Don’t Dump Gold Just Because GIC Is Bullish

GIC’s director of economics and strategy, Yeoh Lam Keong, made an interesting statement on Tuesday that there will be further weakness in financial markets. He advises investors to go for gold, hold government bonds and currencies such as the yen, yuan and Canadian dollar. The US dollar is to be avoided “like the plague” as the United States monetise their debt by printing money.

That is all rather belated and even, ironical, considering GIC’s multi-billion dollar stakes in Citigroup and UBS. Nevertheless, it serves no purpose crying over spilt milk. As a matter of fact, I don’t believe any investors have been immune in this period of wealth destruction. The world’s richest are collectively poorer, with $2 trillion of wealth vaporized. Warren Buffett sufffered his worst year ever, losing $25 billion, but is still the second richest man.

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Worst Year For Warren Buffett As Recession Bites

A new month, but it did not bring new hopes. This week’s stock market opening wasn’t any different as it continues to test new low. Asian bourses were jolted by bleak data while Wall Street fell to fresh 12-year lows on heightened fears about the murky financial sector.

AIG announced $62 billion losses (a cool $460,000 per minute) and a third bailout package was injected which brought the insurance giant closer to becoming absolutely owned by the US government.

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Does Saving Money Rank Highly In your Financial Priorities?

Last week, there was a harsh report from DBS that Singapore may lose 90,000 jobs due to the worst economic recession in recent decades, pushing the jobless rate to 5 per cent by mid-2010. It was further postulated that the economy may contract 4.8 percent in 2009.

Singaporeans have not felt the brunt of the economic hardships just yet. Yes, manufacturing and exports are in the doldrums but many companies are holding back on their layoff plans. Firstly, it is not popular, given that DBS was roundly criticized for using ”retrenching as a first resort” to save costs.

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Putting Your Cash To Use: Be A Gold Bug And Clear Debts

Global stock markets have been whitewashed over the past month, Dow Jones fell to its lowest level in 6 years this week, and gold has charged to a record high $1,007 as investors seek to preserve capital.

Granted that Obama’s administration has been hard at work – a $787 billion economic stimulus was signed into law Tuesday and a $75 billion foreclosure prevention plan was unveiled to aid distressed homeowners and revive the housing market. However, there is little confidence that these measures will be effective.

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Protectionism Will Cost Investors Dearly

The US government revealed on Friday that payrolls tumbled by 598,000 in January (the biggest one-month drop in 34 years) and the unemployment rate is now at a 16-year high of 7.6%. In a month of brutal layoffs, I guess the only bright spark was Obama’s inauguration but even that seems to have fizzled out.

One cannot fault the Obama’s administration for lacking enthusiasm; however, implementation of economic policies has been anything but smooth. Hurling accussations at China for manipulating its currrency disrupts the delicate balance between both countries.

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It Feels Great To Be A Sloth Investor

Warren Buffett once remarked that successful investing consists of long periods of inactivity, bordering on sloth. That pretty much describes my attitude towards investing coming into the new year. If we are going to have more of the October massacre, then we should at least seek cover and conserve cash. 

The losses from Citigroup and Bank of America were staggering and confirmed that the worst of the financial mess is far from over. Analysing when the good days will arrive seem to be a futile exercise now. In any case, I am less worried about the economic recovery which will definitely happen with so much money being dumped into the system. 

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Is South Korea Desperate Already?

On Thursday, South Korea announced the arrest of a financial blogger accused of undermining the country’s financial markets with his doom-mongering. “Minerva,” as the blogger is known, gained instant fame for uncannily accurate forecasts on the fall of Lehman Brothers and the crash of the Korean won, which plunged 26 per cent against the dollar last year.

Instead of focusing on getting the economy on track, Korea has chosen to crack down on freedom of speech and civil rights. And we will have thought China will be the first to start rounding up bloggers, not just due to its deplorable human rights record, but because its economy is facing the sternest test in decades.

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Coming To Grips With A Harsh Year In 2009

I wish all readers of Jeflin’s Investment Blog a Happy New Year in 2009.

The past year has been sobering for taxpayers, retail investors and fund managers, what with severe declines in housing, mortgages, banking, stock markets, commodities, retail, automotive, shipping industry, etc. The extreme volatility in 2008 may be over but more of the same challenges await us.

Personally, I have made a new year’s resolution to be a more careful reader of financial reports, and by that, I mean reading with an inquisitive mind. Of course, if a management wants to get creative with their financial statements and the auditors are in a collusive mood (remember, the person who pays the piper calls the tune), our money is fair game for the predators.

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Tina Fey Voted AP Entertainer of the Year

Tina Fey has been voted The Associated Press’ Entertainer of the Year, an annual honor chosen by newspaper editors and broadcast producers across America for the performer with the greatest impact on culture and entertainment.

From “30 Rock” to “Baby Mama” to “Sarah Palin”, the 38-year-old comedian capped a glorious year in 2008 by besting runner-up Robert Downey Jr. (blockbuster smash “Iron Man”), and the third-place Heath Ledger, who posthumously wowed audiences as the Joker in “The Dark Knight.”

Fey’s masterstroke was her indelible impression of Gov. Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live.” Her cameos on her old show (where she had been a head writer until 2006) helped drive the show to record ratings and eventually drew an appearance from Sarah Palin herself.

Only In Bad Times Do We Know Who Is Swimming Naked

Financial course fees for investors are getting ridiculously expensive. In the Lehman Brothers debacle, some investors parted with their life savings to learn complex financial terms, like collaterized debt obligations, derivatives, credit default swaps, first to default, credit linked notes, etc.

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