25 Rules for a Happy Life

 给自己25个安慰，去过洒脱的人生

第一个安慰：最重要的是今天的心；

何必为痛苦的悔恨而失去现在的心情,何必为莫名的忧虑而惶惶不可终日.过去的已经一去不复返了,再怎么悔恨也是无济于事.未来的还是可望而不可及,再怎么忧虑也是会空悲伤的.今天心,今日事和现在人,却是实实在在的,也是感觉美好的.当然,过去的经验要总结,未来的风险要预防,这才是智慧的.

昨天已经过去,而明天还没有来到,今天是真实的.


第二个安慰：自己的心痛只能自己疗；

何必为痛苦的悔恨而失去现在的心情.偶尔的抱怨发泄一下,也是十分必要的,但是无休止的抱怨只会增添烦恼,只能向别人显示自己的无能,抱怨是一种致命的消极心态,一旦自己的抱怨成为恶习那么人生就会暗无天日,不仅自己好心境全无,而且别人跟着也倒霉.

抱怨没有好处,乐观才是最重要的.


第三个安慰：好心境是自己创造的;

我们常常无法去改变别人的看法,能改变的恰恰只有我们自己.坏的生活不在于别人的罪恶,而在于我们的心情变得恶劣.让生活变好的金钥匙不在别人手里,放弃我们的怨恨和叹息,美好生活就垂手可得.我们主观上本想好好生活,可是客观上却没有好的生活,其原因是总想等待别人来改善生活,

不要指望改变别人,自己做生活的主人.



第四个安慰：用心做自己该做的事；

人生是如此的短暂,哪人心思去浪费呢?有智慧的哲人曾经说过:大街上有人骂我,我是连头也不回的,根本不想知道这个无聊之人!"我们既不要去伤害人家,也不要被别人的批评左右,还是按照自己的愿望,先踏踏实实学好本领再说.

特别是在少年时要全力以赴学本领,不要分心.



第五个安慰：别总是自己跟自己过不去；

学会自己欣赏自己,等于拥有了获取快乐的金钥匙,欣赏自己不是孤芳自赏,欣赏自己不是唯我独尊,欣赏自己不是自我陶醉,欣赏自己更不是固步自封...自己给自己一些息信,自己给自己一点愉快,自己给自己一脸微笑,何愁没有人生的快乐呢?

经常要自己给自己过节,学会寻找愉悦的心情.



第六个安慰：不要追逐世俗的荣誉；

终生寻找所谓别人认可的东西,会永远痛失自己的快乐和幸福.庸俗的评论会烟灭自己的个性,世俗的指点会让自己不知所措.为钱而钱使自己六亲不认,为权而权会使自己胆大妄为,为名而名会使自己巧取强夺,真实的我在刻意的追逐之中,会变成一张张碎片随风飘扬,世俗的我已变得面目可憎.

得到了媚俗,失去了真实,要坚定信心,拥有自我.



第七个安慰：极端不可取；

有些人常常因为忧虑过度,而导致自己精神失常,有些人却因为麻木不仁,造成自己对任何事情都无动于衷.前者常为寻找理性而痛苦,因聪明过头而衰,愚蠢的根源在于什么都懊悔.后都不知悔恨为何物,整天稀里糊涂地生活,活着与死去没有什么区别.

走极端总是惨遭失败,寻找人生的智慧.



第八个安慰：不要过于计较别人的评价；

没有一副画是不被别人评价的,没有一个人是不被别人议论的.自己要是沉默,有人会指责"城府太深";自己要是善于健谈,有人又会指责夸夸其谈;自己要是赞美别人,有人会指责别有用心,自己要是善意批评,有人更会暴跳如雷,认为多管闲事.

光看别人的脸色,自己还活不活,拥有自我,又不囿于自我.



第九个安慰：恶念越多痛苦越深；

为什么不能心平气和地生活?关键是没有及时驱赶心中的恶魔.因为心存邪恶的念头,就不会理智地克制自己,经常会做出悔恨的蠢事.因为没有及时清扫心灵的灰尘,意志薄弱者就会不时掉进深潭.因为时常鬼迷心窍,就会让愚蠢蒙蔽双眼,进入错误的岔道还不知道.

心中有恶,就会心神不宁,去恶念.



第十个安慰：注意不要活得太累；

常有人感叹,活得真累.累,是精神上的压力大;累, 是心理上的负担重.累与不累总是相对的,要想不累,就要学会放松,生活贵在有张有驰.心累,使人长期陷于亚健康状态;心累,会使自己精神不振.

心别太累,学会解脱自己.



第十一个安慰：每个人都有自己的活法；

自己的伤痛自己清楚,自己的哀怨自己明白,自己的快乐自己感受,也许自己眼中的地狱,却是别人眼中的天堂,也许自己眼中的天堂,却是别人眼中的地狱,生活就是这般的滑稽,不要总疑春色在人家,关键在于自己心态的调整过好自己的生活最重要,不攀不比.



第十二个安慰：不做欲望的奴隶；

人们总叹息"飞蛾扑火",人们总讥讽"鱼儿上钩",人们总是笑话"自陷泥潭".但是如果自己仔细想一想,在我们生活的周围,这种欲望的悲剧还少吗?人心不足蛇吞象.放纵自己灵魂的人,最终会失去真正的自由!必须时刻警惕不良欲望.



第十三个安慰：要活得轻松和快乐；

不与别人盲目攀比，自己就会悠然自得，不把人生目标定得太高，自己就会欢乐常在，不刻意追求完美，自己就会远离痛苦，不是时时苛求自己，自己就会活的自在，不每每吹毛求疵，自己就会轻轻松松。

活得太累就会痛苦不堪，知足常乐！



第十四个安慰：喜欢自己才会拥抱生活；

盲目自大自尊，是骄傲无知的人生，一味自暴自弃，是消极悲观的人生。了解自己比了解别人更困难，喜欢自己比喜欢别人更不容易。拥有健康的恰当的自尊心理，面对挫折会表现得格外坚强。不为外界的诱惑而丢失自我，不为一时的挫折否定自己，时时客观冷静地评价自己，每每乐观中肯定地赞赏自己。



第十五个安慰：多用善眼看世界；

水至清则无鱼,人至察则无友.处处不能容忍别人的缺点,那么人人都变成坏人,也就无法和平相处.以恶的眼光看世界,世界无处不是破残的;以善眼光看世界,世界总有可爱处.自己多看别人的长处,就会越瞧越可爱.



第十六个安慰：不必一味讨好别人；

讨好每一个人是不可能的，也是没有必要的，讨好每一个人，等于得罪每一个人，刻意去讨好别人只会使别人产生厌恶，亲近别人要自然，投机心态要改变，有时间讨好，不如踏踏实实做事，讨好别人总是靠不住，自己努力才实实在在。

一味讨好别人就会失去自我，充实自己很重要。



第十七个安慰：木已成舟便要顺其自然；

生米已经煮成熟饭，再去悔恨以前的行为，一点益处都没有，唯一明智的办法是，如何妥善处理后面的事情，别让事情弄得更糟糕，泼出去的水是收不回来的，已刻成舟的木头是无法恢复原状的，知道了这些简单的道理，就能心平气和地处理遗留问题。悔恨无任何益处，别把事情弄得更糟。



第十八个安慰：物质虽贫乏心理不潦倒；

物质贫乏不可怕，可怕的是心理贫困。贫困常与潦倒相连，人穷常与志短想关，心理贫困，富也会沦为贫穷，心理富足，穷也能转为富裕。物质贫乏加上万念俱灰，会很快摧毁一个人的身体，自信自强，虽暂时物质贫乏，但好日子也会很快到来，

人穷志不短，自强不息。



第十九个安慰：福中有祸　祸中有福；

莫被一时之得失冲昏头脑，一味陶醉于暂时的胜利，自己一定要居安思危，切莫居功自傲，洋洋得意，陶醉胜利，意味着驻足停顿，陶醉胜利，意味着失去警惕，人生路上要永不忪懈，胜利仅仅是一个小小的路标。要想取得最后的胜利，只有努力，努力，再努力。

莫为一时之得所迷惑，谁笑得最晚，谁笑得最开心。



第二十个安慰：重要的是活得充实；

把每一天过好是最大的幸福，快乐源于每天的感觉良好，总忧虑明天的风险，总抹不去昨天的阴影，今天的生活怎能如意？总攀比那些不可攀比的，总幻想那些不能实现的，今天的心情怎能安静？任何不切实际的东西，都是痛苦之源，生命的最大杀手是忧愁和焦虑，

痛苦源于不充实，生活充实就不会胡思乱想。



第二十一个安慰：人生应当欢乐有度；

适当的娱乐活动能调节情绪，无休无止的欢乐却易转益为害。物极则反，数穷则变，“大凡快意处，即是多病处。”“棋可遣闲，易动心火。”。。。一鼓味狂欢尽兴是肤浅的人生，换来的往往是痛苦的悔恨。尽兴有度是达观的人生，乐极生悲不局限于娱乐方面，涉及到人生的方方面面。

欢乐与悲哀是伴生的，欢乐有度会欢乐常伴。



第二十二个安慰：换一种活法也许更快乐；

当自己在工作中极不顺心，处处感觉都是围墙时，是否有必要换个环境？当自己在婚姻中极不开心，时时感觉都是冰窖，是否有勇气冲破围城？当自己已习惯逆来顺受，是否会挺起胸膛说“不”？有自信、能自强的人，善于调整自己的生活状态，

别太窝囊地活着，舒心是快乐之精灵。



第二十三个安慰：不妨暂时丢开烦心事；

人生实在是太苦短，自己何必总是活得不开心。有烦恼是正常的，没有烦恼才是不正常的。要是自己心情不好受时，不妨去看一次电影，不妨去听一段音乐，不妨去唱一支歌曲，不妨去打一个电话，不妨去享受一下阳光。。。

让烦恼心事见鬼去吧，先开心一乐。



第二十四个安慰：愉悦的根基在自己身上；

一般人总是将人生的愉悦，寄托在外界的事务上，依附于世俗的认同上，百般看重地位、财产，以及待遇、名誉等东西，自己一旦失去这些，便是沉重的打击，常会痛不欲生，其幸福和快乐的根基也随之毁灭，假如自己真是这样过生活，那么快乐离我们是想当遥远的，为什么要让别人来评价自己的快乐程度，把握好自己。



第二十五个安慰：感觉幸福就是幸福．．.

许多都在刻意追求所谓的幸福；有的虽然得到了，其代价却巨大无比，许多哲人都说，幸福是种感觉。幸福的感觉随满足程度而递减，与人的心境、心态密切相关。先哲们说：得之愈艰、爱之愈深，拥有幸福，常思艰难。一个人总是感觉不到幸福，是自己的最大悲哀。

幸福是种感觉，不知足，永不会幸福。




Source: http://pop.6park.com/life10/messages/3393.html

C'Nai Hong Kong Cafe Xpress @ East Coast Park

Dined last night at C'Nai Hong Kong Cafe Xpress @ East Coast Park.  The restaurant must have been there for quite a while.  The menu has that tell-tale sign of aging.

We ordered a lamb chop, a claypot stewed beef (柱侯牛腩), and for dessert, gingko & tofu skin dessert (?) (腐竹白果糖水).

The lamb chop looks good, but the portion is really small.  There are only two tiny pieces, plus a tiny pile of meshed potato.

In terms of taste, the lamb chop is a bit on the hard side, not the tender type.  And really, they are probably only good for people on diet, a couple of mouthful bites, and that's it.  Finished!

The stewed beef has all the Cantonese ingredients, but too bad, it lacks the essence of stewed beef.  For stewed beef to be great, you need to have the 'Jing' (胫), but nothing could be found in that claypot.

The dessert was sweet.  Dessert in Chinese is called Tang Shui, literally meaning sugar water, and that is how my dessert tastes, like sugar plus water, and then you put the other ingredients in.

My opinion:

In terms of price, it is average; in terms of taste, it is just so-so, not exceptionally good, nor is it exceptionally bad.  If you are just look for a meal to fill your hungry stomach while enjoying a day out at East Coast Park with your family, at a budget, this Hong Kong Cafe is acceptable.  If you are looking for great taste, then you can forget about it.  This is not the place.  Nonetheless, this Hong Kong Cafe is still better than Ximending that I blogged about in this blog entry.

Rating: 2.5/5

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (精武风云 - 陈真)

Mark your calender - Sept 23, that's the date Legend of the Fist - The Return of Chen Zhen comes on the big screen in Singapore's cinemas.

This movie has a strong cast, including Chinese Kungfu star Donnie Yan, Sex magnet Shu Qi, many times Hong Kong Film Award winner and Taiwan Golden Horse Award winner Anthony Wong, and directed by Wai Keung Lau, the same director of the now world famous movie Infernal Affairs (无间道).

In recent years, Donnie Yan did a great job both as a Chinese kungfu practitioner and an actor.  He acted elegantly in the movie Ip Man (叶问), in which he brought on screen a lively Chinese Kungfu master Mr Ip Man.  Both his kungfu and his acting skills draw the attentions of his audiences.  The movie is so successful that soon there is a sequel - Ip Man 2, still starring the elegant Donnie Yan.  Again Donnie impressed the movie-goers.

In another movie, The Body Guard (十月围城), he again brought to life a gambler - Shen Chong Yang (沈重阳), a man who is bordering between a bad guy and a good guy, a man who is addicted to gambling, but at the same time, stubbornly keeping his promises to people he cares.

There are many more movies in which Donnie Yan had impressed his audiences with his kungfu and acting.  In the movies, the role he plays is a legend; in real life, Donnie Yan himself is living legend.  I am eagerly looking forward to this movie.  A movie starring by a modern movie legend is something that should never be missed.

If you want to get an early peek into this movie, you can visit the movie's official website at http://mediaasia.com/legendofthefist/.

Nikkei 225 Update

In my previous update on Nikkei 225, we observed the continuation of the down trend in the Japanese index.  Today, that down trend is even more obvious strong.  Today, Nikkei 225 finished at 8995.14, which is below the 3-time tested support level of 9072.  This is not really a good sign for the long investors.

The oscillator has shown the index is in oversold area, which means some technical rebound should be expected.  If there is indeed a technical rebound, it will be a good opportunity for people who still have Japanese shares to unload at a better price.  It will also be an opportunity for the short sellers to short the market at a better price.  The down trend in Nikkei 225 is intact.  There might be a chance for it to even test the March 2009 low.   Would it happen?  Let's wait and see.

Happy investing!

Young Singapore Food Blogger Demands for FREE Food

It came as a big shock to me when I learned of a young Singaporean food blogger demanded for free food at an up-scale restaurant.  (see it here)

With the proliferation of the internet, everybody can be a publisher, a food critic, and a food blogger.  What makes him think that he has the right to demand for free food?  Just because he has a blog on food?

In addition, to be objective and honest about the food you review, you should always pay for your own food, and be neutral in the whole process.  Identifying yourself as a food critic or food blogger to the restaurant you visit, what does it mean?  You wanna get some freebies?  You want to fleece the restaurant?  I don't know how much credibility a food blogger has if he doesn't pay for his own food.

Well, it is a lesson we all have to learn.

Getting Started in Options

Title: Getting Started in Options
Author: Michael C. Thomsett
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc 2010

This book is like one of those 'dummy' series of books on how things work.  It is really down to the very basics of options trading, explaining all that jargons, the conventions, and most important, the strategies and risks.

It is eye-opening for someone who has never traded options before.  There are many established strategies and they are so interesting.

I will definitely recommend this book to whoever wants to have some exposure to options.

In addition, this book emphasis on the importance of paper trading, before getting your hands wet in the real options trading.  Many might be tempted by the great profit potentials options offered, whilst overlooking the grave risks involved.  Options is a complex investment instrument, and if used wisely, it will boost your wealth significantly, but it can hurt your as well.

The author recommends using the paperTrade platform, free of charge, offered by the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE).  This virtual trade platform lets you get a feel of options trading.  The trading environment is the same for real trading, except the money you use is virtual, can carries no real value (of course, your risk is virtual, too).

The Ivy Portfolio

Title: The Ivy Portfolio - How to Invest Like the Top Endowments and Avoid Bear Markets
Authors: Mebane T. Faber, Eric W. Richardson
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc 2009

This is a very interesting book focusing on the constitution of two of the biggest university endowment funds in the US, namely Yale & Harvard.  The authors examined how these two funds allocate their funds into different asset class and achieve good returns over the years.  Basically, this is a book on the topic of asset allocation.

There are a few salient points worth mentioning.

1. The simple investment timing rule using the 10-month SMA as the indicator
2. The exposure to private equity
3. Four sample policy portfolios at the end of the book for your reference

Investment: The Risk of Investing in ETFs in Singapore

In one of my previous blog entries, I had mentioned about the risk of investing in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).  At that time, the major risk mentioned was the counter party risk, as some of the ETFs don't hold the real underlining stocks.  Instead, they only hold derivatives of the underlining stocks.  If a counter party defaults, or fails, then there is a risk to the ETF.

The risk I am talking about today is about the specific risk of investing in ETFs in Singapore.  In the past few years, SGX had introduced quite a number of ETFs tracking different markets to Singapore investors.  This is for sure, a good thing.  Investors have more choices and options available to them.  However, you must remember Singapore is a small country with a small population.  The popularity of ETFs is catching up, but the volume may not be there.  For some of the more popular ETFs, such as STI ETF, the trading volume is still ok.  At least there are a few thousand shares changing hands each day.  However, for some less popular ETFs, this may not be the case.  Some ETFs may have 0 volume for a few days!  For example, the db XT MSCI Emerging Market ETF 10, has 0 volume for almost a week.  In other words, the counter is illiquid.  Investors holding such ETFs will suffer substantial losses if there is a sudden drop in the ETF and there is little volume in the market.

If you invest in something you don't know, then that investment is high risk!

Happy investing!

Microstock: You'll Never Know...

Microstock is one interesting industry and you will never know what works well and what doesn't absolutely sure.  A photo being rejected by one reviewer may be accepted by another; a photo rejected by one site may be accepted by another site, etc.

This photo was rejected by Shutterstock for lighting problems, and limited commercial value, but someone bought this photo today from Dreamstime.com.  Well, not at a sky high price, but then this photo is actually doing better than some other cripsy clear, sunny, brightly lit photos.

This is microstock.  It gives you joy, it gives you pain.  This is life :)

Investment: Hedging Your Risks

In my previous blog entry, I talked about going defensive in terms of investing in stocks, then it was reported in the media that Hindenburg Omen, a most feared signal for an imminent stock market crash,  has arrived.

When the stock market crashes, even the bluest of the blue chip stocks would still fall in tandem with the rest of the market.  Investors may see the value of their portfolio go down so much that heart pain is too light a phrase to describe it.  Under such circumstances, what can you do to protect yourself?

There are actually many 'insurance' schemes that you can adopt to protect the value of your portfolio.  Some financial instruments for this purposes include options, futures, warrants, CFDs, etc.  There are a wide range of instruments available to you.  However, such instruments are mostly derivatives, and carries much higher risk if you don't know what you are doing.

Will a stock market crash will follow after the Hindenburg Omen has arrived?  Nobody will know.  Even if somebody knows, he/she won't tell.  The best way is still for YOURSELF to device a hedging scheme to protect YOUR portfolio.

Happy investing!

Investment: Going Defensive

There has been quite a bit of volatility in the market recently.  Looking at the charts of STI, S&P500, DJIA and Nikkei 225.  They all exhibit some worrying signs.

The down trend in Nikkei 225 is intact and continues to head south.  STI might be in the process of forming the bearish double-top chart pattern.  S&P500 and DJIA might go into a side way market.  Nothing is particularly clear.

VIX at this moment stands at around 25, which means investors are cautious.  They are neither too pessimistic nor too optimistic.  Greed and fear are not at their extremes.

Under such circumstances, I have decided to be more conservative and prudent.  Reducing my exposure to stocks, and keep only the best of the best blue chips, blue chips with a more steady dividend payment history.

I will consider it a rash act if you go long with big positions in stocks without any hedging strategy.  Devicing a proper hedging plan which involves the use of options seems a necessity, rather than a choice.

Happy investing!

Have Your Dreams Come True, Yet?

I had chat with a friend yesterday on the concerts that she had attended.  Her idols are S.H.E & Mandarin Pop God Father Jay Chow.  She decisively took the plunge to pay for the high prices of S.H.E's and Jay Chow's concerts tickets.  Now that she had attended both concerts, she is contented, and her dreams in this aspect had been fulfilled.

Reflecting on myself.  My idols?  Not really anyone.  Whose concerts that I ever wanted to attend?  There are many, include Roman Tam (罗文), Anita Mui, Leslie Cheung, Emily Chow and Teresa Teng.  Can you count how many dead people's names are there?  Other than Emily Chow, my dreams to attend other singers' concert will never be fulfilled.

Once a photographer told me, when you have a dream, you must have a plan to fulfill that dream.  The perfect conditions to fulfill your dream will never come, you have to make do with something, have compromises, but you must plan and act.

May you have an action plan for your dreams and may your dreams come true!

Ximending(西门町)@Vivo City

There is a newly opened restaurant at Vivo City called Ximending, named after the popular commerce area in Taipei.  They claim to be specialised in new Taiwanese cuisine.  Out of curiosity, we gave it a try yesterday.

Here are what we ordered for the day:

Buddha Dump over the Wall

Stewed Pork Knuckles with Peanuts

Almond Tofu

Well, let's see how the food fares by a few of our usual standards for food.

First, they claim to be specialised in NEW Taiwanese cuisine.  Actually I don't know what NEW Taiwanese cusine is, and so I wanted to give it a try.  Looking at their menu, there is not much different from what your usual Singapore Chinese restaurants can offer.  As a matter of fact, there is not much difference from what you friendly neighbourhood coffee shop Chi Char stall can offer. 

Second, the taste.  The taste of the food is quite OK.  It is not considered to be bad, but it is not exceptionally good either.  The stewed pork knuckles with peanuts is not what exactly I like, because the peanut is not the melt-in-your-mouth type, but the pork knuckles are still quite ok. 

Third, price.  Guess how much it cost for the food we ordered?  What is not shown here is two bowls of plain rice.  The total cost is $37, after a 10% discount by paying by AMEX.    Their plain rice goes for S$1.50/bowl, which is about 50% more expensive than other restaurants.  Well, it is still small matter.  Their tea comes at S$10.00/pot, as they claim their tea is of good quality from Taiwan. 

Some other dishes they offer on menu, for example, steamed prawns with minced garlic, goes for S$18.00, your ordinary San Bei Chicken (三杯鸡) goes for S$18.00 as well.  No, the portions are not big, just about the same as your Crystal Jade or Soup Restaurant type of servings.    The desserts are also about S$1.00 above the other restaurants too. 

I don't mind paying a bit more, if your food is of above average quality and taste, but in this case, they are no better than Crystal Jade, then why should I?  The owner of this restaurant must be thinking Singaporeans are stupid and ready to be fleeced happily. 

Conclusion: This will be my first and last time patroning this restaurant.  This restaurant offers the least value for money!

SALT & GV Max@Vivo City

The latest spy movie this summer is SALT, a story about a Russian-American double agent, who was planted by the Russian, but also works for the American. 

The story is twisted many times in the movie, and you will be wondering who is the good guy who is the bad guy from the beginning till the end of the movie.  And even at the end, the director, or script-writer, left a great suspense as what happens at the end.  The end of the movie is not really an end, and you can expect a sequal to come out in the future. 

Angelina Jolie did a good job in the movie.  Lots lots of high speed fighting, lots of car crashes and chases, lots of bullets being fired.  Being a viewer, you will be entertained for the entire duration of the movie, which is about 100 minutes.

It is worth mentioning the GV Max cinema at Vivo City.  It has the biggest leg room amongst all the cinemas that I have been to.  You can comfortably stretch your legs.  And when someone has to pass by you, you don't need to stand up or something to let the guy pass.  It is pretty great. 

Discover the Upside of Down

Title: Discover the Upside of Down
Author: Ron Coby
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Basically this is a book written by a hedge fund manager to share with the readers of his vast investment experience, as well as his view on the market in the next years. 

He also shares with the readers his 10 Iron Law of Investing:

1. When the Fed is raising interest rates, investors need to be raising cash
2. When there is fear and market despair everywhere, buy like there is no tomorrow
3. Never average down in "cheap" stocks, as cheap gets cheaper and hope kills
4. Have a set of timing indicators to help you buy low and sell high and always be hedged for downside protection
5. Cut your losses short so you never ride a stock all the way to zero
6. Always diversify with large and small common stocks, long and short
7. Don't completely trust anyone's word on the street, as Wall Street is crawling with snakes and crooks
8. When the DJUA falls into a Stage 4 Decline, sell all bonds and start selling stocks short.  If you don't feel comfortable shorting stocks, then cut back severely on long positions and raise cash
9. Never break any of your investment rules
10. Never put more than 10 percent of your portfolio in any one stock pick, and no more than 25 percent of your total portfolio in micro-cap stocks

STI: Double Top?

The much afraid head and shoulders chart pattern was invalidated at the STI chart.  Good grief!  Just when you feel relieved, another dark cloud is forming on the STI chart.  Instead of the most bearish head & shoulders, another bearish chart pattern - double top, is slowly charting its way. 

STI first hit a high of 3037 on 15 April, 2010, then it hit again a high of 3043 on 3 Aug 2010.  In between, STI went to a low of 2648 on 25 May, 2010.  The 15 Apr & 3 Aug highs form the two tops, and now STI has turned down, and moving down.  It STI doesn't bounce back when it hits 2648, the 25 May low, then we are facing with the bearish double top. 

Would STI go this way?  Nobody knows for sure, but there is always a possibility.  Another possibility is STI will hit the 2648 low and then bounce back.  In that case, we will be in a side-way market, which is more neutral. 

Let's wait and see how STI develops in the next month or two.  It is going to be very interesting.  In addition, somebody mentioned Singapore's Q3 GDP growth may turn negative to something like -12%, and then Q4 will be +2%. 

Happy investing!

Endurance

This is going to be the theme of the rest of the year, whether I like it or not.  It is not a bad thing.  Endurance trains your patience, temper, make you a better person in the process.  And hopefully, you can pass the acid test and achieve something great at the end.  No success comes without endurance.  That's also the reason why you see this Chinese character being featured frequently in Japanese culture.  Strange, right?  Chinese characters featuring in its arch-rival Japan.  Anyway, back to the topic, endurance doesn't mean you must suffer.  If you take it positively, you can endure with great pleasure, and at the same time, have great fun.  When you look back, your endurance days may happen to be the happiest days in your life.  I had that experience before, and I still look back at those days with great joy.

Endure, and may all become successful persons in life!

Microstock: 1st EL in Many Months!

It has been quite a number of months since I last had one EL sales at http://www.shutterstock.com/, and today, guess what?  Voila, there is 1 EL!

Here is the EL photo.  It is the front view of Milan Duomo, together with the Victory statue in front.  This cathedral is one of the biggest Gothic cathedrals in the world. 

The cathedral just unwent a 10-year long renovation which completed only last year.  You can take a look of this cathedrals past and current in this blog entry of mine.  It shows the progress of the renovation process and the final glory unveiled last year. 

I am grateful to the buyer of photo, and may more ELs to come!

Free Trip to HONG KONG - The Pearl of the Orient!

FREE Trip to Hong Kong!  Well, of course not given out by me :P  If you are eyeing a free trip to Hong Kong, now there is a chance.  You only need to cast your vote to one of the 10 bloggers who had been invited by the Hong Kong tourism board to visit Hong Kong this last July. 

You give your support to your favourite blogger and if he/she wins, you then may have a chance to win a free trip to Hong Kong too! 

Cast your vote at 香港盛夏之旅.  Good luck!

Tiger Airways Disappoints, AGAIN!

Local Chinese medium reported that Tiger Airways cancelled its flights between Singapore and Macau TR2906 & TR2907 yesterday, without any explaination (虎航临时取消澳门班机 引起约60多乘客不满).  To make things worse, the airline didn't inform their customers in advance.  Instead, the passengers only found out the cancellation when they arrived at the airport.

In a separate report, it was reported that passengers lost their valuables in their check-in luggage after taking the same flight from Singapore to Shenzhen.  When Tiger Airways was contacted by the reporter, their response was that passengers are responsible for the safety of their own belongs.  They didn't start an internal investigation for the theft, instead, they simply put the blame on their passengers. 

Being a public-listed company in Singapore, Tiger Airways should provide at least the minimum standard to their passengers.  If they can't fill their seats, and they want to cancel the flight to cut costs, then they should at least inform the affected passengers at least 1 day in advance, and give the passengers other options.  In this particular case, they let the passengers have the choice of a refund, but the cost of other travel-related expenses, such as hotel and transportation, are not covered by Tiger.  This is a typical case of 'take it, or leave it' attitude. 

Four Pillars of Investing

Title: The Four Pillars of Investing
Author: William J. Bernstein
Publisher: McGraw-Hill 2002

As the title says, the author writes about the 4 pillars of investing, which are:

1. The Theory of Investing
2. The History of Investing
3. The Psychology of Investing
4. The Business of Investing

The general principles of the book are not bad, but then it does advocate something that I don't really agree.  The good points first.  The book condemns investment newsletters, the hype of mutual funds.  He points out the readers just how poorly most mutual funds perform and still get a fat pay check. 

Then the bad things about this book.

1. Basically it says you can't beat the market, seems like an advocate of 'efficient market' theory.
2. The way the author handles the investment psychology portion is not very good.  It lacks the depth and impact comparing with Dr. Van Tharp's 'Peak Performance Course'.  Maybe that accounts for the price difference between Dr Tharp's over US$1000 course and this book.

Personally, I will not recommend this book to my friends, especially people who are just embarking on their investment journey.

Winning the Trading Game

Title: Winning the Trading Game
Author: Noble Drakoln
Publisher: Wiley Trading

This is a book written for the futures and forex traders, however, it is a very useful book for all investors and traders, be it futures, forex or stocks.

The author listed 3 key factors to a successful trader:

1. Money management
2. Technical analysis
3. Risk management

All 3 factors are inter-related and they are all important to win the trading game.

It is a very useful book for any serious trader to read and keep for references. 

This book is also available for loan from National Library.  The call number is 332.6 DRA-[Biz]

The Orange Lantern @ Harbour Front

Had lunch with a friend the other day at The Orange Lantern @ Harbour Front for Vietnamese cusine.  The restaurant is tucked in one corner of the Harbour Front building, with travelers coming and going for cruises passing by with luggage.  The eating environment is ok, but a bit not so cosy.

In terms of food, it is not really that authentic Vietnamese.  The soup is not as tasty and the smell is also a bit different.  But they still retain the signiture of Vietnamese food, which is the side dishes with bean sprout and mint leaves.  Be a bit careful about the mint leaves.  They are not really that well-cleaned.  I have to turn over every leave before I eat to make sure I don't eat rubbish. 

My personal favour is actually their appetizer - Vietnamese Imperial Spring Rolls.  The 'skin' is very cripsy and I like it.  The filling inside consists of reddish, carrot, and some other vegies, so it is reasonably healthy.  But, my dining companion doesn't think there is anything special about this spring roll.  Just 'normal'.

My rating: 3.5/5

It is quite ok, but not outstanding. 

Don't Buy on Market Open?

Someone has said that don't buy at the market open, as you most probably will pay a higher price.  The reason is at market open, usually it is novice or retail investors who are coming in to buy based on yesterday's price. 

There are only three possibilities if you buy at the market open.  One, the closing price is higher than the market open price.  Two, the closing price is lower than the market open price.  Three, the closing price is the same as the market open price. 

I gave the theory a simple test, but only to find out that, if you know what you aiming for, then it doesn't really matter whether you buy at the market open or market close.  If you are aiming for dollars of profit per share, then you won't might a dime or two difference in price. 

In some cases, especially in a super up market, buying at the market open sometimes can give you some slight price advantage even. 

So, the conclusion is it doesn't matter whether you buy at the market open or close, as long as you know what you are doing and what you're aiming for.

Happy investing!

Pfizer: Strong Q2 Earnings Beat Analysts' Estimates

Today, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) announced their 2Q 2010 earnings.  Earnings per share amounts to US$0.62, 10 cents higher than the expected 52 cents EPS.  It is also higher than the 48 cents EPS a year ago.  This is positive development for Pfizer after the inverted head & shoulders bullish chart pattern being observed at Pfizer's price chart in this blog entry.  

The stock price jumped 3.55% at US$16.05 at market open.  It is good development, but don't be overjoyed.  When a stock's price goes euphoric, it is time to keep your eyes wide open and find out ways to hedge against any adverse developments.

Happy investing!

Kreuz

I guess the hottest topic, the hottest counter in the Singapore Stock Exchange must be Kreuz, a small little company spun off from its parent Swiber, an oil & gas service company. 

Look at this chart, and you will understand why.  The company was only listed in Catalist on 29 July 2010, which was last Thursday.  The price has shot up from its IPO price of $0.27 to today's close of $0.44.  This is a whopping 63% gain over 3 trading days!  Whoever got the IPO shares are happy.  If you have sold your IPO shares early, on the first day, or second day of trading, don't feel sad either.  You have made your share of the money, let others make theirs.  Whatever goes up, will go down.  Whatever goes up fast, goes down fast too, so don't get upset of selling too early, or not getting any from the IPO allocation.

If you are still holding this counter, you may want to apply a much tighter trailing stop so that you will not turn a winning trading into a losing trade. 

Happy investing!

The Skill to Convince

I recently notice a skill that I am seriously lacking of.  What is that?  The skill to convince people.  I have a friend who is very easily convinced by sales people from insurance, land banking, and others.  She is the darling of all sales people, as she is so easily convinced into buying all kinds of insurance packages, and even some well-known trouble-some products, yet, I can't convince her to stop buying more insurance policies, as she is already way over insured (although her insurance agent would argue the other contrary). 

That left me wonder why I can't successfully convince people with my ideas.  Is it the skill?  The image I portrayed?  The tone?  My track record?  Or?  I don't know, and that will be one of my tasks to find out why.  The skill to convince is necessary for any successful person.  Great leaders always have the skill to convince.  One good example is Liu Bei.  He is no great master of martial arts, no great strategist, yet he managed to assemble a great team for his establishment. That's something I must learn.