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My focus on blogging is to write economics view, investment thoughts(there will no be tips on which stock to buy), life, movies review, animes review, drama review, books review.
Check the opinon of a book i just read.
Title:Losing my virginity : the autobiography
Author: Richard Branson
Year Published: 2005
Synopsis:
He is writing all his life experiences on this book. This time it is full verison with greater detail compared to mini verison titled 'Screw It, Let Do It'.
Opinions:
He shared most of his fantastic experiences which i find them useful for my future application business dealing. One or two life experience he had sharply met my belief with strong approval.
Remember two faces people?Richard Branson recounted how he received the letter that was wrongly posted by his former employee who sang songs for Virgin Music. It contain of his disgust. Richard had no choice to let him go free as he was deemed as redundant. At the same time before his former employee wrote two letters( one polite verison to branson and the another disgusting verison to branson' employee, Mike Oldfield). Somehow, his former employee wrongly posted two letters. Exactly, that is what i mean by that. What a disappointment especially when Richard genuinely told his sincere truth that he didn't want to let him go but there is no choice to do so otherwise Virgin Music will fall.
His experience with Virgin Altantic against British Airways in ugly airline competition with knowledge of BA's dirty tricks from Sir Freddy Laker who was the victim of it who warned Richard about it was fantastic lesson for me to learn.
It is extremely important to practise honest and clean business ethic.
At the same in previous blog entry, i always believe that there is no need to 'stab back' when someone did badly on you in any means. Richard justify my belief by using any possible honest menthod to make BA to stop the dirty tricks without 'stabbing back'.
How did i have this belief? When i was negligent young boy during the time where the gangsterism was in young boys' trend, i friendly gave a hi to a young boy who used to study in the secondary school. Amidst of suspicion of myself moving from one gang to another gang among the tongues, you can see the power of people's mouth. One statement from one mouth can easily spread to every person's ear. That is why i hardly give attention on this kind of conversation right now.
Suddenly, he traded me off with a fist. Out of sudden with lapse of mind logic being switched off, i returned back. It last few minutes. We didn't get beaten so badly and at that point i am already tired of it. My classmate, Michael ran all the way from hostel home to the destination to seperate me from him.
He is one true friend helping me out of the trouble. He insisted that i should go with him back to the school rather than going home with his careful warning that this young boy may gather his friends to line up for a revenge. I heaved a sigh and followed. The matter seem to be small thing just between boys and it was blown to big matter where principal who i respect her without any question called police to deal the matter ensuring that i do not get beaten. In the end this young boy and i have to go to police station to take our statement. It was really shocking one which is unthinkable to our imagination because we never dreamt that it is the case.
Subsequently, policemen decided to handcuff us which i thought it was totally unnecessary.
In the police station, a malay policeman warned us that we must not cross our legs after hearing the situation between us. It is a rule we must abide. I kept forgetting it and cross my leg subconsciously. He pointed at my leg and i apologise while putting my leg down. While waiting our turn to be interviewed by plaincloth cops, i look around. There is one side that dividing two rooms. I am in a room with a door away from another room where people have to be in the cages.
All this incident, i found out that the law act that described that we were distrubing the public. It is so amusing that it left my impression that law can be this silly. Therefore, law will not protect you at all but i strongly believe that justice have long arms to catch not-so-sophiscated criminals because whatever crinminals do, the quote 'leopard can never changes its colour spots easily' really strike them hard as police always use MO to track them down.
It may make me look bad but i think it is a good experience to educate me.
I still have the same guts but i decide to keep using it wisely from now on.
I don't need such respect from junior students who look me up for unusual stunts. I can see them glazing at me with much respect. All i want to get things to be done rightly.
Warren Buffett and Richard Branson have one similar trait. It is to appoint the right person to do such management. That is why they are successful. With this skill and respect to employees, you don't need degree to do business. If Kar Ho claimed that it is 21st centurty, Branson is still using the same old method till today and he is so successful investing all different industries provided that the business proposal look fun to him. It should serve a reminder to you.
His love life justify why i am so careful to make a relationship with ladies. I was so horrified that his freind told his friend's wife that he wanted to have experiment having sex with all kind of ladies.(Psst, who knows you lady may be one of them. Don't ever think that your boy is not like that!). I guess i am like that because i don't like be in the position where i have to beg wife to come back to me just because we have lost interested in each other which spelt out of love as well as no sense of security. It pay to wait until you are totally convinced that she/he is the one for you who you can live for life regardless of how much love store in this relationship.
I think i will be buying his book but final edition after Richard last wrote before his future death.
Rating:9/10
Bonus:1)Superb battle between Virgin Altantic and British Airway 2)insights how Branson lost the deals to sign some excellent singers right the minute he thought he got them. 3)great detail how branson negotiate with few countries to grant the permission to cross the countries with his hot-air balloon 4)Branson's love story
Tony Del Piero wrote and posted at at 6:54 pm I want to write my opinion here after i has somewhat heated debate with Gabriel.
Come to this picture when someone say 'you can place a bid' followed by 'i maybe accept or maybe reject' when asked by another person ," Can i place a bid on this player". This conversation was striked when we are playing online game, Football Manager 2007. Somehow i was furious with this kind of business ethics. I was educated and self-taught by with various of books, opinions and real-life stories.
If i hear a statement associated with a word namely 'Maybe', i will not make any move or buy. Similiarly, when a stock from a certain company is screaming a word in front of my face and it say 'Maybe go up or maybe go down', the tirst thing i will do is not to buy this stock until it confirm its position. It is where i will do like this as a future investor.
I adovcate good ethics to do business or deal with your friends/humans nicely. Don't be bastard putting a knife at someone just because someone pissed you off. My principle is if someone make me upset or fed up, i will not use any effort to make this someone to fed up as well akin to one silly analogy 'You beat me, i beat you back'. It is bloody idoit game. I think we can do better than that. It is to be gentleman and try to settle the difference amicably. It will help your reputation greatly and with good ethic, a lot of people will look up on you. Subsequently, some of them may want to do business with you because they know that you are the kind who can make the deal possible in the honest way.
It illustrate how people can be afford to be two faced people. One face is to be friendly with friends because they benefit you and the other face is to be hostile if they don't benefit you. Gabriel's action tell it all. I always want myself as one face person. Regardless of whether i have benefit or not, i still entertain every person i see equally. At the same time i do not wish to bring any pain to anyone and which is why i am quiet person.
Should you negligent or slack on the certain matter, it will be unlucky if such decision go against you stripping your options u already made in the result of getting the things in 100%. You are liable for having 'maybe' mindset/mentality.
If you hear me saying 'maybe' in the first place, it is where i am going to spend research on all possible options. If i still have this 'maybe' mindset/mentality, i will not do anything which mean it leave me to explore other things rather than focusing on this thing.
People may be wondering why i rate so badly on Adam Khoo's book about investing. It is written in local content that Singaporeans can understand. What i am not impressed is uncertainity aura all over the pages. You can see the charts and yet it tell you to watch the chart. Should the line break the resistence level, it is when you invest. The biggest question is that which company you should invest on especially when there are more than 1000 companies in SGX. Therefore it is poorly written compared to other books i read. It is waste of money to buy one. Whenever i go border browsing business section, i spot a lady holding a few books, one of them is the book written by Adam Khoo about investment while she was further looking for any interesting investment book. When i was reading an investment book in the border, i saw a young man who browse the adam khoo book about investment quickly for a 10 minutes and put it back. Tsk tsk tsk,i think Adam Khoo with his success(i don't know how great they are) should give educational advise for free. I loathe people like him using them for business opportunity. I support professors who give views on certain topics on seminar which may cost you few dollars. There is a set of rule for ethics. You may not understand my eccentric character and you are free to buy Adam Khoo's motivational services. I do read Napolean Hill book which is also self-motivational but the difference Adam Khoo and him is that Napoleon spend more than 20 years researching on rich men unlike Adam Khoo selling his successful method.
I cite this example as one of 3 famous cautions from Macroeconomics. I believe it is the case of 'the fallacy of composition' for Adam Khoo's service on education.(Only those who study Economics will know what the fallacy of composition is)
Suliana
So far, in my blog, i have wrote two delication blog entry on two persons. Today i am making the third one. So far i am quite impressed and happy to gain knowledge that i may not know from Suliana. Best of all, i get the chance to talk favourite topics like Economics, Finance and all kind. I don't need to talk crap like 'i got versace jean worth $500' or 'i went to France'.
Well, it is ok to talk crap. I still want to hang around people who are smarter than me and behave better than me. When Warren Buffet and Munger were asked by young boy aged around 14 or 15 years old how to be succesful person, Buffett said that you need to work together with people who are smarter than you and behave better than you.
Exactly, Suliana and i are on similiar footing in intelligence. Best of all she behave reasonably well. I still want to hear her opinions and develop my new theory as well as improve my current theories. I believe that a lot of great people have their own set of theories.
I am happy to know her through Vishal. She is a great friend.
These days, i was shocked. Counting 3 unusual comments from 3 different persons, i never think much about my own ability. Miss Han, my primary school teacher roughly rate me as 'Who knows i may be president of a country or famous scientist' in front of my classmates during the lesson(In fact, i never paid atention on it until when i get older, i realise her comment when i happen to remember. Another comment come from secondary school's chemistry teacher saying that if i do not have this disability problem and spend more time on studying, i could do way way much better than all of you' in front of the class. Just few days ago, Suliana told me that our IMEC lecturer, Patrick think highly of me. Although i was there during the group discussion with him, i didn't pay attention but it brought to my mind when i remembered the other two comments. Me the next CEO??!?!? I didn't think much about it because it seem to be harmless. I really wonder whether i am really up to it.
As for now, i am spending more time on reading books and textbooks than before. I hope that i do want to fulfill those 3 comments i heard in my life. They will not put me any pressure as far as i concern. All i know is to make them proud because they thought so. I want to return my favour to them one day.
I am quite fortunate enough to experience terrible happening. Like Richard Branson, Warren Buffett, George Soros, Benjaimin Graham, Sun Bin, Zhuge Liang, they were deeply affected by horrible events. They vowed to do something. Now you see where they stand today.
Law does not protect you at all. But i do believe that justice will have long arm to catch crinimals who are not so sophisticated type. You should know that there are some crinimals who are not caught and still hiding somewhere. Good example is Osama. You should know better than that. Law will let you win if you have proper requirement to convince judge or jury in the case law basis or codifited law basis.
That is why law can't protect you all. Law is for you to know and avoid such happening. Law is created to get them to behave gentlemen.
Branson broke the civil law. Nicholas Tse also broke the law as well. i nearly got crminial record if i never behave properly when i was young. I know how they feel when they were in police station for questioning. Inside the police station, policemen set the rule on people behind the poles what they should not do. it is not even a prison at all. One day, when you happen to be in there, you will be weeping because you don't think much about people's warning/advice. It will be hitting the nail on your head where you will realise that it is really too true.
Warren Buffett went throuh horrible period known as The GreatDepression in 1930s. George Soros went through World War 2 avoiding being killed by German. Benjamin Graham worked hard enough that people can invest money in the right way based on his theory from Security Analysis. From those horrible moments and experiences for me, i will always remember them and they will serve me as deterrence and encouragement to improve myself.
She brought interesting points whenever we strike certain kind of conversation.
After watching whole 16 episodes of War Of Money, i wholeheartedly agree with few opinions from Geun Na Ra's thought. Indeed, money is made of life.
War Of Money(Korean Drama 2007)
Synopsis:
Park Shin Yang박신양 will be returning to the small screen in the comic adapted drama " War of money" . Park Shin Yang plays a ruthless private moneylender. On the other hand, Park Jin Hee plays the role Seo Joo Hee서주희 who is filled with righteousness. Seo Joo Hee서주희 is a young female head of the family who has the attraction of making men fall for her at first sight. She was to marry a divorced man to repay her family's debts when Geum Na Ra금나라 (PSY) appears at the wedding reception to collect them and ruined her plans. From then onwards, Seo Ju Young vows to take her revenge on Geum Na ra but she falls in love in the end with him instead.
Shin Dong Wook plays Ha Woo Sung who appears to look like a handsome young man with no worries in life, but he grew up in an orphanage in which he suffered in pain and have a brutal nature inside of him. He learns how to become a money lender/broker along with Geum Na Ra from the same teacher. Ha Woo Sung and Geum Na Ra are both rivals in business and for the affections/love of Seo Joo Hee.
Kim Jung Hwa will play the character "Lee Cha Yeon", a money banker/loaner. Unlike her tough/dorky/cute image that she has potrayed in the past, she'll come out very sexy in this drama.
Opinion:
It is fantastic drama that sparks my favourite interest. Although it may not tell anything what i am interested in, behind it, i see a force of power. The power i am talking about is the compound interest.
Let me bring my quote that will sum up my future life. “The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest” by Albert Einstein
After watching whole 16 episodes, it is already in my favourite drama shows list that i want to rewatch over and over again. But ending is too sudden and on top of that, another story of similiar of this show is on the way. Sigh
This show is attracted a lot of viewers in Korea. It is HIT as i expected! I am aiming to buy original dvd with english subtitle and korea dialogue right away once i see it avaiable in the market.
Rating:10/10
Bonus:1)You will find it interest how loansharks get the money back from people who borrowed 2)Good love chemistry 3)Male lead actor acting as Geum Na Ra is top class. 4)story is really very very realistic 5)the story itself is so hot that so many people will definately glue their eyes on it
Tony Del Piero wrote and posted at at 10:31 pm This week, i learnt something new. I was behind the scene watching how people unlock the paradox box. The scary part is that a friend you know may have two faces. Sigh, it is after all that human like to invoke his/her own self-interest.
After this incident, i realised why i always listen such songs sang by Nicholas Tse. It perfectly fit my sentiment on how human is like. Eason Chan wrote this song,改造人 for Nicholas Tse to sing. It show exactly how i saw in this incident and human doing.
That is why i don't feel like interacting people too much. I think my lecturer, Patrick is good and straightforward person. It is a kind of human i am interested to interact with. Junbin and Mick are another one. Somewhat, i heard from them that they loan a lot of money to his friends. But Junbin is more worse off lending around $50k to various of his friends.What the fuck. none of them are paying back and he is still waiting for them to pay. Incredible! Lending money to someone is not a bad thing but what is bad thing is to lend the money to the wrong person! Consider the scenario where your friend ask you to lend him some money. Without knowing the reason why he want to borrow from you, he used the money to buy drugs to relieve himself. Now that is not very noble act to begin with.
It is quite long time since i last inform some of the readers about Nicholas.
Nicholas Tse is about to be father as his wife is pregnant. According to the news, he want his son/daughter to have a short name that is easier to call.
All photos except the last one took its place where Nicholas is promoting the movie, Invisible Target.
After catching up with these news, i think he will sing less love songs if he record a album one day. Even though he doesn't produce any album in these day, i still listen his old songs. I simply loved his passion emitting from all the songs. It is something you don't feel from other singers including Jay Zhou.
I happen to find out more information about Nicholas Tse and updated wiki profile of Nicholas Tse gave me a smile. Most of the songs i loved to listen are among the list.
I still recite the part of song lyrics from 因為愛所以愛. It gave me happiness and hope for love.
Vishal popped me a question whether i want to marry. Frankly speaking, i don't know because i don't know if i have a chance to find suitable one. The one who is willing to share her money, so am i for the portion of it. I don't want to hear from my wife saying 'your money is mine.My money is mine!'. It did happen when someone's friend's wife told someone's friend in front of someone. It isn't that pretty one to hear. In the end, someone told him "i am lucky that i am not married' patting on his back.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(TMNT)(Hollywood Movie 2007)
Synopsis:
Strange events are occurring in New York City, and the Turtles are needed more than ever, but Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo have become lost and directionless. With the city at stake, it's up to Leonardo and Zen Master Splinter to restore unity and ninja discipline to the Turtles
Opinions:
It is ordinary superhero action movie. No further comments
Rating:5/10
(부활)(Buhwal)(Resurrection)(Korean Drama 2005)
Click here for official website
Synopsis:
Suh Ha-eun (Uhm Tae-woong) was 7 years old when he lost his father. He was brought up in home where he falls in love with the Eun-ha (Han Ji-min) who is a pure, good hearted person. Despite the fact of living in a rugged place, Ha-eun ends up being detective instead of a criminal.
Ha-eun is investigating an suicide report, and coincidentally finds information about his father who died. Whoever caused his fathers murder, tries to cover it up and get rid of anyone that spoils their cover. During a sequence of events, Ha-eun learns that his mother and twin brother, Yoo Shin-hyuk (Uhm Tae-woong) is also alive...
Shin-hyuk is the younger twin of Ha-eun. After learning that his father and brother died, Shin-hyuk changes. He is a top notch cold businessman. When Ha-eun seeks out Shin-hyuk, the men who are out to kill Ha-eun mistakenly kills Shin-hyuk. After Shin-hyuk's death, Ha-eun plots revenge by taking on Yoo Shin-hyuk's identity.
Opinions:
It is quite good show but not the best i ever seen. At least i was attracted by a lady who was acting in this show but i don't know her and it is my first time to see her in action. The lady named So Yi-hyun acting as Lee Gang-ju. Her character and appearance really enticed me a lot as well as her sweet-sounding voice. After watching her in 10 episodes, i couldn't resist checking her profile. To my surprise, she is only one year younger than me.
Besides her, i think Han Ji Min acting as Seo Eunha will be A-list actress in few years time. I have often seen her and i think she is well suit for gentle female lead character in any drama. Her smile is truly killer!
That is So Yi-hyun. Somehow, i like how she look like in this way. I feel like she is truly working lady with the spectator.
Rating:7/10
Bonus: 1)A storyline that keep me hooked 2)Surprising ending!
Title:The Essays of Warren Buffett : Lessons for Corporate America
Author:Lawrence A. Cunningham
Opinions: Yet another brilliant book regarding investment,corporation management, law and accounting(GAAP vs non-GAAP principle). Cherlyn or any potential CPAs should be reading a chapter from this book and you will be shocked for a few minutes.
It is good thing that Buffett is willing to let the writer interviewing him.
At the ending page,i was so shocked that it was so highly rated that one professor decide to use it as a textbook to teach students in a university school.
Rating:9/10
Bonuses:1)Superb analysis on stock for public limited company, 2)excellent analogy about accounting stuff, 3)effective and honest management on subsidary companies 4)quotes and personal opinions from Buffett and some people are so brilliant that i can relate them to my own future working experience
Tony Del Piero wrote and posted at at 10:11 pm I want to bring some humble attention on two guys whom one of them i personally know and the other i heard from someone.
James Kwan
He was my lecturer for Business Finance for 2 months. I liked his strict and demanding teaching. His ethics towards teaching is incredible because he is still studying one MBA and one PhD as he has lecturing job in SIM and SAA. He has already local degree,CPA, two MBA and one PhD. He is questing for knowledge.
Normally, anyone who is still studying a course and do lecuturing usually give normal effort to teach as much as his dull mind tell him so after the class to catch up the class. Unlike James, he ensures that we will be prepared for usual as well as unusual questions for examination.
Interesting courses and reputation of a school has become secondary to me as long as there is a excellent lecturer like James. It is my primary decision i look for when applying such courses.
Likewise, Buffett complained that he knew more about finance than any professors in Wharton University. Upon reading Benjamin Graham's intelligent investor, he seek further knowledge by enrolling in Columbia Business School after Howard reject his application citing that he was too young. Columbia Business School is where Benjamin Graham taught! Similiarily,i understood what Buffett intention was during his young days ever since i unknowingly sat in James' class.
Jimmy Boh
I happened to know when SMU student encourage a guy who has very poor grade to apply the degree course.
What is so amazing abut him?
The thing is that he was ex-convict having successful scholarship with SGX and in top 5% dean list(SMU). What is more he still reveal his past during the interview.
For your infomation, SMU and all scholarships require interview before admitting him in. Usually, the board of judges usually pick people with clean record and above good education profile for scholarship. Although he has good education profile, he still got himself picked despite of his convict record.
A news article about him
He has my admiration and respect for that. The reason why i wrote about both of them is that i want you guys to learn example from them and i will also learn from them as well. I know that some people will speak about long-term measure whether Jimmy Boh can last long or not. Let not think of that way and just watch him how he progress. Furthermore to forecast something is not easy feat. It is never been 100% accurate. And so don't try to reason me or anyone with any long-term reasoning.
My opinion if i were as a boss to hire
I will only hire people to suitable position where they love to do so
1)he/she must have high Adversity Quotient(AQ). I don't need people with high IQ.
2)he/she always do time management to stretch themselves as in an example like doing cycling after and before work from home to workplace and then back to home.
3)I will also hire people like Jimmy Boh as long as ex-covict is fully enlightened and clean from any evil thoughts.
4)I will not hire people who are collecting As for their satisfaction without understanding the crux part about each subject.
5)I will not hire people who say 'No Time!' or have this belief that i have no time to do such leisure part. If they have learn economics, they should know the opportunity cost and tradeoff themselves.
Your future is in your hands and you decide whether you want to make a step towards to one of few paths appearing in front of you.
Tony Del Piero wrote and posted at at 2:12 pm After i posted the previous entry, i was left wondering.
I envy the guy from the story i mentioned in previous entry.
Why?!?!?!
1) He has experienced such heavy pitfall which is an expensive lesson.
2) His wife never left him despite of him who was nearly bankrupt. That is why i always want to have a wife who stay with me regardless of what happened. Likewise i am very sticky to my wife(if it happen)
To all guys and girls..if you have your boyfriend/girlfriend, all you need is to analyse him/her whether he/she is your real 'security' deal for your whole life.
I do not recommend such methods that putting them into the trial test before you are ready to commit. Before i start saying such method based on my analysis for my 24 years, the quote is "Behind every successful man is a woman, behind her is his wife"
I believe this quote very greatly that i don't have to distrust or doubt my future wife because i know that she care for me and she also see that i also care for her as well without asking fussy/deliberate questions like that.
1)Watch your potential future husband/wife's spending habit without asking or investing. Naturally, the answer will come out itself in front of you.
Why? playboy/women who hook for handsome men for desire usually spend big sum of money to enjoy such 'high stake' lifestyle. Should he/she did spend this much and told you that the expensive things are your present secret, it will be great which mean this question classify it as a pass.
2)State your dislike of doing honestly and he/she will do it for you without any complaints or questions. It mean that he/she has common sense to care of your welfare. Of course it also is out of the concern. But it will end up with half of a pass. To obtain full pass, she/he must encourage you to conquer your dislikes in such manner where he/she do not make you embarassed or angry for your dislike. E.g you dislike mathematics.(That is why we cannot forever avoid some of our dislikes that have a room of improvement for us)
3)Read the second part. It is as well as applicable here as well but in way of sorting out the trouble for you. He/she has such concern to remind you of this trouble you made. Such reminder will help you to analyse the current situation that has the potential to repeat the same mistake and then you will avert of repeating similar trouble you had before.
All 3 things will spell the full commitment and seriousness. Husband/wife must be this 100% commitment and seriousness before you are totally ready to marry and give your virginity. I am not embarassed with the fact that i am still virginity because i am so mindful of it. Let me cite an example which is real.
When Warren Buffett's wife left him and she wanted a fresh life which mean living in different appartment. Warren was so desvasted that time until he understood her intention. He accepted it and still care for her until her death. Before her death, she still meet and hang out with Warren without having divorce(if i am not wrong). It is so incredible!At the same time she introduce some of her female friends to Warren.It is quite sad that she died before Warren!After her death, Warren married a lady who was a friend with his first wife. The quote of "Behind every successful man is a woman, behind her is his wife" proved this way. *thumb up*.
That is why i want to have such wife like her.
In secondary school days, all the boys who were interested in soccer were thinking of naked fun of kicking the ball without improving their own strengths and weaknesses. At that time, i was hungry for power which mean i spend much time to analyse on how i should improve my team and team welfare such as tactics and strategy. It spell a simple skill,tactics and strategy to win the game without any fuss at all. Exactly, it made me acquire a character. The character is perfectionist.
But now,i still have this character and however, i don't ask for 100% perfect and what i want is 99% perfect fitting your or my need without lifting my finger.
As for now, i am not sure if i want to study strategy subject in my UOL.
I really love devising strategy so much but i see a huge unmeasured risk in it if i were to take it.
I opt for the subjects i am familiar and keen to improve my present knowledge of them. The 4 units of UOL's Bsc Banking and Finance(Hons) are principle of accounting, principle of banking and finance, corporate finance and mircoeconomics.
Starting from today, i am going to transfer my passion on soccer analysis to investment. I will start analysing on how great investors grow the money.
It took me few years to undestand the process of soccer management(excluding managing soccer players' lifestyle which i do not cover and understand). I will start buying books to educate myself until i am going to commit my effort on it with minimal mistakes. Even greatest investor do make a mistake and so the loss i make will not so big that it will make your eyes pop out!
The next statement i am going to write is largely related to economics and i love using it as myself an example. Alhough i love watching movies to educate my general knowledge to understand many kind of life processes as much as i can, i have to make a tradeoff for it with the time i will spend to read books as well as use time for studies. The opportunity cost is the time i watch movie. I think i can fully give my commitment to learn and master the art of investment.
Why am i so interested in investment? Let me give you few ideas how your life will be like. My next statement will help you to weigh your decision before u make such options.
I always prefer to work under someone than be a boss
Advantages:
1)Fixed income(high ranking position is a great bonus for it)
2)insurance coverage(most US companies offer insurance coverage for every employees without having them paying although the demand of doing it went down as Bush administration passed a bill to tax every insurance coverage under employees)
3)No worries about raising the capital which fall on the hand of the boss who has to make a decision based on my financial report.
4)Your working experiences(at least 5 years or more in one same industry) will be useful which mean that if you were to become boss, with working experiences that give you a lot of connections and idea on how industry work like.
5)If you got good boss, you are set to do a job that has a lot of responsbility.
Disadvantages:
1)You will not have entrepreneurial spirit in you.
2)If you have lousy supervisors and bosses, you will be under huge pressure to perform impossible tasks. E.g They gave you the work today,1pm and told you to finish the job by 5pm which make it impossible because this job require few persons to work together in order to complete it within 4 hours.
3)Office politics
4)a lot of barriers in chain of command between many different departments if you are working in corporation company.
Advantages of being boss:
1)You will have a feel of being "i am your fucking boss and all of my employees are to do all the tasks for me as i play golf"
2)No one in your own company bully you.
Disadvantages of being boss
1)No fixed income which mean youur income will be irregular on every month(especially SME)
2)Worries how to save the company if the company problems cannot be solved by you or your employees
3)You have to please your customers especially when you sign the contract to deliever goods and your employees fucked it by deliever the services/products to the customers LATE.
4)You have so much matters to take care every company's matter
It is a rough estimatation i analyse. Please be aware that it is not full list as i have not experienced working in big corporation before but i has experience working in SME. As you can see that being boss has more disadvantages. That is why i am so keen working for someone who know how to treat me well enough.
At the same time,i will not buy car or motorcycle in my lifetime unless the car bring profit for me. Motor vehicle is always luxury item here and it never been neccessities. There are much more disadvantages of owing motor vehicle than disadvantges of not owing motor vehicle. IT IS FACT. Full stop and your reasoning will be equivalent to spending and bring no profit at all.
Now i bring the point you may want to know. My late father has only few thousands in his POSB account in the year of 1983. It is the year when i was born. I happened to discover it when my mother arrange my father things and show me old POSB saving passbook. With compounded interest and diligent investment, his money grow so much and my family now have 3 different local bank accounts. That is why i am surving so well and my mother is taking over him. I am keen to relish my mother from doing short-term investment in SGX. Likewise, my late father also has 'heart pain' when his share in the malaysia were suspended by Malaysian governemtn. It mean that he cannot sell the shares at all. Until now, i still receive the bill statement showing the malaysian stock.
I never knew that my father was looking at this although he was reading a lot of business related books(especially investments) in chinese. Nevertheless he is so strict and quiet, i am proud of him knowing the power of compounded interest. Today, i took after him. "Like father like son" Investment run through family blood and now i am infected. I am going to do better than my father.
Let me strike a lighting to every young people.
I can safetly tell you that about 70% of Singaporeans have full-time job and yet need to have more money through investment or having part time.
I can point that Edwin is a manager(great promotion climb) and he need more money. He is at the point of decision whether to become a part-time driver or part-time property agent.
There is no guarantee that you will not be retrenched! It is better to start early and do investment.
Tony Del Piero wrote and posted at at 8:29 pm
"The world is like a book... Those who never travelled have only read one page..."
This quote i saw from someone is excellent. It greatly illustrate many examples what Singaporeans perceive. E.g..Expensive taxies or increasing GST and etc. Once you visit first-world countries and stay there for years and then you will realise that Singaporea has unique advantages.
Go there and leave within days or weeks is insufficient to conclude!
I saw the story when i was learning investment online aggressively. This story is true based one according to few forumers. I really like this one and it will serve my reminder for rest of my life as i will be investing with much care.
Introduction
One night I woke up screaming, “SELL, SELL…” The Market has overtaken even my sleeping hours. My wife made a joke of it the next morning but I knew something was not right. Except, I didn’t know what it was.
Six years has passed since that fateful night. In between, the Market took and thankfully, gave back everything I had: my house, my car, and my family. More importantly, it revealed a lot about of my greed, my fears and myself. Those lessons have stayed with me ever since.
I hope to share my lessons with you. Hopefully, you will not make the same mistakes I did.
THE BEAR ATTACK
I have never seen the likes of it before. The ST Index fell from a high of almost 2,000 points in May 1997 to 800 points in Sept 1998. A drop of 1,200 points and the bloodbath lasted a full fifteen months. Worlds came apart. Fortunes, which took a lifetime to build, were wiped out in 12 months.
I was not spared. The Asian crisis took away my business, my house and car. My business floundered, and what sources of cash inflow I had dried up. By May 1998, my assets, including the house were “forced” sold and all I had left was the CPF savings accumulated through 12 years of contributions.
When has bought me to this low point of life?
The foremost answer was I had mistaken a bull market for brains.
Years 1990 to 1993
I graduated from university in 1988 and I started my stock trading in 1990. Up to that point, I have never lived through a recession in my working life. Having lived through a string of 6 to 7% growth rates for a few years, I began to take for granted that strong GDP growth rates would be with us forever. Hence, I was totally unprepared for what was to come in the form of the Asian crisis. The mother of all bull markets came along in 1993. That further made me more complacent into believing that bull markets were my destiny in life.
My methodology of investing in stocks was non-existent. I relied on tips from friends and brokers. Swept along with the upward momentum in stock prices, it was easy to make money. Small trades soon gave way to bigger trades as I got bolder.
When “contra” profits piled as the market surged higher, I thought I was a genius and leveraged my trades with bank overdrafts. Bigger profits piled up and I begun to believe I was really a genius. By the end of 1993, I must have made half a million dollars. I was becoming arrogant. Mixing arrogance with the brashness of youth, I thought I was invincible. It was a dangerous mix and a major cause for my eventual down fall.
Success breeds success. It’s not what you know but whom you know, or so I was mistakenly led to believe. I would arrange to get myself associated with professional fund managers who were part of the syndicates to ram stock prices upwards. When they bought, so did I. When they told me to sell, I did. When they told me to cut losses to move to another counter. I blindly followed.
I was mistakenly led to believe it was the easiest money making formula in the world. All I had to do was to follow what “smart” money does, make the money, and then spend that money on these fund managers on gifts and alcohol to ensure that they will continue to look after me.
Methodology? What methodology? Fundamentals of stock investing, what fundamentals? I mistakenly believed then, that it was more important to grease the palms of my “guru’ who told me “what” to buy than asking the all important “why”. I was totally dependent on handouts in the form of tips, rumours and recommendations. I had no knowledge of investing of my own. I was like the mindless dog lapping up the handouts given by my masters.
Years 1994 to 1996
Through the influence of friends, I applied what I learnt from contra in the stock market to the property market. From 1994 to 1996, I was part of syndicate that would pool our borrowed funds together and speculate on property. The cycle repeated itself. Except, my ego by now has expanded 10 fold!
We would get our hands on choice units of property launches because one of the members of the syndicate owned a housing agency. Before the ink on the sales option could dry, we would flip the options for a profit. The property market in 1995 was just about to reach boiling point. Finding buyers was not difficult. We had a stream of Indonesians and Hong Kong nationals making a beeline to Singapore. Most of them were taking advantage of Singapore’s attractive immigration policies, especially for those who wanted to be business immigrants. One of the conditions of seeking Permanent Residency was to invest $1m in a business or buy a property. Most of them bought properties and that inflated the property bubble further.
In hindsight, I was sadly lulled into believing that I was a genius for making lots of money at such a young age. The reality was that I was an empty vessel making lots of noise. I was just plain lucky to be around at the right place and the right place. I wasn’t a genius. I had not invented anything that improved the lives of millions. I was a just a plain old speculator jockey that rode up a general uptrend in the stock and property markets. It was my own arrogance that led me to believe that I was smart. I had mistaken a bull market for brains.
THE PAIN
The Asian crisis struck in 1997. The cause of the crisis was not specific to what Asians did or didn’t do. It was simply the correction of a very extended bull cycle exacerbated by over borrowing by all sectors of the economy. Punters like me over borrowed to buy shares and properties. Companies borrowed too much to chase over-valued assets like land. Too many golf courses were built. For every dollar of capital, three dollars or more were borrowed against it.
For me, the day of reckoning came in May 1998. It was the month I received notice that my house was going to be forced sold. I had borrowed close to seven figures from banks to support my leveraged lifestyle and my business. When interest rates surged, I had no means to keep up with interest payments. The situation was made worse when my business floundered when I made certain guarantees to suppliers. The bank called on the guarantee and I had to liquidate all my assets to meet the call. My world caved in.
Whatever I owned, my portfolio of shares, my semi-detached house in District 10 and my turbo driven Volvo had to be sold. To put a roof over my head, I had to move back to live with in-laws after the sale of my house. The glorious emperor really had no clothes after all.
In the end, I had nothing to show for my twelve years of working life. Whatever all the trading profits I made in 1993, it was given back to the market from 1995 to 1997. Whatever profits I made in speculating in properties in 1995 to 1996 were lost in 1997.
THE BUS TRIPS
After my debts were paid off, I was left with fund accumulated in my CPF, little cash, no job, no car, no house, a jobless wife, two crying babies and lots of time. But since I was living with in-laws, I could not loathe around the house. I would put up a brave point, wore a long sleeve shirt and maintained the impression that I still had a job. My pride demanded that.
But where could I go to spend my day? I would spend a lot of my initial jobless period on the bus. I would sit on the bus and followed the bus on the routes around Singapore. The buses were air-conditioned and it didn’t require much capital in the bus fare. It was interesting to see sights of Singapore I have never seen. The scenery was always changing and that took the boredom out of the day.
I would always have someone to talk to at the Bus interchanges as I shared a coffee with the Bus drivers and those inspectors that maintained the schedules. Most importantly, it slowly removed my depression to know that the average man on the street had harder battles to fight than I did. I saw how they struggled to survive and they did it with great dignity.
Eventually, it became to dawn on me that I could either wallow in my self-pity, continue to ply the bus routes for the rest of my life or I could put yourself to study how to invest properly. I decided on the latter.
Over the latter half of 1998, I put myself under a strict regime of self-study. I devoured every resource material on the Asian crisis. One of the sites I visited regularly was Nouriel Roubini's Global Macroeconomic and Finanacial Policy Site.. From there, I also understood more about the interplay of the economic business cycles on different classes of assets (Bonds, stocks, and commodities). I make more comments on this in the section Investment Clock.
I also gave myself to the study of Technical Analysis. I read Edward and Magee’s “Technical Analysis of Stock Trends” cover to cover because I wanted to recognize accumulation patterns by “Smart Money”. I needed to understand how syndicates set themselves up to ram prices by accumulating stocks during quiet spells in the market.
Knowing how “Smart Money” worked, they would corner the market over a long period of time when no one was interested in the market. Their eventual aim would be to ram up prices when the bull market resurfaces. Always, the “Dumb Money” or the faceless crowd would succumb to the herd instinct and left holding the proverbial baby. I needed to recognize accumulation and distribution patterns so as not to get caught by “Smart Money” as they sold. Technical Analysis provided the tools.
To understand the operating of the herd instinct and how not to succumb, I read, “Contrarian Investing: Buy and Sell When Others Won’t Make Money Doing It” by Anthony M. Gallea. From there, I learnt that crowd behaviour is usually wrong. To succeed in the stock market, I must behave in the opposite fashion. That is, fear when there is greed all around and be greedy when there is fear.
For Fundamental Analysis, I read both books by Peter Lynch. They were “One Up On Wall Street” and “Beating the Street”. I learnt from these two books that it was possible for the average man to beat the professionals at the game. This was achieved by, first, having an understanding and a love for business. Second, by being observant of great products and after some homework, invest in them.
Lynch mentioned coming across stocks like Nike at the shopping malls. In our context of stocks listed in Singapore, it could be Tiger Balm (Haw Par Healthcare), GP Batteries. In the Hong Kong context, it could be Giordano, Esprit and so on.
I also learnt that what mattered most was not only must the business economics be sound, but that the Management of the Company has to be capable to deliver growing earnings consistently over time. Buying stocks with cheap Price Earnings Ratios, low Price to NTA or high Cash per share is not enough to spur me to invest. The company must be able to convert capital into sustainable earnings growth over time.
APPLYING THE LESSONS LEARNT AND THE SUBSEQUENT BULL MARKET
After reading, studying and reviewing my every trade I made in the last year and a half, my mistakes became clearer to me. For one, I did not have a methodology. I depended on handouts from friends and brokers. I saw the market as a place to gamble, not a place to invest in companies. I never did any homework on the company I speculated in.
I allowed emotion to rule me by succumbing myself to crowd hysteria. I allowed prices to condition my mind. When prices moved up accompanied with high volumes, I would GET ALL EXCITED and pile in as well, hoping that the momentum will move me along. Worst, I chased prices. When prices fell to the lowest levels, I failed to buy because I was swept along in the pessimism.
By 1998 following the burning of Indonesia, prices in the market have fallen to levels not seen in the last ten years. Companies with viable businesses had fallen to depressed prices. Stocks like Inchape Marketing were even trading below their cash per share. Tan Chong International fell to HK12cts, way below the value of the motor franchise.
Having read volumes about the stock markets, I knew that I had a golden opportunity before me. Should I be buying when there were extreme levels of fear pervading? Did viable business like DBS justify being at their lowest levels historically? I knew I had to buy. But sadly I had no money.
At about Sept 1998, my lucky break came. The CPF liberalized the use of CPF funds. I turned to my wife and asked her for permission to pool our CPF Funds to buy the market. She replied with an emphatic, “Are you mad?!??” I could understand her anxieties. The last thing she wanted was another encounter with Mr. Market.
I had to convince her that I was a reformed man. To her credit, she was prepared to have confidence in me again provided that I showed her that I have done my homework in the stock I wanted to buy. With that mandate, I set myself to work again.
Coincidentally around that time, the Government announced that there were plans to put together a multi-modal transportation system. In other words, they wanted to integrate the bus and rail (MRT) operations to eke out greater efficiencies.
I knew how bus operations worked. Don’t forget, I spent a lot of time during the initial months of unemployment sitting around bus stations and drivers. I knew the cash flow nature of the business and I was convinced that such a business was a cash-generating machine. This became my first principal in investments: BUY BUSINESSES you understand.
By that time, I was so familiar with bus operations that I knew some major statistics by the back of my hand. For example, Singaporeans took five million trips on the bus and trains a DAY! I also knew from observation that the greatest profits were earned on the feeder routes around the satellite towns. (Hence, the need for multi-modality. MRT lines bring people to people centres and the feeder buses distribute them to the outskirts.)
This leads me to my second principal: DO YOUR HOMEWORK. I dug out all the Annual Reports of DELGRO, SBS and TIBS and I read voraciously all the newspaper cuttings surrounding these companies. I even went to the extent of digging out the Government White Paper on Multi Modal Transport and tried to digest the logic behind the Government’s intentions. From the Annual Reports, it confirmed that the business was positively generating cash and that valuations were cheap. If you have a chance to see the company at work, do so. Nothing beats visually inspecting the workings of the business.
This leads me to my third and most important principal. Buy into stocks or industries that will be undergoing CATALYTIC CHANGES that the market had not yet noticed. Don’t buy into a cheap company for the sake that it is cheap. Cheap companies can remain cheap forever. But buy into a cheap company that was going to embark on positive changes that will enhance the profits.
For the bus companies, the CATALYTIC change that was about to happen was the change in Government operations. Bus operators will be allowed to run rail operations. That would have the effect of bolstering their cash flows and increase operating efficiencies. The Government’s intentions were splashed across the major newspapers but no one noticed. The prices hardly budged when it was announced.
Currently, the companies undergoing catalytic changes are in the business of Supply Chain. Specifically, companies like TeckWah and Mentor Media are doing roaring businesses and it’s reflected in the earning results. The catalyst: major acceleration towards outsourcing by MNCs as a result of the emergence of IT, e-commerce, efficient transportation services and so on.
Needless to say after all that work, I convinced my wife that I was a changed man. I got her blessings and I set about to buy all three bus companies from October/November 1998 onwards. But never did I expect the Bull market of 1999 to return so quickly that it did, and with such ferocity. My three bus companies moved along with the market liquidity and I made back all I had lost from the previous years.
There are countless opportunities existing in the stock markets that are about to face catalytic changes we can exploit. But it needs the determination and instincts of a hound dog to sniff them out. Thankfully, the playing field has been made more level with the Internet and the freer flow of information. Gain knowledge, for knowledge is KEY to your success.
INVESTMENT CLOCK
The key understanding from studying the Investment Clock was realising that that macroeconomics determined the tidal shifts in the direction of liquidity. At certain phases of the boom bust or economic cycle, it is best to sell everything and take a holiday. Likewise, at certain phases of the cycle, it’s safe to load up and be engaged. At times commodities, bonds and stocks out-perform one another.
I never understood The Investment Clock during the years 1993 to 1997. When the property and stock markets were at boiling because of availability of cheap credit and liquidity, I should have avoided them and stay in cash.
Just as it is important to understand how the moon affects tidal movements in the sea, direction of interest rates sets the tone for the markets.
CONCLUSION
What I have shared in these pages are just my lessons from my journey from losses to recovery. I hope they have been useful to guide as you navigate your way through these treacherous waters called the Stock Market.
But please note, my suggestions here are not the only way. There are many other ways to successful investing. There are also a lot of other areas I have not mentioned for the sake of brevity. For example, I have not talked about risk management (an important area) or planning. Maybe, if there is interest, I will share my thoughts on that.
For now, it leaves to wish one and all, “HAPPY INVESTING".
Now you have read it. I am already sick of comments like 'Investment is dangerous thing ah.Wait till you lose money". The big question is that they never hear or learn advanced investment methods that can be used in stock exchange.
When i was young,i believe that taking big risk will bring big return. But now as a mature person, it is opposite. I am now risk-adverse and my no 1 advice to everyone including you that if you were to invest on something, please consider few factors(not your own advantages but as well as economy,culture,knowledge and etc). It will weight the risk and then you know if you really want to take.
Movies
Pathfinder(Hollywood 2006)
Synopsis:
A Viking boy is left behind after his clan battles a Native American tribe. Raised within the tribe, he ultimately becomes their savior in a fight against the Norsemen.
Opinion:
Not too bad story and i have no idea on why so many singaporeans don't like. Perhaps i love history and i understood the time chronological about vikings and its history.
At the end of movie,it is only ordinary one.
Rating:5/10
Sun Zi Bing Fa Yu San Shi Liu Ji (China Drama 2006)
Synopsis:
Military war history about Sun Bin and Pang Jun
Opinions:
I simply love reading Sun Zi Bing Fa books about military strategies alone. I am not sure if i wanna read so many Sun Zi for business and other kinds of application. So i bought dvd!
When i was in primary school, i caught a late Saturday afternoon show showing Sun Bin and Pang Jun but it was different from what dvds show.What i saw as kid was soft-approach style drama while the dvd drama is more detail-approach. I am little disappointed but still enjoyed the show.
I feel sad how two women play into the hand of plot. It is one of the reasons why i never bother such about love relationship. Ony few conditions i will do is ability to chit chat in sync with me, understand each other without questioning each other and independent from money issues. I doubt many women i see can meet these criterias.
I feel sad and sorry for Sun Bin and two women in this drama show.
Rating:8/10
Bonsus:1)superb detail of story 2)strategy plots 3)it teach you to value the promise seriously
Books
Title:Benjamin Graham on Value Investing: Lessons from the Dean of Wall Street
Author: Janet Lowe
Opinion: After reading his life, i really respect him a lot for his investment ethic and intelligence to develop formulas and traits to do investment with extremely low risk and yet high return. Sadly, there is one dark side about him which i may not like but then i understand why he is like that. Having too many women to hang with until his last few years of his life, he finally found one that match his life. It was the end of it. I happily returned it back to the library!
Ratihg 7/10
bonsus: 1)sad stuffs about him 2)remarkable investment working experience
Title:The Winning Investment Habits of Warren Buffett & George Soros
Author:Mark Tyler
Opinions:Wah!Fantastic book! It open my ideas how i should develop the concept of inevstment. Great analysis on two great investors, Warren Buffett and George Soros!
Indeed adversity is great tool for everyone as a lesson on why we should avoid such happening ever agin. On yop of that, i understood how diversfying should be like. I am so so so impressed!!! I spent 6 hours to read whole book in Borders for 2 days(3 hours each)
Rating:9/10
bonsus:1)funny comments and quotes from Buffett and Soros he analysed 2)interesting investment portfolios Buffett and Soros have 3)he citied some of his real life example to illustrate why we do not and why we do this 4)effective self communication
Title:Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings
Author:Philips A Fisher
Opinions:Very very qualitative investment book. He wrote all his investmenr research,principle and concepts. It is fantastic book. I undestood why Buffett seek his knowledge during visit other than Benjamin Graham. I like his questioning technique on investment choices and 14 points. I returned it back to library and aim to buy this book in future
Rating:10/10
Bonus:1)14 points 2)questioning technique 3)his opinions on the stock he bought 4)his favourite quote:keep the stock forever 5)It is so good that Buffett regiously follow some of his investment opinions for his own investment use
Title:Secrets of Millionaire Investors
Author:Adam Khoo and Conrad Lim
Opinion:too many simple layman term but it will not make you enlightened at all. I have no idea if they are doing the right thing. I borrowed from Mick and after i read books as above and found that this book is so bad compared to them. If you are beginner,i do not reocmmend this book to anyone at all. Even experienced local investors think likewise. Sorry to say like this. No offence taken.
Rating:4/10
Bonus) -1) it is the same as if you are attending to any investment seminar
Title:Screw It, Let's Do It: Lessons in Life
Author: Richard Branson
Opinion:It was written in simple english. He shared his lifestyle experience briefly and it was fantastic. I took 2 hours to finish this miniature book at Borders. I will read his full and detailed verison book one day.
Rating:7/10
Bonus:1)Exciting lifestyle he got 2)correct philosophy he has which i also believe likewise for myself
Tony Del Piero wrote and posted at at 12:45 am
