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All throughout our local education history, we have been taught that regardless of race, language or religion, everyone should be treated equally. That based on a meritocratic system, the best and most qualified person should be chosen to do the job.

When I started working, I too believe that meritocracy is the way to go, that your results will speak louder over the long run. Our country was run like a company, a well-oiled machinery with an open economy. We imported lots of cheap labour and also opened our borders to everyone.

In the current global environment, things have changed. Most citizens are becoming more protective of their home ground and immigrants are not so welcomed anymore. Our government had also been re-assessing the situation and had tightened the rules on getting Foreign Talent (FT).

Is this too late? Are we locals able to turn inwards now and protect ourselves from the foreign invasion, after so many years of open arms policy? We see certain overseas ethnic groups that fiercely protects their own kind but yet us locals don’t seem to even want to lift a finger to do likewise to support our fellow citizens. Is it because of our educational upbringing on meritocracy or is it due to our “every man for himself” attitude that is slowing killing us locals? We seemed too disunited and we become easy prey for FT.

Had lunch today with a long time friend. It seems that the government is starting to realise this. She told me about a training course done recently that invited the top 40 citizens currently working in the banking industry to attend. The objective was to hopefully cultivate a strong networking environment that will allow this group to actively steer a “locals first” initiative eventually.

I really have no answer to this issue. At the back of my mind, I still think that we should always get the best person to do the job. But I do feel jaded nowadays as I witness incidents of unfairness and also personally experienced it during my career.

 

 

 

 

 

This has been one of the quietest October months I have ever seen in the financial markets. Traders normally try to do one last push to meet their budget after coming back from summer holidays before the banks wind down for year end to close their books.

A simple explanation is that big risk events are happening into Nov and Dec. Most markets are trading within a very tight range now. The exception : equity markets in general as investors try to trim their portfolio and increase their cash weighting.

Everyone can’t wait for the US Presidential elections to end next Tuesday. The soap opera worthy excitement and the multiple twist and turns are just killing everyone. Poll results continue to flip flop as new revelations hit the markets. Everyone seems to agree that if Trump wins, the world would suffer.

Michael Moore put it so well in his latest film “Trumpland”. His fervent supporters are trying to send a “Fuck you!” message to the whole establishment to protest against the system. But if Trump really wins, they may wake up to a massive hangover after that, full of regret when the full impact of the false promises hit home, like what happened in Brexit.

Then the US Fed may also hike interest rates in the Dec FOMC meeting. The year-end liquidity situation may be bad as banks are now already withdrawing from market making activities due to stricter capital policies like Basel 3. Coupled with the bleak economic situation worldwide, traders are not expecting to be rewarded with a fat bonus anytime soon by being a hero and taking large bets.

The 2 events mentioned above are like digital options (either a 0 or 1 outcome) where it is too difficult for economists to even try to predict accurately. Different end results will swing markets violently to either side. Most investors, myself included, have been slowly reducing our equity holdings to increase our cash portion. Volatile markets may create buy opportunities later. We are all like the rabbit in the middle of the road that is frozen in its tracks and staring at an oncoming truck heading directly towards it…

 

 

 

 

Who is a much more superior human being? A man or a woman? A movie and an article I saw yesterday started me thinking.

Firstly, if you watch Michael Moore’s Trumpland movie, he will convince you that a woman is the stronger one by far. I can’t say I disagree with him. Just look at all the crimes being committed – almost all are by men. It must be the testosterone thingie that adds anger into guys and shorten our lifespans. You never ever hear of a female rapist or serial killer, right? Sexual assault of a man by a woman? Never. Women are also made of much tougher stuff, having to suffer that time of the month every month and childbirth is really amazing…

Moore argues convincingly that a woman being the next US president is actually what America needs now. That a woman can be more objective and yet be able to rationalize and empathize better than men. On Clinton, he believes that she has always been harshly treated just because she was a woman, but yet she continues to fight on for the betterment of others. She is as well prepared and highly qualified to be the next US president, which is more than we can say for the other candidate. Pretty inspiring, especially on the parts where Moore gave us some historical perspective of what she had been doing previously. Go watch it. It was quite enlightening and an eye opener for me.

Women have been put down for so long for hundreds of years and still are in some parts of the world. It’s about time that they are given an equal footing with men and show the world what they are made of. I have 4 wonderful sisters and a strong-willed mother, hence I can safely say that I speak from experience. Power to the women!

However, just at this moment, right on the other side of the world, another seemingly powerful woman is imploding in a spectacular fashion. President Park of South Korea is currently embroiled in a scandal that even the jaded citizens of past corruption events by previous presidents are now standing up in arms over. This link below gives you a good rundown of the situation at the moment :

http://askakorean.blogspot.sg/2016/10/the-irrational-downfall-of-park-geun-hye.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&m=1

It is so hard to be a woman in a men’s world. They have to be better and stronger than any man, be a superwoman that can juggle family and work life and put up with all the shit being thrown at them while being judged on a higher, sometimes even impossible standards.

 

 

 

 

 

A few weeks ago, one of my sisters arranged a lunch meet up for today. The last time where us siblings met for lunch was in May. However, we did have a big family gathering in Aug during National Day at my place. Since my dad was planning to meet one of his grandsons for lunch today, we decided to ask them to join us too. My oldest sister could not make it as she was overseas celebrating her 30th 🙂 wedding anniversary.

I can’t believe that my sisters and I are all over 50 years old already. Dad is 87 this year and still as active as ever, though he requires more rest periods in between during the day.

We met for an early lunch and proceeded to catch up with each other and update one another on our families. I told them about my new job that I will start soon and they were very happy for me. We reminisce on some childhood memories and “clarified” about some punishments mum did on us unruly kids when we were young.

Part 2 after lunch was at my sister’s place for coffee and snacks. Dad’s favourite grandson will graduate from uni next year and he shared with us his work plans. How time flies… I remember helping to watch over him when he was a baby and now he is already 24.

It was a great way to spend a few hours on a Monday. This rare moment allowed all of us to reconnect again and reflect on moments that happen a long time ago, to spend quality family time together. It will be one of those times where we will still talk about for years to come.

 

This is a recurring theme that I have been exploring for a few months. How can I merge my investment convictions with my expected needs into retirement? I have written about it in my previous blogs but would like to share more of my findings today.

The basis of a sustainable retirement lifestyle is to create more streams of passive incomes. One quick way would be to invest in exchange-listed REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) especially those in S’pore and the US where they are well regulated and backed by real assets. They have to distribute 90% of their income as dividends to shareholders and besides a board of directors, they also have an independent 3rd party trust to ensure that they adhere to strict policies of not being overly leveraged. S’pore does not permit borrowings of more than 45% of Total Assets. REIT yields in this current low yield environment are relatively attractive and stable, ranging from 3 to 9% per annum. To date, I have a total stock portfolio that provides me with more than $20k+ of dividend income per year, mainly REITs but it also includes some blue chip bonds. Looking to build this up as I near retirement.

The other interest of mine was on the concept of healthcare and retirement living. I had wanted to start a company locally for like-minded people above 60 years of age who wanted an active retirement lifestyle. Sadly, I could not bring my potential partners together to kick-start the project. Yet I still believe that this trend will grow strongly in the future, as my cohort ages and the grey population increases worldwide.

Ideally, I should be looking to marry both the above concepts from an investment standpoint. Apparently, there are US centric investment tools that allow me to do so, as their market has greater depth and a long history of development in these segments.

In the US, there are specific REITs that only invest in healthcare-related sectors. My research has helped me narrowed my focus onto 3 in particular that I am now looking at, pending appropriate levels to enter and accumulate during periods of price retracements. The overall global macro outlook points to more years of slow growth and interest rate increases, if any,  will be slow. These stocks could be ideal to obtain a decent yield while minimising overall portfolio risk. The 3 that I have zoomed in at the moment are Welltower (HCN), HCP Inc (HCP) and Ventas (VTR).

I am also currently exploring ETFs that track REITs which will allow me to further spread out the risk while enjoying better yields. I am currently studying the Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ) and iShares US Real Estate (IYR).

Please do provide your comments and inputs. I would love to hear from others and continue learning. Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

Ah… the month of October. Where everyone is back from their summer holidays and traders try one last time to make their budget before the banks shut down for year-end and merry-making into Christmas.

If you look back into history, Oct is usually a volatile month for most asset classes. Remember Black Monday? It was in Oct 1987. Most stock market bubbles burst during this month too.

But it is different this year. The market has been very subdued the whole of this month and prices hardly moved. One big factor that is causing this inaction is the US Presidential elections. Given that it is on 08 Nov and that we have had an unusual anything-goes (plus new lows being achieved…) campaign, traders aren’t too sure where the pendulum will swing, hence the caution.

I have been long volatility via VIX for a long time and getting hammered. It seems like a favourite trade of hedge funds is to sell volatility as a carry trade and to make some side income. This has helped to suppress overall volatility in general.

Pundits are now calling for higher volatility into year-end as the elections are completed and the chances of the Fed hike in Dec increases. They last hike rates in Dec last year.

It’s not a sure thing, so don’t hold your breath on this, though.

Had a very fruitful and fulfilling day today.

Started the morning with back to back meetings with my future colleagues from my new job which I will be starting in 3 weeks time. Met up with nice people who genuinely wants to get the job done and are team players in general. Had lunch with my new boss and he was very nice in expanding on the job scope and what I need to do in the short-term.

After lunch, I rushed to another lunch with old friends where we had a few bottles of wine and basically had a good time chilling into late afternoon, laughing at each other’s corny jokes. We have known each other for between 20 to 15 years through work.

Overall, a good day.

Just can’t get enough news of the Donald, even though I cannot vote against him. He is getting even more desperate by the day and accusations veering towards the ridiculous. It sounds funny until you realise that if he magically wins, the world is fucked.

More voices are now calling for everyone to vote against him to create a landslide win for Hillary, so that a resounding message can be sent that the masses reject hatred and violence. This will also hopefully wake up the GOP to revamp their party.

My friend came across the article below from the NY daily news that sums up the message in a point by point rebuttal.

Bottomline : Yes, you want someone to change the world for the better. But is the person you are voting to lead this charge even capable of controlling his reality distortion outbursts?

http://interactive.nydailynews.com/2016/10/daily-news-editorial-bury-trump-in-landslide/