Hey all readers. Long time no update! I feel weird blogging again, oh wells, still going to be a blogger so that I can record all these for my personal reading pleasure when I am old in the future. So that, I can look back and reflect on it when I am old, and can't move...only can switch on the computer and go virtual surfing.
Last few weeks has been pretty hectic. The first two weeks was exam..2nd year, 1st semester exams..looking back on what I wrote in the beginning of this year was that I would "pwn" 2nd year of uni. Judging by how I did..I thank God first of all for his help..I think I would only be able to get 3H1s and 1H2A MAYBE, I am not positively sure on all of this. The last non-H1 subject is due to the lecturer, who doesn't really have any lecture slides at all, comes to the lecture and just writes stuff on the OHP expecting all of us to copy, confusing tutorials..and confusing MCQ questions on the exam! All of those factors coupled together to become non-H1 subject. Those who get H1 in that subject I salute you! If I don't get a job because of that subject, melb uni owes me a refund of my monies!
And then, after the exams, the fun came back! It has been a quite exciting week so far, up until now. Been going out to a few places which I will list;
1) dinner with friends
2) watched Prince Kaspian
3) went to Melbourne Aquarium
4) helped my friend to learn driving
5) went to Brighton beach(nothing there seriously!)
6) got lost in an unknown suburb in Melbourne
7) went to St. Kilda beach
8) visited friends, went shopping at Forest Hill and watched a silly movie called Ah Long Pte Ltd
So yup, hadn't had enough sleep these few days, and I am writing this in a sleepifying manner. Tomorrow is going to be another exciting day as I check out the Vic market! I have passed that market so many times but never actually been there before. So 'jakun' of me.
Also update on investing, it has been a flat market these few month, with the market moving sideways! but then, I am an investor not a speculator, and these two is a world of difference between them! The speculator watches markets daily, tries to time his move into the market, and anticipates to profit in a short time. The investor is just looking whether he is able to buy shares at the right price, and is looking at holding them and gaining capital over the longer term, with no such daily attention needed. Which one are you?
Anyway, to all my readers, Selamat Malam! Wish you all Shui Jiao well. Goodnight!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
'We beat the 6000 level at last'
Those are the words ringing in most of the market at the moment. That they had beat the psychological 6000 level must be fantastic, because the market had been on a downturn for quite some time already.
However, when looking back with perfect hindsight, last year we had spent alot of time pass the 6000 level. In fact, we were constantly hanging around the 6400 level. So, what is the significance of beating 6000 now? Just a few weeks ago, when you would read financial news, the market was overly-pessimistic and all gloom doom about the markets. Fast-forward a few weeks forward, and everything seems to have changed. How weird.
This shows one thing about the market. That the market is behavioural. Well, of course the market is actually made up of people, you and me, and collectively we are called the market. If we have emotions and behaviours, surely the market has behaviours too. Therefore, can the market correctly price every share every time to reflect all available information at any point in time, also known as, semi-strong or strong form efficient?
I would not like to believe so. Although, theoretically, I believe it at heart, I still don't know for sure. So far, value investing is working for me. It is when markets panic and is fearful that I go into the share, to make a gain in the long-term. There is another way to think of it. We usually like to measure risk by means of variance to the expected value. What if we buy at two standard deviations below the expected value, knowing that our calculation of expected value is correct, would it still be risky? I don't think so. That is what I would like to do as an investor. There is big bucks to be made.
Going into the second half of 2008, I really don't know what to expect. Resources seems the way to go, or maybe it is just because the big gains made so far has attracted me(and also many other investors) into the sector. One thing is for sure, I think that the oil price and the share price of oil companies to go with it are experiencing a bubble. There is no way the value of a company can change by 30% in just a week, of course, that is what its share price is emanating. Or maybe the companies have been undervalued so far, and that the rising oil price is just helping the market to bring the value up to its right level.
I have put forth my thoughts, but of course, I can be wrong. I am seeing things from my perspective. Everyone has their own perspective. I fundamentally believe my views are right, but we'll see how it goes. To every investor out there, good luck and happy investing in the 2nd half of 2008!
However, when looking back with perfect hindsight, last year we had spent alot of time pass the 6000 level. In fact, we were constantly hanging around the 6400 level. So, what is the significance of beating 6000 now? Just a few weeks ago, when you would read financial news, the market was overly-pessimistic and all gloom doom about the markets. Fast-forward a few weeks forward, and everything seems to have changed. How weird.
This shows one thing about the market. That the market is behavioural. Well, of course the market is actually made up of people, you and me, and collectively we are called the market. If we have emotions and behaviours, surely the market has behaviours too. Therefore, can the market correctly price every share every time to reflect all available information at any point in time, also known as, semi-strong or strong form efficient?
I would not like to believe so. Although, theoretically, I believe it at heart, I still don't know for sure. So far, value investing is working for me. It is when markets panic and is fearful that I go into the share, to make a gain in the long-term. There is another way to think of it. We usually like to measure risk by means of variance to the expected value. What if we buy at two standard deviations below the expected value, knowing that our calculation of expected value is correct, would it still be risky? I don't think so. That is what I would like to do as an investor. There is big bucks to be made.
Going into the second half of 2008, I really don't know what to expect. Resources seems the way to go, or maybe it is just because the big gains made so far has attracted me(and also many other investors) into the sector. One thing is for sure, I think that the oil price and the share price of oil companies to go with it are experiencing a bubble. There is no way the value of a company can change by 30% in just a week, of course, that is what its share price is emanating. Or maybe the companies have been undervalued so far, and that the rising oil price is just helping the market to bring the value up to its right level.
I have put forth my thoughts, but of course, I can be wrong. I am seeing things from my perspective. Everyone has their own perspective. I fundamentally believe my views are right, but we'll see how it goes. To every investor out there, good luck and happy investing in the 2nd half of 2008!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Melb uni night market
Recently, my uni had a night market festival during Friday evening at uni. It was really nice with all the decorations, stage set up, band playing and crowded with people that made it more fun. The weather was set right, the rain drizzled only a little, and a perfectly clear night which is just nice for a night market.
The food was great, there was a whole bunch of Malaysian delicacies up for grabs(which I had not taken since Jan when I was in Malaysia), there was Indonesian, Thai, and food from all over the world. God knows where some of the food came from. But nevertheless, it was fantastic quality, although the prices could be more fantastic. For all the food lovers in Melbourne, i encourage you to come and visit the Melb Uni night market held once or twice every year, usually the middle of the semester.
I ate so much food on that day, had curry rendang, banana spring roll, soto mee(indonesian chicken noodles), watermelon sago and buburchacha. These kind of food you can't get out in the open market because they are rare, and usually only come from their respective countries.
Then there is also the games I played in the night market. I was supposed to hit all the cans off a shelf to win a small soft toy prize, and it cost me $2. I thought I could win, managed to hit 5 off(there were 6), but I reckon sometimes its unfair because in a new round the person rearranges it back and sometimes he puts it so far apart, only a Beijing Olympic athlete can hit all down.
I also met alot of my good friends there, and we stood in front of a band, almost got ourselves deaf because of their good quality music that was so loud. The crowd enjoyed it and a huge, loud applause was given everytime they changed a song. Something about the band was that they looked so typically Malaysian but the way they sang and stood. A 100% teh tarik malaysian like me can surely recognise them instantly without much trouble. I guess the true benefit of being a Malaysian is that you have the ability to recognise fellow Malaysians without much trouble, whilst other people don't seem to be able to have that ability as well as us. Too bad this skill is not marketable nor sellable to anyone.
Imagine going "Would you pay me to recognise a Malaysian anywhere anytime?" Nevertheless, it is a skill I'm proud of. With all the nice food, unique slang, and coming from a country where it either rains or not everyday, who wouldn't love to be a Malaysian yeh?
The night market was certainly an event and festival to remember! Josh now has to lose a few kgs after all the good food I consumed, will blog about it the next time!
The food was great, there was a whole bunch of Malaysian delicacies up for grabs(which I had not taken since Jan when I was in Malaysia), there was Indonesian, Thai, and food from all over the world. God knows where some of the food came from. But nevertheless, it was fantastic quality, although the prices could be more fantastic. For all the food lovers in Melbourne, i encourage you to come and visit the Melb Uni night market held once or twice every year, usually the middle of the semester.
I ate so much food on that day, had curry rendang, banana spring roll, soto mee(indonesian chicken noodles), watermelon sago and buburchacha. These kind of food you can't get out in the open market because they are rare, and usually only come from their respective countries.
Then there is also the games I played in the night market. I was supposed to hit all the cans off a shelf to win a small soft toy prize, and it cost me $2. I thought I could win, managed to hit 5 off(there were 6), but I reckon sometimes its unfair because in a new round the person rearranges it back and sometimes he puts it so far apart, only a Beijing Olympic athlete can hit all down.
I also met alot of my good friends there, and we stood in front of a band, almost got ourselves deaf because of their good quality music that was so loud. The crowd enjoyed it and a huge, loud applause was given everytime they changed a song. Something about the band was that they looked so typically Malaysian but the way they sang and stood. A 100% teh tarik malaysian like me can surely recognise them instantly without much trouble. I guess the true benefit of being a Malaysian is that you have the ability to recognise fellow Malaysians without much trouble, whilst other people don't seem to be able to have that ability as well as us. Too bad this skill is not marketable nor sellable to anyone.
Imagine going "Would you pay me to recognise a Malaysian anywhere anytime?" Nevertheless, it is a skill I'm proud of. With all the nice food, unique slang, and coming from a country where it either rains or not everyday, who wouldn't love to be a Malaysian yeh?
The night market was certainly an event and festival to remember! Josh now has to lose a few kgs after all the good food I consumed, will blog about it the next time!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
MUEC pitching
Today is quite memorable because I just had the Melbourne University's Entrepreneurial Challenge(MUEC) pitching today.
The four of us are a team called W2W Investors and we have been working on this business plan since August last year and it has been extending until now. We are in the semi-finals and the pitch took place today! We actually had to give a pitch or speech in front of a real live panel of judges, 4 judges today, who were entrepreneurs and venture capitalists themselves.
The four of us are a team called W2W Investors and we have been working on this business plan since August last year and it has been extending until now. We are in the semi-finals and the pitch took place today! We actually had to give a pitch or speech in front of a real live panel of judges, 4 judges today, who were entrepreneurs and venture capitalists themselves.
We worked hard on our presentation which took nearly a month in time to complete but finally
we did it! We prepared and tried our best, how it turned out in the end depends on the judges to decide. We will know the results in 3 days time. My team consisted of Kelvin, Wei Na, Chiau Lin and me. We prospered with an excellent presentation, which I would have to thank God for it.
Our business plan idea is about the E-loan, where it is a unique financial product which is a loan for shares that does not charge interest or have any margin calls for traders. We are proud of our product as we truly believe it is one of a kind and will work hard to see it work in the future, even if we did not win the competition.
We were all wearing suits today which makes it even cooler, and I will see how it goes in the future, maybe the four of us will become a team again. Nobody knows what will happen!
From left to right: Joshua, Chiau Lin, Wei Na, Kelvin
Friday, March 21, 2008
New partners into kenjisan!
Today the officers of kenjisan met up and aries joined us for an exciting 3 hour discussion of the new partners into kenjisan! There were 8 applicants who submitted forms and only 6 of the 8 made it through. I can't announce who got through yet for confidentiality purposes but if you are one of the 6, you will find out soon!
So ming fung came with thean and picked me up from my house. I haven't seen those two for ages! We drove all the way to the city and to QV. We couldn't manage to find a parking spot so we had to park really far away. But it was a fun walk as we catch up with each other after sooo long never catch up(3 weeks).
We arrived at QV excited for the day. Kelvin joined us and the four of us commenced discussions on kenjisan. We went through every single new potential partner's application. We were vigorous in the details and had commenced lengthy discussions on each partner. I wasn't so much engaged but rather loved to hear the opinions of my partners. I was just glad that the four of us could meet up on a regular basis, which we could discuss kenjisan matters as well as bond together as officers of a prestigious investment partnership.
The discussion continued for 3 hours. We passed the partners issue and went on to discuss tasks, annual dinners, bank details and much more. It was highly productive and each officer left the meeting with a whole lot of tasks to do. Thean had the most work as he was the general officer and this period commanded alot of work for him.
Overall, it was quite a memorable experience going out on Good Friday to meet in a group like that. Exactly one year ago, at this time, i was in FGA Easter camp at Camp Howqua. Totally fun time..and funny my church this year didn't have any camps. =/ And the last time we met as officers of kenjisan was exactly a month ago!(21st of feb) Truly a day to remember and I look forward to a month's time when we meet again!
So ming fung came with thean and picked me up from my house. I haven't seen those two for ages! We drove all the way to the city and to QV. We couldn't manage to find a parking spot so we had to park really far away. But it was a fun walk as we catch up with each other after sooo long never catch up(3 weeks).
We arrived at QV excited for the day. Kelvin joined us and the four of us commenced discussions on kenjisan. We went through every single new potential partner's application. We were vigorous in the details and had commenced lengthy discussions on each partner. I wasn't so much engaged but rather loved to hear the opinions of my partners. I was just glad that the four of us could meet up on a regular basis, which we could discuss kenjisan matters as well as bond together as officers of a prestigious investment partnership.
The discussion continued for 3 hours. We passed the partners issue and went on to discuss tasks, annual dinners, bank details and much more. It was highly productive and each officer left the meeting with a whole lot of tasks to do. Thean had the most work as he was the general officer and this period commanded alot of work for him.
Overall, it was quite a memorable experience going out on Good Friday to meet in a group like that. Exactly one year ago, at this time, i was in FGA Easter camp at Camp Howqua. Totally fun time..and funny my church this year didn't have any camps. =/ And the last time we met as officers of kenjisan was exactly a month ago!(21st of feb) Truly a day to remember and I look forward to a month's time when we meet again!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Damien Leith, holidays and the businesses so far
I would like to start this blog by saying that Damien Leith - 22 steps is an awesome awesome song. I have been repeat playing this song since I downloaded it, which you can say was a few hours ago. I am just a big big fan of Damien Leith. Anyone who hasn't heard of his songs before, he is Australian Idol 2006 and one of the best singers I have ever heard, honestly.
Holidays have begun for me! How exciting is this... uni has just been going on for 3 long weeks. I am glad that I am finally having a break again. Next thing is to think about what I am going to do during the holidays. One thing for certain is that I am going to wake up late! I have been lacking of sleep lately... so glad to have this break so that I can wake up as late as I want. Even though waking early does have its benefits like feeling fresh and starting a long day right.
Some update on the businesses in our portfolio. The businesses we hold in our portfolio are currently BHP Billiton, Westfield, JB Hi Fi and ASX Limited. BHP's iron ore division has been quite active and been buying some assets lately. BHP also agreed to become an official sponsor of the Olympics, and hoping that by throwing money at the Olympics now will translate to profits later. Westfield has been pretty quiet about its developments but it still does hold $7.7billion in liquidity, which effectively gives it its A rating by rating agencies. JB in my opinion is performing well even though they did not release much results bout performances. A quick look at their shops has shown that they are still busy trading, and with Easter coming across the weekend, it can only mean good things for them. Their debt levels still remain low and management is one of the best in the industry I have ever seen. Trading on ASX has been quite profitable with all the volatility in sharemarkets going on. I hope this translates into more profits for ASX. There seems to be vast amounts of trading going on lately with the ASX around the 5000-5300 level lately.
Overall, I look forward to the coming week/s and months. We'll see what God has in store for each of us as time passes and remember to have a positive look on life and that any adversity is opportunity in disguise!
Holidays have begun for me! How exciting is this... uni has just been going on for 3 long weeks. I am glad that I am finally having a break again. Next thing is to think about what I am going to do during the holidays. One thing for certain is that I am going to wake up late! I have been lacking of sleep lately... so glad to have this break so that I can wake up as late as I want. Even though waking early does have its benefits like feeling fresh and starting a long day right.
Some update on the businesses in our portfolio. The businesses we hold in our portfolio are currently BHP Billiton, Westfield, JB Hi Fi and ASX Limited. BHP's iron ore division has been quite active and been buying some assets lately. BHP also agreed to become an official sponsor of the Olympics, and hoping that by throwing money at the Olympics now will translate to profits later. Westfield has been pretty quiet about its developments but it still does hold $7.7billion in liquidity, which effectively gives it its A rating by rating agencies. JB in my opinion is performing well even though they did not release much results bout performances. A quick look at their shops has shown that they are still busy trading, and with Easter coming across the weekend, it can only mean good things for them. Their debt levels still remain low and management is one of the best in the industry I have ever seen. Trading on ASX has been quite profitable with all the volatility in sharemarkets going on. I hope this translates into more profits for ASX. There seems to be vast amounts of trading going on lately with the ASX around the 5000-5300 level lately.
Overall, I look forward to the coming week/s and months. We'll see what God has in store for each of us as time passes and remember to have a positive look on life and that any adversity is opportunity in disguise!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Special day to blog
Its been a long time since I blogged! Already half a month has passed and so many things has occurred. I am not sure where to start.. but I'll just straight ahead with uni. As for friends in uni, I am glad to say that not much has changed, I am still with the same bunch of friends who I always treasure. Some friends I know for longer, some I had known since first year of uni. As more years passes, the more value there is in each friend and I appreciate that alot. Second year uni is actually a more quiet stage of uni life..or at least that is what I think it is so far. First year is all the hustle bustle of being in first year whereas third year is when everyone prepares to graduate. Second year is so sandwiched in the middle. Putting aside uni life, my social life comes in. Been hanging out with friends, jerm, chan and a few close friends. These people add the spice in my life! I reckon my life is something like a sine graph.. but oscillating upwards. Like the sharemarket. Its those downs that who is there for you is your real treasure. Those are the most undervalued people or 'treasure' that as an investor I'd like to own alot of. My inspiration in writing this entry is that I might read this back in 10, 20 years time and see how much I value people, and hope that I continue to do so over time. That's it for today.. and yeah, have a good week to you who are reading this!
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