Snippets of Subang & beyond

1) Boo adjusting to life in AK's parents' house - sneaking a (forbidden) nap on the sofa and standing on tip toes attempting to see outside the house

2) Rustic cart-inspired coffeetable spotted in a homeware shop in Bangsar. Way out of my price range but I hope to get something similar made.

3) Pecan pie from Whisk in Subang Empire and all-natural Butterscotch cake from Food Foundry.

 

 

Cart-inspired coffeetable @ Bangsar Village

 

Pecan Pie from Whisk at Empire Subang

 

Love the use of unfinished walls + exposed conduits + mostly Ikea furnishings in Food Foundry

 

Butterscotch cake from Food Foundry

What works for me

I have been dabbling in the stock market for a few years now, with ups and downs. While I did not lose anything I could not afford to, I also lost out on some chances to earn the bucks. I am now trying to be more diligent in trading - recording what I do and what I've learnt, doing reading, making full use of the tools I have. So here's what I have learnt so far:

1) Stay out of day/technical trading. I simply do not possess the discipline nor the tenacity to thoroughly utilise technical techniques to make this profitable. MACD's and dragonfly doji's can only influence so much in a world so interconnected and currently economically unstable. Headlines overshadow everything - whether it's the Euro crisis (Greece, and now Spain), the US debt, Iran, to name a few.

2) Close the gate once you're done. If my trading portal stays open, I tend to search and "hunt" for something to do (i.e. buy, with what little information I gather in about half an hour. Not recommended). That's just the way it is. So once I have done what I intended to do, I logoff.

3) .......BUT keep track of what's going on. Have I mentioned that I can't live without my iPhone? Other than keeping photos of Boo, noting down songs for downloading later, recording my latest gastronomy discoveries and Facebook-ing, the nifty Bloomberg app keeps me up to date on what I want to monitor. Economic news, prices and trends of stocks on my watchlist. I can't trade, but at least I know what's happening.

4) Be selective. I have fallen for the herd mentality too many times. Whether it was succumbing to Analysts' recommendations (never made money off it, by the way), buying only after the publishing of good news, I realise now that it is all just too late. Now I monitor a few stocks I like, buying and selling when I see fit. And I can do that (with some confidence) because I keep track of their movements and know when low is really low and there is potential to rebound. There is no free lunch, whether it's analyst reports or Hedge fund managers' picks on CNBC. Just do your homework, and more importantly, stick to your guns.

4) Again, an iteration here, but in this interconnected world, one has to keep track of what's going on. You might have missed out on buying Apple at $21 (oh, and read about NY Times' readers' financial mistakes here - very interesting indeed. It made me feel somewhat less of a failure). And you might never want to see the APPL ticker ever again. That's what I felt. But there could be another crisis opportunity (and we have seen a few), another false alarm. But you wouldn't be able to tell if you didn't keep track. Opportunities knock more often than we think. We just have to be ready to answer the door.

Bill Clinton and Michelle Obama

The US Election Race.
Since 2008 - 2009, those euphoric days when Obama was elected, I have always been utterly enthralled by the US Elections. My parents and AK wonder why I, who skip over the local news section, who is sickened by Malaysian politics, who cannot name her own country's cabinet ministers, obsessively follow what is going on in the US. I can spend hours glued to CNN, watching the Convention speeches (have to resort to YouTube this year, given the "squatting" situation), Presidential Debates, and reading dozens of NYT articles and columns on the Republicans and Democrats. I have to say though, the 2008 elections was particularly unique and almost legendary what with the Barack Obama, first-black-president hype and of course, the comic relief of Sarah Palin. But as I listened, and I mean really really listened (and not just to laugh at Ms. Palin's gaffes), the issues they talk(ed) about, that they try to address or avoid, really affect us all. The sad thing is with all this listening and reading, the result is a deep cynism for politics in general. Lobbyists, "special interests", all prevail, and all too well in Washington. Check out the Republicans' blatant declaration that their top priority was to "make President Obama a one-term President". Really? What about creating jobs, improving the economy, all in the backseat, eh?

The 2012 Democratic National Convention happenned recently, and two speeches stood out like shining stars. Other than their content, they also serve as amazing lessons in authenticity and how spoken words can move thousands (or millions, I hope). Michelle Obama's speech was heartfelt, warm and painted the picture of President Obama's sometimes-missing personal side. I shall not be petty and compare it Ann Romney's, which was - to put it the most polite terms possible - insincere to say the least, almost childish and sets the movement for the emanciapation of women back by another 100 years.

Bill Clinton's speech was the killer. I listened to it twice, never noticing how long it was (almost an hour). He dissected the Republican agenda and what it would mean in plain, simple terms. He highlighted what was so wrong with the right wing these days - that hate and fear are prevailing, that the Republicans blocked President Obama attempts at job creation in Congress at every turn. After watching this, and reading some fact checking sites, I just don't get how any average American would vote for Governer Romney's bill.

Oh, and let me just stay this - even if you are not the slightest bit interested in politics or world affairs, just watch these as they are - Masterclasses in oration.