When I was just a little boy,
I asked my mother, what will I be,
Will I be handsome, will I be rich,
Here’s what she said to me,
Oh Ashveen, Ashveen,
Whatever would be, would be,
The future’s not ours to see,
Oh Ashveen, Ashveen,
What will be, will be.
For which I went… But mom, you are supposed to know the
answer to EVERYTHING! Well, I was 3
then. So naturally, my parents were THE smartest people to walk the earth. The
age where my father was the strongest man, stronger than superman, my mom was
the most beautifulest (it was a completely acceptable adjective when I was 3)
person and nobody was as beautiful as her! And living with my sister was the
worst nightmare (for her at least).
Well, eventually I grew up. And today, when I see what my
mom told me when I was 3 years old, it makes perfect sense! The future’s not
ours to see! Especially, when we look at the current market. Looking at the
global indices may make any investor pretty nauseous right about now and things
don’t seem to be aiding this as Bursa just announced that the roller coaster
ride might be continuing for a while.
With the Eurozone crisis insatiable and US problems becoming
grotesque, things aren’t going to be financially safe for a while. My last
e-mail had mentioned about the German problem and what it may lead to. Well, let’s
just say that the plot has thickened and now the suspense is killing
(literally). With the aids given to Greece to flush the debt issue down the
drain, Greece better be able to settle their debts and most importantly, find
methods of regenerating their stagnant economy. With people protesting the
Eurozone aid pouring into Greece, much work is being left undone. What I don’t
understand is this: (See if you can follow)
- Greece is in deep… trouble. (well, it’s a public article… so I have to mark my language, right?)
- People don’t want to work coz there is risk of not being paid.
- People start protesting against the government for bad planning.
- Eurozone takes into account the happenings and takes steps to correct the errors of Greece from affecting the whole of the EU.
- 11 of the 17 Countries in the EU (as at this moment) decide to fund Greece. Might be increasing as they are meeting today to further discuss.
- Representatives go to Greece to help with the economic and financial plans.
- Greeks get angry that their financial system is being monitored by other members of the EU.
- Greeks protest against the “others” to get out of their country and leave them be.
- Greeks also protests against government for letting “others” come in.
- Greeks don’t want funds from others and are saying that they can solve their own problems.
- BUT they do not want to have an increase in tax, pricing, and do not want to contribute more than what they already are to the work force.
- And they are still protesting…
That’s just part of the story. Now, another fear that has
started to gloom the scene is the amount Germany has invested into Greece. With
a significant sum (based on this economic climate) that has been pumped into
Greece, Germany is only hoping that nothing disastrous happens to it or Greece.
If something like that were to happen, Germany will be hitting the wall. And if
that happens, there will be a huge global display of fireworks and not the
pretty kind.
Moving more to the west, we see that US has also started
having quite a bit of an issue. The actions of America seem to be more like
that of the school bully. The bully is bullied at home and can’t do anything
about it. He cries and whines about it but nobody really cares. So to vent his
frustration and demand power, he goes to school and starts bullying other kids.
And when he finds that one kid who is the easy target, he starts treating the
kid as his personal lunch money ATM. In America, protests (or how some might
deem it as riots) are taking place in Wall Street and Boston where people are
voicing against the high medical costs and prices of goods. So, the government
is being battered by the people. With tuition costs sky rocketing, many are
finding it hard to continue their education and even find jobs as unemployment
is still climbing the limitless ladder. As much as I want to feel bad for the
American government, I should say, they brought this on themselves. They had
pampered their public to such an extent that now; they demand to be treated
well, despite the dying economy. With slogans such as “fight the rich, not
their wars” and “human need, not corporate greed”, I feel the focus of this
protest is being channeled towards the wrong direction. Then again, there is
not quite a foundation for this protest in the first place. There is no leader,
no concrete ideology or philosophy. Is this the process in which a developed
nation becomes undeveloped?
That is why, America (the bully), has started ordering China
(the kid) to re-asses its money and to listen to America’s way of managing
their funds coz America has been doing such a splendid job at that. China is
afraid to go against the wishes of America because of the heavy investment of
America on Chinese soil. The slowdown of the Chinese monetary system has begun
to threaten the American economy which has already slipped more than 12% in
these few months. With China also being asked to buy into the Italian
bonds/treasuries, the options shoved into its (China’s) face is really not
giving it much room to breathe. So the current market in this (ASEAN) region is
pretty much reflecting it. When would it cool off? There really is no sane
answer to that question. So all we could do is tread carefully.
For those who had invested more than RM 100,000.00 , this
current market movement has aided them well as they could switch in and out
without fear of having to spend more after exhausting their 2 free switches.
But for those who invested lesser than RM 100,000.00, I had to wait for quite a
while to not spend the 2 free switches given and incur charges on the
investment. And as scary as it may sound, get your checkbooks ready as this is
an excellent time to reinvest… Think of it this way, the market wants money,
they lower the prices of goods without compromising the quality… Who wouldn’t
want it? Imagine getting a Rolls-Royce for RM10,000.00…. Who wouldn’t want it?!
By,
Ashveen Chakravarthy Sekaran
Oct 3rd, 2011
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