The Russians are about to start buying Australian Dollars. According to Russia's most senior central bankers, Alexie Ulyukayev. He said everything was ready, accounts are open, agreements are signed and the buying could begin at the start of February.

Obama is winding up a nine-day trip to Asia with the mission of letting everybody know that the US is now focussing on Asia. The US would only do such a thing if they see it necessary, from a strategic perspective, to position itself where they would expect economic growth in the future. With the uncertainty and potential sluggish markets in Europe forecasted in the next few years, it is a logical move. What sort of opportunities might there be for the US, China and the rest of us?

Rajat Gupta was orphaned at 18, a native of Kolkata, received an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology. He later earned a scholarship to Harvard Business School and secured a position at the consulting firm, McKinsey & Co.

A suspected rogue trader working for the UBS, a Swiss banking giant, incurs huge losses of $2 billion. Prior to his arrest, kewku Adoboli, 31, updated his Facebook page with, "I need a miracle".

I have resumed trading a month or so after my last update. I also transferred all my trading accounts to AUDs as their home currencies shortly after that  because it steadily appreciated against the USD and other major currencies having a very material impact on my portfolio's Net Asset Value. I'm glad I did because as it turns out the AUD has just crossed 1.1000. I also blogged a couple of months ago, excited about Oanda introducing MetaTrader 4 in their own brokerage system which I think is great.

About two to three weeks ago, I reviewed my trading results over the past couple of years. Even though I gained, I am looking for a way to improve its results. I'll need to do research and analysis. I do not know when I'll begin trading, just yet.

According to Greg Satell, the three crucial challenges shaping the future of business are:

1. Chaos, Turbulence and the End of Business Statistics
2. The Emerging Science of Networks
3. The Semantic Web and The Web of Things

To cope, we need to:

1. Believe in Luck
2. Search Weak Links
3. Admit You Don’t Know and Give Up The Illusion of Control
4. Build Extended Competencies

[Read his full article]

ECONOMICS is a science that employs some of the world's most intelligent people and most powerful computers to prove the bleeding obvious. An excited academic once told me to look into behavioural economics, which he described as the most ''exciting and radical'' of all the fields of economic research. Its most edgy, controversial finding? That people occasionally behave irrationally, driven by emotion rather than reason. Well, duh. (Source)

I like this comment of Conway:

"The ratings agencies, which ought to have had the hardest fall from grace after famously deeming worthless ''toxic'' assets to be among the highest-grade investments, are still able to provoke panic by merely hinting that they are planning to downgrade a country's debt. We continue to hang on the words of Nobel laureates and professors who entirely failed to see the crisis coming."

I find this amusing but I think it is a little unfair to pick on economists though. When crisis like this happens, you can almost pick on any industry, institution or endeavour as being useless. What about the regulators and the politicians and all who purport to know anything about the financial industry really. In factthe socialist just prefer to blame the whole thing on capitalism.

However, I think the problem is not knowledge or expertise. There were people who saw a disaster was looming. The question is why did they not speak up louder, if at all? Was it going to be detrimental for them to do so politically, legally, financially or otherwise? Or was it because people did not listen and dismissed contrarian voices. ? It is all of these.

"If you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original."

- Sir Ken Robinson (TED, 2006)

Marquez, author of The Part-Time Currency Trader, introduces you to forex trading.

Marquez, author of The Part-Time Currency Trader, introduces you to forex trading.

People have preconceived misconceptions about trading, investing and money in general. This is an entire topic on its own but this week, I set my focus on addressing the type of returns one can expect to achieve by trading the markets. Hopefully, I can help some people understand the power of small consistent returns over time. For many, a great rate of return means multiplying your money at least ten times instantly. It is usually the type of windfall gains that people associate to winning the lottery or winning in the casino. Marquez believes that if applied to the market, these kinds of expectations are detrimental to making wise trading and investing decisions.

What we can all learn from this article is the idea that we do not have to rely on our employers to be there for us when we desperately need them to pay us our periodic paycheques at the end of our working days. There are alternatives and, while we still can, I believe we owe it to ourselves and our families to have a back-up plan and look at every single opportunity available.

Marquez Comelab, author of The Part-Time Currency (Forex) Trader, discusses what happens next to a trader after arriving at a trading methodology that he or she is comfortable with.

Should you trade shoes, clothing, furniture and electronic gadgets, or should you just trade currencies in the forex market? Marquez Comelab, author of The Part-Time Currency Trader: A trading guide for working men and women, shares a personal story about his choice.

How much does it cost to trade the markets? Marquez Comelab, author of The Part-Time Currency Trader, discusses the common costs associated with trading the markets.

How will you study the markets? Marquez Comelab, author of The Part-Time Currency Trader, discusses the properties of price movements to help you analyse the markets.

Should you trade forex instead of investing in real estate" Marquez Comelab, author of The Part-Time Currency Trader: A trading guide for working men and women, helps you with your decision.

Not all traders are fortunate enough to have a friend or relative, who happens to be a successful trader, to learn from. Like most traders, Marquez Comelab, author of book: The Part-Time Currency Trader, did not know anybody who could teach him, in person, how to trade. So he read books and attended seminars. In this article, he shares the lessons he learnt from his very first trading teacher.

"After speaking with a lot of people who are disappointed trying to make something out of their 'passions', Marquez Comelab says that despite the cycle of frustrations experienced by anyone following through on their dreams, one should stay on course."