Frank Comments by Dennis Ng on various Topics

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archonmage
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Post by archonmage »

AndrewNg wrote:Hi Dennis and Friend,

Not only in Civil Service but most big institution including educational institution. I always have high regard for educational institution because i thought they have the least politics and is a place where sharing and learning can take place. Unfortunately, having tasted first hand, i am very very wrong and disappointed. Work culture within my department operates and thrives on FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt). It is like working in an imperial system where one has to be extra careful about every action and speech because even if we speak with conscience or offended people with power, we will be somehow marginalized (seen with own eyes). Standard Operating Procedures are created with the folks who does not even have ground experience and living in ivory tower. Good ideas will be leeched and used by the one in power to their advantage. Sometimes, i feel like a goat walking around a vulture infested region.

A lot of time, i wanted to call it quit but every time, when student show appreciation to me during teacher day, somehow, i cannot bear to throw them in the lurch. The only way for me to keep sanity is to focus my energy on educating students and at the same time, visiting this forum to educate myself on personal finance.

regards
Andrew
Hi, Andrew.
I think those stuffs which you have mentioned, happened anywhere, be it in the civil or private sector. There is no escape to it.

I admired your passion to teach. Alternatively, you can also consider giving private tuition to groups of student so that you can focus your passion on education.

May I ask, does MOE imparts the knowledge of personal finance to them?
If not, I do hope that you can also share your personal finance knowledge to your group of students. It will aid and help them in the course of their life.

On a personal basis, I will prompt and inculcate personal finance and investing knowledge to my friends/colleagues whenever an opportunity strikes. However, it seems to me that most of them are reluctant to it, never did they realized that in the long run, they will lose out, ie. Inflation.
Perhaps teaching those knowledge to the younger one will have better result.

Wish you all the best in arena of teaching ^_^

Regards,
a.m.
Dennis Ng
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Post by Dennis Ng »

archonmage wrote:
AndrewNg wrote:Hi Dennis and Friend,

Not only in Civil Service but most big institution including educational institution. I always have high regard for educational institution because i thought they have the least politics and is a place where sharing and learning can take place. Unfortunately, having tasted first hand, i am very very wrong and disappointed. Work culture within my department operates and thrives on FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt). It is like working in an imperial system where one has to be extra careful about every action and speech because even if we speak with conscience or offended people with power, we will be somehow marginalized (seen with own eyes). Standard Operating Procedures are created with the folks who does not even have ground experience and living in ivory tower. Good ideas will be leeched and used by the one in power to their advantage. Sometimes, i feel like a goat walking around a vulture infested region.

A lot of time, i wanted to call it quit but every time, when student show appreciation to me during teacher day, somehow, i cannot bear to throw them in the lurch. The only way for me to keep sanity is to focus my energy on educating students and at the same time, visiting this forum to educate myself on personal finance.

regards
Andrew
Hi, Andrew.
I think those stuffs which you have mentioned, happened anywhere, be it in the civil or private sector. There is no escape to it.

I admired your passion to teach. Alternatively, you can also consider giving private tuition to groups of student so that you can focus your passion on education.

May I ask, does MOE imparts the knowledge of personal finance to them?
If not, I do hope that you can also share your personal finance knowledge to your group of students. It will aid and help them in the course of their life.

On a personal basis, I will prompt and inculcate personal finance and investing knowledge to my friends/colleagues whenever an opportunity strikes. However, it seems to me that most of them are reluctant to it, never did they realized that in the long run, they will lose out, ie. Inflation.
Perhaps teaching those knowledge to the younger one will have better result.

Wish you all the best in arena of teaching ^_^

Regards,
a.m.
Hi andrewNg,

if you cannot change the environment, consider to change the environment (eg. Leave for another environment).

I worked 7 years in the bank and did NOT like the corporate back-stabbing, office politics, apple polishing, favouritism, vested interest to protect/increase one's power instead of working for the benefit of the Bank that were going on...

I decided to leave the bank to strike out on my own, becos being on my own, I can work based on my own Principles, Philosophies and Strategies, I can be True to myself, be True to my Conscience.

For the next 7 years from year 2001 to year 2007, I suffered 7 years of pay cut, I worked harder, but earned less, but nonetheless, I derive much more happiness and fulfillment than when I was working in the bank then...the rewards only started coming since year 2008...

What should you do? Stay on and bear with the environment or change the environment, it is really up to your own choice.

I sowed for 7 years without seeing any fruits. Many now see the success I enjoy but how many would have given up if they were me? How did I persist? Becos the WHY (why I quit) and the Passion to learn how to master my finances and then to teach others kept me going, when the going was tough...how many can bear to see income (S$7,000 in bank) to drop to S$2,500 (self-employed) and yet to persevere on without quitting?

Observe the Nature. There is a season for Sowing and a season for Reaping.


The problem is most people want to enjoy the harvest, without the work and pain of Sowing.

There is a price to pay, but most people do NOT want to pay the price, but want the reward.

There is no such thing. Most people have a Something for Nothing thinking, they hope to get something but they do NOT want to give anything.

They forget the world works on Give and you shall Receive.

We can make money doing 1,001 things. How do we make our money? It is our choice. I chose to pursue my passion and you know I'm telling the truth since you have known me since year 2001.
Cheers!

Dennis Ng - When You Master Your Finances, You Master Your Destiny

Note: I'm just sharing my personal comments, not giving you investment advice nor stock investment tips.
smarthsf
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Post by smarthsf »

Hi Dennis,

I think I realy need to come for a revision course. will call to look for the available slot.

Hi Andrew,

Yes, you share with my frustration. Sometime I continue to work because there are still friends who support each other. After years of service, they know my shortcoming. I know theirs.

Also I doubt that am not young enough to go for any challenge in the entire new field.

Then it is to safe guard my hard earn money, I think the need to learn the skill on investment. :( :
Dennis Ng
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Post by Dennis Ng »

smarthsf wrote:Hi Dennis,

I think I realy need to come for a revision course. will call to look for the available slot.

Hi Andrew,

Yes, you share with my frustration. Sometime I continue to work because there are still friends who support each other. After years of service, they know my shortcoming. I know theirs.

Also I doubt that am not young enough to go for any challenge in the entire new field.

Then it is to safe guard my hard earn money, I think the need to learn the skill on investment. :( :
whenever people tell me that they may no longer be young to start something new I would ask them do they know at what age did Colonel Sanders start KFC?

At age 65. Why did he start? Becos he was frustrated when he received his first pension check for US$150...so instead of blaming the government, he decided to take what he has (the Fried chicken recipe) and to see how he can use what he has to provide value to others, so as to make some money...

How many times did he fail before he succeeded? The answer was he failed 1,009 times for over 2 years before he succeeded.

Some people will tell me they are too young. Then I will ask them do they know at what age did Michael Dell start business? At age 19.

Stop giving yourself excuses, too old, too young, or "I am married and I have my financial committments."

When I resigned from the bank in year 2000 I was married, my first son was just born in year 1999 and I have a Housing Loan to pay every month.

Instead of focusing on the Problem, focus on the Solution!

How can I pursue my passion even when I'm married and have financial committments?

In year 1998 when I decided to resign from the bank I stayed on in the bank for 2 years to build up enough savings to last me 2 years of expenses in the worst case scenario I have NO income for 2 years, and which enabled me to finally resigned from the bank in year 2000.

In the end, I managed to earn S$2,500 enough to pay for my expenses and the savings I built up for the 2 years was then channeled into investments and which also helped me to reach my first million in year 2008.

What else is stopping you? You might have 1,001 reasons NOT to do something. ALL you have to do is find just 1 Reason BIG Enough for you to do it, that's all. And then, as the slogan in Nike Ad says:"Just Do It."

That's how I did it.
Cheers!

Dennis Ng - When You Master Your Finances, You Master Your Destiny

Note: I'm just sharing my personal comments, not giving you investment advice nor stock investment tips.
Dennis Ng
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Post by Dennis Ng »

For someone who is experienced like myself, these ULTIMATE "invisible hands" are NO longer invisible. We don't need to know their exact identities, the THING that make them visible is the Transaction Volume in the markets.

In recent weeks, whenever the stock markets rebound, they rebound on lower volume, but whenever the markets fall, they fall on higher volume. From my understanding of "Invisible hands", this is typical when they are in "Distribution Mode" ie. they are getting out of the market before the overall Market Trend REVERSED from Up to Down.

Many of the companies in U.S. and other parts of the world are holding too much cash, the "invisible hands" will do their "thing" to wipe out these Cash, many of the companies are using their cash to buy back their shares...playing into the Trick of the "Invisible hands" who want the companies to use up their Cash...

They will then trigger a Global Financial Crisis, whereby money and liquidity will be withdrawn from the banks and markets, thereby causing many companies who might be cash poor to collapse.

Interest rates in U.S. are NOW at historical low levels, if interest rates spike up, this will also cause many more companies and individuals to go into bankruptcy, if they cannot afford to pay the debts due, and for the "invisible hands" to buy Assets on the cheap...

Many companies are holding their cash in Bonds and Money Market Funds, all these Cash will vanish once Bond prices crash and money market funds fail...

The next Global Financial Crisis will be worse than the previous one...just watch out, the "Invisible hands" know and control the Money Game and they will play the Game to their best advantage.

As individuals, we cannot do anything to prevent the "Invisible Hands" from creating the next Financial Crisis, ALL we can do is to prepare and position ourselves financially accordingly, and to educate our relatives and friends about the up-coming Financial Crisis.

Cheers!

Dennis Ng

Dennis Ng wrote:
djwongdj wrote:This video explains the Rothchild empire and their tactics simply and plainly -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXt1cayx ... re=related
Hi all,
it is very sad as I watch all these videos on how this group of people, some called them "Money Masters', "Illuminati", Bilderberg Group, Freemasons...who try to control the World through the Financial Markets.

Now it became clear to me why the Rules of Money and Wealth are NOT taught in Schools. Schools teach you many things, from history, to literature, yet NOTHING on Rules of Money and Wealth.

Investment Textbooks teach you the WRONG stuff (is it deliberate), such as Efficient Market Hypothesis; Volatility is Risk, measured by standard deviation; U.S government bonds are Risk Free Asset and Interest Rate on U.S government bonds are called Risk Free Rate...

The Truth is all these things they taught you in Investment Books do NOT work in Real Life and by year 2012, the world will awaken that U.S. government bonds are probably one of the most Dangerous Investments, very, very far from being Risk Free.

why the Rules of Money and Wealth are NOT taught in Schools?
Becos these very powerful and Rich people do NOT want the average person to be financially literate, since they want to Control the rest of the humankind as their "slaves". This Powerful Group of People see themselves as semi-Gods, as Superior Beings, while the average person are of a lower class and should just be led by them.

So it is now very clear to me that if you want to make money from investing, you need to know FA, TA and also know how to see "invisible hands", and try to figure out what the "invisible hands" are trying to do...

These people are the ULTIMATE "Invisible Hands". Whoever controls money, controls Human Beings.

The ONLY solution is for people to know the Formula for Wealth, to know that Money is just an AGREED Medium of Exchange, the value of Money can go down to zero if it is NO longer recognised as an agreed Medium of Exchange.

Now, globally, US$ is the Recognised MONEY, all things are priced in US$, from Sugar to Rice, Oil to Gold...

It is clear that part of their strategy is to Devalue US$ to almost worth NOTHING in the years ahead, probably in the next 10 to 20 years. Do NOT be surprised if US$ drops in value by 50% within the next 5 to 10 years.

It is clear that MOST of the world (probably 90%) are Financially Illiterate. There are still many people putting their hard earned savings into Banks earning miserable interest of less than 1%, without knowing that the bank only has 10% capital and Borrow 90% (mainly deposits from depositors) and they use YOUR MONEY (your deposits) to Lend to Other People (which include you, when you use a Credit Card, buy a House, buy a Car etc, etc) and charge you a higher interest rate to EARN the difference.

They further LEVERAGE the money by lending to hedge funds and other institutions which can have even higher Leverage. Hedge Fund can take in $1 of Investor's Money (fund) and borrow up to $30, leverage 3,000%, even more than banks (banks with Capital Adequacy of 10% means they borrow 90% or Leverage 900%.

Hedge Funds further Leverage the money as they can now invest the $30 into Derivatives which have High Leverage themselves eg. Options might have leverage of 1000%...so it is Leverage on Leverage on Leverage on Other People's Money (the other people is YOU, the Savers).

They further make more money by creating Bull and Bear Markets from Stock Markets to Commodities Markets...each time Trillions of dollars might be lost from markets, but MUCH (not 100%) of those Trillions may end up as Profits in their Pockets, since they can Buy Low and Sell High and Sell High (short) and Buy Low.

Imagine you're an American, you have been dutifully doing your job, yet now becos of the U.S. government printing money, each American is burdened with National Debt of about US$47,000, while over 50% of Americans earn about US$46,500 a YEAR...isn't it Sad? Why the Billionaires, such as Bill Gates is also burdened with US$47,000 National Debt.

It is No wonder that some of these Billionaires now feel the pain for people and ask the government to tax them more.

For instance, in Singapore, if you're an individual and earns S$300,000 a year, you're taxed at 20% income tax rate. If you're a Pte Limited Company and earns S$300,000 a year, you're taxed at preferential rates of 8.5% (instead of usual corporate tax rate of 17%).

So those people who are Financially Literate and KNOW the Game of Money will know how to get Richer from ALL these Financial Crisis...

I reached my first Million dollars in year 2008 just when the Financial Crisis hits...and from Oct 2008, I started buying stocks at low prices and made Realised Capital Gains of over 60% in the last 2 years...and with the Investment knowledge I have I can again avoid the next Stock Market Crash...

What about the average person out there? They will find that much of their Wealth and Savings would be wiped out in each Financial Crisis, that they wonder how come they seem to work harder and harder over the years, yet have very little to show in terms of Savings...

They are tempted by Business People to buy things eg. LV bags for thousand of dollars, Branded Goods etc, which cost a fraction of the Price Tags they are sold. They Live Like the Rich, instead of Investing Like the Rich, and wonder why by age 60, they have little money to retire on...

I have learned from the Rich on the Rules of Money and how to Grow our money and reached Millionaire status myself. Since year 2009, I have made it my Full Time Committment to FOCUS my time, efforts and energy to Awakening the Public and to Educate the Public on Financial Matters, through Books, Seminars, interviews and comments on Newspapers, Magazines, Radio and TV.

Each Seminar Graduate can also help to spread the knowledge you learned to your relatives and friends so that we can Survive the next Global Financial Crisis and emerge Richer, NOT Poorer.
Cheers!

Dennis Ng - When You Master Your Finances, You Master Your Destiny

Note: I'm just sharing my personal comments, not giving you investment advice nor stock investment tips.
AndrewNg
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Post by AndrewNg »

Hi ArchonMage,

I do not belong to MOE so unable to comment but i do know there is no syllabus that teach personal finance to MOE student because my child does not learn it from school. I ever raised this question before but get a crap load of rubbish reason ranging for example from "subject is too specific and not general enough to be considered for student", "should not train kid to be money minded" to even more ridiculous reason as "different race and religion have different value system in personal finance and will cause potential conflict if introduced at early age" etc...

Never mind about those but i start training my child when she is 11 (in fact should start even earlier but its ok, never too late for anything), to manage her budget. It is simple, works and she understand how to apply. Nothing religious or racial. Nothing complicated. Her weakest subject is maths but still can grab the concept and apply. Now she is P6 and every week, when we give her pocket money, she know how to portion them and use it wisely. She can decide between what is needs and wants and use money based on needs and wants.

I do share casually with students and college when they mentioned about it but have to be careful because some are not ready for it. From casual remark and observation, a lot of people still view investment as gambling and regard it as an unwholesome activity to be avoided especially in school environment.

regards
Andrew
archonmage wrote: May I ask, does MOE imparts the knowledge of personal finance to them?
If not, I do hope that you can also share your personal finance knowledge to your group of students. It will aid and help them in the course of their life.

On a personal basis, I will prompt and inculcate personal finance and investing knowledge to my friends/colleagues whenever an opportunity strikes. However, it seems to me that most of them are reluctant to it, never did they realized that in the long run, they will lose out, ie. Inflation.
Perhaps teaching those knowledge to the younger one will have better result.

Wish you all the best in arena of teaching ^_^

Regards,
a.m.
Dennis Ng
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Post by Dennis Ng »

when the Financial Crisis hits in year 2008, millions of Middle Class Americans were wiped out, and became poor after unable to find job since then...the same thing might happen to many more countries in the next Global Financial Crisis, which has just begun...

Many middle class people are living precariously without them realising.

Let me ask you:"if you lose your job tomorrow, how long can you survive without a job?"

3 months? 6 months? 1 year?

The Global Financial Crisis erupted in year 2008. 2 years later, many Americans who were retrenched still have NOT found another job, over 6 million people are unemployed more than 6 months.

if interest rates on Home Loans increased from current 1% to 4%, how much would you have to pay extra in instalments?

If inflation goes up, and prices go up by 20% or more, will it be ok for you?

in the coming Global Financial Crisis, many middle class families will be affected, some probably joining the Poor.

Many of them have most of their money in Banks which will be eroded by inflation. Many of them hang on to their investments and would experience a further 30% to 50% drop in the value in the coming market Crash.

I'm trying my best to reach out to educate as many people as possible so that more people can be well prepared for the up-coming Global Financial Crisis. Time is running out, please try to share/influence your relatives and friends to educate them.
Last edited by Dennis Ng on Tue Sep 13, 2011 9:41 am, edited 2 times in total.
Cheers!

Dennis Ng - When You Master Your Finances, You Master Your Destiny

Note: I'm just sharing my personal comments, not giving you investment advice nor stock investment tips.
AndrewNg
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Bonds and Money Market Fund

Post by AndrewNg »

Hi Dennis,

I am learning how this bond stuff works. Got two question

1 - Assuming company or individual buy bond at $1000 with coupon of 5%. So if bond crash, will they still get back the $1000 with $50 interest rate ? If not, then it explains why cash vanish, but if still get back $1000, then i am confused.

2 - I did not know money market fund can fail badly. All the while, i thought they are quite safe and quite liquid so I park my opportunity money in money market fund when i sell share and invest when there is crisis. Question is, when we sell our shares, should we cash all out and put in bank instead of money market fund ?

regards
Andrew
Dennis Ng wrote:
Interest rates in U.S. are NOW at historical low levels, if interest rates spike up, this will also cause many more companies and individuals to go into bankruptcy, if they cannot afford to pay the debts due, and for the "invisible hands" to buy Assets on the cheap...

Many companies are holding their cash in Bonds and Money Market Funds, all these Cash will vanish once Bond prices crash and money market funds fail...

Cheers!
Dennis Ng
Dennis Ng
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Re: Bonds and Money Market Fund

Post by Dennis Ng »

Hi AndrewNg,

there is default risk of Bond. ie. the bond issuer unable to pay you back principal at maturity of bond.

So bond prices can crash due to eg. fear of default.

With bond issuer defaulting, Bond price can also crash if the current interest rate is say 5%, but if new bonds are issued at much higher interest rate of say 8%, so those holding bonds paying 5% will see the price of their bonds fall so that the yield will equal 8%, or bond price likely to fall by 37.5%.

Money Market funds are generally safe. However, if you place money with say, Philips, and Philips collapses, then your money might be gone as well.

There are also some money market fund that decide to take a little extra risk in order to generate a little extra interest for investors. See some articles on HOw Save are Money Market Funds below:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/In ... tFund.aspx

http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-money/ ... rket-fund/

I already mentioned that I keep my cash in bank savings accounts, I do NOT bother about the extra little interest I might earn from Money Market funds, as I want full access, immediate access to my money, and that I can only do so via Bank Savings account.

eg. if I want to buy a property NOW (not 1 day later), I can immediate issue a cheque, then I transfer money from my savings accounts to my Current Account. If I withdraw from Money Market Fund account, it will take a few days before the money can be credited to my Current Account.

I realise that average persons are typically pennies wise, pounds foolish. While Real Investors prefer to be pennies foolish, pounds Wise. We don't sweat the small stuff. (There is a series of books on this topic "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff", written by Richard Carlson.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Carlson

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/ ... rd_Carlson

Cheers!

Dennis Ng
AndrewNg wrote:Hi Dennis,

I am learning how this bond stuff works. Got two question

1 - Assuming company or individual buy bond at $1000 with coupon of 5%. So if bond crash, will they still get back the $1000 with $50 interest rate ? If not, then it explains why cash vanish, but if still get back $1000, then i am confused.

2 - I did not know money market fund can fail badly. All the while, i thought they are quite safe and quite liquid so I park my opportunity money in money market fund when i sell share and invest when there is crisis. Question is, when we sell our shares, should we cash all out and put in bank instead of money market fund ?

regards
Andrew
Dennis Ng wrote:
Interest rates in U.S. are NOW at historical low levels, if interest rates spike up, this will also cause many more companies and individuals to go into bankruptcy, if they cannot afford to pay the debts due, and for the "invisible hands" to buy Assets on the cheap...

Many companies are holding their cash in Bonds and Money Market Funds, all these Cash will vanish once Bond prices crash and money market funds fail...

Cheers!
Dennis Ng
Cheers!

Dennis Ng - When You Master Your Finances, You Master Your Destiny

Note: I'm just sharing my personal comments, not giving you investment advice nor stock investment tips.
Dennis Ng
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Post by Dennis Ng »

Dow erased losses in earlier trading hours and closed up 68.99 points to close above the psychologically important 11,000 level (11,061.12 points) on 12 Sep 2011 becos of news that China is going to buy Italian bonds.

My comment is the World is trying to delude themselves. Do they HONESTLY think that by buying Italian bonds, China can save Italy or Europe from its DEBT Crisis?

China only has US$3 trillion foreign reserves, trillions have been wiped out from global markets in a matter of months...so do you seriously think this amount of money can prevent a Crisis from erupting?

On the contrary, for the Proud Europeans to bow their heads and seek China's help, does that NOT show you how serious is the Europe's troubles?

At most it buys the world some time. The Market CRASH is still coming. The NEXT Global Financial Crisis will still hit us, NOW is like the "calm before the storm".

In this coming Global Financial Crisis, many European banks will fail, Italy and Spain will go into trouble, and Euro zone might disintegrate, Obama will not get re-elected...it'll be much worse than year 2008 Crisis.

Cheers!

Dennis Ng

Italy in Talks with China to buy Italian Bonds.

By STACY MEICHTRY

ROME–Italy's Finance Ministry has held talks with China's sovereign wealth fund and other Chinese officials in a bid to persuade Beijing to buy large amounts of Italian bonds, a person familiar with the matter said Monday, as the Italian government searches for ways to meet its financing needs and pull the peninsula out of the euro-zone debt crisis.

Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti met with a delegation of Chinese officials last week—including Lou Jiwei, chairman of the China Investment Corp sovereign fund, or CIC—to discuss possible bond purchases by the fund, the person said. The talks were also attended by China's ambassador to Italy Ding Wei, officials from Beijing's State Administration of Foreign Exchage, or SAFE, and officials from the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, an investment vehicle controlled by Rome, the person said.

So far, it is unclear whether the talks will lead to any big bond purchases by Beijing, according to the person. In 2010, the arrival of Chinese delegations in Greece and other debt-ridden European economies stoked investor hopes that Beijing would ride to the rescue. The highly-touted Chinese investments, however, never materialized.

Earlier this summer, the director general of Italy's Treasury Vittorio Grilli led an Italian delegation to Beijing, but it was unclear if possible bond purchases were discussed during that trip, a second person familiar with the matter said.

Spokespeople for Italy's Finance Ministry and for China's embassy in Rome did not respond to calls seeking comment.

The talks come as Italy is under intense pressure to pass more than €50 billion in austerity measures in order to balance its budget by 2013. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi spent months flip-flopping on possible austerity measures, only recently settling on a plan that includes a mix of tax increases and public spending cuts. The plan faces a vote in the lower house of Parliament this week.

With €1.9 trillion in public debt, Italy is regarded by many analysts as too big for other euro-zone countries to bail out. In recent months, investors have begun to question whether Italy will be able to pay down its long-term debts, worries that have sent Italy's borrowing costs to historic highs.

That rise prompted the European Central Bank to begin buying Italian bonds a month ago, helping to prop up Italy's distressed bond market. The ECB, however, has warned Rome that the purchases are only temporary and called for a swift economic overhaul that will reignite Italy's stalled economy.

The CIC has considerable firepower. The fund holds about $200 billion in its reserves, investing in assets ranging from European utilities to real estate, according to its website.

On Monday, Italy appointed officials to head a recently-created sovereign wealth fund, which is expected to take stakes in Italian companies deemed strategic by the government. The government also hopes to lure foreign investors to the fund. The person said he was not aware if the Chinese delegation had discussed the new fund in their talks with Mr. Tremonti.

Italy is holding a raft of bond auctions of short-dated and longer-term debt in an attempt to roll over large amounts of sovereign debt.

Although the ECB bond purchases bough Italy some breathing room, Rome is nevertheless under pressure to restore investor confidence in its bond markets.

Write to Stacy Meichtry at stacy.meichtry@wsj.com
Cheers!

Dennis Ng - When You Master Your Finances, You Master Your Destiny

Note: I'm just sharing my personal comments, not giving you investment advice nor stock investment tips.
archonmage
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Post by archonmage »

Perhaps, to start the ball rolling down, it would need the a BIG domino to fall, as of similar scale to Lehman Brothers.
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Post by KOWong »

Hi Dennis, thanks for sharing on how you made your journey towards financial independence!

True, those excuses that you mentioned, I've also said them to myself quite a few times (e.g. 'too old to start' [I'm now 31] compared to those who've just graduated and have less to lose) and the pain / fear of losing my monthly paycheck in order to pursue something which is off the beaten track (e.g. entrepreneurship, full-time trading), I've felt it too. I tried stopping work to focus on full-time trading for a while (approx 8 months) but it didn't work out too well, and I found myself with insufficient capital and looking for a job again.

But as you said, those are excuses, and merely pointed to the fact that I was ill-prepared. Now I'm focusing on building my funds (like what you did by working 2 yrs in bank before striking out on your own) so that I can survive for a longer period (after I quit) and devote more time and energy into doing what I am passionate about - trading/investing + qigong/taiji.

Really admire how you made that decision and took those steps even with a family to support. If I were in your shoes, I doubt I'd have the will / strength to do that.

Cheers
Dennis Ng wrote:
smarthsf wrote:Hi Dennis,

I think I realy need to come for a revision course. will call to look for the available slot.

Hi Andrew,

Yes, you share with my frustration. Sometime I continue to work because there are still friends who support each other. After years of service, they know my shortcoming. I know theirs.

Also I doubt that am not young enough to go for any challenge in the entire new field.

Then it is to safe guard my hard earn money, I think the need to learn the skill on investment. :( :
whenever people tell me that they may no longer be young to start something new I would ask them do they know at what age did Colonel Sanders start KFC?

At age 65. Why did he start? Becos he was frustrated when he received his first pension check for US$150...so instead of blaming the government, he decided to take what he has (the Fried chicken recipe) and to see how he can use what he has to provide value to others, so as to make some money...

How many times did he fail before he succeeded? The answer was he failed 1,009 times for over 2 years before he succeeded.

Some people will tell me they are too young. Then I will ask them do they know at what age did Michael Dell start business? At age 19.

Stop giving yourself excuses, too old, too young, or "I am married and I have my financial committments."

When I resigned from the bank in year 2000 I was married, my first son was just born in year 1999 and I have a Housing Loan to pay every month.

Instead of focusing on the Problem, focus on the Solution!

How can I pursue my passion even when I'm married and have financial committments?

In year 1998 when I decided to resign from the bank I stayed on in the bank for 2 years to build up enough savings to last me 2 years of expenses in the worst case scenario I have NO income for 2 years, and which enabled me to finally resigned from the bank in year 2000.

In the end, I managed to earn S$2,500 enough to pay for my expenses and the savings I built up for the 2 years was then channeled into investments and which also helped me to reach my first million in year 2008.

What else is stopping you? You might have 1,001 reasons NOT to do something. ALL you have to do is find just 1 Reason BIG Enough for you to do it, that's all. And then, as the slogan in Nike Ad says:"Just Do It."

That's how I did it.
archonmage
Gold Forum Contributor
Posts: 128
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2011 12:34 pm
Location: Sengkang

Post by archonmage »

AndrewNg wrote:Hi ArchonMage,
I do not belong to MOE so unable to comment but i do know there is no syllabus that teach personal finance to MOE student because my child does not learn it from school. I ever raised this question before but get a crap load of rubbish reason ranging for example from "subject is too specific and not general enough to be considered for student", "should not train kid to be money minded" to even more ridiculous reason as "different race and religion have different value system in personal finance and will cause potential conflict if introduced at early age" etc...

Never mind about those but i start training my child when she is 11 (in fact should start even earlier but its ok, never too late for anything), to manage her budget. It is simple, works and she understand how to apply. Nothing religious or racial. Nothing complicated. Her weakest subject is maths but still can grab the concept and apply. Now she is P6 and every week, when we give her pocket money, she know how to portion them and use it wisely. She can decide between what is needs and wants and use money based on needs and wants.

I do share casually with students and college when they mentioned about it but have to be careful because some are not ready for it. From casual remark and observation, a lot of people still view investment as gambling and regard it as an unwholesome activity to be avoided especially in school environment.

regards
Andrew
Hi, Andrew.

Thanks for your sharing. At least I have some senses.
Keep up the good work. I strongly believe that you are passing an invaluable gift to your daughter which will definitely give her a headstart towards financial competence and success in the future.

Just happened to chat with a good old friend who make end's meet. He is a NTU honour degree grad and had been in civil service for the past 18 years. Know little about investment and too afraid of invest as he scared of incurring losses. When I prompted him to sell away his car to conserve cash for the crisis, he mentioned that he had cleared his car loan and paying about $500 monthly for the car maintenance. He don't consider to sell as when he getting a car next time would cost much more ($1500 monthly for a new car).

Sad, isn't it? Good academic education don't help in any financial sense.

I will see how best that I can help him to improve his financial literacy.

U too, keep imparting your financial knowledge too ^_^

Regards,
a.m.
archonmage
Gold Forum Contributor
Posts: 128
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2011 12:34 pm
Location: Sengkang

Post by archonmage »

Hi, Wong.

You are never too late to start. Together with sifu, Dennis and the investing mentors, they can certainly gives us the necessary guidance to be successful towards investing.

Fyi, I am 39 this year. If things goes according to plan, I will "retire" from my job next year and have time to work for my passion for the rest of my life.

Bless that you will certainly pursue for your passion much younger than me.

Regards,
a.m.
smarthsf
Silver Forum Contributor
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat May 21, 2011 11:17 pm

Post by smarthsf »

Hi all friends,

Hope everyone realize his dream. I am now still blur...blur....
Can we support each other in the jouney morally.
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