunamic bankruptcies of established, old-name institutions threatened to send US into a financial ice-age. The US and the world, China in particular, went into overdrive with massive expansion of credit, fiscal, monetary and physical policies. That save the day; or did it?

Well, if you pour enough blue ink into the ocean the color of the water will turn blue!

The world has starved the ghost of recession from appearing momentarily. However, it won't be long before we hit the skids again. The Political will to spend and expand is constrained by competing needs and every country, big and small, is faced with the challenges of creating employment, feeding the population and maintaining social-commercial-political balance.

Protectionism has reared its head as have screams to cut spending (deficits), cut costs (buyers market) and raise taxes; its lowballing.

Future ...


The world-over is filled with unemployment, under-employment and mismatched and displaced workers; tertiary, urban, sub-urban and others. Income gap have widened and rising costs have made living edgy.

As more are forced to save, or to save in anticipation of tough times; even to minimize spending whilst expecting the costs of living to ease (due to deflation), the result is alot gloomier.

Coupled with above, nations are forced to look inward and care for their wards, by extension their political survival. Many a political brinksmanship is not about nationalism but about political survival.

Conclusion ...


The stockmarkets is/are still benefiting from the expansionary programs instituted during the crisis. Growth, including abnormally high growth, is the norm but will NOT lasts. Technically, most indices potentially can challenge its/the previous high but NO economy can continue expanding with unemployment and underemployment in its background. Lightening up seems an ideal choice (on the upswing).

Reality is always cruel; Excessiveness will stop sooner rather than later including fanciful Dubai's palm-shaped man-made islands and Ordos city in Inner Mongolia.

Cyclically, quarterly low is expected in October. For those who profited/benefited from this (October) downswing/upswing, good luck. Watch out for the next change of events towards/during the Total Lunar Eclipse on 21 Dec 2010.


Forward ...


Nobody goes broke by taking profits. When you make it, help the poor; spare some for the less fortunate.




Note: This Is NOT An Investment Advice; read to agree or disagree - no prize for correct guesses!

Good Times & Bad Times

When Darkness Falls...

Prussian military historian Friedrich von Bernhardi wrote glowingly of "the inevitableness, the idealism, and the blessing of war" whereas Dwight D Eisenhower penned "I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity"

"Evils can never pass away, for there must always remain something which is antagonistic to good" Plato

The samurais and bushidoes sworn on total loyalty and will die for their beliefs, however, brutal and foolish.

If Man lives to rebel against, and does not respect, reasons, they are blind followers of Faith.

If the Japanese did not surrender after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, does it mean Japan will be bombed and wiped out of the surface of Earth? Probably not. There were many more casualties in their assaults on Asia  as a whole than the numbers killed by the two bombings.
It was plainly cool, calm reasons; to avoid further bloodshed and the awakening from foolish belief of being engaged in a supposely God-like mission that stopped the war.

Do not follow Faith blindly
Neither do you accept Fate with blind obedience

Everyone will want to have advantage over you; better still, if you are completely submissive

The World will never be equal and fairness is relative; so is suffering

When your chips are down, lie low, be patient and live within your means
Nothing is permanent
Someday, somehow, the good days will return

Like Yin & Yang, Day & Night
Fortunes come and go

With reason and fortitude, life is a fairy-tale in itself
Suffering? What suffering? If you don't taste bitterness, how do you know what sweetness tastes like

Daylight is not far...

Laughter

Laugh Away Your Worries...

Whether you live or die, it is about the last breathe
- as long as you are alive, you can choose to be happy and spritely or dead as a dodo

If you are deep in depression, you immobilize yourself
- worse than Bangkok's traffic jam, time moves and day turns into night; you are still in living Hell 

If you worry yourself dead, nobody is able to extract you from the pit
- worrying never solve problems; seek solutions, not indulge in worrying

When the boss screams and you whine, both will lead to deeper discord
- discord strain the mind and relationship and is 'bull in a china shop' 

The body decays and releases toxins as you worry and built stress within
- nuclear fussion and cancer is less destructive than stress; toxins within is a silent killer

Instead of worrying, free the mind and you free your soul
Laughs away your problems and critics
Bend like the grass in a storm than to be the fallen old oak tree as dead man tell no tales

Fight or flight; better be a living coward than a dead hero
Winnings do not necessarily go to the fittest, tallest, brightest person...it goes to the person who lasts
Laughter costs nothing and gives vibrancy and lightness of being

If you complain that life is difficult and tough, why make it worse? Be the happy, charming and bright spark that everybody crave to be with
Or be in self-denial and live a hundred years in misery

Laughter - the best medicine that the Body & Soul can have without any side-effects

Grouses

What Is An Incentive And What Is It A Right...

Cars are expensive and are depreciating assets yet there are more families owning two cars or more despite rising COE, ERP, road tax, import tax
Petrol prices go up and hardly ease
Car owners swallow them all with ease only to complain about the lack of car park lots
Such complains are music to the ears of car park operators who with a stroke of pen raise carpark charges 

Housing Development Board (HDB) used to built in anticipation of demand and to make living affordable, if not cheaper 
With a shift in demand patterns, Asian Financial & 2007/08 Financial crisis, HDB shy away from basic homes provisions to 'design & built' and 'built to order'
Coupled with added demand from foreigners and new citizens-to-be, prices spiral upwards
You want better homes, latest designs, quicker completion; there is a price to pay

Instant gratification is almost always expensive

We like to have taxis when we raise our hands
We like the train to breeze by and send us to our destination swiftly
We want the buses to be comfy, speedy and timely
You can have all if, and when, the price is right

It looks like every where/countries you go, there are lesser jobs/opportunities available
Job enlargement and job enrichment have 'eaten up' jobs
Recession and deflation have extinguished many jobs/positions
Like In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF), the creme positions are wrestled and dominated by the chosen ones
Like million of sperms swimming toward One egg; the winner is the survivor

Why is life getting tougher and rougher?
It has always been the same

Early man fights the animals for space and food
Modern man fights each other for the same reason

Life, and living, has always been the same

Except with globalization, internet & communication, frequent and cheaper flights
The World seems smaller, space dwindle, emotions become rowdier or less containable

Complaints by all means if you can
But, differentiate between Incentives and Rights
Rights is a given
Incentives depend on the givers

I have no grouses; I enjoy the incentives and keep my rights

September 昨天，今天，明天

Two third gone and one third towards NewYear...


Time and tides wait for no man
Everyone has a great plan with each and every incoming new year
But few crystalize it when the year is out

It is not for lack of effort or interest but it certainly lacks follow through
Success includes the ability to ride the dynamism of environmental changes and the ability to adapt and change according to the new terrain
Do not be disheartened...'cos success is almost always within reach

Sixty percent is gone with 40% to go yet you still have a 100% chance of succeeding base on the 80/20 rule - 20% of mass can carry 80% of mess
Pull up your socks, run the final lap with zeal, oomph and style...success is within your reach
Its fine to slack but its time to wake up to reality

September - when Autumn seeps in and Winter is near the doorstep
I enjoy the Autumn breeze, reminize and retrospectively look at my footsteps behind me
I see none...

I remembered GOD walked with me throughout... Four footsteps, His & mine,  at a time but none to be found when I looked back
'Cos the sands of time have smoothern and bury all
Every step I take is new and everyday is a new beginning

Seize the opportunity and blessings are abundance 
Life is not a blame game but a game where every players have a choice
Take the winnings or stay on whining

I was lost for 60% of the year but the 40% is for me to think, tweak, adapt and SUCCEED

I never think I am smart but I try hard
I never dwell in senseless fights, baseless rumours and clueless leads
I give myself the very chance that NO one will; the chance to turn Winner - from trash to cash, from whining to winning, from nothing to something  

Tomorrow will come but was never promised
Between your promise and cash, I take cash

I live simply and smartly; aboveall, I must be LUCKY

With luck, my life is more peaceful, fulfilling and satisfying
And my heart is lighter...smile and the World smiles with you

Quote

“To understand that hardship is a matter of fate and success is a matter of the times; and to able to face enormous difficulties without fear or terror is to have the courage of a sage.”



知穷之有命，知通之有时，临大难而不惧者，圣人之勇也。

Blame Game

When you refuse to admit your fault, you will never be wrong! Sure, you will also never have a chance for repentence


When things go wrong, it is easier to point finger at others
But, for every one finger you point, the other four are pointing toward you

Only excuses are offered when you are in self-denial
No reasons have ever been extended because the weak delve in excuses
To hide their own weaknesses and self-serving motives, they will try to convince the world of their 'worthy' acts

Tyrants and dictators will see things only in one perspective; their OWN, one and only view
For those who pleases them, they will be richly rewarded; nevermind the 'emperor without clothes'
For those who opposes and offer alternative views, however constructive, punishment and disincentives await

It is positive to be determined and single-minded when attempting tasks
It is quite another and negative, if that's stubboness in disguise

I cannot change your mind neither will I try
I only pray that when the show ends, no one gets hurt

A coward uses threats and violence
A wiseman uses his brain to undo the coward
Time will tell

Why wait till your beloved and your most loved dies
The right of views and to be heard is not sacred if its baseless and without reasonableness

Think again...
Think hard

When life passes, you can never repent, let alone make good all that is lost

Make life alittle easier and the heart alittle lighter...for you and for ALL

Everyone needs space and when you push someone to a corner, the only way out is to react
You will never know the strength and force of a 'weakling'... but it is definitely not worth finding out

When things go wrong, find a solution NOT a fall guy   

Adversity Or Blessings

Thrives in adversity...

What is adversity if you are a North Korean and DPRK is your home; every moment is
You can't deny that if you are an Ugandan or Etopian, life is equally bleak, if not tough
The Afgans, especially womenfolks, eat, drink and swim in adversities

It takes more than guts, intellect and wisdom to overcome adversities
It takes alot, alot of commonsense and streetwisdom
Because we get used to what we always do, the norms become habits and habit is second nature

For those who live in Lebanon, Gaza strips, Etopia, Mexican border with USA, North Korea bordering China, gunfire, hunger, persecution...are norms
Adversities??..!! also a norm

Talks of freedom of expression is possible only when one's stomach is full
Expounding political and ideological ideals must be tempered with responsibility
Only the financially well-endowed or barren, or almost bare, can stiffen their stand on their ideological beliefs; there is no middle ground

If you sink into depression because of failures in relationship, examinations, contests...
Or you feel that the world had left you and all the good that you have done went unrecognized...
Count your blessings

Nobody can impose their ideals on you neither can you insist on recognition for a job well-done
Sometimes, somehow life is not what you make out to be...maybe, not yet
And one man's meat is another's poison...when blessings come, it pours

Make do with what you have
Do your best in everything you do
Live best when others live worst..be there when fortune turns around

Someday, your cries will be heard

Someday, you will have your final say

But, you must live your best everday...be happy, healthy and contented
Why compare with others when we are all made to be different
What are adversities to you may be norm to others

When the world walks out on you and you feel left out and lonely
Think of those destitutes and 'less desirables', in hospice, in warzone and in famine
Think hard...how lucky you have been


Blessed are those who can give


Maybe, for some, its time to stop complaining and start living...

Lucky - the personal choice

What Is Luck...or to be lucky

When everything is going your way, you thought you were lucky until when you end up furthest away from your goal

When all that you wished for come true then you realized that it was, afterall, not what you really wanted

That there were no obstacles and the journey was smooth, then you came to a deadend down a steep cliff

That the victorious homecoming after the war was hollow when you realized that your village was flattened during enemy air-raids

Life's many twists and turns may not necessarily be bad
The objections, obstacles and delays may turn out to be blessings in disguise
The failures, disruptions and challenges are events that help you cut short your learning circuit as Providence has other provision for you

There are people who gain wealth but lost their family
There are paupers who found family warmth and care

Go...chase your dream
Setbacks are checkpoints; take a bearing and map your journey

The French Revolution transfered power to the people but excesses, in any form, caused Societal decay

The Boshevik Revolution resulted in the creation of Soviet Union - 'powers were transfered' to the workers who subscribed to the ideals of Central control and equality for all.. a pipe-dream

Wall Street's toxins were consumed by Main Streeters who swallowed it lock, stock and barrel yet the perpetrators and originators were richly rewarded and taxpayers money were used to bail out the failed financial institutions despite 'blood on Main Street'; the 'small man' banks went under too
Capitalism or Communism or any philosophy when carried to extremes will almost always self-destruct

Everybody is as lucky as he achieves his goals; the (blind) followers will always be the sacrificial lamb

The next time when you pray or wish for something, just make sure that when you achieve your goals you can proudly scream "I Am Lucky" ...


To me.. being alive with health, sanity and wisdom is being LUCKY 


Being Lucky Is More Important Than Being Smart; I rather be lucky

Blank

Somedays, life is simply blank...
















Just like this page... empty, void, expressionless

So  much had been said, alot have been done...
Guess, speechless itself is a word

A world of its own - VOID 

Red, Amber, Green Colors Of Life

Stop, Go or ?? ...
There are times when you call your friends but no one answer the phones
It is also common when you manage to reach them they already have prior engagements
Other days, you thought your blackberry, SMSes and cellphone is down 'cos they are as dead as lineless

Sometimes, a walk through the food centres simply cannot yield a food that you might like to eat, however hungry you may be
Someday when you are driving, the roads seem clogged whichever way you turn/take

Sometimes, I cannot make a call from a public phone even though I have 10cents; "Why?" 'Cos public phones are rare, even if I manage to find one, it doesn't take coins; only phonecard! Worst of all,
my 10cents is in TWO 5-cents coins... thats life

You may have boarded the bus only to realize that you did not bring along your prepaid card, including your wallet. Out whip a $50 dollar note and the world stares at you like you are an alien...the stares is enough to melt you like chocolate in the heating pot

Have you been invited to a party only to realize that everyone is engaged and the place is buzzing with life except yourself. You are the square peg in a round hole and stranded miserably in the middle of Antarctic; cold like a polar bear to be admired and left alone

I am self-driven and. Health is my Capital and Motivation is my entrepreneurship
I strive to be better and pray for exponential growth; Red, Green, Amber are but only some colors in my colorful life...
My Aura reflects strength, lightness of being, speed, power and formlessness... above all... CALM 

Life's colors are choices -

Red - when everything stops, just stop. Like ice, it will melt in time; the calm, steely mind will meander when opportunity arises. Don't rush, flow...

Green - Go for it and strike while the iron is hot. Shoot for the stars when everyone gazes at you and hand you food, love and pleasures on a silver platter

Amber - Who cares? Do whatever you want and like; nothing in Life is cast on stone. If you are muddled up with the 'rights' and 'wrongs', you are living others' life! Why not please and suit yourself than to 'ask for approval'; the World only loves Winners.

The colors of your life is yours to mix and play.

Leonado da Vinci, Vincent van Gough, Michaelangelo, Monet...colored and fired up their own lives; YOU can too

I can wait at Red, shoot for the Green and take advantage of Amber



Every seconds of life will leave you green with envy 

Why....?

Some questions need not be asked...


Why did it flood?
Because it rained heavily.

Why did you not get into the (MRT) train?
Because it was too crowded.

Why did he spray graffiti on the ... trains, wall, postboxes?
Because thats art-in-motion.

Why did he divorce his spouse?
Because he is married (uummm... quite true, if you are not married, you cannot 'have a' divorce!)

When something goes wrong, finding out "Why?" is not an end all.
After identifying the cause, a string of alternative/possible solutions must be offered and the 'best-fit' solution can be adopted and tried.
Henceforth, we learn from the error and move on.

When the 'wrongs' are 'righted', the route forward will be smoother
There is NO point blaming anyone for any error
The smart learn and grow to be better.
The fool repeats it.

If its beyond us to prevent like Acts of God, perhaps, the consequences can be minimized
If its within us and we are indifferent, we have only ourselves to blame if horror becomes terror.
Take responsibility and account to yourself and others.

If you had honestly tried your best, nobody will blame you
But, if you play the blame game and when someone gets hurt, you may get away...that is, if only the victims are not your immediate family members! You can run but you cannot hide.

The next time you visit the casino and bet your entire family's fortune on one hand and lose, don't ask "Why?"

The "WHYs" and "IFs" of life is always an 'afterthought'
Be aware and be prepared; a banana cannot split twice...