Mr. Holiday

Once in our working life, we encounter people of extraordinary kind (hindi ET ha). It is extra-ordinary in a sense that they do something peculiar or very different from most of the people with 100 % degree of consistency. Me, I have one extra-ordinary customer who I named Mr. Holiday.

Many years ago, during the early days of the dot.com boom, one customer came in and opened an investment management account with me to trade in U.S. stock market . Like most investors then, he had a good stride and made a lot of money. Trading in U.S. stock market was just like picking money every night where amateurs become instant pro.

And again, just like the rest of them, he continued to add more securities to his portfolio despite the fact that Allan Greenspan had been warning everyone that the U.S. stock market was inflated or overvalued and sooner or later the bubble would burst.

Sorbetes day: not yet and not quite

Early in the morning today, I was again awakened by a beep coming from my mobile phone. The message flashed on the screen: “Sorbetes today at 2pm, Sunday, June 1, 2008”.

Sorbetes day is part of my (supposed) scheduled activities had my one month vacation to Philippines pushed through last May 21. due to events beyond my control, I am here still working and, the postponed vacation is still hanging on the air.

To mark this Sorbetes day and to remind me in years to come or when I am almost 69 years old (if wordpress and blogs or me still exist by then), I’ll just have the photo of the sorbetes here.

Lessons:

Masarap ang sorbetes kung tunay at di picture, di ba?

Life goes on and on and on with or without vacation or ice cream. LOL

About stock market and bread

Yesterday was one of those boring days. The U.S. market was down more than 200 points early on the trading day. (Please do not ask me what was the reason. There were so many things to explain in this big U.S. stock market.)

Okay, okay… Negative comments from Fed Chairman Bernanke, Fed Vice Chairman Kohn, and Fed Governor Mishkin have weighed on market participants’ sentiment at the beginning of the trading. News that Intel lowered its 1Q gross profit margin due to sharper-than-expected decline in NAND memory chips. Also, Citigroup fell down to a nine-year low after Merrill Lynch cut its full-year earnings forecast for the company. Merrill said the bank could take another $18 billion in write downs related to bad mortgage. The negative comments of the CEO of Dubai International Capital that Citigroup may need more funding to alleviate Citi’s financial woes compounded the worries (are we or are we not in recession?) of the investors.

To summarize, the confluence of negative news (disappointing earnings forecasts) and the pessimistic comments (from the central bank officials ) brought the market down.

Okay. Let me go to the bread.

This is exciting

It is seldom that I write here something about what I do or anything that is related to my present work. It is not that I do not like my work nor I hate it or it is not exciting. It actually is exciting and fulfilling. However, doing the same thing over and over for years gives you the feeling that you have a lot of it because it becomes more of a routine than a job.

At this point, there is nothing more to it than say eight or six years ago.

And wherever the U.S. market goes or whether the sub-prime problem in the U.S. lingers for months to come, as long as there is no major movement, say 500 to 1,000 points up or down or,  unless there is another 911 thing, the trading bell will still ring at the start and at the end of each trading session. It is all but the same.

Today is a market holiday in the U.S. equity market.  It means  no stock trading, NO WORK; this is what is exciting, always.

YEHEY! ! !

My so-called work of art – brushed

Here is my so-called work of art titled “brushed“. This is a free stroke which as you can see is made of downward strokes, random strokes and stroke of luck.

This is done using a great software called ArtRage 2.

If you want to play with paint without the actual paint, you may download it here. libre ‘to.

Boring market and Idle mind

Yesterday night was a boring night for me. It was really boring.

The Reason:

The U.S. stock market had a tough and choppy start because investors were worried about the situation of the New Century Financial Corporation (NEW.N), the largest independent U.S. subprime mortgage lender. It said that its lenders had cut-off financing or indicated to stop financing the company thereby pushing it in the likelihood of filing bankruptcy or asset liquidation.

The New Century Financial Corporation’s share was hammered from USD 30.00 a month ago to USD 6.00 plus a week ago and USD 3.21 on Friday’s close then plunged to USD1.65 before it was suspended Monday.

I have no idea as to what will be the extent of its effect on Tuesday’s trading and how, if there will be any effect at all, will other global markets react today. I just hope that this will not lead to something that will trigger a repeat of what happened weeks ago. (When the giant sneezes, the dwarf gets the colds.)

For the time being, let us leave this matter to them- the people concerned and let me continue with what I am supposed to do: Blog.

The Problem:

As I have said, it was a boring day. There was No Action. Our customers, I supposed, were out somewhere doing something else.

It was natural therefore that I had nothing to do as well except to read and read whatever items my eyes could see from Reuters for hours. It was tiring and I could feel that my back was looking(?) for a bed.

The Solution:

So, in order not to invite sleep during working hours (evening here in this part of the world), I decided to do an exercise inside the trading area. I walked and walked and walked with nothing in my head (figuratively or possibly, literally(???)).

The Result:

I already had twenty rounds when suddenly the air (so there was something inside) that was circulating inside my brain was pushed out by crazy thoughts.

I stopped walking because these crazy thoughts kept on coming and going, coming and going, coming and going. Then finally, U.S. stock market closed (11:30 p.m. here). It was time to go home.

Moral of the story:

The boring market creates an idle mind. And true enough, the idle mind is the workshop of the he he.

Recommendation:

Stay away from boring market. Keep on blogging and visit your favorite blogs. Just make sure your Boss won’t see what you are doing.

NOW you know what is boring market and idle mind. ha ha ha.

Note: The Stocks strike back but then, most of our customers stayed away.

Tags: myepinoy, New Century Financial Corp, U.S. Stock Market, pinoy

I fired my Boss

Late in the afternoon yesterday, I had a talk with my Boss. He told me that he is very sick because of the bad weather here. He said that the this winter is worst compared to previous winters. It is unforgiving and it makes everyone sick. He advised me to take a solid breakfast everyday so my stomach will have something to grind that will keep myself warm.

Before leaving he told me, “Oh come on, your commissions and bonus will come next year. Do not try too hard.” And he left.

While he was walking away I stood up and noticed the clock in our Treasury Department. It was 5:00pm in New York..

After few minutes, my boss came back. Still far from my desk, she was shouting and started nagging me about many things that I do not understand. She said that I am too demanding and very unreasonable. She called me a d**k-head.

I was confused. At the same time I was amazed, almost amused, at what she was talking about. I told her to shut up and if she doesn’t, I will fire her.

She did not stop and so I fired her on that very moment. “You are fired!”, easy and just like that.

Unfortunately, I was only dreaming.

I supposed everything is clear now and you no longer wonder why the boss was a he and then suddenly he became a she. In real life gender change is possible but not that fast as in this dream.

Ah, dreams, it is fascinating – everything is possible as long as you are asleep.

Oh by the way, do you know how to fire servants effectively and permanently? Please let me know. I want to fire Gloria, her cohorts in the government, the corrupt politicians and government officials.

Must me dreaming again ha?

Tags: myepinoy, pinoy, Pilipinas, arroyo

Heroes All

These are the real faces of the millions of Overseas Filipino Professionals whom the Philippine government calls “Ang Bagong Bayani – The Modern Day Heroes”.

These Few Great Men are among the many faceless Filipinos who for years helped the Philippine economy afloat, out of bankruptcy and financial crisis.

Despite the hardships, the struggles – personal or otherwise, the homesickness and the loneliness, and everything that true heroes have to endure, they are still happy, smiling and still proud. The true mark of the modern-day heroes and Few Great Filipino Men.

Nothing and nobody could bring them down. They always succeed no matter what.

A Few Great Filipino Men, Heroes All!

Tags: OFW, myepinoy, Bagong Bayani, PINOY, Pilipinas

Saudi Stock market blues

For three straight days since Monday October 30, Tadawul All Shares Index (TASI) continued its free fall cutting the index by 1,199.38 points or 11.85% as of November 1, 2006, Wednesday’s market close.

Yesterday, most investors could not help but watch their portfolios gone to red every seconds of the trading day. The negative sentiments were so bad that it added more volatility to the already volatile market. The common question yesterday was how low could their stocks go.

The others who were optimistic after Monday’s fall, decided (on Wednesday) to cut short their miseries, took the very bitter pill called “LOSS” in the most courageous but painful act called SELL. I could only guess that they are now scratching their heads as to how much this bitter pill had cost them.

By the time you read this, I will be in Dubai on my way home to the Philippines. I had enough of the Saudi market these last three days so I decided to take a short break to nurse my bruised or hole-ridden pocket (whatever).

Ha ha ha, you now you realized that I was one of those investors who took that very bitter pill. The only difference I have with them is that I know that it is much better for me to spend whatever is left from my account for my happiness rather than continue speculating again comes Saturday and losing more to the market.

Although my stock trading activities did not turn out to be good these last three days, I could proudly say that I did not just fold down and die going against the rampaging flood (???). I fought hard to defend my position to the very end. However, it turned out to be pretty much like this song, “I did my best but my best was not good enough.”

For now, I will take my one step backward and later, I will take my two steps forward.

I will be back.

Related post:
Saudi Stock Market is down again today
This is one of those days
Strategy or greed
Sana Nga

Tags: saudi stock market, stock market sentiment,stock investment, Stocks, investing, tadawul, myepinoy, pinoy ako, Pilipinas

Saudi Stock Market is down again today

Today, October 31, 2006, the Tadawul All Shares Index (TASI) is down again by 335.97 points. This is the second day of free-fall.

As if the market is celebrating the Halloween, many investors get the trick but without a treat.

The trick is that the market just falls down without any basis or logical explanation at all. Many of the factors that normally affect the market are all excellent: the Saudi economy is in excellent condition, world oil prices are stable, cash surplus in billion riyals, the government is politically stable and perhaps 99% of these companies are recording tremendous growth.

The treat is that the market is going down and many investors are losing money.

I can not help but suspect that ghosts really exist in this market. Ghosts who sit in an exclusive place with billions of money to spare and vast resources to use, in creating a trick — a false perception that market is bad. It really tricks the mortal investors. The worst thing here is that it scares him to the bone! The result is a sell-off.

The mortal investors get the trick and are tricked but no treat.

If my suspicion is right then, those ghosts really have a good treat.

And oh, this is really getting to my nerves and to my pocket. Aray ko! (is it “Ouch!“?) Arrg!

The question is, sino ang bibitaw at magbebenta ng malaking lugi (who will snap and sell with a huge loss).

Who me? No! Not yet! Not now! Not yet. Maybe! I do not know!

Related post:
This is one of those days
Strategy or greed
Sana Nga

Tags: saudi stock market, stock investment, Stocks, investing, tadawul, myepinoy, pinoy ako, Pilipinas