2008 is and will be a great year

In 2008 I am pleasantly surprised that I could create more than 200 myths. When I first started on this thread I was doubting myself that I could even write 20 myths. Then 100 went pass and then 200. Now I am even toying with the idea of the 1000 myths of Lion City. The best part of it all is that the most mystifying myths are being debunked as tooths or, now what am I saying, is it the most indestructible truths becoming myths? Anyway, it was mystifying. Everyday we are challenging the conventional wisdom and the great tooths of the day and seeing one by one falling by the way side. But don't be despair, more tooths will be proclaimed and more myths will come or way. It was also a year of great education. The Singaporeans were being educated everyday with each crisis getting more serious and nearer to home. But I bet with you, the Singaporeans have yet to learn a thing. They are still as complacent as before, as silly as before. They would not want to think and would live their thinking to other people. And they have great faith that all will be well if they just see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing and do nothing. God will be there to watch over us. And god will be kind and bless us to eternity with good fortunes.

Wishful thinking or wicked intent?

In March this year the official figure given was that Temasek was managing $185b of assets. If these were in equity or equity related assets and stocks, my guesstimate is that it would have lost 50% of its value at least. But the figure will be much better if kept in fixed deposits or less risky assets that are saved from the financial crisis. If the loss is in the 50% region, I said if, the loss must be made up from somewhere. I fear the money in CPF. Would the minimum sum and Medisave be further increased? Would the withdrawal age be further delayed? Would there be new measures to shift the goal posts? There are now more reasons to wish that our investments are intact, that the talented fund managers are doing well to keep them growing or at least not losing. There are more reasons not to change the govt so that the talents and the continuity will help to safeguard our assets and investments, and our future. The CPF is like a sacred cow. It is the people's hard earned money and must rightfully return to the people for their own benefit at the earliest possible time. Definitely not till they are dead or near death. This is simply bad. I have all the time this bad feeling, and I can be totally wrong on this, that there are people with designs on our CPF money. To keep the CPF for as long as possible to enable them a cheap source of fund for their own investment schemes. I hope I am wrong. I hope the real reasons to keep the money for as long as they can is really for the good of the people, in the interests of the owners. But should anyone really have wrongful designs, they must know that the designs are wicked and will do them no good. The first is the intent to 'sapu' money. No one should ever think of it as the CPF money rightly belongs to the people and depriving the people from getting it back is already sinful, if not criminal. Decent and honourable people who believe in not doing evil should never harbour such thoughts. The second intent to use the money for whatever schemes or things, may include thoughts of returning the gains to the people, if there are gains, may have some mitigating factors to lower the ill effects of the first intent. But if it is just to exploit this cheap source of fund with no regards to rewarding the owner of the money, it is unforgiveable. Seeing it in any other way is still a dirty thing to do. Do I sound like preaching or delivering a sermon? The rights and wrongs of such acts and intents are difficult to dispute or wish away. Do not have designs on the people's hard earned money for private interests. If there are, it is better to let the owners know and seek their permission and forgiveness. Do not temper with money that is not yours.

Cox pressured to ban short selling

Christopher Cox complained that he was under intense pressure from Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke to ban short selling in September 2008. Now, why would Paulson and Bernanke deemed it necessary and urgent to ban short selling? Both must have known the dangers of short selling and the damage it could have done. They were key players in short selling before, or at least Paulson must have been, being a fund manager. Many hedge funds blamed the banning of short selling for losing their pants. For it is in short selling that they have an edge against the normal small time investors. When the funds longed a position, it is very difficult to sell at a profit as the small investors will be reluctant to buy high or higher. They too will be waiting to sell. On the contrary, for shorting a stock, it will attract more investors to buy as the stock becomes cheaper. The trick by the hedge funds is to sell and push the price even lower to force out the long positions. And the funds don't sell in the thousands, they sold in millions to drive down a stock price. Short term investors will run for their lives as they cannot hold and will cut their positions. Long term investors too will liquidate for fear of something really wrong with the company. Those who pledged their shares will have their positions forced out by the banks. So will margin traders. It is a vicious cycle and the stock will keep going down with increasing momentum. That's when the hedge funds make their money by buying back at rock bottom prices. It is a very destructive method of trading stocks to make money. It destroy stocks, companies and stock exchanges and of course the investors. Trust me, Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke knew what they were doing. Cox is just another cock that could not see the danger of his inaction. And there are many cocks like him around.

A niche stock market?

The world is increasingly interconnected with businesses and money flow all intertwined in a complex web. The pulling of one string will affect every corner of the web. Talking about a niche market maybe a nonsensical whim and fancy proposition. It is better to be like everyone, be everything, and be part of a big web. But being in a niche market in the midst of a bigger complexity is nothing new. Every small biz is trying to differentiate itself, to find their own niche. Can our stock market differentiate itself and find its own niche instead of being a little flotsam that drifts with the tide and taking directions from everyone? In recent years our stock market has been a non player for all its worth. It is lost in an ocean that is too big for its own good. Now is the time to reflect and seek a new direction as to its role and reason for its existence. Forget about being everything or like everyone else. Carve out its own niche and find a path for its own existence. The interdependency is there. The world's economy will affect everyone and us. The money flow will still affect the tide. Here calls for the exceptional talents of supertalents to be different, just like being a safe haven for funds to be parked here. We need a stock market that can shield itself from the tsunamis, be resilient and stay afloat for its own reasons. Small can still be beautiful and useful in its own ways. We can select our own stocks, dictate our own rules, play a game that is designed for our own good, or be lost and perished in the ocean that we have no control. Under the present crisis, the funds managers must be looking for exactly such a market for safety. Unfortunately there is none around. If our stock market is seen as a safe haven, we would have provided the funds a way to safety in trouble times.

Star gazing at the Pinnacles

Come next year there will be a big announcement that all the units at the Pinnacles Duxton have been snapped up at the new market price. This will vindicate that the pricing is correct, that there is real demand for such units even at higher prices. And there will be interviews with the happy and successful proud owners for being so lucky to own them. More such flats will be built in the future to cater for the growing demands, at market prices of course.