Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Occupy Wall Street - the issues



1. "#OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations." It goes on: "The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people are writing the rules of an unfair global economy that is foreclosing on our future."


2. Our current capital markets are structured around a dangerous lie -- that the sole function of the corporation is to return value to shareholders. Under this construct, every action undertaken by Wall Street traders, mortgage brokers and the rest make perfect sense and are morally unambiguous. It was their job to sell as much as they could, to grab as much value as possible, in order to return that value to shareholders. So long as shareholder-value-maximization remains our governing principle, no change in regulations will change the fundamental behavior. Executives are simply acting according to their incentives.


http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/11/09/what-occupy-wall-street-got-right/?section=money_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_topstories+%28Top+Stories%29

Itialy is too big to bail

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

IMF chief - world risk "lost decade"

Quote: "Our sense is that if we do not act boldly and if we do not act together, the economy around the world runs the risk of downward spiral of uncertainty, financial instability and potential collapse of global demand... we could run the risk of what some commentators are already calling the lost decade." 


http://www.cnbc.com//id/45217763

Instant Photos

I need 2 color photos for a visa application. I went to the instant photo booth at SMU. The charge was $8. It seemed to be rather high. I wonder how the students could afford it. It seemed to be more costly that I had expected.

Americans move accounts to credit unions

Monday, November 7, 2011

High prices in Singapore

I went to the Challenger Store to look a laser presentation remote device. They should me a few Targus models costing more than $120 each. This was rather expensive, as my friend told me that he bought a device for less than $30 in Sim Lim Square.

I went online to search for this item. A few Targus controllers were offered at Amazon store at around USD 50 (excluding shipping). This seemed to be at about half of the price charged by Challenger. I finally decided to buy another brand and paid less than $20 including delivery charges.

This episode seems to show that prices are really expensive in Singapore! It must be due to the high rental and staff cost.

Forex trading - developing the skill


Here are some tips on how you can develop your skills in forex trading, without having to pay high fees to attend a course. It also warns you that trading is like gambling, similar to visiting a casino. But it can be fun.