Freelotto.com

Today when I tried to watch the news online, while waiting for the video to stream I saw a notice stating that I have won the lotto.

I bought nothing, not a single ticket for me to be eligible for a lotto draw. I can’t possibly win anything. Out of curiousity, I clicked on the ad and I was brought to a sign up page at Freelotto.com and the amount “I won” was $2,700++. Being a skeptic about everything that comes to money, I scanned the net for information about Freelotto.com. It wasn’t difficult for me to find anything related to that organization, there tons of discussion on the website, some netizens confirm that the organization isn’t a scam.

Phew. It could be my lucky day so I took a look at the website again, I am supposed to give my email address, and its authenticity is not a concern anymore since there are users who reported spam mails.

There is no free lunch in this world

Some people may have signed up on the spot without checking.

I am not saying that it’s a dubious website but the winning notice is just a marketing gimmick.

The neglected lesson in investment – the missing material

 

I have never come across any financial book that suggests its readers to read this “material”. It’s hardly mentioned or totally absent from most personal finance websites. My blog is barely a personal finance blog, it’s a bit of everything about my experience and observation.

I like to share some of my thoughts on money & investment. With some observations, I think I should highlight this to my readers. In most, in fact all personal finance books mention money management – which is a common topic for financial education. But nothing about this “material” is mentioned.

To learn how to pick stocks like Warren Buffett is not really that important.

Foresights, techniques and analysis methods are secondary. Not that important compared to knowing your rights as a shareholder. What an investor knows about his rights is very limited. Statutes should be part of financial training.

This in my opinion should be the first lesson an investor must learn before anything.

The first step to protect your investment is to know your rights as shareholder. The rights to question the Board, the rights to scrutinize the Board for its decisions and the rights to scrutinize financial statements etc….

Most investors don’t bother to find out about their rights until fraud arises. When fraud happened, the investor gets cold feet and start to look for regulators/watchdogs to enforce their rights in frenzy. It’s essential but the investors leave it to someone else.

Fraud detection is a separate issue.

The decision to leave rights issue to the regulators and leaving oneself out of the picture is costly. 

Before picking up a prospectus or a financial report know your rights as a shareholder first.

I take only 2 vitamins

I have a colleague who takes a wide variety of supplement for his wellness, in total he takes about 20 capsules each day. There is no compelling reason for me to swallow that many capsules and I am limiting my choice of supplements.

While I believe in the benefits of vitamins though they are not clinically proven to be effective, I have no absolute intention to take anything else besides Vitamin B50 and Omega 3.

B50 is ideal for me since I am under a lot of stress each day and ever since I got my promotion, my stress level keeps going up, I have a bigger responsibility now so B50 really helps. Beside the B50, Omega 3 is the only supplement that I take faithfully and I don’t see myself stopping in the near future. I need that DHA. Need to take care of brain since I “wreck” my brain day in day out. And the only brand available to me that has the highest DHA is Blackmores, an Australia brand. 500mg per capsule which is 4 times higher than other brands I known (approx. 120mg per capsule) but EPA is very low at only 100mg.

The one I took has no fishy smell. I take only 1 capsule a day since I don’t really know the minimum an adult needs to consume each day and how much the body can absorb per day. Neverthless, I am reliance on this to keep my brain at tip top condition each day. 

 

Self-confessed DHA addict.

Looking back at 2008

I was looking towards 2008 the same day last year, 2007 was a very good year for me and I was hoping to 2008 to be better. Time flies at the blink of my eyes. We are heading for 2009 already.

Looking back at what I have done 2008 is far from my expectations. There are ups and downs unlike 2007. I can’t complain much as I have some good reasons to call for celebration this year.

I tried to do as many things in the shortest possible time but I will always have those unforeseen circumstances popping out from nowhere to distract me. Nevertheless, I am not too please with what I have done this year.

2008 would have been good if not for the financial catastrophe, and global recession.

The Good 2008

1. I had a promotion and received my bonus despite the economy slow down.

The Bad 2008

1. Less gatherings with my friends, we used to have dinner very often but this year was quiet. We meet up for supper once in a while since everyone’s busy with work. I missed those folks.
2. I put on weight. My pants are tight now and I have to return to my tailor to tailor new cloths to fit my new body.
3. More smoker cough nowadays. 
4. Paper loss for my investments.
5. Failed to meet my books per year target.
6. This is not impressive to me. The entire 2008 is a quiet year for me. If not for that promotion, I most probably achieve nothing this year. 

2009 will definitely be better.

I can’t rest for long

I will be resting 4 days in a row starting from Christmas. I welcome a rest day but sometimes I just get too bored when I have rest for so many days. I prefer working in a way, at least I have things to do but on rest days I have to find things to keep myself busy.

I cannot sit around and idle.

Singapore Flyer is disappointing

Sometimes disappointment could be a blessing in disguise. At least for me. I was planning to have a Christmas party at the Singapore Flyer yesterday, 23 December 2008 but dropped the idea after I couldn’t get the majority to agree with me. The planning started actually 2 weeks ago and I was actually disappointed when I couldn’t go since it will be my first visit to the World’s highest Ferris wheel.

Fortunately for me, the plan was dropped. An awful incident happened at the Singapore Flyer yesterday, the wheel stopped moving due to power supply cut off and visitors have to be evacuate SWAT’s style. I could be one of the stranded visitors if I insist to have my way. Anyway, this is not the first time the Ferris wheel is found faulty but each time the problems are different.

I would never step into one of those capsules again if I was up there when it happened. Luckly no one was injured.

The evacuation was kind of overdone. I don’t think anyone can withstand repelling from that height. They should close it until the management learns to manage crisis better.

I just recalled the Capricorn effect

 

 

Image: redding.com

I read about it in the news every year usually towards the end of December. Nothing to do with the stars in the sky that tell your fortune, if you do not know what Capricorn effect means, try google for the full definition.

In short, at the beginning of each year the stock market will rally based on the illogical concept that the beginning is a good start and how that “logic” really convinced speculators to throw in their money at the beginning is a total alien to me.

I have no idea.

Just when the market looks gloomy because of some catastrophic events that unfolded, I thought no one will mention the Capricorn effect again this year end. But like year-end sales – no matter how bad the economy seems, the routine must be repeated each year.

So we are expecting the Capricorn effect anytime soon. It’s more likely a routine than a phenomenon.

I don’t expect that effect coming in 2009 since the consumers, speculators; investors and business owners are more conservative this time. No big deal if the market really rally, it’s more likely to premature.

No big deal again even if all indices gain two digits growth afterall the big trend is going down. I almost forgot that about the effect, I don’t make a point to remember this “special” day. The knee jerk rally is very common throughout the year and not only at the beginning of the year. The term Capricorn effect should be removed since it does no good but motivates irrational responses from the speculators.

Like the star Capricorn in Zodiac, it’s too vague to mean anything.

I am not going to follow the heard and say “It’s a new start for everyone in the market, time to invest” What sense does that make? “The bad news have been absorbed last year and thereafter the new year means a new beginning” What sense does that make? As if we start from zero and as if the market has no hangovers.

It makes the market look absolutely superstitious.

I no longer believe in Capricorn effect unlike in the past when I first started trading. Back then it was like one major event I have to look out for. But now it has no meaning to me.

Branded fund houses not so important

Source: nefinc.org

The big names in funds management don’t appeal to me since I trust no one with my money except for myself. I have no doubt in the expertise of the fund managers but I think they are just not as keen as me with my investments after all it’s not their money but mine.

“Branded” fund houses mean nothing, they must have done right to emerge into big fund houses, but they really don’t mean anything.

Investors should be more interested in knowing who sits behind the computer managing their funds, the fund managers, portfolio managers, administrator so on and so forth.

However, that is not possible since the fund houses are not likely to disclose that kind of information and most importantly these employees do not stay in their jobs for long. The better they are the more likely they will be headhunt especially the ones who beat the benchmarks.

And that’s the whole point. They don’t stay. So it doesn’t matter if the fund is rated 5 stars or 3 stars, these ratings carry no weight (at least to me). It’s more like a part of a marketing plan or a selling point in pushing sales.

The guy who manages the fund so well that the fund achieves some awards may have already left the fund house for a bigger paycheck from its rival. Can the next person perform just as good?

The fund remains the same fund but manages by a different manager.

Forget the awards, most importantly – Is the fund manager who grew this fund still around? Buying funds because of its awards make no sense, it’s more useful to the salesperson than the investor.

Not surprisingly, a lot of sales “advisors” like to sell awarding winning funds to the less savvy investors.

The next time when you see funds ratings or big names in funds management, ignore those noises and ask yourself if you really understand what you are buying and the industries the funds invested in. Since there’s nothing much you can do about the regular hopping of the fund managers but you should at least know that you may not be getting what you see.

Madoff sets the benchmark

Record holder

Just when we are getting ready for 2009 and leave the disasters from the miserable 2008 behind, we have pie thrown at our face.

It’s as good as running a 42km marathon and just before the finishing line your right foot tripped your left foot, what could be more embarrassing than that?

Is Madoff’s scam a wakeup call for the regulators of Wall Streets? Andwhen I thought Enron is the world’s most successful con, Madoff proved that he can do better. He ran the largest Ponzi in the world and most probably his name should be in the Guinness Book of World Records for breaking Enron’s scam records.

The regulators must have been sleeping since Enron collapsed in 2001. Thanks to them, Madoff is the new pace setter. De-regulation was a huge mistake, this big mistake caused the greatest downfall of big names on Wall Streets as well as putting the reputation of financial institutions at risk.

It will be an uphill task to regain investors’ confidence.

Why am I skeptical financial reports?

Any numbers in the financial statement can be manipulated to conceal actual figures and deceive investors. Even the most seasoned investor will have some difficulties in detecting fraud in financial statements.

Being an outsider of the company, the investor can only rely on the financial reports for analysis and he should remain skeptical no matter how attractive the reports seemed to be.

In Madoff’s case and like other fraud, the public trusted them totally, which wasn’t very wise. They trusted the financial reports, I mean who don’t, who actually has all the time in the world to scrutinize every report he reads.

If you can’t do it for all your investments at least scrutinize your largest investment.

If profits are reported, take only 90% of your confidence in that report and leave the remaining 10% for doubts. Question and scrutinize. Do it as if the company owes you an answer without the hostility.

If losses are reported, take only 90% of your confidence in that report and leave the remaining 10% for doubts. Actual losses could have been bigger than what you read.

Though questioning is not good enough against a good conman, it’s better than not asking. Anyway, always leave 10% for doubts, always keep vigilance where you put your money.

Gifts shopping is a task for me

I guess men don’t excel at shopping. I am one of those who needs a map for buying gifts. No shopping for me unless I have compelling reasons to do so like buying Christmas gifts. With so many promotions and year end sales, it’s like a forest out there. No matter how much I tried to shun to the crowd, I cannot seem to make my way out of the over crowded malls in town. I spent like 4 hours searching for gifts and when I looked at what I have bought at the end of the spree….

I think to myself: “Why didn’t I think of that in the first place?”