Galileo Trading Performance 20 July 2008

Posted on July 20, 2008
Filed Under Trading and Investing | Leave a Comment

Peak oil: petrol to reach $8 a litre

Posted on July 11, 2008
Filed Under News | Leave a Comment

Adding to the earlier article I posted earlier, it is now revealed by a study conducted by the CSIRO that petrol prices can reach $8.00 a litre in ten years time, if current trends continue. “Australia would have to shift towards diesel and gas and hybrid electric vehicles to respond to oil prices and climate change. Beyond 2020, Australia should aim to be relying more on non-conventional fuels such as hydrogen, synthetic fuels produced from coal and gas using carbon capture and storage, and biofuels that do not reduce food production by requiring valuable arable land to produce.” (Source)

Outrageous!

Posted on July 11, 2008
Filed Under News | 1 Comment

“MADISON, Wisconsin - Wisconsin law bans sex with dead bodies, the state Supreme Court ruled today in reinstating charges against three men accused of digging up a corpse so one of them could have sex with it.” (Source)

PERSONAL COMMENT: Reading about the crime committed by the three men in Wisconsin is outrageous, macabre and very unsettling. I am just keeping a tab on events like this for a research I am doing for a book I am writing.

Australia’s (Cash) Interest Rate

Posted on July 11, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized | 2 Comments

(Source: Oanda)

The year everything changed

Posted on July 11, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment

“The stormclouds are gathering. Our market has plunged below 5000 for the first time in two years, oil prices are soaring, America is in (unofficial) recession and the Reserve Bank is clearly worried about the home front.” (Source)

COMMENT: Here is an interesting article by Ian Verrender. His main points seem to be that the world is changing in the following ways:

Even though it is affected by the Credit Crunch as much as Europe and America, Australia’s economy is lucky for having the opportunity to sell its resources to China.
There is a redistribution of wealth from the rich economies to the poor (India and China).
As China and India prosper, they want to enjoy the same lifestyle we enjoy here in the West. In doing so, they have begun guzzling up as much oil as we do.
This extra demand on oil is increasing its price. It is different to the 70s oil price hike when the price hike was due to a reduction of supply, not because of an increase in demand.
Oil supply is depleting. Yes, oil can still be mined in difficult environments where it can only be extracted at such high costs, making the proposition uneconomically viable.
For the sake of our planet, and our economies, investments in alternative and renewable sources of energy is therefore, crucial.

Microsoft, Apple, Google, Yahoo since 04 Dec `07 - 02 Jul `08

Posted on July 8, 2008
Filed Under Trading and Investing | Leave a Comment

(Source: Google Finance)

Google: -21%

Yahoo: -19%

Microsoft: -19%

Apple: -3.58%

Homelessness and Debt

Posted on July 6, 2008
Filed Under News, Trading and Investing | 6 Comments

“A new report has found that once a person becomes homeless, it’s difficult to live a secure life ever again… It found that most of the city’s homeless have held a job but were forced onto the streets - or into shelters - after getting into serious debt.” (Source)

PERSONAL COMMENT:

I have always wondered what led many people to become homeless. I am definite that most of them were just as hard-working, smart, and just as concerned about the future as the best of us. What went wrong then? I know many people who make it habit to borrow money to acquire the object of their desires. With a report like this, it reaffirms my conviction that debt is no light consideration. Getting into debt, especially if it is for mere personal expenditure risks forming a bad habit… and the consequences could be quite severe.

We should always try to live within our means and if we have to borrow, it would only be for investment/business purposes. Even then, we need to structure debt so that it is manageable just in case the investment goes bad. After having started and attempted many ventures myself, and I will continue doing so, I understand full well the challege of resisting the temptation to borrow money even if sometimes, the belief that your next idea is going to be the next big thing is very strong. But then again, many people have taken the risk and it paid off. Each to their own. But at least we have a study to help us decide whatever path we choose to take.

Galileo Performance as at 5th July 2008

Posted on July 5, 2008
Filed Under Trading and Investing | Leave a Comment

Not much change from last week. I sense that there had been less uncertainty this week, relative to the last couple of weeks, and most market participants are now more certain towards where they think the market is heading.

Mafia fury keeps author on run

Posted on July 5, 2008
Filed Under News | Leave a Comment

An author, Robert Saviano, who wrote about the Camorra Mafia clan, is now on the run. He said that “The Camorra “sistema” described by Saviano is gut wrenchingly violent, parochial and yet terrifyingly entrepreunerial — the clan has embraced and exploited a globalised world, identifying economic opportunities early in new markets, from China to Russia, throughout Europe and even to Australia.”

“”Australia is a place which has been known by investigators to be a place of money laundering … this has occurred for many reasons, the biggest is emigration, which has provided some local support. But there is also the known fact that Australian police have not turned their attention to the Mafia … and that they will not do so until they (the clan) start shooting,”

“If they bring in money but do not kill each other in this (Australian) territory, then it is OK. It is well known that when Mafia have had problems in other countries — in Canada, in the United Kingdom, in America and even in China now — it has always occurred because the healthy parts of the Italian community, the law-abiding citizens have turned their back on them, refused to collaborate with them. That is the answer, that has long been the answer.”

“”They buy property, develop, buy, buildings, buildings, buildings, shops, shops, shops, restaurants, restaurants restaurants … they enmesh themselves in the economy of the society, they enter the arteries of commerce and then comes transport, fuel, trucking companies. And then it is ever bigger money.”"

COMMENT: On the 4th of June I posted about another man who was gunned down just before he was due to testify in court against the Mafia. Now, this author. Courageous men like these who are willing to speak out against the injustices and lawlessness of their country deserve protection. The country’s government must show that they are more organised than the criminals are. Otherwise, violence becomes law.

Global flavour to bidders for train, tram contracts

Posted on July 4, 2008
Filed Under News, Trading and Investing | Leave a Comment

“Nine companies have this week lodged bids with the State Government for the lucrative contracts to run Melbourne’s train and tram networks…Six firms, hailing from Hong Kong, Singapore, Britain and France, have put in bids to run the train system…Three operators — two French and one German — have expressed interest in running the tram system.” (Source)

COMMENT: Regardless of what industry you are in, the market is now even more competitive because it is more global than ever. This is a very important warning for people who have not woken up to that fact just yet.