Friday 26 September 2014

Testing time

Just a short note.

 

We are currently going through some testing time in the stock market. This thing happens few times within year, every year. And it is exactly this kind of time will put off many nervous investors. Or should I say amateur investors. If you speculate in stock market for short term, certainly this time around is not an easy time. During rally market, I often heard people saying want to be a full time trader and quit their 9-to-5 job. This is because they make money easily almost everyday from the market. But they forget what they are doing is not sustainable as their performance in their trading is difficult to be consistent for long run. So, this testing time will bring them back to reality. Make money from the market is never by chance but by perseverance, patience, trust and knowledge.

 

If you are stuck in the stock market at the moment but in good fundamental stock, then you may be down but safe. But if you are stuck in speculative or so-called hot stock with plenty of rumours but no substance, then you are against your own luck. Many traders or speculators turned long term investors unintentionally because of this. How I know? Because I was one, long long time ago. I learnt from my mistakes.

 

With this kind of less enthusiastic sentiment in the stock market, good stocks will not have its field day just yet. Starting from now, I may touch on other things which may not necessary about stock market. Life is not always about stock market. Come what may, enjoy it.

Tuesday 23 September 2014

iPhone, iPad, iWatch, iMac and iCxxx

iPhone, iPad, iWatch, iMac and the best of all, iCxxx

 

It is 'Alternative' communication gadget to iPhone and most important it is cheap. Only USD7.00

 

No screen, no buttons, no apps. Just simple, pure communication !

 

"i" product enthusiast must have it.

 

What is it?

 

 

 

iCups






Monday 22 September 2014

Property - They really want to kill it

This is what I said back in June:

 

"There are so many trades activities that rely on construction industry. Because of our overzealous to introduce more and more cooling measures, everyone will be affected. It is a matter of when it will hit us one way or other. If you killed property development activities, you kill construction activities. With construction down, all other trades related to construction will collapse as well. People will be out of job and out of business. At that time, who cares about property price anymore. The main priority then is to put food on the table. And stock market will be affected too."




Average wage earner already find it hard to buy property priced above a million. What more for property priced above 2 million. Many developers are banking on foreigners to buy their properties. I do not see how this can help to cool down property prices or help the locals to buy property or worry the locals need to compete with foreign buyers to buy local properties.


Those people in the government department is hurting the industry again and again. Of course, they will never feel the pain as they draw their salary from metal bowl. Even if the economy collapsed, they still get their salary. But the people on the street, the wage earners working in the construction and property industry will suffer.


It pains me to see important policy is made without proper consultation and feedback with the stakeholders. Important decision are made by a few hold up in high office.




Friday 19 September 2014

Consumer Price Index CPI and GST

Someone shows this advert to me and asked me to explain because he does not seem to understand. I mean, not the wordings in the advert but the message brings about by the advert. To him is very simple. As long as the price of his regular teh tarik increased, it put a dent to his wallet. It does not matter whether it is 0.1% increase or whichever way you want him to look at it. Any increase is an increase. It is a fact, atleast to his wallet.

 

At the end of the conversation, he asked for a pay rise for next year. And now I understand where he is coming from. Clever chap ! 





 

And then, came news report about GST from one major newspaper. Is anyone clapping their hands? Let's hope we have better news from the coming Budget 2015 especially for the housing sector.




Thursday 18 September 2014

UK is at cross road with independence referendum today

I have been following closely the recent developments in UK on the Scottish Independence Referendum vote whether Scotland will part ways from the Union of the United Kingdom (UK) that has stood for 307 years. There are 4 kingdoms that form the union of what we know as United Kingdom or simply UK.  The United Kingdom comprises four countries namely England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Those who likes UK history will understand the sense of pride among the Scottish people about Scotland and not England. For a start, watch the movie BraveHeart starred by Mel Gibson. This movie will provide you some historical facts, minus the love story of course, on why some Scottish have this dream and pride to have their own independent country.





Today we will know whether Scotland will become an independent nation just like Malaysia. If that happened, UK will be reduced to 3 kingdoms and lose 1/3 of its land mass.


******************

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — The people of Scotland will decide on Thursday whether to end a partnership with the rest of the United Kingdom that has lasted more than 300 years. Here is a guide to Scotland as the historic vote nears.
 
WHAT IS SCOTLAND?

Scotland, with little more than 5 million people, is one of the oldest countries in the world, having been united as a single nation by King Kenneth MacAlpin in the year 843.

It remained an independent state for more than 800 years until the formation of Great Britain in 1707.
When England found itself at war with France in the early 18th century, fears that Scotland would side with the enemy prompted London to block trade and deprive Scots of property they owned south of the border unless they agreed to create a single country.

After much debate — and widespread Scottish hostility — both the Scottish and English parliaments were dissolved on May 1, 1707, and replaced with a new British one.


HOW IS SCOTLAND DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF THE UNITED KINGDOM?

Scotland has its own legal system, and the national Church of Scotland was guaranteed under the Act of Union.

However, all monetary and finance matters are controlled by the government in London and the Bank of England, which was founded by Scotsman William Paterson in 1694.


DOESN'T SCOTLAND ALREADY HAVE ITS OWN PARLIAMENT?

A desire for more autonomy in Scotland led to Westminster holding a referendum in 1997 for the establishment of a devolved Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

The idea was backed by 74.3 percent of the voters and in 1999 the parliament was opened for business by veteran politician Winnie Ewing, who chaired the first meeting, with the words: "The Scottish Parliament adjourned on the 25th day of March in the year 1707 is hereby reconvened."
Members of the Scottish Parliament can legislate on education, health spending, housing, tourism, transport and a few other areas; they have no control over immigration, defense, foreign policy, employment, trade, energy or the main levers of finance.

Most of the money used by the Scottish Parliament to finance public services comes from a grant allocated by the United Kingdom government.


WHAT ARE SCOTLAND'S ECONOMIC STRENGTHS?

The U.K. produces more than 75 percent of the European Union's offshore oil production, of which 90 percent is extracted from Scottish waters, according to the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. Based on 2012 figures, the Scottish government says this Scottish oil contributes around 24.4 billion pounds ($39.5 billion) to the U.K. economy.

In addition to oil, the Scottish government calculates the country could produce 25 percent of the EU's offshore wind and tidal energy and 10 percent of the EU's wave energy.

Scottish exports are worth around 100 billion pounds a year to the British Treasury, including more than 11 billion pounds from financial services, along with almost 9 billion pounds from food and drink, including whisky.



Friday 12 September 2014

911 - the incident that we know

Where were you when 9/11 happened? How things had changed since then. 13 years had passed. America has wake up. Why I said America has wake up? Do you know many American people don't know much about outside world apart from their own country America. Can't blame them. They already have all what they need to have. America is an economy power house of the world. If you have a chance to be there, you will surely get fresh air of things which you probably would not able to get here. I compare China and America, I still hold America much better than the former, culturally, economically and politically. We all know what is free world means but we could only appreciate the real meaning until you see the free world through the eye of America. You have to be there to see it and feel it and not just by reading about it.

 

Below are tweets from someone who used to stand beside the US President and now tell account by account on how they deal with the 911 incident. How often could you get that.





George W. Bush's former press secretary Ari Fleischer's tweets offer captivating, real-time look at his 9/11 experience.

'I'm thankful Twitter didn't exist then,' says George W. Bush's former press secretary.

Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary who was with President George W. Bush on Sept. 11, 2001, took to Twitter on Thursday to offer his recollections of the 9/11 attacks in real time.
 
Through a series of diary-like tweets taken from his notes from that day, Fleischer offers a vivid account of the events of 9/11 as seen through the eyes of one of the president's trusted advisers.
"What happened that day should be shared so it is never forgotten," he told Yahoo News. "Letting people see what happened on the inside just feels like the right thing to do on a day like this."
 



But Fleischer, who served as press secretary from 2001 to 2003, says Karl Rove informed Bush of what was believed to be an accident. Then the second plane hit.



Fleischer, who now runs a sports communications firm, recalled that Bush wanted to address the press, but that Fleischer advised him against it.




At 9:45 a.m., they boarded Air Force One. Years later, Fleischer writes, Capt. Mark Tillman told him they took off at an "unusually steep ascent because he had a report of a sniper at end of runway."


They flew to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, instead.




Hearing Bush's declaration of war is Fleischer's most vivid memory of 9/11.
"To hear the commander in chief say that sends a shiver down your spine," Fleischer told Yahoo News.


At Barksdale, Bush addressed the nation.


They left Barksdale for Offut Air Force Base in Nebraska, "a secure location where Bush could convene a meeting of the National Security Council."



Fleischer says that had Twitter existed on 9/11, he would not have used it.

"I'm thankful Twitter didn't exist then," he said. "I wouldn't have tweeted, but it likely would have spread bad rumours — and there was a lot of false information flying that day."

Would it have changed the way the administration responded to the attacks?

"[We] would have had to respond to every false rumour that circulated, and many horrific accounts would have come out from inside burning buildings," Fleischer said. "You can't stop technology, but as much as I am a fan of Twitter, I'm glad it didn't exist on September 11, 2001."


Wednesday 10 September 2014

About Malaysia and Being Malaysian

Have a good laugh and relax while the stock market is taking a cooler.





Most unexpected but interesting things you could find in Malaysia.


Wednesday 3 September 2014

OCK - EGM approved resolutions

Good deal for Chin Yew. Most important, it is a win-win deal for both him and OCK.



TheSun 03.09.2014




Chin Yew, a young chap previously worked for SP Setia, made a handsome fortune from OCK share that he got at RM1.10 arising from the sale of his Indonesia company to OCK. He made a clever deal to have part of OCK shares and part cash from the sale deal instead of all in cash consideration. Well, he will get more if he keeps the shares for longer. And he will.

 

Its price closed at RM1.47 on 03.09.2014.