Monday, September 29, 2008

Dow takes a dive as bailout bill fails in Congress

Woke up this morning to the sound of sirens. Not only outside our homes but also in the financial markets as the Dow plunges 777 pts on Monday trade. I'm sure there were a lot of panic investors who sold just as the news of the bailout bill of USD700B failed in Congress came about wiping out more than a trillion dollars in paper loss.

The Dow industrials, which were down 210 points at 1:30 p.m. EDT, nose-dived as traders on Wall Street and investors across the country saw "no" votes piling up on live TV feeds of the House vote. By 1:42 p.m., the decline was 292 points. Then the bottom fell out. Within five minutes, the index was down about 700 points as it became clear the bill was doomed.

Well, we have not seen this huge drop before as it was the biggest drop in history, and somehow, records are meant to be broken. The last huge drop like this was in 9/11 where 684 pts were erased from the Dow, and that didn't seem too long ago. There will be more of these big drops to come but will we get to see it? I don't know.

It certainly is scary to see the financial turmoil in the US trickling down to the rest of the world but if you were not invested and holding on to cash(great move!) this would certainly keep you on the lookout for good stocks to hold and ride out the turmoil. Start doing your homework because the greatest opportunity may be unfolding...

Chua Soi Lek: 'I'm not perfect but I'm sincere'


Q: Your sex scandal will affect your chances. How do you plan to overcome this?
A: By being sincere. Everybody makes mistakes. I have never claimed to be perfect. No leader is perfect anyway. It's a question of not repeating the mistake.

Ayoo this is so funny! Not to repeat the same mistake too many times issit? How sincere are you to your wife btw?

SWISS SCAM: RM286m payback for Swisscash investors

KUALA LUMPUR: Investors in the Swisscash investment scam will get back US$83 million (RM286.3 million) -- a fraction of the tens of millions they have ploughed in.

The Securities Commission said yesterday it had obtained a landmark High Court judgment on Sept 25 against three defendants -- Albert Lee Kee Sien, Kelvin Choo Mun Hoe and Dynamic Revolution Sdn Bhd.

The defendants have been ordered to pay the sum and any further amounts traced by the SC, to compensate investors of the scam.

?? It was a scam?? But I got my money back woh...and made somemore hahhahaha!

Oz News: Baby bonus 'should be scrapped'

THE days of the $5000 baby bonus would be finished under a plan for paid parental leave.

The report into parental leave, which sets the groundwork for a national scheme, has recommended the Federal Government pay new mothers or fathers for 18 weeks of parental leave.

It has recommended that the Government adopt a taxpayer-funded leave scheme which would pay the primary care giver at the minimum wage rate, currently $544 a week. But it has also recommended the baby bonus be scrapped.

The baby bonus - currently a one-off payment of $5000 - provides the equivalent of 14 weeks parental leave at $357 (untaxed) per week, or around two thirds of the minimum wage.

It is estimated the proposal will cost around $530 million annually, at a cost of around $450 million to taxpayers, and $75 million to business.

The baby bonus was introduced in 2004 by former treasurer Peter Costello, in a bid to improve the nation's fertility rate.

Under the new proposal, employers would pay the parent's superannuation as part of a scheme which would benefit about 140,000 parents each year at an additional cost of $450 million, the report says.

The overall cost would be $1.3 billion a year.

The proposal is longer than the 14-week model advocated by unions, business and federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick.

Interactive YOUR SAY: Should the baby bonus be replaced by paid maternity leave? Tell us below

Woah! I'm stopping at 2! Fortunately, we have all the babies we need now and I don't think we'll be looking for any new additions to the family. But for those who were planning for a family hoping to get the 'one time bonus', think about the lifetime of support for the little kid. Its no joke bringing up a child in times like these where inflation is hitting double digits and everything else is going up except your pay packet! Its good enough that Australia provides this compared to Malaysia so I guess anything is better than nothing! Go Aussie, go Aussie!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

AUD/MYR



I think we just missed out on the biggest chance to buy AUD at the lowest rate in quite some time! It hit 2.73 this month but we only managed to buy some at 2.84! It's gone back up to 2.92 today, sigh! Opportunities come and go so fast!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Severe Conjunctivitis..check it out!


My left eye was bloodshot red last night! It was pussing and it felt like someone punched me! I'm gonna have to stay off contact lenses and games for now! That sux! aaarggh @#$%^&

Monday, September 22, 2008

Farewell Pa and Happy Birthday Unc Sunny!


We had a do in a Japanese Restaurant in Tropicana Clubhouse last night and it was pretty good! Great service cos we had a private room and it was quiet. I mean it was like jam packed outside because of the breaking fast for Ramadhan and I guess Malays don't really fancy Japanese to break their fast! We had to park outside and catch a club buggy to bring us in! Talk about service! All in all, we had a great time and here's to Papa..Have a safe trip back to Perth. Please try to make a trip up to Melbourne when we visit in November. To Unc Sunny.. have a great 69th birthday celebration and many more to come! Cherios..

ala..should I bank this in?


I probably would have accumulated close to 1 Ringgit by now if I had banked in all my dividends from having one share of TM. tsk tsk tsk...sometimes you just don't know what to do with these sort of things..

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Morgan and Goldman becoming Commercial Banks!

I woke up this morning feeling groggy from the lack of sleep last night cos little Kelly had a nose block and was crying! Carol's gone to work now, Jamie is off to school and as I sit at my 'SOHO' trying to digest what I learnt at the seminar yesterday... I couldn't!
Let me rest my brain a bit..I'm watching the market and CNN reports Morgan and Goldman becoming like commercial banks, being able to take deposits and being holding companies for other financial institutions in trouble. The US Gomen sure is working hard to rescue the markets with a 1,000 pt movement to the upside the last 2 trading days from their rescue plan. USD700B is the price tag but where does the money come from? It seems like they have endless reserves or are they printing..? hmmm Reminds me of Danaharta! Here i am selling (shorting) the futures in anticipation of more political uncertainty but still welcome the boost we got ahead of the US markets positive closing! We'll see what happens the next few days as Anwar presses for a no confidence vote on our dear sleepy PM!

IPASS- Affiliate Systems Seminar

I spent the last two days attending Stuart Tan's IPASS seminar with the hope of being able to create marketable websites and I came up with 2! Its a start! Please check out www.treatingsportsinjuries.blogspot.com and www.ilovedigitalphotography.blogspot.com This is the beginning of my journey into cyberspace and I hope it'll be just as fun creating it as it is delivering it!

Can hardly keep my eyes open now so I'm gonna catch some zzzzzzzz............

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Welcome Ian and Marcus Khoo!



We welcome Ian and Marcus on the 18th September 2008. Well done Steph and Min! 3 kids is not gonna be easy but thank God mum is there to help out a bit, and I mean a bit! Will pray for healthy babies, heart and lungs to be strong and immune system to function. Trust in the Lord our God! Amen?

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Lantern Festival




We spent the Lantern Festival at home with Luisa, Kelvin, Naiomi, Kung Kung Sunny and Poh Poh Alice. This was taken after dinner. We managed not to burn any of the 'tang lungs'!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Mushu giving birth to her... grandkids?


If one dog year is equivalent to seven human years (so I hear), then our beloved Mushu would be 77. That is greater than the life expectancy of most people in our society today. Except for the Japanese (they hit 85 on average) because a few of the oldest people in the world come from Japan. Not too hard to imagine being old but what if you're giving birth at 77? ugh! Mushu just gave birth to two pups, one of each gender and they are so cute! They have since been given away otherwise, we'd have four dogs in the house! Take care of them, May! ..muah!