Happy Birthday! Today is my birthday. I have turned 32 now. I know I haven’t blogged for 2 months now. So, here’s a quick update.

Bought my first investment property

I have bought an office unit. I’m so excited at the thought of me becoming a landlord. Buying a property is not as easy as I thought. I made a downpayment in Dec 2009, and until today my lawyer is still finalising the terms with the seller. I hope this deal could be completed quickly, so I can start earning rental income.

Busy with work

I have been drafted into a project with my company. The duration of the project is about a year. I have to travel quite a bit and I have to put in some time commitment. But the experience is worth it. It’ll expand my career options and enhancing my value as an employee. Only then will I be able to justify a higher salary.

Talking about higher salary, there’s been a lot of publicity lately regarding moving towards a high-income economy. The New Economic Model (aka NEM) is to bring us from the current per capita income of USD7,600 to between USD15,000 to USD20,000 by the year 2020. This is an increase of between 7% to 12% per year, for the next 10 years. Does this mean that my salary increment should be at least 7% to 12% just to keep up with the national average income increment?

I’ll try to blog more often, if I’m not busy with work

Have a good weekend.

It’s the time of the year again where I ask my colleagues around the office if they have any desktop calendars to spare. Yes, it’s been 2 years in a row that I haven’t received a calendar without me having to ask for it.

I still remember those years when businesses and companies would print calendars and diaries and give them away to their customers and business associates. It was a form of advertising for them. However, since the economy slowdown which began last year, businesses have cut down on spending. The first item on the budget that gets cut is always the advertising budget.

Maybe tomorrow I should give my banker a call and ask about a calendar.

The W-shape recovery is gaining traction. By early next year, many unemployed Americans will run out of unemployment benefits. With domestic consumption declining, another round of fresh layoffs is not impossible.

Countries relying on exports to the US market could face demand cuts. The domino effect could be far reaching.

So, the million dollar question is “When’s the stock market going to dip?” If the stock market is 6 months forward looking, then the market should have dipped a couple of months back. But this hasn’t happened. Then,.. is it dipping now?

We are in the midst of the Great Recession, the worst since 1929. This cause of this recession was due to banks making out loans to risky borrowers. These are known as subprime loans.

The FDIC has recommended a program for these banks to loan to people in the lower income group. Isn’t this akin to making out subprime loans? Isn’t this sowing the seeds of the next financial crisis?

It baffles me. The US unemployment rate hits 10.2%, worse than the expected 9.9%. And guess what? The stock markets around the world rally for the second day in a row. What is going on? Has the investor gone mad?

The people have to realize that, more and more consumers are becoming jobless. Consumer spending will reduce. Corporate revenue will reduce. And so will earnings, unless these corporates initiate another round of layoff to save on administration expenses.

Can someone enlighten me as to why the stock markets are rallying in the face of this worse than expected unemployment news?