Greenspan doubts Fed’s ability to prevent recession

When Greenspan, a man of immense economics knowledge, says this, it really gives us an wake up call to prepare for the tough times ahead. While, that’s for US. The lucky thing is Singapore firm has been diversify their assets to other countries.

Personally, I feel Singapore will be hit but not as hard. Let’s just hope China and India can bail us out.

Greenspan doubts Fed’s ability to prevent recession: “BERLIN - FORMER Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan cast doubt on the ability of the central bank to prevent a US recession in an interview to appear on Thursday.”

(Via Straits Times Interactive - LATEST NEWS.)

While Greenspan has already made his call, I just found some more information from bloggingstock to support his claim.

Since September, the Fed has cut rates from 5.25% last September to 3.50% and it’s poised to cut them an additional 25 basis points today. Moreover, the House last night passed a $146 billion economic stimulus package. The problem with all this is that with inflation raging and consumer spending weakening, the cure could be worse than the disease.

This sequence of events brings back memories of the chorus that led us into war in Iraq. We heard mournful dirges about Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) and Saddam Hussein’s ties to 9/11. The cresting of national fear unleashed a war that’s killed almost 4,000 soldiers, over 80,000 Iraqis, and cost $1 trillion. Meanwhile, it turned out that the WMDs were an illusion created by Douglas Feith, a Cheney aid, and there was no Saddam Hussein tie to 9/11.

The beauty of creating a policy based on no evidence is that in the right hands this very lack of evidence can be spun to reinforce the need for the policy. The political genius of this White House is its ability to turn an argument’s weakness — the lack of evidence for a desired policy outcome — into a strength. In the case of the liquidity measures, there is scant evidence of a recession. And that lack of evidence has been turned into the basis for all the rate cuts and stimulus.

Continue reading Is the ‘recession’ real?

(Via BloggingStocks.)

Blogging software to use for Apple MacOSX

Personally, I’ve tried Marsedit for 3 months and I have nothing but praise for it. It is neat and simple to use with little configuration needed. Every button is straight to the point. It may be over-simplified for users who need feature-riched functions. But hey, it’s tightly integrated with NetNewsWire(a client side rss reader) and hence it streamlines the blogging process to help save time for user.

On the downside, it is best for user to have basic knowledge of html for formatting the post. I would give 4.5 out of 5 stars for this software.

What has happen to ping.sg

See the correlation for all the 10 top blog posts in ping.sg? I think it’s time to categorize post according to their genre. Looking at the top 10 post of similar category(sex) is really quite tiring I believe categorizing the post may help to stop this situation(of looking at top posts flooded with sex related articles). At least a system must gives the user the option to choose the genre to read.

Vote for Singapore to be in Monopoly World Edition

Vote for Singapore if you want to see Singapore in one of the 22 cities in Monopoly World Edition!

Getting Xml Object via Xml String in Javascript

There are times where you just want to test the xml parsing locally in a browser for testing ajax-enabled pages. This helps to isolate problem locally. Hence, there is a need to parse xml string to xml object instead of going through XMLHttpRequest (sending request to server).

xmlStrParser function originated from xploredotnet requires just to pass in a xml string and it will return you the xml object. Btw, I had a hard time finding this code.

If you want to get the normal xmlHttpObj, you can call the function getXMLHttpRequest.

I would suggest you put the two functions in a separate .js file for code reuse. Sorry to all for using image for code. Seems like it crash with my wordpress. Post a comment if you need.

Music: The One You Love - Glenn Frey

One of my all time favourite English song. Heard it over in a Chinese movies. It had a very meaningful lyrics too

Music Video

Music Lyric
I know you need a friend, someone you can talk to
Who will understand what you’re going through
When it comes to love, there’s no easy answer
Only you can say what you’re gonna do
I heard you on the phone, you took his number
Said you weren’t alone, but you’d call him soon
Isn’t he the guy, the guy who left you cryin’?
Isn’t he the one who made you blue?
When you remember those nights in his arms
You know you gotta make up your mind

Are you gonna stay with the one who loves you
Or are you goin’ back to the one you love?
Someone’s gonna cry when they know they’ve lost you
Someone’s gonna thank the stars above

What you gonna say when he comes over?
There’s no easy way to see this through
All the broken dreams, all the disappointment
Oh girl, what you gonna do?
Your heart keeps sayin’ it’s just not fair
But still you gotta make up your mind

Are you gonna stay with the one who loves you
Or are you goin’ back to the one you love?
Someone’s gonna cry when they know they’ve lost you
Someone’s gonna thank the stars above

Hack: Installing Apple MacOSX without hacking?

Check out this link to install Apple MacOSX without hacking. It comes with screen snapshot of how to install this software. Kudos to Lifehacker for providing such a comprehensive guide. Just wonder if anyone is able to provide the vmware file for macosx instead. This will be much more useful because of the plug and play feature :D!

Some shorter and some longer

Shorter
While I hope Singapore don’t get hit but it would be nice to lay my hands on a million dollar machine. Nevermind that it’s old. Shooting down seems like a cheap and viable option. But will the fragments hit the earth is still unknown. The very last thing we want to know is that some plane is being hit by the fragments and explode.

Out of control satellite “weeks” away from slamming into Earth: ”

Good news, everyone! According to reports, a US spy satellite which has lost power and propulsion is weeks or even months away from striking Earth. Officials say that the space junk — which can now no longer be controlled and could contain hazardous materials — is due to come smashing into some location on our planet’s surface, but they can’t really say where. ‘Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen harmlessly. We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause,’ said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the Nation Security Council. Government agencies are still considering options such as shooting down the stray equipment, though they say they’d be just as happy to let the potentially radioactive / alien-filled hunk of metal crash into a small village in a developing country.

”

(Via Engadget.)

Longer
Could it have been a mistake by the scientist in the calculation and we’ll all be in trouble. But nonetheless it is still 20 more years away before the event will happen. I hope I will still be blogging till 2027 to mark the 20 years milestone. All hail plaktoz.com

2000 Foot Long Asteroid Headed for Earth: ”

On Tuesday, a 2000 foot long asteroid will skim past the earth, at a distance of 540,000 km, which is approximately 1.4 times the distance between earth and the moon. This will be the closest approach by an asteroid of this size until 2027. For all those budding amateur astronomers out there, train your telescope (which has to be 7.6 cm or more) towards the asteroid, and you should be able to see it as a bright, moving dot.

”

(Via Truemors.)

Configuring Cakephp and Xampp for MacOSX

Xampp is the most useful application a developer gotta have. It is a Apache, MySQL, PHP and Perl all integrated to one. Setting up takes less than 5 minutes. Very litle configuration needed.

Cakephp is a framework that facilitates development base on the MVC model. Everything is well thought out. The codes for model, view and controller is placed in different folder to make managing of codes much more easier.

Configuring Xampp
There are some things to note during the configuration for Xampp. The default login for the root account are username: “root ” and password: “”. After downloading the gui tool for MySQL, one should login with “127.0.0.1″ instead of “localhost” with the above login id and password.

The very next thing is to configure “/Applications/xampp/xamppfiles/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php” file by changing
“$cfg[’Servers’][$i][’host’] = ‘localhost’;”
to
“$cfg[’Servers’][$i][’host’] = ‘127.0.0.1′;”

Then you should start the server with command “/Applications/xampp/xamppfiles/mampp start”. Open up your browser and open “http://localhost”. You should see xampp page. Xampp is now successfully installed.

Some configuration for Cakephp
Unpack the tar or zip file and rename the folder to your desired. Let us put it at “abc” for now. The very next thing is to copy the folder into “/Applications/xampp/xamppfiles/htdocs”. When done, execute these 2 commands “chown -R nobody:admin /Applications/xampp/xamppfiles/htdocs/abc” and “chmod -R 777 /Applications/xampp/xamppfiles/htdocs/abc”.

Cakephp use the clean url feature. But this feature is not enabled in Xampp by default. So open up “/Applications/xampp/etc/httpd.conf” comment out “LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so” with “#LoadModule cache_module modules/mod_cache.so”.

Next restart your xampp by executing this command “/Applications/xampp/xamppfiles/mampp restart”. Type this url in your browser “http://localhost/abc” and VOILA you will see the Cakephp main page.

Everything is setup properly and you got all these in just a little more than 10 minutes. Isn’t it impressive?

Will the fiscal stimulus package be effective? What they should do instead.

While I am glad to hear that Bush is giving some support for the poor, which just remind me of guess what? It’s the gah-men.

It’s like giving out money so that people will spend more to improve the economy. I think they have figured it out since the Americans are so used to spending. So where do the money end up? Back to the gah-men; it’s just a cycle. Giving you something without expecting anything from you is just absurd. We people are being manipulated one way or another in this modern society.

The next question in mind is will it actually help? In my humble opinion, it’s just another stop gap measure. They’re just trying to delay the recession (maybe waiting for beijing olympics) and not solving the real issue. In reality, they are digging themselves a deeper hole to make climbing out even more difficult.

They can continue to cut the interest rate but what happen after that? People working for the gah-men also need to protect their own interest. Afterall, they are not working for charity and are drawing their salary from tax pay by the people.

What they should actually do is to cut down their financial deficit. They are now one of the most in-debt country, owing more money than one can imagine. Borrowing of money cannot continue. In the end, they will be brought down to their kneeds by the interest they owed.

So my suggestion is to implement policy to bring the culture of saving back. Increasing the money saved in bank will help the country in paying back their debt. Decreasing their financial deficit will work wonders to improving their economy.

In the meantime, do not expect what you hear from others saying economy will be better. To me, it’s better to be pragmatic and see the situation in the next few months. Most of the information in the media is manipulated.

This article is just my 5 cents opinion. I’m not a economy student by nature so some of what I’ve stated may be flawed. Leave a comment so that I can also learn from you.

Bush, Congress reach tentative agreement on fiscal stimulus package: “This one may make the record books for an approved, federal stimulus package, if it becomes law within a month.

U.S. Congressional officials from both parties and White House aides announced Thursday morning they have reached a tentative deal on an economic stimulus plan, an aide close to the negotiations said, Reuters reported.

‘We have an agreement in principle,’ said the aide, who spoke on condition he not be identified. Plan costs were not immediately available.

The Democratic Party-led U.S. Congress and the Republican Party-led White House have been negotiating a $140-160 billion fiscal packaged aimed at stimulating the U.S. economy, which most economists believe is growing well below trend-growth levels. Many believe the economy is growing at about 1.0-1.5%, if it hasn’t already fallen into a recession.

Continue reading Bush, Congress reach tentative agreement on fiscal stimulus package

(Via BloggingStocks.)

WordPress boosts free blog storage to 3GB

Good news to all wordpress user. Well not for me just that I hope Rui will happen to read this article and do the same for me. I’m still scrimping with my current available space and thus the need to link my pictures to picasa. Thus there’s time the link may go missing. Really not my fault~

WordPress boosts free blog storage to 3GB: “and”

(Via Macworld UK.)

PM Lee confident about Singapore’s economy

It’s just my opinion. Nothing negative about the gah-men. Just that when PM say this out of his mouth, it just gives me the feeling that he’s trying to hint to us the the crisis will eventually come to Singapore. Remember, globalization means we are also susceptible.

It is of cos good news that Singapore is not affected as much as USA. But being one of the whole biggest consumer market in the world, they certainly hold some influence to the world’s market.

The effect of recession will largely hinge on the consumer market in India and China. Are they able to handle all the excess inventories by themselves? This I doubt so.

Another consideration, is the market going to hold up with the current investing sentiment? Human are emotional. They may just be driven to frantic selling even though the company has good fundamentals. Remember Lucent?

Maybe it’s time to stock up maggi mee at home(over exaggerating) cos it’d be a tough 2-3 years ahead of us.

PARIS: Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Singapore and Asia can weather the storm, should the US go into a recession.

He made the comment at a breakfast meeting with 40 businessmen from the French Business Confederation as he wrapped up his three-day official visit to Paris.

The financial markets in the West have been hit by the US sub-prime problems, and that in turn has affected Asia, including Singapore.

Although a few Asian banks have some exposure to bad loans in the US, Mr Lee said most had only limited direct exposure.

“This is positive for Asia because if the Asian banks have also been deeply engaged, then we would have the problem, not only imported to us, but on our door-step. But fortunately, it does not appear to have happened,” he said.

Giving his assessment, Mr Lee said the economies of China and India will continue to grow despite what happens in the US, and will help give a boost to the Asian region.

For Singapore, an open economy, Mr Lee said it will feel the impact of what’s happening in the US, but there are several positive trends to help the country ride through the storm, such as having new investments and major construction projects that are currently underway.

On how Singapore’s growth would be affected, he noted the country’s economy grew 7.5 per cent last year, and Singapore is maintaining its official forecast of 4.5 to 6.5 per cent growth for now.

Mr Lee said, “We’ll watch the situation closely and will update the forecast if necessary. We should not have a knee jerk reaction and lose our bearings in the middle of dramatic market volatility. We’ve had four years of strong and above-strength growth in Singapore.”

He also said Singapore and Asian countries can weather this financial storm, unlike the 1997 Asian financial crisis. “We got through that. That was all around us, right in Asia, we were at ground zero. And this is something which is broader. But in Asia, I think we are stronger and better prepared and we will weather it.”

Mr Lee reassured French businessmen that despite current financial volatility, Asia is a growing market with ample opportunities. - CNA/ac

(Via CNA > Singapore News.)

Market came crashing. How to deal with it?

Saw the bad news today and felt quite lucky not to throw any money in two months ago. Else I sure get my ass burn. Just really lucky. I am a value investor by nature(big fan of Warren Buffet). It would be quite interesting to see how he handle this situation. In my opinion, I think this recession will not be as bad as the asia financial crisis in 1997 and dot com bubble burst in 2000. But sure there will be people who will get themselves … chao ta.

Asia markets fell sharply.

The Nikkei was off 5.7% to 12,573. Docomo (NYSE:DCM) was down 8.5% to 151000. Sony (NYSE:SNE) was down 6.5% to 5110. Toyota (NYSE:TM) was down 7.2% to 4880.

The Hang Seng dropped 8.7% to 21,578. China Life (NYSE:LFC) was off 16% to 27.60. China Netcom (NYSE:CN) was off 15% to 19.96. PetroChina (NYSE:PTR) was off 15% to 9.62.

The Shanghai Composite was off 7.2% to 4,560.

Data from Reuters

(Via BloggingStocks.)

For value investor, this seems to be like a good opportunity to wait for the P/E ratio to drop below the company’s real value. For speculators, holding the stocks may be the likely move to make and of cos pray to god for a miracle to happen tomorrow. This downward spiral may continue (if people start panic selling) for a few more days before stabilizing. Maybe this is just false alarm.

What to do when the market is tanking: ”

It’s been said many times before but, given how few people pay attention, it’s worth repeating every time that the market takes a nosedive. History has demonstrated amply that investors who try to jump in and out of the market to avoid big declines find themselves achieving horrendously bad results than those who simply buy and hold.

I know — with the Dow looking like it could open down 500+ points tomorrow, it can be scary. And maybe you’ll be able to save yourself more anguish by dumping everything. But maybe not. It’s impossible to know and the track record of investors who make that bet during market meltdowns is not good at all.

Bottom line: If you’re in a panic over the market’s gyrations today, do not trade! Take a walk. Play with your kids. Read. Go to the gym. Whatever! But making investment decisions in a state of emotional instability is never a good idea.

If the market’s volatility is messing with your mind, I would strongly urge you to pick up a copy You Money & Your Brain for some strategies on how to manage your emotions. So go pick up a copy, turn off your computer, shut off CNBC, stuff the Wall Street Journal in the trash, and chill out.

(Via BloggingStocks.)

My prediction for recession is way off - 7 months to be exact. This news isn’t something a final year student would like to hear. What does this means? Companies may not want to hire that much people when my batch graduate in July. People aiming to work in the finance settle may well have to make other plans instead.

50 ways to be romantic

Write “I love you” in the steam on the bathroom mirror after he takes a shower.

Offer a back massage with some good smelling lotion.

Write a poem. Then use Google Translator to translate a poem into either French or Italian. Then handwrite it out with the translation on the back side. Or better yet, greet your partner at night and read it to them with passion and then hand them the translation.

While in public, declare “I love you, Matilda!” (not Matilda, but your partner’s name.)

Make a CD with a few songs that are meaningful to your relationship.

Invite him to take a bath complete with bubbles, champagne, candles, and maybe a little Barry White. (the music, not actually Barry White in your tub.)

Surprise her at work and take her out to lunch, maybe take-out food in the park or maybe to a little diner, for a midday romantic interlude.

Put together a little gift on his pillow: chocolate and a note that says “Your love is like chocolate: sweet and delicious.”

If your partner has a work presentation at an off site location, have flowers and a note of support delivered there.

Dedicate a song to him on the radio and send him an email telling him when to listen.

Cook a special love meal of your partner’s favorite foods. Play his favorite music and turn the lights low for a romantic dinner.

Give your partner a pedicure and foot rub.

Send a text message or email that says “I love you!”

Mail a card and inside write down the top 10 things you love about your partner.

Give him a picture of you for his wallet that says “I love you.”

Leave a love note in her car telling her to have a great day.

Carve your initials in a tree.

When your partner least expects it, give him a great big kiss, even if it’s in public!

Go see a romantic movie, sit in the back row, hold hands, and cuddle.

King for a Day/ Queen for a Day. Declare that you will dedicate a particular day just to your partner to do whatever they want. Maybe start with breakfast in bed.

Buy a tree and invite your partner to plant it with you explaining that this tree represents the love between you both that will grow over the years.

In the midst of talking about how your days went, the chores that need to be done, etc. interrupt and say “I have something important to tell you. I love you and here’s why.” Then list 5 things (or more) that you really appreciate about your partner. Finish with a kiss and say, “Ok, so you were talking about the water heater.”

Write an old fashioned love letter and mail it. Be romantic and lavish. Have some fun with it.

Before going to a party together come up with some secret code words you can use during conversation. You can be telling each other “I can’t wait to get you alone tonight!” without anyone knowing!

Find a hotel that has a jacuzzi and book it for a one night getaway somewhere close but fun.

Place an ad in the classifieds declaring your love. Then take the newspaper, wrap it in a bow, and put a little note on it saying what page to look on.

Blindfold surprise. Blindfold your partner and drive them to the place where you had your first date, and have that date all over again!

Write a love poem for her.

Make an early valentine. Cut out some paper in the shape of a heart. Write something sweet on it in red and put it in her purse or his briefcase.

If your partner is going on a business trip secretly hide a love note inside their luggage.

Offer to help them with some dreaded chore they must complete and make it into a fun time maybe with some music. (cleaning out the basement, raking the leaves, shoveling after a big snow storm, giving the dog a bath, washing the car, etc.)

Do something romantic and spontaneous, like picking a flower and giving it to her right on the spot.

Invent a meal and name it after him or her.

Buy some body paint and write your love message on your body.

Record yourself reading a romantic love poem for your honey. Then give your partner a CD and tell them to play it in the car on their way to work.

Make a small postcard sized love collage. Then cover it with clear packing tape. Write a love message on the other side and mail it!

Keep a box with mementos of fun things you’ve done together. Later when the box is filled, arrange them on a board and have it framed.

Buy some underwear with special messages on it. Or buy your own and paint a special picture or message with fabric paints.

Make a donation to charity in the name of your love for your partner. Give your sweetheart a card that tells how grateful you are to share your life with her.

Keep a box with special cards, letters, photographs, and other mementos. On your anniversary or on Valentine’s day take a little time to share fond memories together as you review the contents.

Create a mindmap of all the things you love about your partner and make it into a card.

Take a walk on the beach together. Run up ahead and write a message in the sand, and then call your partner to see what you “found.”

Say “I love you” often, slowly, and with feeling.

Play hooky together. You work hard. Now today take a day to work easy at just sharing some fun time together. Call it an “I love you day.”

Send an e-card to your sweetie to brighten his day. Here are free e-card resources: Apple iCards, BlueMountain, Hallmark.

Make little “I love you” posters with either crayons, markers, collage, paint, whatever. Post them in surprising places: the bathroom, the closet, the car, under her pillow, on her pillow.

Create a small website or blog dedicated to your partner. Write a short love message each day for a month…or forever.

Complete that chore or favor that your partner has wanted you to do for a long time.

Be super kind for a whole day. Act like you would with a new love, a child, or a frail person. Show lots of kindness, generosity, and love no matter what for a whole day.

Take an interest in your partner’s interests. For a woman it might be watching a football game with your guy. And for men it might be going to see a chick-flick. Do it with a spirit of enthusiasm and love. Have fun.

Extracted from DLM

Valentine day is just round the corner. Just feel this will help many guys to think of how to plan for the big day itself. Some of the suggestion in this list is quite good for romantic cheapskate. haha

Publicly Display Your Size

When I see this i couldn’t believe it. I would be so proud to show off my size. An extra inch gained or lost can be very important for some people. For people like me with low endurance, it would provide some calm and the extra motivation to exercise to keep fit. Just the question. Where to get it in Singapore?

Fashion Publicy Display Your Size - Measure Tape Belt: “ (TrendHunter.com) In case your daily morning struggle to fit into your new jeans, or constant reminders form friends and family about the amount of weight you’ve put on aren’t enough to permanently crush your ego, here is another invention to make your therapist a very rich man.

The measure tape belt is a candi…

(Via TREND HUNTER Magazine.)