I still remember old stories about the change in the weather affecting different trades differently. Eg. ice cream sellers and construction contractors welcome sunny weather while vegetable farmers prefer some rain. Even disasters can be good news to some crony contractors and corrupt ministers who can get a cut from the re-construction and other remedial measures.
Parents who are uneducated or less educated, normally wish for their children to be well educated. I remember the wantan mee seller’s son who got 17 As in his SPM. Many students managed to excel in their studies to become professionals and holders of PhD, lifting their social status in society, while children of some professionals lag behind in their studies because of modern distractions in the form of computers and video games.
At the height of the bull run in 1993, a remisier would be proud to announce his profession as then, the sky seemed to be the limit. The top remisier earned an average of Rm1 million a month! Now, even the stockbroking firms are complaining of low levels of trade, so the average remisier is presumably struggling to stay afloat.
Not so long ago, investment banks with names like Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, to name only those familiar ones, conjured dream jobs with astronomical earnings. Who would have thought that such companies could ever be in financial troubles? They were the ‘financial wizards’ of presumably Jewish origins whose incredible successes bred intense jealousies among their arch enemies. Anyway, I have just received an email with power point presentation of a cartoon of an estate agent showing her client pictures of houses likely to be wanted by certain professions. When told he is an investment banker, she showed him a picture of a tent in a desert! Supposedly a sign of the times.
Not true, according to S Dali in 'why-not-american-homeowners' (sentence highlighted by me):
"Following the posting on ascribing blame to the relevant parties responsible for the current subprime, CDOs, credit default swaps debacle, many posted that the American borrowers, the homeowners themselves should shoulder some of the blame. I left them out for a few reasons:
a) I do think there should be an element of "personal responsibility" for your actions, but it seems to me that they are already paying the cost for their foibles. Many who had their homes foreclosed have lost their homes. They have lost their deposits and the payments made towards these loans. It seems to me, they are THE ONLY group that has actually "really lost" materially and is already being punished for that. Look at the buggers at the ratings agencies, they still get their bonuses and still have a well paying job. Even the senior management of investment banks who have been told to walk, are walking away with hundreds of thousands and some in millions in severance pay - I feel for them don't you! No heads will roll at the Treasury, the SEC or the Fed. Alan Greenspan is enjoying his final years with his very young wife and earning millions talking about the current mess (he partly created but would not admit to)... "
From S Dali’s blog, Malaysia-Finance Blogspot (highly recommended for his take on US financial woes), an email to him caught my attention, as it summarizes the extent of USA’s financial mess. I am sure their enemies must be gloating at their misfortunes, much anticipated as only a matter of time:
Here's a list of the losses in market capitalization for 25 of the biggest financials since their rough peaks in October 2007. Keep in mind that these companies are not exactly emerging small cap coys but rather blue chips.
These losses include:
* A I G -Then: $178.8 billion... Now: $5.46 billion. Down 96.95%
* Bank of America -Then: $236.5 billion... Now: $123.4 billion. Down: 47.82%
* Citigroup -Then: $236.7 billion... Now: $76.34 billion. Down 67.75%
* Merrill Lynch - Then: $63.9 billion... Now: $30.2 billion. Down 52.74%
* Fannie Mae - Then: $64.8 billion... Now: $0.45 billion. Down 99.3%
* Morgan Stanley - Then: $73.1 billion... Now: $41.1 billion. Down 43.78%
* Wachovia - Then: $98.3 billion... Now: $19.44 billion. Down 80.22%
* JP Morgan Chase - Then: $161 billion... Now: $130.2 billion. Down 19.13%
* Capital One Financial - Then: $29.9 billion... Now: $16.9 billion. Down 43.48%
* Washington Mutual - Then: $31.1 billion... Now: $3.64 billion. Down 88.3%
* Lehman Bros. - Then: $34.4 billion... Now: $0.80 billion. Down 97.6%
* Goldman Sachs - Then: 97.7 billion... Now: $40.6 billion. Down 58.7%
* Wells Fargo - Then: $124.1 billion... Now: $111.25 billion. Down 10.35%
* National City - Then: $16.4 billion... Now: $2.8 billion. Down 83%
* Fifth Third Bancorp - Then: $18.8 billion... Now: $7.9 billion. Down 57.6%
* American Express - Then: $74.8 billion... Now: $37.5 billion. Down 49.87%
* Freddie Mac - Then: $41.5 billion... Now: $0.16 billion. Down 58.7%
* Suntrust Banks - Then: $27 billion... Now: $16.07 billion. Down 58.7%
* BB&T - Then: $23.2 billion... Now: $18.4 billion. Down 20.69%
* Marshall & Ilsley - Then: $11.6 billion... Now: $4.48 billion. Down 61.3%
* Keycorp - Then: $13.2 billion... Now: $5.68 billion. Down 56.97%
* Legg Mason- Then: $11.4 billion...Now: $4.96 billion. Down 56.49%
* Comerica- Then: $8.3 billion...Now: $4.74 billion. Down 42.89%
* Countrywide Financial: Then: $11.1 billion...Now: $0.00 billion. Down 100%
* Bear Stearns- Then: $14.8 billion...Now: $ 0.00 billion. Down 100%
Together these 25 companies alone have lost investors a total of $992,690,000,000 over the last 12 months... or nearly 1 trillion dollars. The email ends with the smart warning to keep buying gold and keep USD.
Personally, I have not heard of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, until recently.
While on the subject of change of fortunes, one of the most dramatic for the better must be Lim Guan Eng, the Chief Minister of Penang. I dedicate the following picture (from someone's blog) to his style of administration:
If only, there were better controls in USA! Guan Eng should head-hunt S Dali for his expertise in investments and funds management.
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