To Serve Man

 

During my primary school days, I loved to watch the Twilight Zones.

Some episodes really stuck in my mind even after all these years.

This episode is one of them:

To those of us in sales or have profit and loss responsibilities, this is not new.

There are no vegetarians or vegans when it comes to the bottom line.

But then again, when a person has a hole in his heart, and is desperately clutching at straws, he is at his most vulnerable.

This applies not only in our community of get rich tryhards.

We see it everywhere.

In politics; in religion especially; and most prevalent while climbing the corporate career.

Remember that time when your long time no see friend/classmate called you out from the blue?

Your enthusiasm to reconnect with old friendship came crashing down the moment he shoved the cookbook across the dining table towards you:

"To Serve Man".

Singapore Home Sales Fall - Damn Statistics Again!

 

No wonder!

Singapore Home Sales Fall After Rules To Deter Market Distortion

To those of us outside the industry, its "orh han zi"!

But for those inside the industry, of course they knew it all along. If not, how do they have that edge over "bei kambings"? 

That's the biggest trap for those of us who think we know fundamental analysis...

It makes a huge difference whether we can tell information apart - which is true, which is fake, and which has been "fudged"!

For those who no clue what's going on, ask friends who know a thing or two about technical analysis.

When stocks or properties go up in prices, but transaction volumes keep trending down, what does that tell you?

Oh! Before your imagination runs wild, do remember that technical analysis is voodoo...

LOL!

To Invest - We Need Capital

 

Gamers out there know when you grind your way to end game, that's when the real fun begins! 

And that is true for the path financial freedom too.

To invest, we first need to have CAPITAL.

That's where SAVE MORE comes in.

All we need is discipline. 

Yet not everyone and anyone can do it. 

Some people earn $1 must spend $1. 

Some earn $1 can spend $1.20....

So when schools or big daddy introduce financial literacy workshops to the public, it has to focus on SAVE MORE. 

Start with the basics.

Its also why we see so many financial portals and blogs talk about "earning" miles, comparison of bank or credit card interest rates, discount this, offer that; etc.

If we move to the realm of EARN MORE, it starts to get murky and where dragons and snakes co-mingle.

On one side we have snake oils who unabashedly proclaim they can help you to become millionaires or financially free (rich say rich lah):

No money down!

5 minutes a day!

Passive (which means you get rich while you sleep?)

Easy!

Anyone and everyone can do it!

All you need is faith (???)

Then there are initiatives done with the best of intentions - like SRS, CPFIS, offering discounted SingTel shares to the general public (one time deal only?) - all in the name of encouraging more people to dip their toes into the realm of EARN MORE.

But that's hard.

Sometimes, the more we invest, the more we lose...

Some of us know it all too well. 

That's why we don't encourage or give investing/trading tips to friends and relatives anymore....

Make money they don't thank us; lose money we get the blame.

Spare us the grief!

So we stick to SAVE MORE tips.

And that's safe!

To invest, we need CAPITAL.

(If you then go and lose all that capital, its all on you!)

 

Attracting New Blood Is Important!

 

Last month, if you're waiting for your MRT train, you may see the advertisements for this new Genshin Impact game from China plastered all over.

Its the latest "hot" game. It reportedly took $300 million USD to develop. And in it's first week of launch, it took in $300 million USD!?

Now that's success!

There were some in our community playing Epic 7 that were worried Genshin Impact's success may impact the game we are currently playing.

Whales (players who spend thousands) will only whale on a game that's hot. What's the point of flexing when most people don't care for the game you playing?

When whales leave, once upon a time popular game will die a slow death... All the legions of free-to-play players won't help since they are not paying customers... They are freeloaders!!!

I'm one such freeloader. Wink.

I used to collect stamps. 

Got "whale" (buy from stamp shops) in the beginning, then switched to "free-to-play". Meaning I'll make friends with receptionists and ask them to give me those discarded envelops with postage stamps on them. 

Now this "lobang" is long gone. 

When was the last time you saw stamps on an envelop?

I hate this franking thing...

Out of sight; out of mind.

As a result, I believe less youths would collect stamps as a hobby. Which in turn may mean there could be a lot less enthusiasts who will grow up able to appreciate stamps as an "investment"...

Yes, its a bit like cryptos, art, comic books, and Hello Kitty toys.

When a lot of people are hyped up about something, that something will appreciate in price.

Have you noticed something in our community of money chasers recently?

More and more youths are moving over to the US or HK markets. There's a lot of excitement over there! 

In comparison, our STI this year a bit boring and range bound, isn't it?

Of course a swallow does not make a summer.

But if we don't come up with another flavour of the year theme/hype like REITs, Oil and Gas, Myanmar play, etc; those who own the STI ETF or SGX individual stocks may start to sweat a bit...

The logic is similar to property.

If foreigners are not coming to Singapore, and our population is not growing, who we think we are offloading our properties to?

If there's no new blood?