stlplace

Back to coding

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Good reading
I found John Bogle’s 6 Lessons for investors (WSJ op-ed, Jan 8 ) to be good. A few years ago I read John’s Little Book of Common Sense Investing, and was not impressed by it because at that time the market was very hot. Now it all makes sense to me. John is the founder of Vanguard group which is famous for its low cost and index fund.

Back to coding
New year also means doing something new, so I went to my first computer related user group meeting for many years (Lambda Lounge). Interestingly, the meeting location Appistry is just 5 minutes walk from my home.

BTW, I decided to take up the Objective C these days (in my own time).

In the news (week in review Jan 06 to Jan 11)

gadgets

Tough times ahead for China Mobile: I

Post author By stlplace
Post date January 5, 2009
No Comments on Tough times ahead for China Mobile: I

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Sunmmary: the issue of 3G license (news here), the immature domestic standard being assigned to CHL, and no cool handset. All the above combined with the slowdown of Chinese economy is creating a headwind for China Mobile near term growth.

China Telecom (NYSE:CHA, the landline operator recently acquired CDMA business from China Unicom) is ramping up the new CDMA + WiFi strategy, the sky wing (tian yi) plan (English:labbrand; Chinese: Hu Langlang Sina blog); I also saw the sking wing 189 promotion when I was in China. Service wise, CHA is giving the customers both broadband internet and mobile service in one package. The price is quite competitive.

China Telecom CHA sky wing esurf

To be fair, China Mobile (NYSE:CHL) is not standing still, it’s launching the 188 number with TDMA very soon. But I am seeing at least two problems: 1) Lack of WOW handset (e.g., iPhone) to attract Chinese consumers (Chinese: asun0104 blog); 2) The lag of TDMA compared to mature 3G standard WCDMA. More importantly, the existing GSM business will slowdown quite a bit as the Chinese economy in the coastal areas cools, due to slowdown in exports. As many migrant workers go back home (factories shut), there are less need for them to talk/text to family back home. Similar thing can be said to business communications.

Tags 188, 189, CHA, China-mobile, China-Telecom, CHL, Sky-wing, TDMA

Life Tips

New shoes and new mattress

Post author By stlplace
Post date January 3, 2009
No Comments on New shoes and new mattress

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I ordered this Asics GT-2130 from 6PM early this Monday ($46 including shipping). The regular costs $95. It arrived yesterday and got plenty of cushion. 6PM is doing a sale on many Asics shoes. (click men or women on the left to refine results).

Asics GT-2130

Investing

New Year Resolution?

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Summary of 2008
Aren’t we glad 2008 is finanlly over? I am sure most people (who are not hiding under rocks) are. On a positive note, most of us survived from the crash (so far). But we do learn a lesson or two on economy and market: live within means, don’t over extend yourself, and don’t borrow heavily and bet…I think those simple rules will apply in year 2009 and going forward too.

On a personal note, I changed my job in 2008, right in the middle of financial crisis. While it’s definitely a comforting thing to do, I thought it was time to move forward, and I will try to make it successful. Also, I took CFA level I (twice) in last year. Like the financial market turmoil, the CFA test did take some toll on me. While the outcome is still unkown, I think in a way I already achieved something: a systematic approach to look at equity and bond.

401k/IRA performance

Saint Louis

First Night in St. Louis

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I am thinking going to this event again this year. I went there 2 years ago, and was impressed by what Grand Center has to offer.

I can not think of other big New Year celebration activies here.

The direction to Grand Center is here. Happy New Year !!!

Windows

Install Microsoft Visual Studio 2008

Post author By stlplace
Post date December 31, 2008
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Back to software. I installed the VS 2008 couple days ago. Two things worth to note.

1) Install from iso image: initially I burned a DVD from the iso image. During install it could not find couple files, probably because the DVD drive spins too fast. So I used this MagicISO freeware to mount a virtual CD. It worked beautifully.

2) After I install the pro version of VS 2008, I got an “unspecified error” when click on Project Properties. After I installed SP1, things worked fine.

Time to do some real work…

Tags install, Microsoft-Visual-Studio-2008

Stocks

What a year

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S&P 500 index (google Finance), the US bench mark index used by many mutual fund managers, dropped 38.49%. Even the greatest investor guru of our time Warren Buffett could not escape the bear attack, his holding company Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B) dropped 32%.

(In 2008 S&P 500 index dropped 575.24 points or 38.91%, from 1478.49 to 903.25)

Tags 2008-stock-market

Life Tips

Last minute tax saving tips

Post author By stlplace
Post date December 30, 2008
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1) Pay the Jan mortgage by Dec 31;

2) If you own small business, buy the stuff you need to buy anyway by Dec 31;

3) Sell the losers in your stock portfolio: I mean those true losers that you don’t expect them to come back. Some people sell their losers and buy them back in Jan. Perdsonally I never tried that, and don’t recommend it (there is possibility violate IRS free ride rule). Another strategy, which avoids messing around with free ride rule, is sell a stock (say GE), and buy a similar stock back (say Emerson). This may work better for mutual funds (e.g., there are many S&P 500 index funds).

Tags tax-saving

Travel

Focus Media came of age

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Some random thoughts on Chinese IPOs: Home Inns, New Oriental, Focus Media (Sina).

Home Inns

I stayed at Home Inns Zhongshan Park this time. This is a relatively new Home Inns hotel (it was operated as Shanghai Ningxia Hotel before joining the Home Inns family recently). One block away, I saw another Home Inns hotel: the 7 stars hotel which has been acquired by Home Inns this year.

Tags EDU, FMCN, HMIN