Only beauty to fill our souls

I have just read a sentimental article about ballet. I just simply love ballet and I  treat it as a therapy for stress relief probably. I learn music and I play piano but I don't think they affect me like how ballet does on me. To me, it is more than dance.

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What Is It About Ballet?

If you ask any one person what it is about ballet that they love so much you will get a million different answers. If the person you are asking is not a dancer themselves then you will hear them mention the beautiful costumes or the haunting music. Those who don’t dance are fascinated with the physical agility of the ballerina.

If you ask a ballet dancer what they love about ballet you will hear them speak of creative expression, discipline, self control, and enjoying the challenge of trying to reach the highest level of perfection in technique.

I have thought long and hard about this ballet thing trying to find the right words to describe just why ballet is adored by so many.

In this world we have a daily dose of negativity surrounding us from television news reports and newspapers. We know this world is full of ugly things; earthquakes, famines, murders, disease, poverty, and abuse.

Then we catch a glimpse of a ballet and suddenly we are transported away from all the negativity into a world of beauty, elegance, and grace. For that hour or two we can live in a joyous world, a creative paradise. No bad news, only beauty to fill our souls.

That is why I call the ballerina an angel. She brings a little piece of heaven down to the weary masses and gives us the gift of hope for a more beautiful world.

--From "Ballet Forever 

Just not good enough

Seldom I feel good about myself. I am not born with perfection or conditions that naturally make myself proud. I know I have flaws and there's time I even reject myself.

These days my heart has broken in some way- by disappointment, fear, rejection and ridicule. Everyday I try very hard to shape myself to be the one I desire to be. Everyday I just find I don't really look like myself. I pick up the sword and shield to fight for every challenges in order to keep my balance to move on. I don't even know how many weaknesses and sadness I could still hide underneath my mechanical bitter smile.

My friend always said " Why do you just give others blessings but not yourself?" 

I am a very protective person and it's  hard to break my wall and open my heart to anyone solely because I just feel I am not good enough and I don't want to get hurt again.

Indeed, the insecure feeling kills me.

Keep your smile

It has been years since I wrote my blog entry. Time flies, I am already a fresh graduate after undergoing my so-called 4 years of study in the university. I can admit I have changed quite a lot these years both implicitly and explicitly.

By the way, another journey is about to start. Everyone just told me being an accountant is never easy with long and tough hours of work and most probably I need to burn midnight oil to finish the job in the peak season and meanwhile sit for numerous examinations.

Though I am not sure whether it is the right track for me( hopefully yes), at least I am psychologically well-prepared for it. Just believe I can make it then. Frankly, I feel blessed to get into the company that I look for.

We never know what the future holds but we can trust who holds the future. Always believe and keep your smile. :)

Want to get away from the dilemma , find the answers and find myself

Since when, I have lost one of the most valuable things in my personality- passion, and didn't even realized it until emptiness filled up my pursuit of knowledge.

I am second majoring in marketing. What I am thinking may not be the same of yours...but I just want to voice my thoughts after taking 4 marketing courses in these 2 years...

Politely speaking, studying marketing is like studying the framework. Frankly speaking, marketing is just making up some "professional jargons" to each phenomenon and giving "professional" definitions to each term that even your mom knows. I can tell it is stupid to remember those contents because they are just commen sense! What I am looking for are implications and insights and that's why sometimes I am disappointed in the lectures. Chinese have long been refrained from thinking creatively which should be the most successful marketer does. But fine, Lady Gaga demonstrates the meaning of creativity to you. It is almost funny that you can get more from watching Lady Gaga's music videos than having the lectures.

My classmate said "May be we should focus on the framework, or model ofmarketing, which is good for planning, follow the model, step by step....."

Then I said "That's the problem! Being bound by the so-called framework and lose all the creativities and uniquenesses..."

My dearest Jo ma who is also second majoring in marketing said " I guess from the beginning, marketing is not about framework at all~ Nothing creative can be generalized from framework. Framework is just a tool/ guide to make you think. After all these 3 years, I think you can only be a good marketing students if you are exposing yourself to external sources, i.e. look at effective ads/ pr campaigns which companies do, and then build up on the idea/ twist it around, and then put it into your projects. The market is every changing, unlike other professionals, your marketing knowledge should be changing every single seconds, caused by your dynamic customers. If you are looking for a major of which the framework or knowledge on books are useful, I guess you've made a wrong decision?
"Chinese have long been refrained from thinking creatively" is such a stereotyping. There are so many creative and effective campaigns around you! e.g. vitasoy~ the point is whether u've look carefully and gain from your basic observation :)
Local adaptation is such a huge factor in successful marketing, if Lady gaga's mv is played on TVB, will it be appealing to the local customers?"

Maybe she is right, I am not observing carefully at all...or I am not qualified as a good marketing student?...I am not sure but I have to find the answers and also find myself as well...because I am just a bit lost when I was required to memorize those contents in the exams although they were not that difficult...I always question why I need to remember those stuffs. Maybe I am right also because my intention of majoring in marketing is just giving me more opportunities to train my presentation and communications skills but I also expect it can really give me some insights...maybe my expectation is too high or I am too dumb?

Btw, it will be good for me to go for the one-year placement espeically I am now with not many passions about my academic stuffs or even worse, burning the passion. I always ask myself  " what's the point of learning and remembering these and that ?" I just feel I cannot get as enough insights as I expect and this is the time for me to know how the things work in the real situation although my one-year placement is nothing about marketing but more about finance field. Anyway, I just want to give myself one year to clear up my mind and see whether I can view things differently after a year when I return to school to finish my year 3.

I am so bored... assignments, lectures, projects, meetings all  fill up my schedule everyday. I don't know whether they are part of the reasons why I have lost my passion.But the loss of passion will be burdened by myself eventually...I know it very well.

I really want to pick up my passion again.

《金錢之王》- 蔡東豪

《金錢之王》- 蔡東豪

This is the second well-written book of 蔡東豪 that I read. Actually, he is already a successful guy in finance industry. He interviewed 5 Money masters (葉維義、林少陽、鍾民穎、陸東和陳鎮洪)who are all famous investors in HK and wrote the book from the perspective of a knowledgeable insider. This book is awesome and interesting. Unlike other finance books teaching the skills, it illustrates and emphasizes more on people. It is always good to learn from others’ experience and know more about those working in the finance industry.

I actually find some similarities from those successful investors.

1. They are all men (Why? Men are more analytical? Quantitative? I don’t really know the reasons…)

2. They are filled with passions in their career path and are willing to face new challenges and changes

3. They are all self-disciplined not only in the aspect of investing but also in their daily life

4. There are no strict rules / theorem in investing, they all develop their own investment philosophies through their experience

5. They are all hardworking and acquire knowledge which is not restricted to only economics and finance, but also history/ literature

Among those 5 interviewees, I found that陸東is very charming. I am interested in his personalities because it is hard to see a person to be so confident like him or some may perceive that is arrogant. But I really like his speaking style: very precise, well-organized, and insightful. And he is the handsomest among all! (smile) Maybe I will soon become one of his fans.I will get his book -《智者傲行》to read later.

Btw, it is a good book. I highly recommend everyone to have a look and you will find it interesting even if you are indifferent about the finance field. I will read the 《金錢之王2》later.

I have had a good discussion with a friend who is now a manager working in the finance field and thinks that the academic finance stuffs are meaningless and not practical at all and I replied him with a different point of view. He said “我每日用隻手食飯,我個人無乜興趣同我同枱d人解釋我嘅二頭 肌同手指點配合！Hayley, 信我! 睇書學游水真係唔work ka！危急果陣會乜都唔記得! 你想學就搵d機會睇吓d實際操作la! “ And another finance guy ( maybe his colleague, I am not sure) said” 始終理論歸理論、實戰歸實戰…世事如棋局局新~~投資市場更要精準快到方能運籌唯握, 讀書係用IQ分析投資市場…但係投資致勝最緊要係EQ…反而呢家嘢讀書好難身同感受…始終善戰者勝！” Frankly speaking, I know why they said so and I agree with them because I am also a practical person. Compared with experienced and knowledgeable guys like them, it may not be so meaningful. But I am just a baby beginner and thus I am learning how to 二頭肌同手指點配合before 用隻手食飯…to me, it is not an impulse response…As an undergraduate, those must-learn things have to be handled and thus I can have something in mind to實戰 because it is deplorable if making mistakes that everyone can know from the books.

This is what I can do at this stage. If I have a chance to have a real taste of it, then it will be awesome because it is always true that learning by doing is much more powerful.

Points To Note:
-"Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise." - Ted Turner

-Investing through discipline

- value investing > the larger the margin of safety >low/fair price high value (value-price= margin of safety) > also focus on the future growth of company ( patience and time matter a lot) it is a framework/ the thinking guidance but not a strategy

-Warren Buffett > value investing > oxymoron and redundant (investing based on value and price, or else it is speculation

- the style of investing can reflect one's personalities

-" buy and hold "doesn't mean value investing> have to know when to long

-Law of big numbers

-the basic fundamental of hedge fund (a few fund managers have close relationships and knows the need of clients for asset management> will not be a big business) not absolute return but to reduce risk ( a business of people+trust initially)

- PEG price earning to growth ratio > high PE may have growth potentials ( the growth rate of revenue)

-Tony Measor is not willing to invest in retail companies which require the sense of fashion trend of the management, but invests in simple business which nuts can also manage

-index fund 2800 (low transaction cost)

- the components of a successful fund manager : framework, listening, cherry pick, mental strength> have to consider the overall performance of the investment portfolios instead of personal beliefs or a certain market tread

- " you can be right for the wrong reasons, or wrong for the right reasons" market trend is hard to interpret

- 林少陽 recommends not to buy IPO, red chips and he buys what he know best

-"Originally all short-term investors are all long-term investors, but human easily changes"

-陸東believes the power of market and the business cycle

-HK govt >preemptive instead of responsive> not visionary

- " 八萬五" is a failure>govt affected demand and supply > increased supply> price of property decreases > the supply exceeds demand >surplus> deflation > cannot help HK economy> so should depend on the market force

- "Balance Bubble" - work/life balance cannot help to achieve the goal as concentration, passion and time are required

-私募 Private Equity > invest in the investees - companies which are not listed on the stock exchange> internal growth/integration/acquisition of investees> private equity gain money if the investees are listed on the stock exchange/ sold

-venture capital funds (refers to new established enterprises usually in the IT field> look for long term investors （at least one to two years）> low liquidity> high risk enterprises> not more than 20-30 companies> consider the ability, visions, integrity of the management , growth rate, execution ability, rate to increase market share> not capital-driven companies> give financial support to new companies for their grow> earnings and get money after a few years when the companies are listed on the stock exchange market/ integrated/ acquired ( however, GEM stock market is not a good place> low liquidity and high risk and thus the fund managers are not willing to invest in those stick and the estimated value is low compared with the main board)

-3 stages of VC ( VC funds normally are invested at the first 2 stages)

-VC risk diversification > there must be losing and winning companies> as long as what can gain from the winning companies outweigh the loss form the losing companies will be fine

- C.f. 基礎投資者 ( less than 1-2 years before the companies issue IPO) > doesn’t belong to private equity investor

-Warren Buffett > not to solve difficult business problems but to avoid them > “ To the extent we have been successful, because we concentrated on identifying one-foot hurdles that we could step over rather than because we acquired any ability to cleat seven-footers.”

-when the VC is successful> whether the investors/shareholders hold similar point of views, same visions and similar wealth background, continuous supportiveness matter a lot

《聰明借來創富錢》- 李兆波

《聰明借來創富錢》- 李兆波

It is a good book! Thanks Simon!

Finally, I have got some time to finish reading this book although I still have one mid-term exam tmr.

I am familiar with the concepts in the first half of the book. It just points out how the time value of money and inflation affect the purchasing power, cash flow, asset & liability concepts. For the wise use of credit card, I think it is kind of a common concept that credit card charge super high interest rate, sometimes I just don’t understand why people can have loads of credit card loans. I am never stupid enough to just pay for the minimum payment. Every time I check the date and the amount carefully and pay in full. Besides, I also check how many points I have accumulated which allow me to get other benefits. Once I use the credit card, I always remind myself of paying back later and make sure that I have enough cash flow to support that amount. Still, many people just fall into the traps with no reason…really miserable but serve them right…

The book shows why back set the credit card minimum payment at $50 or 3% of the total amount and interest rate below 30%, the time for repayment is crucial here. ( very interesting)

It gives me some insights by using different tools to borrow and manage money. Frankly speaking, I believe getting the loans for investment (especially engaging in the stock market> margin) is a good idea for someone who is well- equipped with financial skills. But for the general public, conservatively speaking, it is more important to control the cost well since borrowing money may risk their current assets if they have limited financial knowledge.

These days I have come across the foreign exchange theory, international parity conditions in my auditing lessons. The book also mentions some concepts of them. When I learn more and more, I realize finance world is much more complicated than I can imagine…it seems that I can never finish my learning and it is very hard to link the academic stuffs (which are the conceptual frameworks) to the reality because there are always discrepancies between the theories and the real world. The theories are derived from lots of assumptions which the real world doesn’t hold. Even you can link them; it doesn’t mean that you can earn a lot because you just know how things happen. The predication part is the hardest of all. If there were some rules/theories that allow everyone to earn a lot, there would be no professors in the school. ( or if there is really a rule, that guy will not tell anybody) Finance professors are good at all academic stuffs, but they are still professors. That why I always tell myself and my students > earning money is not as easy as a piece of cake. So why bother to learn these stuffs then? I am always optimistic, maybe I cannot earn a lot, but still, I can earn more than someone who knows nothing and at least I won’t be deceived by the others.

The main concepts of the whole book:
-the return of using those borrowed money for investment ( not for consumption) should be enough to cover the cost ( interest) and also the inflation rate

- Consumption by using the return of your investment but not your principal

Implications of the book:

- Think critically, compare and read the terms in the contract clearly when trying to get a loan

Points to note ( for my reference only)

http://www.bankrate.com

http://www.creditcards.com (credit card calculator)

- Inflation in home country > depreciation of home country

- Mortgage interest > tax reduction ( max. 100000 each year per person for 10 years), enjoy more if only one person in a couple claims that he/she own the property ( for self-living purpose only)

- The longer the time, the higher the interest rate risk

- P- x% , P=prime rate (最優惠利率)

-be aware of the transaction cost (e.g. handling charge )besides interest rate

-other tools: 稅務貸款 ( enjoy lower interest rate), 保單借貸 ( may risk your future return of your insurance contract), 押鋪 ‘’九出十三歸’’, credit union

- Simple interest (flat rate : interest doesn’t decrease with the principal> more interest to be paid

- Compound interest > interest decreases with the principal

-the more frequent you pay, the less interest that you pay

-Modiglianai-Miller theorem>

Rate of Return (earning) = rate of Return from asset + (rate of Return from asset- borrowing interest rate) (debit amount/principal) (1- tax rate)

if rate of return from asset > borrowing interest and Debit amount > principal , then rate of return (earning) grows

-loans > IPOs (capital gain / dividend received >pay handling fee and interest)

-Triangle arbitrage > forward contract? Almost impossible> lower interest rate outweighs the gain in foreign exchange rate

If no forward contract? Exchange rate risk!

- 70% mortgage >>>then price of the property drops larger than 30% > negative equity負資產 (c.f. 50% mortgage > drop > 50%)
- Transferred from Fixed rate ( you expect the interest rate will rise initially) to floating rate > interest penalty
- Shorten the repayment period > interest penalty ( since bank can earn less interest than before)
- 按揭
- 與存款對減的樓按組合 ( suitable for someone who is unable to yield higher return on the deposit )> same interest rate of your deposit account and you pay to bank> the interest you pay to the bank based on (the mortgage loan- your deposit) but max 50% of your mortgage loan….the exceeding deposit > paid according to current account interest rate
- The lower the prime rate, the higher the interest rate risk ( so also consider the trend of how prime rate goes besides the low prime rate)
- Mortgage, margin> leverage effect> magnify the rate of return and loss

Factors affecting the value of property:

- Demand and supply of land and property in the future
- Macroeconomics

- Interest rate

- Government policy

- Growth rate of salary

- Purchasing power of the buyer

Reasons of inflation:

1. Demand pulls

2. Central bank decreases interest rate

3. Increase supply of currency

4. Increase in government expenditures

5. Cost pushes

- wage increases since a lack of labour

- cost of production increases

Funny joke

I have found this funny joke on the internet. Share with you guys.

-----------------------------------

Morris (the father) says to his son: “I want you to marry a girl of my choice.”

The son says: “I will choose my own bride.”

Morris says: “But the girl is Bill Gates’ daughter.”

The son answers: “Well, in that case, yes ok.”

Morris then approaches Bill Gates and says: “I have a husband for your daughter.”

Bill Gates answers: “But my daughter is too young to get married!”

Morris says: “But this young man is a vice-president of the World Bank.”

Bill Gates answers: “Ah, in that case, yes ok.”

Finally Morris goes to see the president of the World Bank.

Morris says: “I have a young man to be recommended as a vice-president.”

The president answers: “But I already have more vice-presidents than I need.”

Morris says: “But this young man is Bill Gates’ son-in-law.”

The President answers: ”Ah, in that case, yes ok.”

And that is how successful business is done.

永遠懷念我親愛的爺爺 ( 1925-2010)

今年的新年,雖然大家聚在一起, 大家庭裡少了一員, 少了一點的笑聲, 嫲嫲的眼神裡缺少了以往的神采
所有東西來得太快, 但每一個過程對我來說還是瀝瀝在目, 那天我要我自己把每個細節也要記下來, 現在我的心情大致上平服了, 因此我希望把所有的經歷全都寫下來
2010 年1月 24日, 我們慶祝爺爺85歲大壽
2010年1月26日, 大約晚上 7時, 本來我在與友人一起唱K (平日的我很多時候也收不到來電, 但神奇的竟然可以在K房收到電話), 突然收到電話說爺爺進了威爾斯, 情況不妙, (媽媽還問我何時唱完=.=’’’, 真是的…… 若我看不到爺爺最後一面我定會懊悔非常), 二話不說我只用了20分鐘坐地鐵由旺角到威記, 在路上一直跑著, 神奇的一路暢通無阻, 就好像連交通燈也為我開路
到了急症室門外, 家人已平靜的聚集在一起, 看他們眼泛淚光, 我心裡大概估計到情況很嚴重, 後來上了病房, 看見爺爺合著眼, 戴上了氧氣罩, 呼吸有點喘促, 但他以經昏迷了, 醫生說他的腦部中風, 大量出血, 相信會在一兩日離去, 叫我們好好地陪著他, 我的爸爸情緒失控, 攬著爺爺, 眾人也哭了, 姑姐對我說：「十個孫兒裡爺爺最疼你, 你在他耳邊說你來到了吧…」原本我在他耳邊大叫他加油 撐下去, 後來我看見他難以撐下去, 我對他說我會努力讀書, 照顧爸媽, 叫他若太辛苦就放心離去, 他合著眼, 開不了口, 我仿佛看到他猛力的點了一下頭, 我的確相信他能聽到我在說甚麼, 其後我年細的表弟妹們也透過電話對他說了最後的話, 哭著說他們會很乖, 要他康復過來, 我在現場聽著, 那種心如刀割的滋味的確非筆墨可形容, 我在旁忍不住大哭, 但我不斷責怪自己控制不住情緒只會令他不可安心離去, 冷靜了一下後再看著他, 讓他快樂的無掛的離去, 我看見他閉著眼流著淚, 他那時還有意識的, 還記得小時候當我哭的時候, 他總會大笑對著我, 當時的我有點不高興, 今天我長大了, 忍不住哭了, 這次我是多麼希望他還可以是笑著的離去
到了晚上爸爸留在醫院監視情況, 眾人先回家休息
2010年1月27日, 凌晨2時, 睡在床上不能入睡, 希望有奇績出現, 爺爺能醒過來, 不久電話響起來, 說爺爺的上下壓與心跳有點波動, 媽原叫我不要去, 但我堅持一定要送他最後一程, 媽拿我沒辦法, 我與媽截了一架的士, 的士司機非常合作, 第一次領略速度比火箭還要快的的士旅程
到了醫院, 看見爺爺的心跳時快時慢, 上下壓低到得50, 29…眾人也隨後趕到來, 爺爺樣子很平靜, 大概是睡著了, 我們也在旁靜靜的看著, 希望他在睡夢中舒服的離去, 凌晨3時17分, 我親眼看著爺爺沒有了心跳, 醫生作了最後檢查說他已經離去了, 這是我出生以來最傷心的一天…從此世上又少了一個疼愛我的人... 其後我看見我叔叔向空氣揮了揮手, 後來我問他是否看見爺爺的靈魂, 他說他看到了一個黑影, 但不太清楚是否爺爺
當所有事情都已成定局時, 爸爸與叔叔才帶著嫲嫲到醫院, 她看著爺爺, 問我們：「他已經走了嗎?」我們點頭, 的而且確爺爺死去的樣了與平日睡覺的樣子差不多 (我常常偷看他睡覺的樣子), 嫲嫲沒有哭, 比我想像中冷靜, 瀟灑堅強得多, 雖然我很肯定她回到家裡一定會偷偷的哭, 嫲嫲又說: 「他早上還到茶樓吃鴨腳扎, 午飯時說沒有甚麼胃口, 問我為甚麼好像不會行, 後來叫我叫白車, 跟著就在床上昏迷了, 他甚麼都沒有說就離去了…」嫲嫲看著他一會兒, 轉身出病房又截回說要對他說最後一句, 她說: 「老豆, 呀君(i.e. my sister)的5萬那會找回來, 不用擔心…」(在我上大學的時候, 爺爺嫲嫲也給了我5萬交學費…) 在旁的我聽著忍著眼淚……
那天我姑姐遞了爺爺上白車時進院時所戴著的一隻手錶給我, 我才驚覺發現是我去年買暑假在新城市買給他的手錶, 還記得我們一起到時間廊選購, 想不到他到臨死前也一直戴著, 我已把它給了我的叔叔, 我不想睹物思人, 因這只會令我更傷心, 一回家, 搭車閉著眼眼淚一直流
雖然爺爺沒有留下甚麼遺言, 但我很清楚他會想對我說甚麼, 他常常打電到我家問我考不考到, even我已進了大學, 也是這樣, 問我考得怎樣, 我知道他最擔心我們這一家, 還有……我知道爺爺最喜歡會讀書的人
那一晚我完全睡不著, 腦子裡不斷重複爺爺離去安詳的樣子, 我要求我自己要記緊爺爺的樣子, 因為過了今天便沒有機會再見了, 其實在爺爺離留的一刻我很想在叫他回來找我, 但怕嚇怕我的媽, 所以我沒有這樣做, 到現在我還是sense不到爺爺來找我, 雖然他很大可能已經來過了, 但因為我太遲睡, 夜夜也開著燈, 又可能因為我陽氣太盛, 因此進不了我的frequency, 又或者我根本不知這怎樣才代表他來過, 其實我有一次試過心跳得有點厲害, 但我不知道這是否代表我的身體有點反應還是我的心理作用
我爺爺其實很猛, 我的爺爺的性格向來很開朗, 甚麼都對人說, 公告天下是他一灌的作風,我知道我叔叔, 3個姑姐與我的表哥完全sense到他的存在, 我叔叔sense到爺爺番過來睇金仔 ( i.e. 我的唐弟), 我的表哥最厲害, 直情聽到阿爺在他耳邊說了兩句話, 叫他比心機讀書and照顧我的姑姐, 至於我的大姑姐說阿爺回來時她的心跳得很厲害, 爺爺還拉著她的手, 至於我的中姑姐, 只嚇得甚麼也不知道, 只知道那是爺爺=.=’’’, 至於我的細姑姐, 見到阿爺同佢笑著say goodbye, 說他現在大把錢 (因為之前有燒紙錢比佢), 不過無拐杖, 叫佢燒埋比佢 ( I have questioned why my grandpa didn’t buy one in陰間, 可能陰間無得賣掛…) 據我大姑姐所說, 最神奇, 莫過於佢回魂夜居然食左好多燒肉, (成盒燒肉有成一大角無左), 而且桌上有3杯水, 特別有一杯無左成一半…聽完之後我都覺得我阿爺好「屈機」, 其實我阿媽都有擺到椰tarts, 不過就原封不動 (我早知, 爺爺同我向來都唔鍾意食椰tarts, 我之後仲挪揄我媽連鬼都唔” 吼” 佢d椰tarts) , 仲有蕃薯糖水, 不過原我媽無數過有幾多蕃薯, 所以唔知…btw, 我那一晚有擺左一張好大的memo比爺爺, 叫他一路好走, 不用擔心我們, 希望他看到吧 (好彩我阿爺識字)
爺爺是個很有福氣的人, 進了天道(其實我也不太知道是甚, 那個靈堂負責人說totally有六道: 天, 地, 人, 畜, 鬼, 佛), 聽個名估計天道應該點都好過人道掛=.=’’
1月11日守夜, 靈堂滿是花牌, 前方放了爺爺笑得很歡顏的大頭相, 有3枝好大的香在前面,整天有很多親戚朋友到來送他最後一程, 有30多人打齋打了6小時, 聽說可以讓他便無牽掛, 便安心的離去, 本來好貴, 要成8-10萬, 非常誇張, 但因為我阿叔識人, 那30多人完部都是義工, 我叔叔自願比左8千蚊道堂, 那天我大部分時間摺金銀, 燒紙錢, 希望自己可以有點東要做, 因為我要是一靜下來就只懂哭, 沒有貢獻, 至於我的表弟妹, 他們很怕香爐煙味, 但我從來不怕香爐, 爺爺是個很孝順的人, 每逢過時過節, 爺爺便會常常要我拜太公太婆, 我細細個就成日慣左跟著佢落街一齊燒紙錢, (記得有一次連打火機都燒埋, 嚇死我…) 香燭味對我黎講簡直濕濕碎, 當我每每想到今日我親手上香比佢, 親手燒紙錢比佢, 個心到而家都好酸
1月12日大斂, 爺爺出殯火葬, 爺爺的屍身一直以一玻璃之隔, 放在靈堂的房間裡, 我有試過自己走入去, 合著眼, 看看會否感受到甚麼, but nothing…真係幾失望, 看到爺爺身體被壽衣蓋著, 塊面好似瘦左d而且有點彊硬, 後來有些人要把他放進棺木, 把一塊玉放在他口裡, 然後推出來讓人膽仰遺容, 爺爺就是安詳地躺著, 後來到了小禮堂, 看著棺木進了火葬場……一切都完結了……跟著我吃了一點東西便上學去了, 我知道這是我爺爺想看見的
人生在世最傷心的事莫過於親人的離去, 我嘗到心如刀割的滋味,
媽媽說這是人生必經的階段, 五味人生
很可惜我對我的童年沒有太多的回憶, 只記得小時候與他一起住的一點點凌碎的片段
記得小時候爺爺會帶我到小公園玩, 他會跟其他伯伯玩我從來都不知怎玩的紙牌遊戲
記得夏天與他一起享受午睡的樂趣
記得七十多歲的他牽著我到以前大圍青龍水上樂園, 與當年只有幾歲的我玩海盜船, 成船只有我與他兩個人, 上了才知上錯賊船, 嚇得我倆半死, 結果我以後都不敢再玩
記得每次到他家吃飯也會弄我最愛的薑蔥炒蟹, 其美味程度無人能及
記得他差不多每天打電話來問我和妹妹考不考到
記得他想叫我得閒找他飲早茶, 但因我在假日實在太懶訓, 不想起床……到現在再沒有機會了
記得上年中秋, 他說自己分分鐘有90歲命, 可以看到畢業, 甚至出來工作的一天, 可惜卻等不了, 現在只剩下一點點遺憾
記得爸爸口邊常常掛著你的金句：「年青人力去力回, 做事不要怕蝕底！」
在我的血裡, 遺傳了他的面對逆境時的阿Q樂觀精神, 還有四萬的笑容
教曉我要孝順, 尊重老人
教曉我原來思想可以很簡單, 這樣可以少卻很多煩惱
教曉我樹欲靜而風不息, 孫欲養而親不在, 要更珍惜眼前人
雖然事實已告訴我他已經離去了, 但感覺上他好像還在世上
我應感恩, 我的人生的確有很多的塞翁失馬, 幸好我去不了exchange, 否則我來不及說再見, 更不可能看到他最後一面, 陪伴他走到生命的最後一刻
第一次面對親人的離去, 原來我沒有想像中冷靜
除了哭, 我好像做不了任何事情
那種愛莫能助, 無法挽回的無力感
人生到底是甚麼, 人死了究竟又是甚麼？

此情不再
我知道時間會洗走悲傷, Life still has to move on,
悲傷過後我依舊要向著我的目標發奮, 因為我不想將來有甚麼抱憾, 連一點點的遺憾也不想有
Just reminds me of this video once again...
 

When I grow up,
I realize
People around will leave one by one
Regardless of my will
Regardless of what we have done
You will find how powerless you are
The only thing to engrave
Were the pieces of memories
Goodbye grandpa......
當我漸漸長大
我發現
身邊的人會一個個離開
無論我願不願意
無論曾經如何
最後只會發現自己的無能為力
不會離開的只有回憶的片段
陪伴了我20年, 最疼我的爺爺, 再見了, 一路好走...
有緣再見, 你永遠在我心裡, 我會想念你

《20 / 80 時代 智富路》- 劉創楚

《20 / 80 時代 智富路》- 劉創楚

The name of this book "20/80" means the top 20% of people get a larger and larger proportion of income.

This book includes philosophy of financial management (i.e. financial planning, asset allocation, modern portfolio theory by Harry ), the principles of investment( i.e. compounding, business philosophy, value investing) and investing management ( i.e. panic investing, theme investing)

Frankly speaking, the author just makes the ideas a little bit complicated (especially the first half of the book), but the underlying concepts are easy to understand, he can actually keep them simpler. But overall, it is a good book with rich contents; I like the second half of the book more since it briefly tells the situation of China. I just get a feeling that China is running on a similar road of previous HK.

Points to note:

-force saving, live below your means

-buy index fund instead of the financial products of the bank to save transaction cost and selection effort

-be alert to the saving rate of different banks

- Government bond vs. cash (bond > more protective against inflation rate)

- Prerequisite of focus investing > you know well about what you are investing

- What determine the return ( 91.5% asset allocation, 4.6% selection, 1.8% timing)

-stock market (the longer the time, the lower the risk)

-Gini Coefficient 堅尼系數 ( assuming that there are ten people, if GC =0, everyone can get 10% of total income. If GC = 1, one person gets all the income) HK is now 0.43 ( year2009)

-either good at choosing the best timing or selecting the best can make you succeed

4 rules to pick good companies by Peter Lynch
1) research on the company should be done continuously

2) the company should be as simple as possible ( Warren “you should invest in the business that you know very well")

3) Niche (others cannot follow and can differentiate with the others and others cannot easily enter the market to compete with you)> "business franchise with profit royalty due to some historical factors - people have inertia to it >>mentioned by Warren" e.g. Wall Street Journal, Cola coke, HKEx, China Mobile

4) Earnings

-Peter Lynch "good companies must have good performance in long term but may not in short term"

*******

-Warren Buffett "there is no fast track to earn a lot, being rational is needed" "a share in a business" " acquiring a good company (consider the time factor to predict its future ) with reasonable price instead of acquiring a bad business with low price"

- Warren " picking stocks in the banking and insurance industries > focus on good management> must be good at controlling risk and cost, asset allocation"

- Victor Sperandeo " preservation of capital> consistent profitability> pursuit of superior returns">risk management

-Benjamin Graham "value investing> know the intrinsic value from fundamental analysis > waiting for the business cycle>margin of safety

3 main parts of value investing
1) Business - ability testing ( simple and understandable business) , operating testing ( time is the indicator), prospect testing ( natural franchise without the control of government)

2) Financial status - ROE ( + consider the liability) , marginal profit ( net profit) , $ 1 test ( if the company reserve $1 revenue instead of giving dividends and the stock price cannot increase $1, then the investing ability is not high)

3) value - find out the intrinsic value of a company ( cash flow + the growth rate of return) and compare with the current price

-Tony Measor " The investor may gain even the stock price doesn't increase in short run> shares replace dividends> investors can get more shares if the stock price is low (ROE + increasing dividends> indicator of good companies)

-how to position in the bear market > don't do expectations but make use of the volatility of stock price

- the features of the bull market 1) historical high price 2) low dividend rate> lower than bond rate 3) everyone plays in the stock market 4) many companies including the bad ones issues IPO

-3 insights of an investor (1) money making outside HK not inside, don't focus on stocks in property industry 2) take advantage of china's economic growth 3) find business franchise)

- appreciation of Reminbi harms manufacturing industries (unemployment, company’s bankruptcy) and stability of financial market but benefits “cheap Reminbi” industries including exported add-valued industries

- How to deal with the “crash” created by appreciation of Reminbi > revolution of tertiary industries

-the economic transformation of China> turn to heavy industries/ high-tech industries ( it is hard because it requires creativity)

6 trends in China

1) Stable & high economic growth rate with less volatility (around 8.5-10%)

2) The end of the era of cheap labour ( due to one child policy in 1979)

3) Inflation in China ( HK is facing the dilemma of high inflation rate but low interest rate ( due to linked exchange rate system of US Federal Reserve Board)

4) The end of the leading manufacturing industries > >tertiary industries

5) Balance of trade ( reduce trade surplus and thus reduce the conflicts between trade partners)

6) The end of fixed rate of Reminbi

《香港溫布頓》- 蔡東豪

Wimbledon HK《香港溫布頓》- 蔡東豪

I knew this book from Mingpao website and this book was also read by 曾俊華.

It is an inspiring book which tells how the author thinks about maintaining the status of financial centre of Asia and overcoming the challenges. With the unique opinions of the author, readers can know more about the prospect of HK financial market.

The author is actually quite positive about HK's future although Chinese government intends to boost Shanghai as another financial centre. However, the general environment in China is now still immature (i.e. government policies, controls over the financial market ( the over-intervention in the stock market harms the basic rules of market mechanism)and the quality of investors, conflicts of interest ). Thus, HK can still take a free ride of the boom of economy in China.

How to maintain the status of financial centre and overcome the challenges:

1) attract more foreign talents to HK financial market

2) protect and improve the brand of our financial centre status by enforcing fair & strict internal controls to differentiate ourselves from Shanghai

3) accept the " Wimbledon effect"

The author promotes the market mechanism ( efficient/self-regulated market with few government interventions) and he thinks that protectionism is the emeny of economic growth ( the name of the book includes the word " Wimbledon", it refers to " Wimbledon effect" - Britain holds the well-known tennis competition in Wimbledon every year but rarely one british won the competition. However, this competition brings huge capitals, employment oppportunities. This reminds me of the phrase " the winner in the curse" ) With reference to this phenomenon og the London global financial centre status, the top financial institutions are foreign companies since they indirectly raise the quality and bring new ideas to London financial market

4) maintain the fair game rules of the financial market >" survival for the fittest", one can get reasonable rewards according to his ability > so the phenomenon of wide gap between "Haves" and "Have-Nots"(i.e. wealth gap) should not blame on the fair financial market and government should not hamper the growth of financial market with the excuse of wealth allocation ( you rarely see a mediocre with a brilliant family background survives in multi-national investment bank)

5) maintain a mature and "energetic" stock market with high liquidity, huge and fast info flow

6) simple-structured financial products can reduce unneccessary risk

I remember Prof. Wong said that bond market is not popular in HK because we all like gambling :) The author gives me a new insight > government and entreprises do not have a culture to issue bonds, banks can already earn a lot of money relying on the property industry and it is no need to rely on high risk debitors...therefore, the supply ( from banks) is suppressed.

As for the inactive commoditiy market, HK is not the place of production/ agglomeration, the investors are also unfamiliar with it.

7) improve the fairness of financial market >replace the primitive method with electronic method when buying IPO stocks ( some cornerstone investors just pay one or two days before getting the new shares but general public needs to pay 3 weeks in advanced) >it is hard to change as banks can get a huge profit in margin lending

This video is a short summary of the book

http://www.rthk.org.hk/special/awardpro/award07/onhongkong_tsoi.htm

《致富王道-8個投資金律》- 朱凱婷, 鄧聲興

《致富王道-8個投資金律》- 朱凱婷, 鄧聲興

This book is well-written and easy to read. ( that's why I could finish it within a few hours) I read it even during the exam period. It is obviously much more interesting than the academic stuffs and boring textbooks.

It interviewed 8 experienced investors and celebrities and they shared their ways of doing business, investing and financial planning. (it just briefly illustrates these, not digging too deep so far) It is more likely to tell the readers about the mindset and financial quotient (more on financial EQ) of a successful investor.


Points to note for myself :

- Investment Chronicle, Financial times, financial report

-invest sth unrelated to general economic environment e.g. red wine future ( reflect demand and supply > increase in value since supply < demand) - cannot neglect external factors apart from purely the company's performance when doing investments (e.g. the impact of derivatives e.. future, warrent, Hedge fund etc on the share price) - younger> higher risk tolerance level

-increase in interest rate is not benefitical to the market, vice versa

-in China, 30% people have mobile phone, 10% in rural area> China mobile (941) :)

-淡市(it implies low transactions)入市，stable stock price which may not reflect the true value of the stock, 抗跌力強, 更有上升動力 ( since everyone is holding money, when this purchasing power releases again> high return rate)

-knowing how to play around with the derivatives instead of risky stocks by using a small amount of money to train the finanical skills especially for the youth

- beginners with limited capital should not diversify your stocks too much, choose high-quality stocks for long-term investments

- Derivatives are very good educational tools, because the buyers not only have to consider the share price, but also other factors, e.g. implied volatility, gearing power> train the risk management skills

- be calm and analytical when everyone is crazy in the stock market

- the motivation for the stock price increases > good global economy, low inflation rate, having econoic growth

- HK stock money is always greatly affected by American economy ( American funds lead the global stock market and lots of HK stocks are hold by Americans)

- having less capital> speculative approach , having more capital> conservative approach

- release the pressure > sell the stock which can already cover the cost of purchasing, then trade stocks with no cost

- grasp the economic cycle > buy stock at the beginning of bull market, sell at the end of the bull market

-know how to do short selling> earn a lot when the stock market collapses

-long term investment > 10 years...concentrate on the potential of future growth, cash flow

-short term investment > spending few capitals on diversified small stocks

- using PE ratio to determine whether buy the stocks is not precise enough>>> we have to consider the potential growth as well > so PEG = PE/EPS is more accurate to measure the value

-《曾氏通道》 > shows the opportunities of buying and selling ?!? ( have to figure out more about it later)

-demand for real estates with lower value is greater than the higher ones> higher liquidity

-investment percentage on stocks should be larger than real estates

- have to consider regional factors ( land price) , the govenment land policy when acquiring real estates> the power of growing value and generating rent return

- the producing cycle of real estates is long, it is not as flexible as the stock market, it changes less frequently

- dealing with the problem of increasing inflation rate and maintaining living standard> investment

-somehow the stock market is efficient, the stock price has already reflected the impact of annual report or news> so need to investigate the lower and upper courses the particular industries and company's future

P.S.* since it is borrowed from the library, a previous reader highlighted a lot of things in the book by using a pencil, and I couldn't help laughing when I saw he highlighted "女朋友是基金經理"...just wondering why he regarded it as one of the main points...lol

uhuhuh, I have to focus on the boring exams again....

Lesson Nine and Ten

Caution: I just draft the stuffs that I remember in the lesson which are not included in the handout of the instructor, so hopefully I do not interpret and remember something incorrectly.

-日光族處境比月光族更嚴峻

-buy bonds which are due at different periods

-traditional family Vs Single parent family > what are the differences except there is one more people in the family? (我咁記得呢句係因為我對呢對說話好有感覺)

-ROE= profit/equity

Simon's recommanded books :

- 投資學堂 = The investment workshop / 譚紹興著.

-On Competition by Michael Porter

>>>1. cost leadership 2. differentiation(quality/extra facilities) 3. Focus( specific skills)

>>>Porter's Five Forces

1. Bargaining power of Buyers 2. Bargaining power of Sellers

3. existing competitors 4. New entrants 5. Substitutes

extra info: http://www.vectorstudy.com/management_theories/porters_five_forces.htm

- Business @ the Speed of Thought: Succeeding in the Digital Economy by Bill Gates

This was the last lesson...隔離飯香 I envy CUHK hotel school students who are taught by Simon. My best friend @ hotel school said he skipped his classes...what a waste...he is a good instructor and superman( I am wondering how he can do things so efficiently)....you know, although it is a 4-hour lesson and I am always tired, I never fall asleep.

I will have a long winter break and I know CU starts its spring semester much earlier than UST. If I am allowed to attend his lessons or follow him whatever during that period, it will be sheer bliss to me

********

Yeah!!! I have asked him and I am allowed to attend his lessons in January! Yeah! Follow him!

The only deplorable thing is that the exam of this course is coming very soon...

《來參加巴菲特股東會》- Randy Cepuch

《來參加巴菲特股東會》

A Weekend with Warren Buffett And Other Shareholder Meeting Adventures -Randy Cepuch

The book illustrates the author's experience of attending annual shareholders' meetings of a wide array of companies i.e. Berkshire Hathaway, Playboy, Starbucks, Disney, Microsoft,Google, Wal-Mart etc.

Frankly speaking, it is not as entertaining as I expected. (at least I didn't laugh when reading it and tedium prevails) It provides a small insight towards corporate governance and it shows specific company cultures to a certain extent and gives you some rough ideas of how the senior managers and directors performmed in different companies but overall it is not very precise and informative.

The idea that I can get from the book is ...a shareholder meeting may be a useful source of investment information, but only if shareholders pose intelligent questions and the managers and directors are willing to give forthright responses. Unluckily, this rarely happens. The Berkshire Hathaway meeting is one of a kind, but the author didn't write a lot about it. I guess it will be more insightful to read Warren Buffett's letters to his shareholders in the Berkshire Hathaway website.
The author is obviously a Buffettologist.

  
I read the translated version but some translations are blurred. Thus, I  recommend one should read English Version if you can have a choice.

************

Points to note:

- Find the one you admire, and ask yourself whether you can be like him.

- The real asset of one can own is oneself, so invest more and add values to yourself

-The shares of Berkshire Hathaway : A & B shares

BRK.A (A share) > super expensive ( US$ 102350 on 14/11/09)

BRK.B(B share) > US $ 3,413.98 on 14/11/09

-A share> targets for long-term investor

-B share> used for avoid taxes, allow A-share holder to show partial shares ( price of 1 A share=30 B shares)

-A shares can be converted to B shares but not vice versa.

-Voting right of 1 A share= 1/200 B share

-Both A & B shareholders are invited to join the annual shareholders' meetings

Lesson Seven and Eight

Caution: I just draft the stuffs that I remember in the lesson which are not included in the handout of the instructor, so hopefully I do not interpret and remember something incorrectly.

- bank and property > related> risk diversification effect is not obvious

- Beta measures systematic risk Vs S.D and varience measure total risk

-Beta> no direction ( negative/ positive) is indicated

-Beta = 1 > only market return, Beta = 0 > only risk-free return, Beta >1 High risk, Beta<1 low risk - the implications of huge audit fee > large scale/ high risk of the firm

- stock market > no one can win forever, no always winning rules orelse no one is willing to invest since there must be a loser

- dividend increase drive the stock price increases ( hkmtr> stable dividend> the mtr properties have not yet generated a large cash flow)

- HS bank's dividend (11)> attractive , bank industry> D/E ratio> meaningless

- HKMTR - government is the largest shareholder> help mtr develop> a measure to reduce traffic accident but it is kind of another way to tax the public

- property > dividend payout, ROE, Debt to equity ratio

- steps to pick stock > fundamental analysis ( for elimination) should be prior to technical analysis

- Relative strength ( RSI) if it is high( e.g. 100%) > overbuy> the stock price will drop soon Vs if it is low, oversell> the stock price will go up soon

-acquire property > look for high liquidity> large-scale property + good developers

-issuer issues options, investment bank issues warrants

-one likes to be called by using his name

- if the director of the company can hardly manage their family well, whatelse can he make?

-risk control> should not spend more than one-tenth of your wealth buying one stock/depositing in one bank

- From Investopedia: I think this is 逆按揭

What Does Reverse Mortgage Mean?
A type of mortgage in which a homeowner can borrow money against the value of his or her home. No repayment of the mortgage (principal or interest) is required until the borrower dies or the home is sold. After accounting for the initial mortgage amount, the rate at which interest accrues, the length of the loan and rate of home price appreciation, the transaction is structured so that the loan amount will not exceed the value of the home over the life of the loan.

Often, the lender will require that there can be no other liens against the home. Any existing liens must be paid off with the proceeds of the reverse mortgage.

Investopedia explains Reverse Mortgage
A reverse mortgage provides income that people can tap into for their retirement. The advantage of a reverse mortgage is that the borrower's credit is not relevant, and is often unchecked, because the borrower does not need to make any payments. Because the home serves as collateral, it must be sold in order to repay the mortgage when the borrower dies (in some cases, the heirs have the option of repaying the mortgage without selling the home). These types of mortgages have large origination costs relative to other types of mortgages. These costs become part of the initial loan balance and accrue interest. Senior citizen borrowers with good credit should carefully analyze the options of a more traditional mortgage, such as a home equity loan, against a reverse mortgage.

This one is much more inituitive


from http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/fina/20050128/20050128020437_0002.html

extra: http://www.elderlycommission.gov.hk/en/download/library/030430/c_mortgage_report.pdf

- Reference website:
http://www.centamap.com ( statistics from lands department)

http://www.hkdoctors.org/

http://www.censtatd.gov.hk

-Recommended books:

1) Investment Valuation: Tools and Techniques for Determining the Value of Any Asset,

2) Damodaran on Valuation: Security Analysis for Investment and Corporate Finance by Aswath Damodaran

3) A random walk down Wallstreet

4)Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets: A Comprehensive Guide to Trading Methods and Applications by John J. Murphy

5) Technical analysis explained: the Successful Investor's Guide to Spotting Investment Trends and Turning Points by Martin Pring

6) The Last Governor: Chris & the Handover of Hong Kong by Jonathan Dimbleby

7) East and West: China, Power, and the Future of Asia by Christopher Patten


8) The Spirit to Serve Marriott's Way by Jw Marriott and Adrian Zackheim

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Only 2 more lessons to go :( ...

I definitely want to be taught by Simon again. I always believe that if the teacher is smart, the students can learn more and also be smart someday. Once again, I am always wondering when I can be as knowledgeable as him one day.