Hmm..That seems like my boat...Is that my boat???

What is a 'Share'? What is a 'Bond'?

2009-04-27T01:21:00.000-07:00

Warning: Keep in mind, this discussion is insufficient and its not in depth to provide a clear, decision-making process in investing in bonds and stocks. It is merely a discussion on the general characteristics of bonds and stocks.

*I can't be bothered to highlight important words..just for this article..sorry readers..

Hello fellow 'potential investors',

I should have started with this article in my 'Lessons in Value Investing' as it discusses the differences in share and bond. Anyhow, I do not plan to have a structure in my lessons. But it was a bad start..

Today's discussion is rather straightforward and simple. At this time, I am not mentally prepared to discuss on critical issues...Exam season..

Let's begin!

Many of you (all I hope) knows what is a Share. It is also referred as ordinary shares, common stocks, or stocks By purchasing a share, you are buying a partial ownership in a company. You own a piece of it. You are entitled to its earnings, assets, liabilities etc. Say, Company X issued 100 shares. I bought 10 shares - I own 10% of the company. However, I am not entitled to effective control of the company's resources. In another words, although I own 10%, I can't sell 10% of the company's asset and pocket it or take 10% of the company's cash and spend it. This issue is known as the separation of ownership and management which, isn't our topic of our discussion.

By having a partial ownership in a company, you are able to vote during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) - selecting directors, approving certain company policies etc. Also, why people buy shares because they are entitled to dividends. However, the company is not obliged to payout any dividends. Of course, shares are purchased to earn capital gains as well. You buy $10 today and hope to sell it for more sometime in the future.

Being a shareholder is not all that good. Before a company makes any payout to its shareholders, it has many other obligations that has to be settled. Firstly, if a company has loans/debts, it has to pay the interests and capital repayments before distributing dividends to its shareholders. In a worse case when a company is about to go bust, the creditors have prior claim to all of the company's assets to settle the obligations by the company. Residual assets after all obligations are settled, if any, will then only be distributed to shareholders. In simple words, when a company is in an adverse financial position, shareholders are the last in line for any claims.

Moving on, what are Bonds? Bonds is a form of debt/loan. Instead of the company obtaining debt or financing from a bank, it issues bonds directly to raise money. Company A needs $100 and issues bonds with par value of $1.00 and coupon of 5% annually for 5 years and redeemable at the end. With a par value (or face value) of $1.00, this means there are 100 bonds issued. 5% simply means the interest rate the company has to pay as the costs of bond financing. The company pays 5% of the face value annually to its bondholders or 5cents a bond for 5 years and at the end of 5th year, you will receive your final interests and also your principal value of $1.00 invested initially. 'Redeemable' option is just one of the few examples what a company can do at the end of the bond's life. Other options are converting it to ordinary shares or a combination of both redeemable and convertible feature.

One can see that bond to investors is like a savings account. I put my money into the bank (I buy the bond), and I receive interest from the bank for keeping it there ( I receive interest from the company as a return for using my money). Bond is more interesting than that. On the surface, it looks the same. What is left out from the picture is there are risks inherent when investing in bond and also, you can earn capital gains from it.

Risks in this case refers to the financial position of the company or the company's operating environment. A financially distressed company will have difficulty in meeting obligations and therefore will have a hard time paying you interests. Worse still, you might not be able to recover your principal. A cash-rich company is seen as low-risk as they have sufficient funds to meet obligations. Credit Rating Agencies are institutions responsible for rating the credit/risk position of companies having debt/bonds/loans in their capital structure. Perhaps you might have heard of few of these institutions - Moody's, Fitch etc.

If a company is in an adverse position, its bond price will fall below its face value. Bonds are like stocks. You can trade it (sell and buy) so you are not lock into it until its maturity. Note that bonds do not usually trade at its face value. A distressed company will find its bond trading below par value. Bonds worth investing, with high credit rating is known as 'Investment Grade' bonds. Bonds by distressed companies are known simply as 'distressed' bonds or 'junk' bonds.

When a price of a bond fall, will it be a good decision to invest in it? Again, it is a case-by-case basis. You only invest when you know the probabilities and certainty of the outcome and the situation. A market will undervalue solid bonds for no apparent reasons. When its price falls, your interest yield is higher. 5cents interest on par value translates into 5% yield. What if the bond trades at 80cents instead of its face value of $1.00? In this case, you yield 6.25%! But if it trades higher than its face value, then your yield will fall.

If you buy lower today, and the company manage to survive to redeem the bond, you will earn capital gains. You buy at 80cents and at maturity, the company will pay you back $1.00. Effectively, you earn capital gains and also higher yield. However, always compare your return to time-value of money.

For a better discussion on bonds, check out the link below.

http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/georgy2/Article/

The above article was contributed by the Funds Management Division of Aminvestment Bank Group.

That's all for now folks.

Cheers.

Aaron.Hee.Wy

Of Dinner and Pablo Escobar..

2009-04-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

Ni Hao,

Everyone, pls give Aaron a big clap - yet another quick update in record breaking time =)

Going to talk about something interesting..at least to me it is.....

I cooked today.!!!! hell yea!!!!!...Just realised I havent cooked for like the past 1-2months..cook as in dishes with rice..all this while i ve been surving on chips (fries for malaysians to call it, chips for british people) and pasta and pizza and eating out lots..alrite..tat s all..nothing much..Interesting huh........

Another thing i ve been up to is reading on Pablo Escobar. Not sure who he is? The world's most big time criminal..Columbian druglord and philanthropist.....he flooded America with coke..go google him.. Apparently, he was ranked one of Top 10 richest in the world by Forbes.. yeaps..Forbes the business magazine..The book is called 'Escobar' authored by his brother and 'business partner', Roberto Escobar..cool book..it shows how a unexpected normal kid turned into such a big timer..damn..anything can happen.......at this point..i fear that an innocent, shy, gullible person like me will turn into something along the lines of a crime lord, wheeler dealer etc... ;) kakaka..

I m so lazy to update my 'I Want..' list...got so many things on that list... and investing topics...

Anyway, enough now...going back to reading ESCOBAR..

Btw... how can i be LOST? When I got nowhere to go..... you are rite Daryl..it din occur to me until u mention it..haha..oh yea..Daryl..to rub it in..they din perform this song during the Nottingham concert...wat a waste..but at least they played other songs.. kakakaka...

OH YEA!!!!! IRON MAIDEN FLIGHT 666 -(dun worry about the 666..it s just the flight number of Iron Maiden's private jet.. it coincides with their famous hit song 'Number of The Beast'. There are misconceptions that this song was composed to worship devil......well..it s not...DAMN IT, READ THE LYRICS BEFORE COMING TO THIS CONCLUSION...) a documentary on Iron Maiden's historical Somewhere Back In Time Tour!!! Worldwide release next Tuesday and I am watching it! It is airing for one night only!

Bruce Dickinson, Iron Maiden's vocalist is the pilot of Ed Force One (the name of their plane. Eddie is Iron Maiden's mascot. Fits well huh? ). This dude is quite pro in fencing and hell...has his one bloody tank....though without ammo...haha..interesting....hmmm...haha..How often do u find such a cool rock band besides Metallica and few others..it's GLAM ROCK nowadays.. just fame and one hit wonder....Rock bands today are PURE SHIT... offensive statement? Well, just stating the truth..To be honest..i do listen to modern rock...a lil..but none is good enough to sustain your interest to listen to it for more than the 5th or 6th consecutive listening..it gets dry..boring..typical sounding..minimalist..and when is the next u find it interesting? Say few months later..unlike old skol rock...when do u get bored listening to one track? erm..say..20th to be the least? Old Skol Rock!!!!

oh crap...din realise i suppose to sign off quite a while ago..anyway,...chows my frens!

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

xoxo 'Gossip GirL'

hahahahah....damn...i watch Gossip Girl nowadays........thanks to Gan Leong...and few other guys ironically....

Got to bounce now! Chows! Chows! Chows!

WEI YEN

'Be proud of your name no matter how gay it sounds..' - Aaron.Hee.Wy

Back and still the same..

2009-04-12T14:42:00.000-07:00

Hello frens,

Tried and failed - i can't blog consistently.............................I dun understand where do consistent bloggers and those people who can upload pics non-stop on facebook get their motivation to do these activities.....

Been lazy lately...slacking lots...summer term coming up! SWEET, SEXY, SUNNY weather is to come! But damn....it's exam term..and worse still..it's 2nd year..harder exams..can't enjoy the sun as much as last year..no more lying down under the sun... =(..argh...

tat's all..i m too lazy to blog.....

Take care everyone.. =)

Aaron.Hee.Wy

An Update! Hah!

2009-03-29T09:56:00.001-07:00

Hello boys & girls,

How have you been? Having a good time???

Anyway, next week is going to be my 3rd week of easter break.. for the past 2 weeks.. i ve been working hard .. to make £££ ..well..i m not loaded..£££ is going to be used to cover my Amsterdam trip!

Will be flying on Tuesday morning with Dao Wen and back on Saturday.. can't wait man..can't wait to see tulips and windmills.. =) nothing more..

Got my exams schedule few days ago..8 exams spread over 14 days..all but one starts at 930am..........this means i got to wake up at like wat......7am... damn..

anyway...longing to go home to Malaysia..7 months before I come home..in my 3rd year.. i ll be living on campus..going to miss living with my current WHITE housemates..i m the only YELLOW guy..haha..funny, interesting people.....

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! not sure what was that for..but i m signing off now..

for once..the weather is lovely.... =)

Aaron.Hee.Wy

Holidays baby!!!

2009-03-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

Hola My Frens,

It's my EASTER BREAK now!! 5 weeks of holidays!!!

Not really....... I have 2 essays to write...revision for my summer exams..I have an exam on the first week of Term 3 itself! Looking forward to nail that module (Information Systems)!!! In Term 1 of Year 2, business school students had to endure 10 weeks of lecture on 'what is Information Systems and how it changed our life'............Got to work really hard for my summer exams..i need to hit a high 1.1 (75%) otherwise I will get fired before actually starting my job..........madness...75% in british university education???

In spite of that, I got a part time job working behind the bar. No, i am not working as a bartender. I am just serving drinks and not working in a club. People here like to grab themselves some alcohol drinks when having a break, like us Malaysian getting some air kelapa, milo ais. I will be working during conference sessions (not clubbing sessions) to serve delegates that are thirsting for alcohol. Hope to rake in some ££££.

Other than that, I am going to Amsterdam with Dao Wen. Just to see tulips and windmills...ah...sweet.. =) Will be meeting Jason Michael there? Did that name ring any bells?

Signing off now!

Chows my frens!

Aaron.Hee.Wy

Rejections.

2009-03-07T06:08:00.000-08:00

It's a trend here in UK where penultimate students or 2nd year students of a 3 years course apply for an internship at the end of their 2nd year during summer. Typically, students will apply to companies in the financial sector. We know what these companies are - banks, accounting firms etc. Big names such as Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Ernst & Young (the list is endless) have summer internship programmes for people like me - 2nd year students.

Despite the bad economic times here, companies are sustaining their intake, at least. I have worked hard to land myself a job in the City of London. If I do get a summer internship, my chances of obtaining a graduate job will be MUCH higher..especially in times like these. I was really close to getting an internship that I really wanted..but I failed BIG TIME in one of the test in the final stage..

Despite my effort, I failed to get any internships. Applied to quite a handful of companies. It was official on Thursday when I received a reply from my final application- that they 'could not proceed with my application further' (a very nice way to put it). All the effort and persistence did not payoff.

Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management

Morgan Stanley Investment Management

Schroders PLC

Baillie Gifford Investment Management

SEO-London

Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management

Applied for all the above, and got kicked in the ass! haha!

Ouch. 100% rejection record. It hurts to think about it. Such a disappointment. Failure- especially when you worked so hard for it!That's bad! Can't blame bad economic times for my rejection. One simple reason- I am not up to their standards.

Well, got to move on and do what I do best, improve where I lack. Got to kill the pessimism and bring back the bright, blue sky and sunny thoughts to my mind. Failures- Handle with care. Otherwise, it will make someone crash. It's a normal cycle. If there are successes, why not failures? Like the market, if there is a boom market, why not bust? And if it's busting, or busted, now, why not go against the herd and start making money? ..ok ok..screw those points.. I will leave it for my investment discussions..

I thought of a way to turn these rejections into my fuel of motivation. All those rejection letters, I have printed it and paste it right on the wall of my room, right in front of me.

Your time will come. Work hard.

Remember, what don't kill you make you more strong.

' You rise, you fall, you're down then you rise again. What don't kill you make you more strong'

- Metallica -

Long-term Investing & Value-Investing: Any difference?

2009-02-16T15:37:00.000-08:00

WARNING: THIS IS GOING TO BE A LONG AND BORING POST ON THE TOPIC OF FINANCE, MONEY AND INVESTMENT. IF PRESERVING, PROTECTING AND GROWING MONEY ISN'T YOUR CONCERN, THEN YOU MAY SKIP THIS POST.

Our first discussion was on the magic of compounding. If you haven't read it, please do check it out- it is important even if you don't invest because it has a lot to do with your savings SITTING in the bank.

This post will discuss about long-term investing and value investing. Before its major difference struck me, I thought both were the same. SAME. After one particular event, I realised such misconception can lead to financial loss- something that you don't want to experience.

Lets get started by clarifying a core concept - VALUE INVESTING and LONG-TERM INVESTING are 2 different approach. However, long-term investing is a subset of value investing. The opposite, though is absolutely wrong, invalid and financially fatal.

What particular event brought me to discuss this issue? In Dec'08, I was back home in Malaysia. I tried seeking for capital from friends to invest on their behalf. One of my effort led to discussion of my venture with my friend's dad - in order to gain permission from his dad for some capital. This dad of my friend is a successful businessman in his own rights. He has seen successes and recessions (in another words, businesses collapsing) and how the stock market pushes and bullies investor despite of whatever approach that guides the investor.

During the discussion, I tried to convince him of my approach, explaining my method and fundamentals and techniques and so on, so forth. Well, based on experience alone, I am next to nothing compared to this successful businessman. You might find it stupid for me to go ahead with my investment and helping people to invest (or burning their money in your terms) given my major lack of experience.Hei, I am equipped with practical advice- established for more than half a century and practiced and proven by many well-known successful investors. Don't get me wrong- I am not implying that these methods are flawless.Ok ok...this post is not about me. It's about the concept.

From the very beginning, his responses to my ideas were filled with complete pessimism. Can't blame him. THE MARKET IS REALLY IN A SHIT HOLE. This businessman was drowned in sea of pessimism due to losses in his stockholdings, slowdown in this businessman's business and stories from his wealthy friends how bad they were doing. He was even adamant that fundamentals do not work in such bad times. To be honest, even during boom times or bull markets, fundamentals hardly remain intact. When you are doing well, it's a natural tendency for you to overlook some of the flaws in your approach. Well......of course fundamentals don't work in short-term..Market tends to deviate from fundamentals - frequently. Those investors who made it big exploited this deviation by sticking close to fundamentals.......He was adamant from the very beginning that what I am doing was big-time mistakes - both in investing in current market and trying to invest people's money without experience. I accept the latter part. I lack my own experience. But the former, it's rather subjective. Time will tell. From that very point onwards, I knew my chances of gaining fresh capital is less than zero..At least through that discussion, I was enlightened in this aspect.

When someone invest for the long-term, majority will say that this is a minimum-risk and wise investment since in the long-run markets will trend upwards. True to an extent. If you think its flawless, then continue reading..

When I was discussing my approach as long-term, he started explaining the flaws of fundamentals and long-term investment. He gave me real-life examples. He described some of his investments to me - his approach, his holdings. One particular holdings of his was bought because of interaction with a very senior executive of that company - reaffirming him and the rest of the market of the bright prospects of the executive's company. Honestly, the only answer the executive can give, in summary is 'our company is on the right track and doing well-expect for more'. Who will actually provide a pros and cons comparison when trying to sell you and the rest something....It is like a foreign investor asking our Minister of Trade (not sure about the actual name of ministry and the minister's name) whether they should invest in Malaysia or not. With this, decision was made, bought the shares during boom time expecting to hold for the long term, came the market downturn, and saw his holding fall in value substantially then started blaming that long-term investing does not work. Another approach that I could recognised was buying big, blue-chip companies because they tend to go up....not wrong when you have done proper analysis...all this does not reflect proper investing. What's the lesson? Do not buy on what others say, buy based on your analysis. And, up market will eventually be followed by a down market.. nothing is permanent especially in the financial markets..

In the long-run, yes, he might recoup his losses. But one thing he cannot recover - opportunity costs. Also, how long will it take for the loss to finally break-even? Aha, time value of money. Relate to compounding and you can see the extent of losses actually incurred if the capital is wisely invested.

Hmm, took me pretty long to state my actual point. Long-term investing is only successful if you relate it too value investing. Value investing, in a nutshell is all about identifying deviations and discrepancy between price and value. Exploit it wisely and money starts snowballing into your pocket. How to exploit? Simple. Everyone does this. We buy when things are on sale. So...BUY WHEN SOMETHING IS CHEAP RELATIVE TO THE VALUE YOU ARE GETTING IN RETURN. But the problem is this- it is difficult to define value of a company. To counter this, it is not necessary to place specific figures on this value- after all, value is a subjective term. Give you Benjamin Graham's analogy - you do not need to know the weight of an obese person to tell if they are overweight or not. In simple terms, profit by buying low and selling high. We all know this. Yet, many do the opposite.

The main idea is your entry point when purchasing a share. When it is overpriced, and you buy this company, you are expecting the market to go higher (recall tech bubble in at the beginning of the century). But heated markets will cool down and things will start to collapse. So, your downside is way greater than your upside. There is still upside, but with minimum probability.

Where as if you bought it at a lower price, or a discounted price to its fair value, your downside is lower since the company has potential to unlock its value. And to make yourself feel better, when things fall, you will start saying to yourself you are buying for the long-term.

Take this for example. Your share value fell by 50% from RM100 to RM50. In order to break-even or coming back to your original position, you need to gain 100% of the current value of RM50. Assuming the general market grows by 15% annually after this downturn(this is rather quite an optimistic projection), you need 5 years to recoup your losses - assuming you do not cost-average your losses. 5 years and you only break-even...so much for long-term investing..Again, relate to compounding. Assuming capital after so many years could only be recovered at RM50. Is your actual lost limited to RM50? Not really. Factor in the opportunity costs of having the initial capital invested in bank. At a given interest rate of 3% per annum, compounded for 5 years, you will get RM115.93 in Year 5. So there is an additional loss of RM15.93. And imagine the capital was invested wisely......assuming conservative returns of 8% per annum compounded over 5 years.. you will get RM146.93 in Year 5. So...the loss actually widens substantially....bigger the compounding factor..bigger the losses..

Although buying at discounted prices to actual value is safe, this does not promise returns or complete protection from losses. What it gives you is protection or in more technical terms, higher margin-of-safety - lowering your chances of losses, NOT ELIMINATING it and increasing the potential for upside. Bigger the discount to its fair value, bigger the margin-0f-safety. Be logical and sensible- troubled companies are usually selling at distressed prices..when you buy it cheaply, you are assuming high risk of losing your capital. you got to take lots of courage to purchase such companies..Be discerning..

NOTE: the concept, margin-of-safety is extremely important, core to the heart in order to make successful investments.

Also, I am not advocating against paying a premium for good companies. Some really strong companies deserve premium. Again, it is the amount of premium that the company deserves. Take ebay. It is quiet a decent company. During the tech bubble, its premium was easily more than 2000% of its fair value....

Still can't catch why long-term investing is value investing but not the opposite? You discover price-value discrepancy (value investing), buy, hold on to it(usually for the medium to long term) until it exceeds substantially its fair value then sell and you pocket a decent profit with little risk. Where as long-term investing, you might risk overpaying or buying a company at too high a price thus having little margin-of-safety to cushion your loss if the price falls.

This is the insight I got from the discussion with that businessman. No capital, but at least a big lesson. I felt intimidated and discouraged with all his 'advice'. But hei, it sets a challenge for me to prove to him and others in the community that this method actually works- this old-skol method actually works! Hmm..come to think about it, many people has done this, but many overlooked it.....surprise surprise..human nature..

I am not just all about saying. I am actually practicing this method, putting it into use. I eat what I cook. I am putting all my faith and trust into this- my entire net worth (life time savings) is invested with these fundamentals guiding me. On top of that, I do have other investors in my informal partnership as well..not just my money. At least i manage to convince some people..

There are definitely flaws with my discussion above. So, kindly leave a comment to discuss anything and give me an opportunity to correct or clarify myself.

Hope this has enriched you and if it does, continue sticking around here to learn more.

Anyway, thanks for reading! =)

Aaron.Hee.Wy

2009-02-13T18:37:00.001-08:00

To Whom It May Concern,

Do you even remember me?

Do you even know I exist here?

Do you even have me in your heart?

Do you even love me anymore?

Do you even enjoy listening to me?

Do you even know who the hell am I still???

Damn.

Aaron.Hee.Wy

Quick Update

2009-02-13T14:34:00.001-08:00

Hello folks,

Sorry for the inactivity. Not that I have given up blogging(like before) consistently. Trying hard. Should at least update once a week. I have been busy with a group essay. Lots of work to do.

Well, since I am blogging now, means I am done with it!! ( not completely, but somewhere around 70%++)

Here's basically what I have done over last few days:

. Went for meditation classes yesterday.

Got to chill my mind after all the hectic and busy schedule. I thought meditation was simple, but not until I started last year. We were taught by a buddhist monk (somehow, I feel really calm when I see him) Try sitting down, crossing your legs, back right up and all you do in your mind is focusing on your breathing - purely on your breathing. In and out, in and out, in and out. And when your mind wander off, pull it back and anchor it to your breathing. Think it is easy? Try it first...

. Working on group essay..

Lots of work. Got to compile the group's essays into one- have to align it and create a flow.....tough job..tough job..

. Eating a lot

It's cold. I have been eating out a lot. Damn, my pocket is bleeding....

. Can't really remember what else I did.....all I know is......it is the end of Week 6 of this term (we have 10 terms) It just felt like yesterday that I got back to Warwick..TIME IS FLYING SHIT FAST........................

. Oh yea.. I applied for a job on campus over Easter break. Got a call today to attend an interview on Tuesday. £8++ an hour baby.. hell yea!!!

Btw, I meeting someone tomorrow on Valentine's Day in Bullring (a cool shopping area), Birmingham. We are going have lunch and shop around for a bit. Well, don't get the wrong impression that I am seeing someone. I am still with my lovely girlfriend.

Fyi, one of my close friends is here - Lim Dao Wen. The name speaks for itself - it's a male and I am not gay. He just arrived in Birmingham sometime last week to further his studies here. So, such a coincidence, that we are meeting up on this day.

Chows. Need to get back to work. Damn this term... first 2-3 weeks was really free... and all work came like a tsunami.....

Byes. And..

HAPPY VALENTINE'S PEOPLE!

SPREAD THE LOVE!

- I really miss you........-

Aaron's 'I Want..' 1: Superbike

2009-02-08T14:58:00.000-08:00

Here is my first wish - GETTING A SUPERBIKE!!

Have been desiring this for a very very long time..

Er..I don't have a motorcycle license though.. mum is 110% against me riding a motor..and you know what..I don't care much..not that I don't understand her worries..it's just something that I really wanted all this while..and i m going to be 21 - legally independent!! hell yea!

hei..I could still buy one and hardly ride it, and place it as an exhibit at home couldn't I? just to satisfy myself..

yea..and Daryl made a dumb joke about the kind of accident I can get into.. a cement truck crash into me..truck overturn and cement spillover me..cement dries up and you have the statue of Aaron..................nice one......well..i would prefer this kind of accident rather than having a lorry ram into me..and drag my body under it for miles........damn..tat s disgusting..but it did happen many times....

oh well...despite this..i will still get one..after all the above..it's very likely that my superbike will end up as an exhibit..

So..

Aaron's 'I Want..' 1: Superbike

Superbike baby...

Aaron.Hee.Wy

*snowing again today..took me an hour to get back home from campus..crap..but it was great to have some college mates over the weekend visiting Warwick!

My 'I Want' List

2009-02-04T16:07:00.000-08:00

What do you want in life?

What are your goals?

What do you want to accomplish in the short run and long run?

What did you ever dream of doing?

Everyone definitely has one bloody huge long list of this if they were to write it down somewhere! If you don't...........honestly...there's no point living. Don't get me wrong though - I am not advocating you to commit suicide! Instead, go get this list written down, or at least have it in your mind and start a life!

Every now and then, I will post something in life I want- goals and ambitions I want to achieve be it small, huge or kiddy ones, desires or simply just dreaming of something. I wish to achieve most of it..Why not all? Some of it might sound a little ..er..out of place for me..but if given the chance to do it now..I will..but perhaps..sometime in the future..when the actual opportunity arise..i might change my mind due to physical, emotional, financial (hope not of this factor) limitations..

In this one year, I realised there's more to the ultimate goal I want in life..so I thought of many ambitions, wants, desires, goals, things etc. etc. ..thinking about it while walking for what seems like hours in the cold and darkness in England, sitting in the bus getting to and back from campus..it's better for me to record my thoughts somewhere.

.seriously..there's an IMMENSE motivation to do something when you actually write it down rather than saying it in your head ' i will do this and that '.

Will start perhaps tomorrow..it's pretty late now..need to read news back in the East before crashing into Wonderland..

Anyway... ARGH!!!

Chows.

WEI.YEN

2009-02-03T16:18:00.000-08:00

A - R - G - H !!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a bit lost now......

Snow is white

2009-02-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

It was S-N-O-W-I-N-G today! loads and loads of SNOW! Very pretty scenery..all white..and sexy baby..

BUT: It's nice watching from the inside..not outside..

Sorry- No pics! Phone screwed!

ok ok ..nothing interesting to post for now..but why not share some memories of snow with YOU?

Aaron.Hee.Wy

Answer: Would you pay 17cents to receive RM1 in 10 years?

2009-01-31T06:08:00.000-08:00

WARNING: This is going to be a long, boring, dry post on the topic of Finance, Money & Investment. If preserving, protecting and growing money isn't your concern, then you may skip reading this post.

Now..what's the significance?

Is it worth waiting and paying for? I can spend 17cents to buy a sweet today and satisfy my desire for some sweetness..10 years?? That's lloooonnnggg isn't it....

Decompose the numbers and you can see why.

Over this 10 years period, your money will grow from 17cents to RM1.

By using logarithm, you can calculate that your annual average growth rate of your money is 19.38%. In another words, your money on average each year will grow by 19.38% until Year 10. In finance terms, 19.38% is your average annual compounded growth rate.

19.38% might not be a big figure for you. But in the world of making money, in the world of finance and investment, a double digit growth rate is what all fund managers are dying and killing to achieve. And 20% growth rate is PHENOMENAL.

At 19.38%, it is giving you way higher returns than your money sitting in bank and also above inflation rate! You are actually getting a positive return - preserving the purchasing power of your money. What's the main reason, that us, human always worry about money besides losing it? It is the fear that its value will be eroded over the long run by inflation! I don't have to explain the term purchasing power. You guys, naturally, will understand it.

Perhaps you are satisfied with a 5% average annual return. Maybe, slightly higher say 6%. For the more ambitious, say 10% and 15%. Lets compare the value of money 10 and 20 years into the future at such given growth rate. Assume our initial capital is RM10,000.

Growth Rate Value in 10 years Value in 20 years

5% 16,289 26,533

6% 17,908 32,071

10% 25,937 67,275

15% 40,456 163,666

It's obvious that even a small percentage point (compare 5% and 6% in 20 years) can produce great difference in value in the long run.

The greatest investor on earth call this phenomenon The Magic of Compounding. And who is this dude? It's no other than Warren Buffet. And with this magic, he became one of the richest person on Earth, yet he's humble and modest.

You might think that such rate of return is damn hell hard to achieve. Without analysing further, yes it is. But the secret of achieving it is well known by the public and has been around for ages (approx. 50++ years).....yet......only relatively few that realised the power of this method and practised it successfully. It is with this method that the magic of compounding can be realised. So is Warren Buffet an isolated case - that he was lucky to achieve it? It is a big NO. Many who followed this path achieved returns way beyond market returns. Many of these individuals are well known to the public. They explicitly discussed their general approach with the public, with journalist, on air etc. You can't fail to miss it that all their approach share the same fundamentals. These group of people, Warren Buffet refered them as the Super Investors of Graham-And-Doddsville.

The common misconception is high returns come with high risks. In most cases, it can be true. But in the Warren Buffet and Co.'s game, they didn't assume huge risk in order to achieve such returns. Their game is simple - low risk, but high uncertainty.

What is this method that I have been talking about? I did not state it in this post, but the method is somewhere around this post.. search yourself..

I have made it sound easy. There is definitely more issues than this but I am yet to discuss it.

One thing for sure I can say - despite the pessimisim and gloomy predictions made, the current global market downturn is presenting lots of opportunities to make your money grow. Real, successful money is made over the long run. I can't guarantee you will achieve the results of the Super Investors of Graham & Doddsville without further learning. At least, you can achieve satisfactory results. Satisfactory results in this context means positive returns, preserving the value of money. If you always aim to achieve phenomenal returns, one day, your urge, overly ambitious spirit and greediness will start to blind your rationality when making decisions.

My friends, whatever it is stay away from Foolish Speculation unless you have studied thoroughly the art of intelligent investing and speculating. (Successful specualtor: George Soros)

Anyway, I have been practising this method faithfully. I'll be honest. I am in the red now. RED. Market is bad. Again as I have said, real successful money is made over the long run. Thankfully, I am still in a cash-rich position (when I say cash-rich, I am not saying that I am RICH. What I am trying to say is relative to my initial capital, only a small portion is tied to assets while the majority of it is still in cash. I am sort of a tramp. A rich tramp)

The best part being in a bad market - you get to buy Grade A+ assets at Night Market prices.

That's all for now.

Aaron.Hee.Wy $ £ RM

Er..is there something wrong with the layout of my blog?

2009-01-23T16:32:00.000-08:00

This is quite a quick update from the previous post.

I have been reading my friends' blogs for long, catching up indirectly with their well-being, activities, thoughts etc.

I just realised lately that the layout, arrangement of my blog seemed rather odd compared to all, if not majority. I did a quick survey and checked out friends' blogs, friends' friends' blog, friends' friends' friends' blogs..ok....you get the point...to confirm my observation. It took me so long to notice this....

If you are an avid blog reader, do you realise that my chat box, past blogs collection and other widgets are placed on your left? As for my blogging friends, all of these are on the right.

Which is a more pleasant layout for readers to?

RIGHT or LEFT?

Anyway, I am a left-hand guy - LEFT is cooler =)

AaRoN.HEe.W.y

* My posts are getting more and more colourful. Seems easier to read and not as DULL as previous posts.. The power of colours =)

Question: Would you pay 17cents to receive RM1 in 10 years?

2009-01-23T08:21:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

A question for you to consider:

Would you pay 17cents to receive RM1 in 10 years?

This supposed to be a poll in my blog, but somehow only the question showed up but not the answer choices.

Below are 2 answers to choose from:

1. Hell yea! Why not?? My money grew!

2. Dumb..of course not..wait a decade for such returns..

If you are interested to participate in this poll, to post your answer, please make a comment and choose either 1 or 2.

What's the significance? I will discuss it in a week's time after receiving answers from everyone else.

Enjoy thinking!

Have a nice day.

Aaron.Hee.Wy

Malaysia in another dimension: Without most of its Past and Current Leaders

2009-01-21T01:51:00.000-08:00

Do you actually think Malaysia is such a bad country after all? Come to think about it, we, Malaysians have nearly everything in the world - a peaceful country, abundance of natural resources, GOOD WEATHER, strategic location etc. Well, one overwhelming factor that made us felt like we have nothing is none other than LEADERSHIP in Malaysia. Things would have turned out so much differently if we had good leaders.

The leadership of Singapore rocks. I know many Malaysians wouldn't like especially our leaders in the Parliament to hear this but heck, it is the truth. I am not saying that they are perfect, but at least they perform exponentially better than Malaysian leaders. You need proof? Give you an obvious one. Look at the growth of Singapore. Despite being in a recession now, Singapore managed to grow significantly faster than us despite having nothing but a small piece of land which is smaller than Perlis up north and without natural resources. Our neighbour, Singapore has top class leaders. If only our leaders could have an open mind and seek some guidance from them.

I came across an article today. The article was reporting about the thoughts of Jim Rogers regarding Malaysia. Jim Rogers, together with George Soros is one of the co-founders of Quantum Fund. He founded the Rogers International Commodity Index used to track the prices of commodities in the world. Finally, I found a guy (a foreigner) who actually has the same preceding thoughts as above. Below was what he said:

“My main problem with Malaysia is that your politicians (most monkeys in our government) don’t seem to get it right (bluntly said - wrong always, if correct it's more about luck). It’s a fabulous country and it should have a fantastic future. Get politicians who understand how the economy works and adapt and adjust. Malaysia should be and could be a wildly successful and rich country,” * Words in brackets are my own

- Jim Rogers, Asian Financial Forum, Hong Kong, 19-20 January 2009

Want to see a better Malaysia? Simple conclusion: get rid of inefficient, racist, uneducated, narrow-minded, corrupted, greedy leaders. But here comes the problem: Who can qualify to lead us like the leaders in Singapore? We do have some, but I am not mentioning. It's a lot about whether the majority of Malaysians are willing to accept this group of leaders. You know what i mean..

Anyway, all the best Malaysia.

Aaron.Hee.Wy

Change in Music Taste

2009-01-19T15:19:00.000-08:00

You all know what kind of songs I listen to - heavy metal, hard rock etc.

There are some changes in my music taste lately.. this better be temporary..

Below are some of the artiste I have been listening to............something is happening....

Drum n' Bass artiste - Pendulum. They have some cool club head bangin' songs. Fav: Slam, Blood Sugar, Voodoo People

Started listening to Jason Mraz few days ago. Fav: I'm Yours

HELL YEA!! SPICE GIRLS!!! Fav: 2 Become 1, Holler, Goodbye and more ....

Bob Marley =) Cool Guy. One of my big time favourite! Fav: Is This Love, No Woman No Cry, Three Little Birds.......too many..

Classic! Bob Dylan. Happens to be Steve Job's favourite. Fav: I Want You, Blowing In The Wind

Mariah Carey has some pretty cool songs. Fav: Touch My Body, We Belong Together

I am pretty sure this will be a temporary addiction....

I was brought up as a metal head. And I will end my life as a metal head.

'Once a metal-head, always a metal-head'
- Aaron Hee

Reappearancce

2009-01-15T15:30:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since my last post..like..7-8 months ago..who cares..i m not an active blogger..

Anyway..I am back in Warwick after a good time back home..back to reality..it's cold here..

Kind of reluctant to leave home..but no choice la..

The next i ll be coming home is in December again..as for summer..i m staying here.for internship (IF i get it..finance industry is in a shit hole..not a good reason though)..or work on campus (HUGE pay given the kind of work done)..and then travel..

As for internship, I just got rejected by the company that I was looking forward to join most..made it to the last round out of thousand + ..but the point is GETTING the job..failed my verbal test during the final round.. (verbal test: something to do with english comprehension..got a D for it............wondering when can i improve my english....) ..well..it s fair choice for them to make....

So most probably i m working on campus and travelling in Europe .. Europe is cool..but honestly..i don't fancy travelling in this continent..no idea why.. rather..since i m in the middle of the world..thought of going to Africa or Latin America.. somehow 3rd world countries attract me ( except japan..love that country most! )..maybe that's where I can see the reality of life..mum told me not be ridiculous.....since i m in europe..travel in europe..how bout Bhutan? Tibet? and Japan again? well..until the day i make my own money..only i ll go..honestly..i m quite sick leeching on my parents.......

Other than that..i m still the same (like my english..and my mandarin despite attending mandarin classes)..same old guy..but lately..my soul is a lil messed up.......thinking hard for the reason..perhaps it is just one of those phase in life where you feel lost..never felt this lost before..never..always thought there is a meaning to life..all the goals..aims..objectives in my life are still here..but all seems like illusion..and i feel like a burden..

am i lost..?

Whatever it is..i m still in Warwick..cant wait for the warm summer to come..

Aaron.Hee.WY

Correction to Countdown: Tick tock tick tock tick tock

2008-06-23T04:20:00.001-07:00

ooopss... not 2130.. it's 2030...

Counting down: Tick tock tick tock tick tock

2008-06-23T04:16:00.000-07:00

2130, June 24 2008

What's the significance?

2325, June 25 2008

All.Kinds.Of.Pics.

2008-06-18T04:57:00.001-07:00

The desert in Merzouga, Morocco.. hell awesome man!!

One day trip in Paris during my hitch..tat's my partner, Priya
My parents and I in Rome. The fountain behind us is SUPER SEXY..cant remember its name though..
From left - Aaron(u guys noe me), Francesco and Paolo - both my Italian frens from Warwick! Great people!

And this is SEXY Venice...sweet place man..haha..

Aaron and James ( my roommate )

Warwick.Life.In.Summary

2008-06-18T04:43:00.001-07:00

Life here is AWESOME! haha! enjoying every moment of it..but i still miss home..haha..

Anyway, below is the list of wat i've been up to since i came here.. hopefully i will do it in order..

1) Went to Italy with parents - visited Rome, Florence and Venice. Had 2 italian friends to show me around Rome.

2) Attended a Champions League match in Old Trafford =) Manchester United vs. Lyon.

3) Went hitchhiking from England all the way down to Morocco! Bypass France and Spain. Took me and my partner 7 days to reach. Visited Paris for few hours. Had a great time in Morocco especially in the desert.

4) Went for Joe Satriani's concert.. HELL YEAH!!!!!!!! Unfortunately, not able to go for Iron Maiden and Metallica's concert.. performing during summer when i m in malaysia..damn it.

5) Attended Morgan Stanley Spring Insight for a week. Very very informative programme..roughly decided my career path after this programme..experienced the life of investment bankers..!

6) Tried fencing and tennis here..fun but din continue.. haha!

7) Went to Manchester and Liverpool to look around with frens.. beautiful cities.. better than coventry....

8) Of course i did visit london..

9) Partying..studying..drinking..hanging out and everything else a student will do..

Tat's about it..cant really recall..most importantly..i had a great time!!! =) and expensive one though......

Aaron is back!

2008-06-15T18:42:00.000-07:00

Hello..

i noe i noe.. it was ages ago since i last blog... i m fine and doing well.. i doubt i ve any readers.. hmm..not tat bad..maybe one or two..at least i managed to catch up with some of my frens back home.. i m really happy to hear stories from u guys ..all kinds of experiences!

i always try hard to blog consistently..unfortunately..i dun ve the discipline to do so..

haha.. anyway..Aaron is coming back to Malaysia in less than 2 weeks..9 bloody months just passed like tat!!!!!!! wat the hell..

i cant wait to be back home..to meet my family..especially my parents who have always been there for me.. my girlfriend.. Jeh Ying.. who despite our distance still love me as much as ever( and of course..i do really love her still).. my frens..for accepting who i am and spending great quality time wit me. and of course. malaysian food and weather( though it s shit hot! ) ..

as much as i wan to come back..i really wan to stay in uk..experience here has been great!

this year of my life in UK has been really an interesting one.. places i ve been..people i ve met.. things i ve learnt.. activities i ve experienced ( both productive and non productive) it really broadens my perspective..how? i cant really define it..but i can feel it.. ( i m not shit talking.. i m serious )

my frens in uk are really nice people..of course there are shit or weird people..but hei! that makes the world more colourful! but in general..all have been great frens to me! having a room mate is fun( but i cant deny it s annoying sometimes when ur privacy and comfort is breached occasionally! ) great person he is..not sure i mentioned his name before.. he s James.. and of course my flatmates as well.. Dave a.k.a Aladdin... Pete..Adam ..Chiggs..- these are the few that lives down my corridor..and of course the re st of my flatmates and my coursemates and everyone else in uni! =)

When u r far far away from people u love.. u ll REALLY..SINCERELY start to appreciate them.. not to say that i din before.. haha..
the emptiness.. their absence i ve felt recently.. i was hell arrogant to tell my mum tat i wont be home sick.. well.. im completely wrong.. i was..

many of u noe that i ll be coming home immediately after i graduate..some thinks it s stupid and says tat i should stay abroad and gain the experience..tough choice.. career or family first?

few years ago.. my stupidity..shortsightedness..and shallowness will make me choose career..i was really immature then..

time has changed.. i noe wat s first in my heart..and before i start to lose it.. i better start appreciating it now.. and i will always will.. what i ve done before..the emotional pain i inflicted..the selfishness in my actions.. i deserve to be punished in hell..- my parents.. my grandparents.. my uncles and aunties..my cousins.. love precedes anything in my life (though..rationale has to remain intact)

I will summarise my year 1 in warwick in my next blog.. 9 months of my life spent here..but i can easily summarise..few experiences it seems..but it s significant enough to ve an impact on my life..

As for my frens.. everyone is going down their own chosen path..many of u have changed over this 3 years..fortunately.. most if not all have changed to the better side..whatever path u ve chosen.. enjoy doing it and make sure.. in one way or another.. it has a positive impact on the world.. challenges are there..obstacles are shit tough.. but faith..have it and it will carry u along.. i pray hard that every one of u achieve your goals.. misconception of success : financially loaded and wealthy..

as i learn over these years..it s not accurate..success is defined by urself..the world today was developed by successes of different definition..

my frens.. i will always have faith in ur adventures and pursuits.. everyone enjoys talking bout their dreams and plans..and u noe wat.. i love listening to it!! it does inspire me!

A lil emotional in this blog..but i guess it s one of my most intimate blogs i ve written so far..

I might act differently when i m back.. a better or worse person..or i might simply just be the same person..
But watever it is..my visions for the future remains the same..my perspectives have broaden.. hmm..but my patience..unfortunately..remains the same..and my character (which some part of it people hates ) ..haha..still remain intact..but i hope i ll be a nicer person though.. hahaha..oh yea! my english still hasnt improved!!!!!!! argh.. but i did enrich my vocab here =)

For example.. synonyms of 'drunk' = wasted, pissed, smashed.. =)

So.. to conclude everything..

I am still Aaron Hee!!! hahaha!

Have a nice day!

Aaron.Hee.Wy

Yet another late update

2008-03-12T06:01:00.000-07:00

Hello people!

Double posts today!

Once again, I am back blogging after so long. Just completed 2 tests this week and my term is ending this Friday. Again, I have to say that TIME IS FLYING HELL FAST! It felt like a while ago that I unpacked. And now, I am packing up my stuff. I am going to have a 5 weeks Easter holiday.

Most of you might know that I am hitchhiking to Morocco for charity. Unfortunately, my visa got rejected twice!! Damn it! This time .. I reapplied with MORE information.. hopefully I get it. My sunk cost for the trip is huge. I really hope my application will be successful.. Morocco is beautiful and sexy man…it s going to be a Wicked trip =)
If everything goes well.. my whole trip will take 18 days.. 18 days well spent I hope..

The week after I get back..i will be attending a Spring Insight Programme in Morgan Stanley ( something like an internship, but not paid ). Will be spending 5 days in Morgan Stanley, Canary Wharf. Accommodation paid for and meals as well. Sweet.. =) One friend of mine got into Goldman Sachs. They are paying him £250! Argh..Going to be a good experience anyway despite it is free labour.

Chowing now. I miss home. I miss my friends. Really miss you guys man.

Have a nice day!

Aaron.Hee.Wy