X'mas 2014

Its X'mas 2014. I've been lazy with blogging of late. In part, this was because I've been travelling on holidays. And watching with some excitement the ups and downs of the stock markets.

Bob the Builder

In recent weeks, I've visited KL and Sydney and couldn't help noticing the extent of construction work going on in both cities. There can be all kinds of bad news (e.g. impact of oil on Malaysia, and mining for Australia), but their economies appear to do fine. Economic activities continue to thrive. Life goes on.

As a trivia ... I didn't realise the significance of the location of the Lindt Cafe at Martin Place, Sydney. Guess what's just across from the cafe?

Slippery Oil

The rapid reversal of the price of oil I think has created opportunities. It's time to start watching the big US oil companies. After all, we need oil for plenty of things don't we? It may just take awhile to see results. I read an article a few days ago which highlighted news from the last major oil crisis. The parallels were indeed stark. So much fear. Opportunity! ExxonMobil or Chevron anyone?

All that Gloom May Not Be Doom

Look at what happened to China recently. It was all doom and gloom a few months ago. Its stock market took a nosedive. It was bleeding nose affair. But in the last few weeks, it  appears to have risen rapidly. There is so much disjointedness between the stock market and economic data sometimes.

Global Business Diversification

It's great to have companies that are global in nature and does business across the global. Consider Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, McDonalds and such. In contrast, a company like Empire Food which does most of its business in Russia suffers horribly when hit with a shock like currency devaluation. Roubles rubbles, bubbles jumble, absolutely trouble.

The End of 365 Days Since X'mas

It's X'mas today. That means the New Year is just round the corner. Time to take stock of my portfolio's growth over the year. Looking forward to the crediting of interest to my CPF as well.

Merry X'mas & Happy New Year!

p/s: Actually X'mas is coming again. It's just another 364 days away!