I know I should have posted this earlier, but today’s still January, the first month of the year

My investment Returns.

So, I started investing about 14 months ago. How’s my performance for 2009?
Stocks: Including capital gains and dividends, my stock has produced a great 17% return.
Futures: I’ve net about 10% gain from my trading with futures contract.
Unit Trust: I took out money from my EPF to buy Unit Trust. So far, my UT has produced a 7% returns for me.

Goals for 2009.

1. Save RM65k in CD by Feb 2009. This amount is allocated the down payment for buying property. (Achieved: Feb 2009)

2. Buy insurance by Mar 2009 in anticipation of buying a property in May 2009. (Not achieved. There was a couple of times I participated in auction properties but I was outbid. It is not easy to find a good property with discount even in the midst of an economic recession. I have therefore changed my strategy. Instead of looking for properties with at least 20% discount from their fair value, I am not looking at the cashflow instead. As long as the rental income is able to pay for all the expenses associated with the property, then it’s a buy.)

3. Earn a side income of RM6,000/mth by Apr 2009. (Not achieved.)

4. Buy a property in May 2009. (Not achieved.)

5. Earn a side income of RM8,000/mth by Jul 2009. Quit my job once this threshold is achieved. (Not achieved. Glad I’m still keeping my job)

6. Side income of RM10,000/mth by Oct 2009. (Not achieved.)

7. Trade up the value of my stock portfolio from RM8k to RM16k. (This is debatable. I have unrealised gain of more than 8k. But if strictly referring to “trading”, then I made a trading loss instead of a trading gain.)

Highlights of 2009.

1. Achieved my RmM100,000 networth.

2. Invest in unit trusts using money from EPF.

3. Started trading with futures.

New Goals for 2010.

1. Accumulate my second RM100,000 net worth.

2. Buy a commercial property, ASAP.

3. Side income, target RM1,000 a month, from various sources but excluding the rental income from (2).

It’s amazing how the Government and the Press can spin bad news into good news. The latest being “New toll rates to reflect consumer satisfaction.”

It is presumed that consumers would be willing to pay a higher toll rate because the highways will be widened, and hence consumers will enjoy a smoother journey. As far as I know, along the whole stretch of the PLUS North-South Expressway, there are only a few stretches that are congested and in need of adding more lanes. No doubt consumers who ply these stretches will be satisfied. But what about the other millions of consumers who DO NOT ply these stretches? These other consumers are already enjoying smooth rides, and an increase in toll rates will only mean they have to fork out more money. Where’s the satisfaction in that?

Another example, recently the price of sugar has been increased by 20 sen a kg. And the media keeps publishing positive views on this move. Here are two of the articles. “Withdraw sugar subsidy” and “Weaning off subsidy mentality“. But where are the voices of the people ever published? I haven’t read in any media about the consumer complaining of the exorbitant price increase of drinks at restaurants.

Somehow, I’m starting to feel that the Government is using the print media to influence the public to accept and embrace the Government’s decisions and policies.