Apple Is Quietly Working To Destroy The iPhone

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-is-...ne-2012-12

THE END OF SMARTPHONES: Here's A Computer Screen On A Contact Lens

http://www.businessinsider.com/this-scre...ra-2012-12

The Power of Negative Thinking

Both ancient philosophy and modern psychology suggest that darker thoughts can make us happier

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424...itorsPicks

The Straits Times
www.straitstimes.com
Published on Dec 09, 2012
moneywise
Balancing amount of liquidity held
Keeping a lot in cash is risky but the market rewards you if you can supply it in a liquidity squeeze

The stock market, like life in general, overvalues glitz, glamour and grand promises. It undervalues groundedness, consistency and conservatism. People and companies which just do the work and deliver results are oftentimes overlooked. Consequently, we have the phenomenon of low-risk, high-return investments.

But one risk that the market seems to price more accurately, or in other words, one risk that the market will reward investors for taking is liquidity risk. That is the risk of you not being able to cash out any time you want without losing part of your capital.

Cash and bank deposits have little liquidity risk. You can take your money out any time and in exactly the same amount that you put in - unless of course the bank has fallen into financial difficulties and is in danger of going kaput. Then you may lose your deposits.

Otherwise, you are assured of getting back your money. This is one reason why bank deposits' returns are so low. They are "safe".

"Risk" assets, or assets whose prices fluctuate with the market, are different. These assets include equities and real estate. Mr Ben Inker, co-head of the asset allocation team at US asset management firm GMO, put it this way: "Equities cost you money at such an inconvenient time. The worst returns to equities come in recessions (bad), financial crises (very bad), depressions (very, very bad), and major wars (not good at all).

"While the average return to the S&P 500 since 1900 was a reassuring 6.6 per cent real, at those times when you were most at risk of losing your job, your bank account, your house or your life (during wars), you could rely on equities to be piling on the misery."

Therefore, it is only rational for equity holders to demand, and be rewarded with, a decent return for taking that very unfortunate return path. Such a path of return also applies to assets like investment real estate. At a time when the economy is bad, your rental income is falling, you are not sure if you can hold on to your job, and you want to raise cash by selling your property, there are no buyers - unless you sell it cheap.

But there is a flip side. The flip side is, if you have cash when everyone else is trying to raise it, your money can go a long way. Put another way, if you can provide liquidity when the market most needs it, you will be amply rewarded. It's the same with help extended to someone in dire straits. That help will be well-remembered and appreciated and, most times, repaid generously.

So when do we usually see a liquidity squeeze in the market? Well, when there is a shock and panic and everyone is rushing to get out of the market at the same time.

Do we have a liquidity squeeze now? Perhaps in a small way, in the sense that everyone is hoarding cash and not putting that liquidity to use, especially in the equity markets. This suggests that those who are willing to take that risk may be well rewarded.

Shocks and panic typically happen at the least expected times. In stock markets, it usually happens in the midst of a euphoric bull market when the last sceptic has been won over. We haven't had that feeling in the stock market since 2007.

A savvy investor told me once: Bull markets are the time to accumulate cash.

"A lot of people have got it wrong," he said. "They borrow more and more during a bull market. This goes back to school, which tells us that, in a bull market, we must gear up in order to get a high return on equity. Of course, if it is a sustained bull market, one can make a lot of money.

"But it is usually hard to tell whether you're at the top, middle or just starting. It's only when it ends, then you know, oh, the end is here."

So your cash in the bank does serve some purposes. It meets your liquidity needs - your daily expenses as well as when you need emergency funds. Also, over and above the funds kept for your own liquidity needs, some can be set aside to meet the market's liquidity needs.

In one extreme case, a friend told me of someone he knows who keeps cash all the time only to pile it all into the market when there is a crash. He exits completely when the market recovers. Apparently, he hasn't done too badly for himself.

It takes a rather extraordinary person to be able to do that. For mere mortals like us, a sensible thing to do, as with everything else in life, is to have a balance.

A disproportionately high cash holding is a risk in itself. With inflation of about 4 per cent, and banks paying you less than 1 per cent, you are losing purchasing power by some 3 per cent a year. At this rate, $1 million cash kept in the bank will decline in value to just $740,000 in purchasing power terms in 10 years' time. It is like dropping coins as you walk, eat and sleep.

So keep some cash to meet your own liquidity needs as well as to seize any opportunity that may present itself. Put some at "risk" so that it can work for you. How much to put on each side will depend on how cheap you deem an asset class to be.

In the next few articles, we will discuss how to ascertain if a stock or the market is cheap or expensive.

hooiling@sph.com.sg

The Most Important New Technology Since the Smart Phone Arrives December 2012

Even if you’ve seen the Leap Motion before, this is a demo you’ve got to watch.

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/428...mber-2012/

"Happiness is not an endless succession of pleasurable experiences. That’s a recipe for exhaustion, not for happiness. Happiness is a way of being that comes with altruistic love, inner strength, inner freedom, and serenity – and it can be cultivated as a skill, day after day, month after month. In recent years, the collaboration of contemplatives with neuroscientists has shown that, thanks to the brain’s plasticity, we can train our mind to become more compassionate, more mindful and to achieve greater inner peace, just as someone who trains to play the piano or learn how to read and write. Any training changes the brain and this is true for training the basic qualities of our minds that altogether constitute genuine happiness.

The pursuit of happiness is intimately linked with altruism. There’s no such thing as a successful, selfish happiness ..................................................
..................................................

http://malariaenvoy.com/LinkClick.aspx?f...71&mid=373

(18-11-2012, 07:56 AM)hyom Wrote: [quote='Temperament' pid='36379' dateline='1353164578']
Oh dear! Mercy! Suicide is not allowed in most religions. Especially Christianity and Muslim.

The End Of The Smartphone Era Is Coming

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-end-o...ng-2012-11

Something weird here - she earned nearly $1m in two years and has no money to pay a $185,000+ fine?

The Straits Times
www.straitstimes.com
Published on Nov 22, 2012
Remisier jailed for tax evasion

By Elena Chong

A remisier was jailed for one week and ordered to pay a total penalty of $185,849 on Thursday for under-reporting her income to the tax authority.

Teo Joo Hiang, 52, will serve another five months and two weeks' jail as she could not pay the penalty which is three times the amount of tax evaded.

This is the first case where a remisier has been charged under the Income Tax Act for tax evasion.

She pleaded guilty to making a false entry in her tax return for the year of assessment 2010 that her brokerage income from Phillip Securities was $258,164 when it was $676,216.

For the year of assessment 2009 she made a false entry that she earned $158,920 when the actual figure was $269,258.

Two other charges were withdrawn and compounded for a sum of $93,380.

She could have been fined up to $10,000 and/or jailed for up to three years per charge plus a penalty of treble the amount of tax undercharged.

Be careful of "games" involving the stock market! Most, if not all, don't teach the proper ways of investment. The first rule I learnt is - don't follow gurus, trust yourself and your own analysis!

The Straits Times
www.straitstimes.com
Published on Nov 15, 2012
Stock market game offers expert tips

A NEW mobile stock market game developed in Singapore aims to piggyback on the expertise of successful investors.

The soon-to-be-launched game, called Trade Hero, with access to 14 stock markets around the globe including Singapore, operates a bit like Twitter.

"Trade heroes", or expert investors, attract followers keen to replicate their success by mimicking their investment strategy.

Co-founder Dinesh Bhatia said: "Successful investors usually trade in companies they have followed for a while. They've developed insights about these companies, and done their research. So when they buy stocks, they're likely to make money.

"If we follow them, picking up tips from their blogs or tweets, our chance of being successful trading in the same stocks also increases."

Trade heroes get half of the US$1.99 (S$2.40) monthly subscriptions that followers pay.

The more successful the trade heroes, the more followers they will have and the higher their share of the subscriptions.

The game will rank trade heroes by their successes, which can be sorted by exchange, industry, quarterly or monthly returns.

Followers choose whom they want to follow, and pay US$1.99 a month to follow each expert.

They may switch only at month's end. Their trade hero's real-time trading information will be sent to their smartphones.

Trade heroes and followers can be anywhere in the world.

Initially, the experts will have to prove their worth. When they sign up, each will get $100,000 in virtual currency to create their own stock portfolio. They can place virtual trades on any of the companies listed on the 14 stock exchanges.

"We want to make investing simple for the man on the street who's only interested in making money. And for the trade hero, he may be a part-time investor who knows one company very well. Now he can 'monetise' his expertise. This wasn't possible previously," said Mr Bhatia.

There are no live stock transactions on the site. Investors have to call their brokers or go online to do this.

"We want to increase trading volume, which will benefit anyone. We're creating a new business model, we're not going to take away business from any bank or brokerage."

Co-founder Dominic Morris said the biggest challenge had been to get live feeds from the stock exchanges.

"But we've managed to do that now and we'll be adding more exchanges next year," said Mr Morris, a specialist in online banking who has worked for banks such as Standard Chartered.

Trade Hero was founded about 18 months ago. Recently, it closed its seed funding round when TNF Ventures invested $600,000.

Mr Bhatia was a pioneer dot.com entrepreneur about 15 years ago. Among the firms he founded was EdgeMatrix, which produced Wapman, a microbrowser for personal digital assistants (PDAs). However, the company was a victim of the dot.com bust.

He made headlines again in 2004, when he was caught for consuming cocaine, and was jailed for eight months.

In the last few years, he lived in the United States and invested in stocks and shares. It was his loss of about US$300,000 when he invested in Palm, the maker of PDAs and smartphones, that led him to the idea for Trade Hero.

"I believed in the company. It had good technology but was slow and was overtaken by other companies. If I'd known that it would be slow in executing its strategy, I might not have invested in it at all."

Trade Hero's app for the Apple iPhone and iPad is expected to be available soon. Android and Windows 8 versions will follow next year. Those interested can visit http://tradehero.mobi

GRACE CHNG

The Straits Times
www.straitstimes.com
Published on Nov 14, 2012
Investments on ice
Thousands of investors are stuck with frozen stock, with at least 20 counters affected and some suspended for years

By Jonathan Kwok

WHEN Mr Ben Chua bought about $20,000 worth of shares in corn products company China Sun Bio-Chem Technology Group from 2007 to 2008, he was riding the lucrative "China wave".

"At that time, China stocks were quite popular," he recalled.

But the 61-year-old retiree was caught out when trading in China Sun was suspended in 2009 after accounting irregularities were uncovered.

Mr Chua's cash remains locked up as the shares are still suspended. But he is looking on the bright side: The firm has not been delisted.

"At least (the listing) is kept alive," he says.

Mr Chua is one of thousands of local investors holding suspended shares. At least 20 counters have had their shares suspended from trade. The firms face issues ranging from financial difficulty and accounting irregularity to failure of corporate governance.

As with China Sun, some suspensions have lasted years.

The issue was in the spotlight again recently when the Singapore Exchange (SGX) said that companies whose shares have been suspended for some time need to keep the market updated regularly on their state of affairs. In an Oct19 regulator's column, the SGX said it wants monthly updates from firms suspended longer than six months.

Experts said banding together is a good option for investors holding such counters. This could include enlisting the help of an investors' association, such as the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias.

"Chances are that the company is less likely to entertain them as individual shareholders," said Associate Professor Jeremy Goh of the Singapore Management University. "But collectively they can go and talk to the company and ask for some explanation. If they go through a collective shareholder activist group, the company is more likely to engage with them."

Prof Goh said shareholders will want clarity regarding the company's circumstances.

Associate Professor Mak Yuen Teen, of the National University of Singapore Business School, said investors can pressure the firm to meet regulators' conditions so that the suspension will be lifted. This can be done individually or via an association.

Sias president and chief executive David Gerald said his organisation allows investors to get together and ask the firm for a meeting. There, they can voice their concerns and get queries answered - on matters such as steps being taken to lift the suspension.

Suspensions have sometimes been lifted after such approaches, said Mr Gerald, citing the example of China Aviation Oil, which was restructured from its near-collapse in 2005.

Sias assisted shareholders and met directors and management of the jet oil supplier.

Shareholders of suspended counters have also contacted the SGX and its subsidiary, The Central Depository, which have forwarded their queries and concerns to the relevant companies.

The SGX, too, has addressed some investors' concerns and queries regarding listing rules governing suspensions.

The last resort is the expensive, drawn-out route of taking the firm and its directors to court.

"(But) it's not easy for them to sue the directors, even if the directors are not seen to be doing their best to get the trading suspension lifted," said Prof Mak.

Mr Gerald said shareholders may have the legal right to sue for losses in some cases, but it can be costly.

"Issues should be settled in the boardroom, not the courtroom," he said. "The boardroom is free."

Of course, investors are well advised to steer clear of risky companies in the first place.

The SGX Academy - the bourse operator's investor education arm - is running courses on detecting accounting gimmicks and fraud, on top of its other lessons on stock and market analysis and investment strategies.

jonkwok@sph.com.sg