Wednesday 26 August 2015

Efficiency VS Effectiveness - Are you effective?


Efficiency VS Effectiveness

1. Efficiency and effectiveness may sound the same but they mean so much different.

2  The first one is quantifying, whereas the later one is qualifying.

3. Efficiency is about how many tasks one can finish within a stipulated time frame.Effectiveness is how close a person towards his objective.

4. For instance in a restaurant, if chef A can fry 100 eggs in 30 minutes while chef B can only fry 80 eggs in 30 minutes, chef A is considered more efficient than chef B. However, when chef B gets 70 happy customer after eating the eggs while chef A only get 60 happy customers, chef B is said to be more effective than chef A.

5. Nowadays many people are working under extreme pressure and forced to meet strict deadlines. We are consorted to achieving high efficiency the great amount of stress, which in turns sacrifices effectiveness.

6. But without a firm awareness and clear direction of where we are heading, we are doing nothing but like a blindfolded bull trampling around- a waste of our energy and resources.

7. Many of us gotten ourselves busy by taking up a lot of tasks and responsibilities, believing that the more we do, the better we gain. But is this always true? A bull plowed all his life, but he never get a single pence from the paddy field. Many people kept themselves busy, ended up building other people's dream.

8. The key to effectiveness here is being selective. Successful people learn how to say NO. While it can be true that by getting our selves involves in many activities and challenges may opens up a door to more opportunities, but one must always remember that everyone of us has a very limited resources. Time is our limiting factor.

9. How to select? Before we make decision, we must know very clearly what we want in life. setting a lifetime TARGET is like setting an anchor in life. We must know ourselves, and what we want so we have a direction in life.  From there we decide when to say yes and no to the opportunities offered to us.

10. The next key word is RELEVANCE. Commit only on things that is relevant the target we set. Many people are feeling lost in modern days because we have been doing too many things that are irrelevant in our lives, which con-sequent into losing focus in life. We become lost in life and do not know what we want anymore. To avoid that, we must learn to say no to things that is irrelevant to our goals.

11. Remember, a busy person may not be a productive person. Our sense of fulfillment in life come from achieving what we want; and we must know what we want before we can achieve it. Be effective and do relevant things so we can progress in our life.

Monday 24 August 2015

Bear Dances Amid East and West Orchestra - Where is the market heading?

Bear Dances Amid East and West Orchestra


1.(24 August 2015) today major Asian indices closed red. (yea i know whole world closed red but let's just focus on the Asian indices now)See below:


2. Again, Shanghai index was the biggest loser, plummeted a huge 8.34% at closing. the rest of the markets are not doing any better, with averagely 3 to 5% down.

3. This evening, another breaking news shocked the market. US Dow Jones index gap down by 1000 points when the market opened. although the index climbed back subsequently, it showed us that the market is now very sensitive and emotional.


4. Likelihood that the initial sell down was due to the fear that the Asian market slowdown may directly hit the US market. After observing such a major cutback in Asian indices, I believe many investors from the state must have been freaked out.

5. The fear of another global financial crisis has brought the DJI to a historical drop since 2007.

6. As for Asian market, main markets opened lower to the previous closing price.

7. It was reported that US market indices closed lower on last Friday, DJI was 531 points lower at the closing session, which is considered a significant figure as it has been a long time since DJI droped more than 500 points in a single day trade.

8. Technically, it is seen that the eastern and the western market is playing a fear-induced orchestra, a positive feedback was observed in the market trend of both side of the world. The fear of one market's weakness send the other market weaker.

9. Fundamentally, the Asian market is worrying about the Federal rate adjustment in September, and the dampening Eurozone economy and unsolved Greece issues. On the west side, the States are worrying that slowing China statistics and continuous dropping commodity prices may hurt the economy of the emerging markets and Asian countries are expected to be impacted.

10. Meanwhile, since China dropped their currency weeks ago, people has grown wary with the PBOC's next move. It's believed that the China central back will continue to de-valuate their currency if the export figure hasn't been improved.

11. It's said that China has overbuilt their production capacities over the year, even with such a huge population, the slowing economic growth over the years may indicate that the people's ability to consumes could be getting saturated.

12. After all, China GDP per capita is just 7.5k, still lower than Malaysia's 10k. This is due to a huge gap in dispersion of wealth in the country.

13: Inference: The market is fear driven now. The bear started to dance as the east and west market are starting to orchestrating with one another, technically and fundamentally; due to many unsolved issues in the economy of both worlds and uncertainties in the monetary policy of the 2 world largest economy. Buy your pop corn and enjoy the show!

Sunday 23 August 2015

China Smartphone Sales Drop For the First Time





China Smartphone Sales Drop For the First Time

1. China smartphone sales in last quarter reported 4% drop for the first time.

2. China is the largest smartphone market in the world, consuming 30% of the world's phone sales in last quarter.

3. Market predicted that the smartphone market in China has reached saturation.There are fewer first time buyer in China and most of the people are merely replacing their old phones, said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner.




4. Globally, the sales of smartphones still reported a positive growth of 13.5%, even though it represents the slowest growth throughout the years.

5. Apple saw increase in their market shares compared to the same period last year while Samsung market share was slashed by 4.3%.

6. While many semi conductor related company are still actively spending money into capacity expansion, by the time the new production facility is ready to run, will the demand catch up with the increase in supply, or will it cause another oversupply issue in the technology sector?


Saturday 22 August 2015

Economy Outlook: KLCI Stood Still Amid Dropping World Indices. Malaysia Boleh?





Economy Outlook: KLCI Stood Still Amid Dropping World Indices. Malaysia Boleh?

1. 21st of August 2015 is a significant day to remember. Almost all the major indices in the world closed red. (See pictures below taken from Yahoo)







2. Shanghai Composite Index led the fall, by closing -4.27%, then Taiwan Weighted Index was the second biggest loser at -3.02%. Even Hong Kong and Singapore indices also closed down 1.53% and 1.29% respectively.

3. Among all the Asia Pacific major indices, New Zealand NZSE 50 index was the only winner of the day. Surprisingly, KLSE was the strongest among all the loser, with only 0.17% lower at closing.

4. Dow Jones Index also saw a decline of 531 point on Friday trading. According to CNN Money, the 3 main reason the global market contracted are :
i) Slowing China economy - the world second largest economy
ii) Uncertainty in US federal rate revision in September as the federal bak has been sending "mixed signals"
iii) Commodity prices has weaker trend

5. Question: Does this means that KLSE is stronger than the rest of the Asia Pacific major capital markets? We all know that KLSE has just taken a hard fall recently, following a series of political scandal involving PM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak,

6. The situation was exaggerated by devaluation of Yuan and falling commodity prices, which induced fear among global investor, and constant exodus of funds from Malaysia is frequently observed.

7. Let's study the day chart of KLSE on 21st August 2015 as per attached below:
8. The Index opened lower in the morning session but gained it's strength subsequently over the first half session. In the second session, the index was supported above the opening position, until the pre-closing. At the end of the session, the index closed down 0.17%.

9. Lets see what happened to Shanghai Index and Taiwan Index



10. Both the top losers are seen a constant downtrend in their index movement. Even SSE shows a higher movement, the downtrend can still be observed.

11. Now let's look at the Bursa Malaysia Daily Trading Statistics on the day.



12. Notice that overall, the foreign funds are still exiting the markets. The trading volume of the day are above significant RM 2 billion. Local institutions are seen at net buying position.

13. Inference: The local institutions are actively buying the stocks to support, instead of taking a passive position to defend the market. This could be a sign that the resilience we seen in the KLSE last Friday was artificial.

14. If local institutions EPF, RFI, Tabung Haji, Unit Trust funds etc to support the local market indifinitely, how long can they sustain? That is a different topic we will discuss in another separate post. Stay Tuned.


Friday 21 August 2015

How To Sleep and Wake Up Refreshed


How to Sleep and Wake Up Refreshed

1. Avoid mental intense activity 1 hour before going to bed, and avoid heavy exercise 2 hours before sleep. Your brain and body will need some time to cool down before getting to rest, just like a car engine.

2. Avoid consuming stimulating food and drinks like chocolate, coffee and tea after evening. Alcohol is a no-no. Many people think that alcohol make people sleep better, ironically alcohol consumption will disrupt the REM stage of the sleep and make you feel sluggish when you wake up next day.

3. Milk have calming effect, but be reminded not to drink too much. half a glass is good enough. Your stomach need to rest too during sleep. Do not consume any solid food an hour before sleep.

4. Get yourself 15 minutes of quiet moment. Lay on your bed, do not do anything during that time. Close your eyes and take a few deep breath slowly. Focus on your breath. Count to 4 when you breath in, count to 6 when you breath out.

5. Bed is only for sleep. Do not do your work or reply email on your bed. You need to condition your body and mind that your bed is a sleeping place. Otherwise, your subconscious mind will  remind you about your work when you lay down on your bed.

6. Keep yourself hydrated throughout the day. A glass of warm water upon waking up will help you to wake up your organs. It is kinda like rebooting your system for the day.

7. If you could not finish your important task for the day, note down your to-do on a piece of paper and then forget about it. First thing you wake up next day is \check out the note, it will help you to set a target for the day and keep you awake.

8. Our body has a biological clock that needs "Tuning". Sleep and wake up at regular hour will help to improve sleep quality.

9. Switch off all unnecessary lights before you sleep. Light will disrupt melatonin production in our peneal gland, a specific hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle.

Most Important Things To Remember During Difficult Times

Most Important Things To Remember During Difficult Times


1. Remember the greatest law of universe - Everything is Cyclical. The sun, the Earth, the Moon, the season, the weather, the market, and even our life. The creator is reminding us that nothing last forever. Even the best moment in you life has come to past, so what make the worst moment last forever? Thing will come to past one day and time is our best healer.

2. Remember to draw a line between Past, Present, and Future. We live in the present. Nobody can change the past, nobody can predict the future.

3. Remember not to focus on things that we cannot change, but on things within our circle of influence.

4. Remember what you do today will not change anything in the past, but will definitely decide what to happen in the future.

5. Denial is not going to make anything better. Remember to acknowledge your feelings, learn to accept yourself, accept the circumstances.

6. Remember that everyone is so poor at remembering, nobody is going to remember your mistake.

7. Remember life short, every moment is worth appreciating. Not all is lost as long as we are still alive at THIS MOMENT.








The New Era in Malaysia Economy

Source: Malaysia Chronicle
The New Era in Malaysia Economy

1. The Foreign Reserve in the Federal bank drop below USD 100 Billion for the first time since post-2008 crisis.

2. Malaysian Ringgit depreciated to RM 4.12 to 1 USD on 17 August 2015, the lowest sin 1997 Asia Financial Crisis.

3. Devaluation of Chinese Yuan on 11st August 2015 has caused a panic across the Asia markets, triggering the fear of a currency war that may simulate the 1997 Asia Financial Crisis. Funds are leaving several major stock markets in Asia. Most of the Asian currency has depreciated against USD 3 days streak after the surprising move by China.

4. Weakening commodity prices, especially crude oil and palm oil prices, further reduce the confidence of investors towards Malaysia.

5. Brent oil price stood at USD 47.21 per bbl; a 56% discount from it's peak at USD 105 per bbl about a year ago. Petronas, a state-owned oil and gas giant, has seen a whopping 57% drop in the upstream business revenue, from RM 32.4 billion to RM 14 billion comparing year -to-date in FY14 and FY15.

6. The palm oil price also dropped 56% from USD 1,250/MT to USD 575/MT.

7. GST of 6% was imposed starting 1st April 2015. Malaysians has to pay more for the same goods, which in turn discourage consumer spending especially the wage earners.

8. Property market also slowdown recently, making the property stocks lackluster. Federal loan tightening has led to increased loan rejection rate among home buyers. Foreign speculators are filter out of the market since the RPGT was drastically increased since 2013.

9. Debt laden government investment arm 1MDB was revealed to have invested the money without due diligence, and accumulated a 42billion debt over the years. Since then, foreign funds has started to leave Malaysian capital market. RM 9.152billion funds has left Malaysia in 2014.

10. The capital exodus is exaggerated up to RM15billion has left Malaysia up to mid August 2015, when the Prime Minister is involved in a political scandal of receiving a RM2.6 billion "Political Donation" from abroad, and a series of extreme measure taken to interrupt the investigation against him.

11. International investors has decided to leave Malaysia, despite that the Federal Governor Tan Sri Zeti Aziz reiterated that Ringgit is undervalued on 13 August 2015. Earlier in April 2015, she made a similar statement when Ringgit was observed at a depreciating trend.

12. Hidden risk ahead as the United States Federal Reserve rate revision in September 2015, further expanding the gap between the weakening Asian currency against USD.

13. Even though China has stated that the Chinese Yuan devaluation was a one-off event on 11st August 2015, the Yuan was de-valuated further in the next day. There is still a possibility for China to make currency adjustment whenever deemed necessary. China GDP growth is seen slowing down to 7.7% since their last peak in 2007, at 14.2%.

14. Malaysians are very much angered by the recent political dramas and the mishandling of taxpayer's money by the government and the fact that they felt democracy is being challenged. A Bersih 4.0 Rally is scheduled on 29th and 30th of August. Too many uncertainties at this moment to predict what will actually happen during the rally, as the ruling coalition has been growing extremes in the measures taken to ensure the continuation of their reign.

15. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was almost halved in 1H2015 compared to previous year, dropping from RM 36.6 billion to RM 21.3 billion despite a 1.3% growth in overall investment in Malaysia to RM 113.5billion.

Wednesday 19 August 2015

Bread and Butter


Bread and Butter

Bread and butter appears almost everyday in our lives; or at least, they are what many people start their days with.

Bread and Butter is simple yet fulfilling.

In Bread and Butter, everything goes very fundamental. No verbosity, straight to the point.

This is a place where information, knowledge and wisdom is shared to enhance the value of life.

Have fun, and be fruitful.