Wage slaves should be fearful.

I had a conversation with someone who said he is living hand to mouth and that he is somewhat worried with how things are developing in the world now.

Although Asia is where we find economic growth these days and it explains why people are flocking here as they look for better opportunities, if a global recession should transpire, Singapore is unlikely to be spared. 

In fact, we are likely to suffer more than others due to our very open economy which is highly dependent on external demand. Many are likely to lose their jobs in such a situation.






So, my friend is right to be fearful if he was indeed living hand to mouth. If he should become unemployed, he would be in deep trouble. For people like him, we cannot even start talking about investing in the stock market.

Using some common sense, what would I do if I were him? He must first get his finances in order:

1.  Look at his expenses. See what are necessities and what are not. Remove the latter, mercilessly.

For example, I know someone who sold his 5 year old car recently because the very bouyant COE prices now means that he could sell his car at a higher price than two years ago, minimising losses, losing $6K instead of >$10K. He now saves $800 a month in monthly repayment and is taking public transport for now. The car was not a necessity.

2.  Save money! Make sure he saves enough money to cover at least a year's worth of expenses. This will be his emergency funds. In case he should be retrenched in the next recession, he would have ample time to look for a job.

Some financial advisors say putting aside 6 months salary is the rule of thumb. For me, I would say measuring how much we should put aside in terms of expenses is more meaningful. If we should have enough money put aside to cover expenses for 10 years, not considering inflationary pressures, are we recession proof?






3.  Any money in excess of the emergency funds, he should put to work, investing for greater returns. Having excessive savings is silly given the paltry interest payment on savings.

Having said this, with the stock market weakening continually now, we should be prudent and not throw everything including the kitchen sink into stocks.

4.  I would also suggest that he looks into ways of increasing his income in his current job or a new job. He might also want to look for supplementary income. Be more productive.

No one owes us a living. Unless we can show that we can make valuable contributions, no one will think we are valuable enough to pay us!

Living hand to mouth is being a wage slave. Wage slaves are pitiful but someone who is living like a wage slave when he does not have to is NOT pitiful.

Note:
Wage slavery refers to a situation where a person's livelihood depends on wages, especially when the dependence is total and immediate. (Source: Wikipedia.)

Related posts:
1. Needs and wants.
2. Do you want to be richer?

Tea with AK71: Durians tidak boleh?

This photo was taken at a MRT station on the Circle Line. See why people say Singapore is a "fine" country?

No durians but no fine if we were caught har?

Are the authorities partial to durians?

Does anyone know the reason why there is no fine for being caught with durians on MRT trains?

Could it be that the powers that be have not decided on how much the fine should be? If so, I have a suggestion!

To be fair, they should have a weighing scale at every station and the quantum of each fine should be determined by the weight of the offending fruit which was brought onboard!

Bring more, fine more. Bring less, fine less.

If the reason for banning durians on MRT trains is because of its endearing fragrance, what about durian mooncakes, durian puffs, durian puddings and other such yummy delights?

Heavens forfend! ;)

Sabana REIT: 90c sell order filled.

My overnight sell order at 90c was filled. Those units which were bought at 87c and 88c were divested. I liken the gains to locking in income distributions in advance.

As I still have a sizeable investment in Sabana REIT, divesting those bought at lower prices for capital gain does not seem like a bad idea with market volatility likely to be the norm for a while. I could well have opportunities to buy in again on the cheap in future.

What if its unit price were to stay strong? That would make me happy too since I am still very much vested. Either way, I have a plan and that means I sleep better at night.

Although the MACD has completed a bullish crossover with the signal line, momentum is still negative. This is a rebound and not an uptrend.

90c is a natural resistance level. If this were to be broken convincingly, we could see its unit price rising higher to retest resistance in a band of prices from 91.5c to 92.5c.

Related post:
Why I do not panic?

CapitaMalls Asia: Rebounding.

At this point in time, the recent upmove of CapitaMalls Asia's share price is still a rebound. The MACD made a bullish crossover with the signal line but momentum is still negative. Make no mistake. The downtrend is still intact.

Volume has been declining over the last three sessions. How do we interpret this?

Although the bears were roughed up three sessions ago, bulls seem to lack conviction in following through. We can only wait and see if they do in the next session. For now, bears are staying sidelined, nursing their wounds, while bulls remain somewhat cautious.

Price touched a high of $1.375 in the last session which coincides with the resistance presented by the 50dMA. Overcoming this resistance could see gap fill at $1.395 and that is where I have put in my next sell order.

If we look at the orange line I have drawn, we will see that $1.395 also approximates the immediate downtrend resistance in the next session.

Breaking the immediate downtrend could send share price higher to test resistance provided by the declining 100dMA which is currently at $1.52.

Related post:

CapitaMalls Asia: Gap closed at $1.325.

Tea with AK71: Sambal mooncake.

There was much talk about mooncakes in LP's infamous cbox over at Bully the Bear today.

Fancy having some sambal mooncake at tea time? This must be the most "innovative" mooncake I have ever had.

My parents got this in a box of mooncakes from Star Cruises.

Quite clever the way they separated the spicy centre from the lotus paste, using dried coconut as a wall.

The taste is surprisingly good although for some who do not like spicy food or dried coconut, it might be difficult to accept.

Cache Logistics Trust: Gap closed at 96c.

The unit price of Cache Logistics Trust closed the gap at 96c in the last session.  A white candle with an extremely long upper wick was formed, suggesting strong selling pressure at 96c. 96c is also where we find the flatlined 50dMA which should also act as resistance.

I decided last Friday to put in a sell order over the weekend at 96c for a partial divestment in case gap resistance should be retested today. My sell order at 96c was filled this morning and I made some pocket money.

For people who believe in mini double bottoms, we could see the unit price test $1 if 96c should be taken out convincingly. I would divest more then. Otherwise, we could see unit price retreat to test recent lows once more and that is at 91.5c, my entry price months ago.

I will also be collecting income distribution from the REIT today. So, this is a nice combination of investing for income and capital gains. Regular readers would know that I am not averse to trading my investments in REITs from time to time.

Related posts:
Cache Logistics Trust: Initiated long position at 91.5c.

Tea with AK71: Family, friends, Abercrombie & Fitch and BPA free water bottles.

I had a restive long weekend. Long weekend? Yes, for someone who has to work half days on weekends, this was a nice long weekend for me. Hmmm, well, I did visit a customer for slightly more than an hour on Saturday but that's not really work. Just delivered mooncakes and had a chit chat.

So, what did I do this "long weekend"? I had tim sum with my family, caught up with some friends and did some shopping. Spent some money (quite a lot by my standards) and helped to stimulate the economy, not that the economy needs much stimulating. The restaurants were packed! The shopping malls were packed!

Tim sum was at East Ocean Teochew Restaurant in Shaw Centre. I took some photos of the more creative pieces (only available on weekends and public holidays) with my trusty Samsung phone camera (as usual):

Penguins! These had lotus paste and salted egg fillings. Yummy!

So cheerful, right? Almost couldn't bear to eat it.

The one on the right didn't look as cheerful but it was still cute. :)

Called "Ugly Ducklings", these were a bit like "wu kok".

These were filled with "mei cai", the same vegetable that they would have with stewed pork.

Looks like a duckling, doesn't it?

This is a photo of the gigantic poster at Knightsbridge (the former Crown Prince Hotel) some two or three stories tall where Abercrombie & Fitch  is going to have their second branch in Asia.

Apparently, it caused a Singaporean auntie some distress, enough to write in to the papers, saying that it was indecent and that people turned away when they walked past it. I don't see why is it indecent.

Actually, I saw people (male, female, young and old) taking out their phones and snapping pictures of it while waiting to cross at the traffic lights. So, what do you think of it?

Apart from spending money at restaurants and cafe, the only other place I spent money at was in a Nike shop, where I bought four BPA free plastic water bottles for myself and my family.

Barley drink not included.

I think not enough people realise that harmful chemicals leach from plastic water bottles into the water they hold. We should make sure that the plastic water bottles we use are BPA free.

I also paid my bills at an AXS machine, got a friend a belated birthday present, got a pair of socks and had a haircut at QB House in 313 Somerset. I like the haircut too. Definitely a nice weekend!

Tuesday is a holiday again! Selamat Hari Raya! Yeah!