In Feb 2008, I wrote about the stock market being “ripe for the picking” as it heads down to 2005 levels with S&P500 Index falling below 1,300. The 3 major indexes have been going up and down over the last 6 months since I wrote and the S&P500 hit a low in July. Last night, the S&P500 Index went down 38points again to 1236, a level we have not seen in a long time.

One of the greatest advise I learned in investing is, “Be Greedy when others are Fearful, be Fearful when others are Greedy!”. Obviously in a Bear market like this, fear is in the market causing people to dump stocks. This would be a great time to be greedy and go in and pick up some stocks at bargain basement prices. However, you still have to tread carefully as the market may not be at rock bottom yet!

In fact, the level you see above, is equal to levels in 2005 and may be a good time to get into the market with some good selected stocks.

As I write, all the 3 major index futures are going down, signalling that the actual index may actually fall further when the market opens. In any case, get ready some free cash to capitalise on this coming opportunity because such opportunities does not happen all the time. In fact, a recession happens once maybe in every 7 to 10, so don’t miss this one…

The issue is not whether to buy but what to buy. Finding the right stocks to buy is always an issue, even during a recession like that. Keep in mind that you are not trading but really value investing, so look out for value stocks trading below its intrinsic values. I guess a blog article is going to be way to short to go into a description of how to choose value stocks… but make sure you find some good books and get some good advise. A great book I can recommend is “How to make money in Stocks” by William O’Neil.

Happy Investing and beat the Bear Market!

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Get Rich Fast schemes always sell, don’t they? People have always been taken in by such “Get Rich” schemes on the market, but how much of these are really true? In my opinion, almost none, I am afraid. There are only a few ways to really get rich fast and here they are :

1. Strike it Rich! - OK, this is not only limited to lottery. It could include Jackpot machines, Casinos etc… and one word describe this way of getting rich; “Gambling”! It’s a once in a lifetime chance and even if you make it, chances are you’re going to lose it and you probably cannot repeat it. Statistics show that people who get rich quick through gambling seldom are able to hold their wealth for more than 5 years.
2. Marry into Riches - Find someone rich and marry him or her. Self explanatory.
3. Stumble onto Riches - This one is just pure luck. You can walk on the streets and pick up a million dollars. Or you could have a rich relative die and decided to leave all his riches to you, but the probabilities are really really slim, so don’t bet on it.

So, other than the above, the only way to become rich is to work hard and smart at it. Here, I’d like to share an article in the local papers recently about all these courses advertised in the papers about “making fast money”!

Companies and individuals are charging up to S$4k and more for some of these get rich classes. Most of these are trading classes, focusing on Options, Forex and more recently Eminis. They tout the high leverage and ease of making money but as with all things, high rewards always comes with high risk.

Some of these promise low investments, as low as US$500.

Personally, I have attended some of these course. While they are not all bad courses, and you do learn a lot cramped into the 2,3 or 4 days the courses are held. Some spend alot of time focusing on just one major strategy without teaching you the rest. Getting into the market with one strategy is certainly no way to make it big.

For example, one of the course I took focus on only Options Gapping strategy.

On strategy these courses use to make you part with your hard earned money is that they set a time limit for signing up at a special discount. They will tell you that if you sign up today, you get a 30% discount and if you walk out, and come back, you’ll have to pay the full price. Well, I’ve learned that this is just nothing but a hard sell sales strategy. If you call them a week later, believe me, they’ll still offer you the same price. Afterall, their costs are fixed, so why not have additional revenue… There was even a course that sells the fact that you will get this and that as free gifts if you are the first ten to sign up. Then I realised that everyone gets them.

Are there good courses out there that do not make such wild “Get Rich Fast” and other unscrupulous claims? Yes, I am sure there are! In fact, I’ve personally experienced some of them. Some time later, I may write a review of these courses I took, just so others may get a good feel of what to expect when they want to sign up. Meanwhile, keep a tight hold on your hard earned cash… they are hard to come by, so invest and spend them wisely!

Cheers!

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Are you having an eBay business right now? If you are, do you have a problem with sourcing for goods to sell on eBay. Well, fret not… because one of the best source of goods for eBay business owners is the local garage sale. Due to the number of expats in Singapore, expats moving in and out of the country are common. As such, there are plenty of garage sales with excellent bargains almost every week.

If you have not tried sourcing for goods at the local garage sales, you owe it to yourself to do it at least once. I’m actually quite sure you’ll thoroughly enjoy it though, so much so that it will probably become a common weekly affair.

So where do you start. Well, most garage sales are held on Saturday (for whatever reasons). The best place to start is to get a copy of the Straits Times classified and look under the column “Garage Sales”. Look for “Expats Moving” garage sale if possible. as this gives you the highest possibility of getting goods at bargain prices.

Once you have identified a few, get there are early as possible to grab the bargains. Believe me, you’ll see a crowd and if you are not early, bargains will be snapped up like hot cakes. Don’t be afraid to negotiate. I’ve attached a short video of a local garage sales near Holland Road just before the gates opened. You’ll get a good idea of why you should be there early… Watch it, learn it and enjoy the experience. Most important of all, make money from it.

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I had a real surprise yesterday! You see, one of my pastime is reading interesting blogs on the internet. Blogs I enjoy are those on self improvements, health, making money or some hobbies which I like. One of these interesting blogs is by a guy called Hoto who wants to lose 110lbs by 2011. He has an interesting blog called THAGURU.

Well, one of the last thing I would expect is to win a USD25 prize for reading blogs online and that is exactly what I got yesterday! Hoto ran a contest on his blog for his readers and I won the USD25 prize! That’s one awesome surprise… Thanks Hoto!

One of the really nice things about reading blogs is the knowledge gain from some of the latest and greatest information you can find. We all know a little bit more about certain aspects of life than others; so the blog is a great way to learn for me too. As for you, keep reading… because the next winner could be you!

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I’ve always been a skeptic of anything sold online, especially when it claims to make you lots of money! Sometime last year, I decided to explore for myself a little more of this internet marketing thing. I enrolled into and attended an internet marketing class where I learned a few tips on what internet marketers do. I also made a couple of friends.

Well, in a review session held sometime later, I had not made a cent. However this friend I met made quite a few hundred dollars and shared with me how he did it. It was this simple course he bought online. Well, turned out, he sent the link to me. I went through it and interestingly, this was not one of those product that charges you hundreds of dollars and claimed to make thousands in a day. The ad merely says, “How an adword campaign that cost $4.22 per month made me $414 every month” and it cost a mere $10! Sounds realistic enough! So I decided to give it a go.

Well, fast forward 2 months later and sure enough, I received a cheque in the mail from Amazon for US$178.44. Wow, was I excited! Here’s the cheque :

It wasn’t difficult! It’s not alot of money but it’s extra money. OK the truth is, I did not spend $4.22 on Adwords but more like $55. But I’ve got to refine it using some of the techniques taught, and I am sure I can do better!

Well, for $10, it’s pretty good investment. So click here to get the product. Give it a go… I’m sure you’ll learn and benefit from it like I did!

Click Here!

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Chinese New Year is a time of celebration in many Asian countries. However, it seems that things are not that rosy in some parts of the world. On Friday 8 Feb, CNN reported that people’s confidence in the economy sank even lower amid heightened fears about shrinking job opportunities and the possibility the country is falling into recession.According to the RBC Cash Index, confidence dropped to a mark of 48.5 in early February, from 56.3 last month. The new reading was the worst since the index began in 2002 and surpassed the previous low reached in January.

Stocks ended a rough week on Wall Street in mixed territory Friday, as ongoing credit market woes dragged down the financial sector. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.5%, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.4%. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.5% after falling into bear market territory earlier this week, defined as a drop of 20% from the recent highs. All three stock gauges ended the week with losses, erasing the big rally from the previous week.

But there’s a silver lining to every cloud. Maybe it’s a good time to pick up some value stocks if your hands are itching. A good example of how much better value stocks are now compared to 2 months ago includes Apple which fell from a high of USD200 (Dec 2007) per share to the current USD125. Even mighty Microsoft was not spared! It came down from a high of USD38 (Nov 2007) to the current USD28 per share.

Alot of wealth building is about doing the things that others do not do. When others are selling, you should be buying and when others are buying, you should be selling. Personally, I feel there’s some way to go before it hit bottom but now is a good time to start researching for value stocks to pick up along the way down. Currently, the SP500 Index is at 2006 levels (see figure below) but is expected to go further down and may even reach 2005 levels. This would be an opportune time to put down some hard earned money and bet on a reversal in the next 2 years or so.

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You know how often we come across a book at the bookshop that looks quite interesting but never really picked it up to read! Well, it happens to me more often than you can imagine because I have lots of books on my bookshelf that I wanted to read but just never got around to it because another new book caught my attention first. Well, I met a nice gentleman recently who happened to be the writer of this excellent book, “Jewels in our Backyard”. I got a copy of his book from the back of his car and like always put it aside for a while. Recently I had to make a trip to Germany and decided to take the book along to kill time on the 12hours flight. What a blessing that turned out to be!

If you are a Singaporean looking to make your second stream of income, or you’re just tired of being an employee all your life, or maybe you just want to find more time to spend with your loved ones and yet do not want to forego your income, or perhaps you’re just fishing for ideas to start that second business… this is the book for you! I mentioned “Singaporean” because this book was written with the Singaporean in mind, including the use of Singapore slangs and jargons, but the ideas in the book could really benefit anyone.

The book started off unassumingly with a description of the realities of the real world and touting about the benefits of being your own boss! What would you expect from a person who’s been his own boss for more than 25 years! Now here’s what I really like about this book. Unlike most other motivational or wealth building books that promises to make you a multi-millionaire, Eng Jit (the author) tells you upfront that he’s not talking about “flying an F16 or 747 jet” but “flying a Cessna (a single propeller plane)”… a great analogy of being a smaller entrepreneur with the ability to move fast and with the times! Look at it this way; a Cessna can fly high enough to have a “bird’s eye view” and yet low and slow enough to see the details. It can take off and land before the 747 can refuel! This really reminds me of a slogan used by a courier company some years back that goes like this; “We are Big enough to do the job, Small enough to do it faster!”

The book is littered with great ideas, especially Chapter 3! Making money from home, hobbies, IT services, trading etc… Many of us think that Singapore is too small a country to offer the opportunities a bigger country can. Well, this author begs to differ and I must say, I concur with him. Opportunities abound as long as you know where to look for them!

Chapter 4 talks about how you can make money work for you. Eng Jit espouses the “Get Rich Slowly” scheme as compared to many other books which touts the “Get Rich Quick” scheme. And it’s easy to see why most other books tell the other story… “Get Rich Quick” sells! “Get Rich Slowly” is about compounding… building one “brick” after another until you get a “house”.

Many people talk about investing in Real Estate and how it is one of the best investments ever. However, there are also many people burnt by property investments! This books gives examples of how you can maximise your leverage in Real Estate so that returns are highest. To me, this article alone is more than worth the price of the book!

Part 5 and 6 of the book discusses another kind of Jewel ; Jewels for the Soul! While money and wealth are very important in this material world, they are not the only things that are going to make life worth living. Why do you think Elvis Presley died of a drug overdose and Whitney Houston is now a complete wreck despite all the talent and money they have? Humans have 6 basic needs, 2 of which are are not met by money and wealth alone. These two needs are Growth and Contribution. These last two chapters discuss temporal vs eternal needs and how we should count our blessings along the way! When we know we are blessed, then we should stop to bless others too. Too often, our quest for wealth keeps us so busy, we don’t even have the time to stop and “smell the flowers”. Life is about enjoying the journey, less about the destination!

All in all, I have to say that this book is an enjoyable and awesome read. The $10 asking price is a bargain. I collect inspirational quotations as a hobby and this book has lots of them. Here’s an interesting one :

“If you fooled me once, shame on you

If you fooled me twice, shame on me”

We can read about get rich schemes, nothing down on property, making money in Forex Trading etc… but in the end, downright honesty is always appreciated. This book was written straight from the heart, from a man who’s been at it for 25 years and still counting! It is easy to understand, with lots of short stories, anecdotes and “wise cracks” along the way. I’d definitely recommend you to get a copy for yourself and your loved ones!

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