Lessons learned from cboxers

Just by looking through the cbox history, one can learn a lot of lessons from the actions (or sometimes the non-action) of people. I'll just list them out objectively,  not to ridicule but rather to reinforce the lessons in me again. I must have done it many times in the past, but hopefully not ever again. 1. Buyer's remorse (or seller's remorse) This is when the queue that you had put in place had been hit, but instead of having feelings of joy and jubilation, you are feeling unhappy because you now really own the shares at the price....

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More artwork ...

Here's a few more sketches coming from my Wacom tablet. I am really beginning to get a feel of how to work around this gadget. Unlike sketching on paper, where you can see exactly where you draw, this tablet works more like a mouse. You move the stylus one the tablet but your eyes are fixed on the cursor on the screen. It takes some practice to get the hand eye coordination perfect, but once it's settled, it's like sketching on paper. The above...

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Life in Singapore

Have you heard about the financial bombs in life? These are the obstacles, the road bumps, along your road to accumulate wealth. It seems unavoidable especially if you want to follow the typical model family in Singapore. Of course you can also choose to lead the estranged and socially divorced life of Diogenes, but his is an extreme life. Let's talk more about these financial bombs. Firstly there is the extravagant wedding. For Chinese couple,...

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Black Swan Theory revisited

I hear a lot of talk about Black Swans in my cbox these days. It's getting to be pretty cliche because of the constant usage. Just what is a Black Swan? Black Swan theory (capitalized to avoid the reference to actual swans that are black) is a phenomenon, popularized by one of my favourite author, Nassim Nicolas Taleb. Black Swan theory is characterized by 4 things - it's an event that is highly improbable and incalculable probability, highly consequential...

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STI

For self reference: I see a few things - a downtrend restricting the upward movement stretching back in Nov 2010, heads and shoulders (though with no volume confirmation), strong support at 3120 level and the significant recent low near 3078 (which is also near the ema 200d). Sell in May and go awa...

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Wacom Bamboo Fun pen and touch tablet

I got a new tech toy recently - it's the Wacom Bamboo fun pen and touch tablet. It's primary function is to serve as an pen and touch input, not unlike a touch screen phone. I've been delaying the purchase for a few months, trying to decipher within myself if this is an impulsive buy or something that I really wanted to have. The cost of this is not exactly cheap (retailing at 329 SGD), and with that cost, I could have gotten one of those wifi enabled...

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Know your limits, then break them

You know that I've always been saying that saving can be achieved by two means - either through an increase in income or by decreasing one's expenses. But till recently, I've never put a thought to which method is gives the least resistance. In other words, I didn't take into account the mind's resistance to new changes. I think based on your personality, you might find it easier to increase your income, but another person might find it much easier...

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The past and simpler world

"How many people long for that past, 'simpler, and better world', I wonder, without ever recognizing the truth that perhaps it was they who were simpler and better, and not the world around them?" ~ Drizzt Do-Urden How true that simple statement is. People, me included, often thought of the good old times, reminiscing how good the older and simpler times are compared to the more unpleasant present. How well it'll be if all the flats are cheaper and bigger, how well it'll be if the cost of food is cheaper compared to my salary and how carefree...

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Outgrow your problems

Everyone knows that to save more money, you need to reduce your expenditure. However, not many talked about saving money by earning more money. The equation is this: Savings = Earnings - Expenditure. From here, we know that to increase savings, you can either decrease your expenditure or increase your earnings. Nobody is going to stop you if you do both too. If you've read T.Harv's book titled "Secret of the Millionaire mind", you'll read about...

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