Day: January 2, 2007

Categories
China

Aluminum ACH Anyone?

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Last Updated on January 2, 2007 by stlplace

I happened to see ACH, Aluminum China, from grusinvestments. And I went to Yahoo Finance to get more info. But some of the data there are not accurate. For instance, the PE 1.96, and yield 12.90% should really be 8, and 3.2% respectively. I think the problem was caused by the split of their stocks (4:1). Now each ADR represents 25 ordinary shares (2600.HK). Note ACH is going IPO in Shanghai Stock Exchange this year (2007). I briefly read their 2005 annual report and 2006 interim (half year) report. The construction and transportation makes up 30% and 22% of the global market share in 2005. I believe China is a biggest consumer of Aluminum in the world. The Aluminum price rode high in the first half 2006. Since I don’t know about the demand, and the Aluminum price, I will be on the sideline for now.

Categories
Technology

GMail or Yahoo Mail?

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Last Updated on January 2, 2007 by stlplace

I started to use web based Yahoo Mail from 1998. It’s not perfect (large amount of spams, sometimes it put legimitate mail to bulk folder), but it works. About 2 years ago I got the GMail account and started using it. GMail has some nice features such as it “groups” same subject emails in one mail; and better previews for photos. But recently it was a bit goofy. One thing I noticed is it did not send out mail to the receivers. I confirmed this with my friends. In both cases, it looked OK for the senders but “not OK” for receivers: the receiver will just get the “quoted” original message. Those kind of problems mainly cause some inconvenience, but it could be more serious. Because I signed up electronic bill for my cell phone using GMail, and I have not received the email (and I did not go to t-mobile site lately), I missed the deadline of bill payment. T-Mobile happily charged $5 late fee. OK, I guess I will give back a portion of the $20 I saved from Google Checkout back to T-Mobile 🙂

Seriously, a while ago I thought about moving my email service from Yahoo to GMail. But I decided to stay with Yahoo for now. Besides the problem mentioned above, GMail is not reliable in China. I guess that’s one reason people in China like Hotmail better. I believe Hotmail is faster compared to Yahoo Mail in China too.

Categories
Saint Louis

Feel Lucky Passing Emission Test

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Last Updated on January 2, 2007 by stlplace

My 2001 Nissan Altima runs fine except one minor problem: its “service engine soon” light will be ON and OFF randomly. Usually it will be ON for 2 weeks, after I fill the gas, it will be OFF for a while. This is OK except here in St. Louis all the cars need to pass the emission test, and from my experience this light will cause problem to pass the test.

So what did I do? This afternoon as soon as I saw the “light” is off (I put in gas in the morning), I drove to the test station. I was nervous initially because the tester made me turned off engine in the station. Lucky when it restarts the light stayed OFF and my car passed the test. I know two years later I may have the same worry, but right now I am a happy camper 🙂

Categories
Fun

New Year Resolutions for 2007

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Last Updated on January 2, 2007 by stlplace

Personal 

Spend more quality time with family and friends; cut Internet and TV time. 

Drive safely. Walk safely. Drive and walk safely.

Financial

Pay off the Home Equity Line of Credit (currently 8.5% interest rate).

Consolidate checking accounts (from 3 to 2); same for the credit cards usage.

Regular investment in stock markets: looking for fast grower, turn around story, and asset play…