博文

目前显示的是 十月, 2008的博文

Make money when stocks stink

Bear markets are Darwinian: They kill weak investors, but the strong get rich. And as we are learning anew in this decade, bear markets can be both grueling and extremely, extremely long. For the U.S. stock market, the 1960s and 1970s were Lost Decades, and the current one is about as bad. The major indexes, in fact, have been trading lately well below their levels of 10 years ago. These Lost Decades include monster bear markets -- those of 1973-74, 2000-02 and 2007-present -- during which the S&P 500 Index ( $INX ) plunged more than 40% each time. Those are the only such monsters since the Great Depression, and two of them have come in this decade. And the immediate future, at least, looks even more perilous. When the S&P 500 was at its low of 855 on Friday, it was 45.8% below its peak of October 2007, and foreign markets have recently been battered even worse than our own. The headlines have described a "global panic." The good news: Some investors have managed to p...

Rumours Kill (IOICorp)

The terror of rumours has stemmed from their intangible yet rapidly propagating killing power. Those who have hands-on experiences with, or have been hurt by rumours, definitely have an overwhelming abhorrence for unfounded rumours. The famous quote from the late diva Ruan Lingyu, "words of man are the most fearful thing," remains relevant to this day. Renowned Korean artiste Choe Jin-sil took her own life simply because of venomous rumours. Having said that, a society without rumours could be utterly monotonous. Stock market, capital world, entertainment and political circles have been so enchanting because of various sorts of rumours and gossips. Rumours can send stock prices to the heavens, but can as well throw them into the deepest hades. Thanks to the rumours of foreign exchange losses, IOI Corp's shares suffered a huge single-day drop of 20% last Friday, the worst in a decade. .... http://www.mysinchew.com/node/17834

Change Is Good!

Sometimes we love change and sometimes we hate it. Regardless, it always takes a little bit of courage to leave something familiar and try something new. Why is change difficult for most of us? Because change necessitates that we move out of our comfort zones. Since the ego, or protective mind's job is survival, it will always prefer safety and security over the untested and unproven. It likes to keep things the same. It has us believe "the devil I know, is better than the devil I don't know." In short, "if I stay with what I know and what is familiar, I won't get hurt." This belief system is simply not true and goes directly against the laws of nature. Most people are not totally happy and successful, yet they continue to do the same things over and over hoping someday things will be different. Realize if what you've been looking for was where you've been looking, chances are you'd have already found it! Doing more of the same even harder an...

Half of U.S. doctors often prescribe placebos

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Those pills your doctor prescribed? They may be placebos. A new study found that half of the doctors in the U.S. prescribe placebos regularly without telling their patients. LONDON - About half of American doctors in a new survey say they regularly give patients placebo treatments — usually drugs or vitamins that won't really help their condition. And many of these doctors are not honest with their patients about what they are doing, the survey found. That contradicts advice from the American Medical Association, which recommends doctors use treatments with the full knowledge of their patients. "It's a disturbing finding," said Franklin G. Miller, director of the research ethics program at the U.S. National Institutes Health and one of the study authors. "There is an element of deception here which is contrary to the principle of informed consent." The study was being published online in Friday's issue of BMJ, formerly the British Medical Journal. Placeb...

鄭丁賢‧窮人打救富人

任何國家的政府政策,尤其是財經政策,絕對要符合3個條件:1. 方向正確,2. 時機精準,3. 對多數人有好處。 請問,50億令吉公積金局的“貸款”,符合了上述3個條件的哪一項? 注意,我把“貸款”加上開關引號,因為我也不確定這是哪一種貸款;政府公佈的資料,沒有說明償還期,也沒注明利息、抵押等,又多了一層疑問。 我不是保羅格魯曼,也不是巴菲特,不敢斷言政府的措施是錯的。但是,政府的救市措施,至少要有基本的說服力,讓人們能夠信任才行。 尤其,50億令吉來自公積金局,也就是動用上千萬打工仔的老本。 打工仔是社會中低下層,擁有比率最低的社會財富。 用窮人的血汗錢去救富人的投資?想到這裡,國內1000多萬名公積金局的會員,隱隱約約,感覺手腳有點冰冷。 股市不是不能救,只是太難救,往往都是徒勞無功,還要賠了夫人又折兵。 ....... 大馬股市說大並不大,但是,說真的,在金融海嘯的狂潮中,幾十億令吉丟進去,可能還看不到水花濺起。 50億令吉對股市不會有顯著作用,對經濟也沒有振興效果;既然不能救大市,充其量,就只能撐扶少數公司的股價。 問題來了,要 讓誰享受這種好處?讓誰得以從海嘯中脫身? 如果只能惠及少數,那就不符合公眾利益。 這又再應證,用百萬窮人的血汗,來拯救幾個富人的身家。 股市下跌,有一定的規律,要救也救不了,最怕是賠上更多的無辜。 政府要關注的,是通過宏觀調控,緩和大環境的衝擊;放寬管制,落實開放,激勵經濟,振興企業。把50億令吉花在這些方面,才能發揮真正的價值。 http://opinions.sinchew-i.com/node/7459?tid=7

Property prices plunge

KUALA LUMPUR: Owners in the Klang Valley are having a hard time selling their houses as buyers are staying away, hoping that prices would drop further. This has been the scene in the past four months as buyers chose to "wait and see", anticipating further price drops next year.Even though experts say prices will not dip much, some real estate agents are in jitters over the prospects for the economy next year.Many real estate agents interviewed believe that the property market will only go downhill. "Business has been bad. It's hard for us to sell houses nowadays," said one real estate agent.He believes prices of condominium flats will drop heavily, after experiencing rise of RM1,000 to RM2,000 per square foot in the past two years, He said those most likely to be affected are middle-income property owners who have difficulty in servicing their housing loans . He said prices of middle range homes might be stagnant for a couple of years. Another real estate agent,...

Why the rich get richer

The rich get richer partly because they invest differently than others; they invest in investments that are not offered to the poor and the middle class. Most importantly, however, they have a different educational background. If you have the education, you will always have plenty of money. You know you are financially smarter or increasing in sophistication when you can tell the differences between: 1. Good debt and bad debt 2. Good loses and bad losses 3. Good expenses and bad expenses 4. Tax payments versus tax incentives 5. Corporations you work for versus corporations you own 6. How to build a business, how to fix a business, and how to take a business public 7. The advantages and disadvantages of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, businesses, real estate and insurance products as well as the different legal structures and when to use which product.

Study on Malaysia's Handling of 97 Economic Crisis

We were criticised by everybody, but we believed strongly we only had the people of Malaysia to answer to," former finance minister Tun Daim Zainudding said last Friday in a phone interview from Kuala Lumpur. "We had seen what had happened with African nations that had taken aid from the IMF; they never are free ." Malaysia defied the prevailing orthodoxy of the day and closed its doors to outside aid even as Asian financial markets, including its own, were collapsing. Even Daim credits part of Malaysia's turnaround to the country's ability to export oil, electronics and textiles. But most economists agree that at the very least the plan did not sink the economy into further depths.

All that money you've lost — where did it go?

All that money you've lost — where did it go? Is it a matter of it all vanishing into thin air? Some would say yes NEW YORK - Trillions in stock market value — gone. Trillions in retirement savings — gone. A huge chunk of the money you paid for your house, the money you're saving for college, the money your boss needs to make payroll — gone, gone, gone. Whether you're a stock broker or Joe Six-pack, if you have a 401(k), a mutual fund or a college savings plan, tumbling stock markets and sagging home prices mean you've lost a whole lot of the money that was right there on your account statements just a few months ago. But if you no longer have that money, who does? The fat cats on Wall Street? Some oil baron in Saudi Arabia? The government of China? If you're looking to track down your missing money — figure out who has it now, maybe ask to have it back — you might be disappointed to learn that it was never really money in the first place. http://howtze.blogspot.com...

You can become rich by being financially smart

A Million Dollars is the starting point Being a millionaire today does not mean that much. Today, $1 million is just the starting point to beginning to invest like the rich. Being financially smart included knowing when to be frugal and when not to be. Many people become rich by being very smart with knowledge from the B and I quadrants. Many of these individuals operate behind the scenes and manage, control, and manipulate the world's business and financial systems . Millions of people faithfully place their retirement savings and other monies into the market. However, the decision-makers of the marketing and distribution system of the underlying investments actually make the large sums of money, not necessarily the individual investor or retiree . As rich dad taught me years ago, "There are people who buy tickets to the game, and there are people who sell tickets to the game. You want to be on the side that is selling the tickets." Own the corporate ladder rather than c...

Harness the stunning power of financial regret

Winston Churchill: Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. Regret over past financial decisions can have a powerful hold on you. At 23, you may regret running up $20,000 in credit card debt during college. At 35, you may regret never having gone to college. At 45, you may regret having never started that consulting business you always dreamed of pursing. And at 65, you may regret not having saved more for retirement . In recent days, many financial chickens have come home to roost. Regret, financial or otherwise, can have a powerful grip on your life. For most, the question is not whether you have financial regret. The question is how you harness the power of that regret to make sound financial decisions today that you will not regret tomorrow. Here are some ideas to help you do just that: Stop beating yourself up over past financial mistakes. We all have made stupid financial decisions. Even Warren Buffett has made dumb investments, which...

The Biggest Failure I Know

I am so rich because I've made more financial mistakes than most people. Each time I made a mistake, I learned something new. In the business world, that something new is often called "experience". But experience is not enough. ( just like if you have 10 years of playing basketball in the football field doesn't make you an expert ). Many people say they have a lot of experience because they keep making the same mistake over and over again. If a person truly learns from a mistake, his or her life changes forever, and what that person gains instead of experience is "wisdom". People often avoid making financial mistakes, and that is a mistake. They keep saying to themselves, "Play it safe. Don't take risks." People may be struggling financially because they have already made mistakes and have not learned from the mistakes. So they get up everyday, go to work, and repeat the mistake and avoid new mistakes, but they never find the lesson . These peo...

Nearly 1 in 6 homeowners 'under water'

After a housing slump that has pushed values down 30% in some areas, roughly 12 million households owe more than their homes are worth. By The Wall Street Journal The relentless slide in home prices has left nearly one in six U.S. homeowners owing more on a mortgage than the home is worth, raising the possibility of a rise in defaults -- the very misfortune that touched off the credit crisis last year. The result of homeowners being "under water" is more pressure on an economy that is already in a downturn. No longer having equity in their homes makes people feel less rich and thus less inclined to shop at the mall. And having more homeowners under water is likely to mean more eventual foreclosures, because it is hard for a borrower in financial trouble to refinance or sell a home and pay off the mortgage if the debt exceeds the home's value. A foreclosed home, in turn, tends to lower the value of other homes in its neighborhood. ........ The declines have made homes more...

The magic of mistakes

Just remember the frustration you went through as you struggled to learn how to ride a bicycle. All your friends are riding but all you are doing is climbing on the bike and immediately falling off. You make mistake after mistake. Then suddenly, you stop falling off, you begin to peddle, the bike begins rolling, and then suddenly like magic, a whole new world opens to you . That is the magic found in mistakes. Street smarts versus school smarts Yet each time he made a mistake, instead of being depressed, he often seemed happier, wiser, more determined, and even richer from the experience. "Mistakes are how we learn. Every time I make a mistake, I always learn something about myself, I learn something new, and I often meet new people I would never have met." On the street, you are given the mistake first then it's up to you to find the lessons, if you ever find it. On the street, you are smart only if you make mistakes and learn from them.

Concerning News

2 news concerns me today: A new, more powerful Fed emerges in crisis Central bank is increasingly aggressive in attempting to stabilize economy Retirement account losses near $2 trillion Financial crisis forcing workers to delay their golden years One of my fren put a message on his msn: 9 to 5, work until 95 ? Some extracts from A new, more powerful Fed emerges in crisis : Dusting off Depression-era emergency powers, the Federal Reserve is extending its reach over the economy as never before, pushing the limits of its authority, if not exceeding them. Now the nation's central bank is even becoming a source of loans for companies other than banks. Radical steps by the Fed under chairman Ben Bernanke — all in the name of seeking to halt the panic sweeping financial markets — are turning it into a financial colossus. They're also putting the government deeper in debt and taxpayers further at risk if the various moves fail. Some extract from Retirement account losses near $2 tril...

发现中国的书籍多了 。。。。

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发现中国的书籍多了 。。。。

Can the bailout work? Fat chance

Can the bailout work? Fat chance At best, Congress voted to approve a quick fix that's bound to fail in the long run. The recent volatility on Wall Street is virtually unprecedented and is likely to remain so until every trader dies of heart failure or the banking system is recapitalized with pixie dust, whichever comes first. But don't blame Wall Street vacillation for the jumpiness. It should be seen in the context of a decisive, coordinated effort by governments worldwide to manipulate stock markets higher by every means possible without regard to such niceties as fundamentals, the rights of shareholders or the laws of financial gravity. ....... Virtually every respected authority in the world of real capital believes the bailout bill approved by lawmakers won't solve our banks' problems. Yet the nation's political leadership pressed to pass it with the breezy confidence of the captain of the Titanic. ...... the financial bankruptcies we've seen in the past s...