MoneySense#26 Gingerbread man ( 8 Dec 2016)

This evening I saw President elect Donald Trump on television, with Softbank founder, Masayoshi Son. Another public relations coup for Trump even as one questions the efficacy of some of his actions.

Yet investors seem to lap up every word of his, as evidenced by the runaway bullishness in the old economy part of the stockmarket.

Are we like the old story of the gingerbread man, who led a whole string of greedy and gullible humans and animals chasing after its tail? And the entire chase only ended when the gingerbread man was literally wolfed up by a real wolf.


For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
      Matthew 24:24

MoneySense#25 Trump the stump (15 Nov 2016)

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again;
    there is nothing new under the sun.
          Ecclesiastes 1:9

Any change is better than the status quo. The financial markets at least in the States seem to grasp this straw of hope with its all, as the US equity market, at least the old economy stocks go on a positive uplift
Will and can President elect Donald Trump spend America out of her troubles? Or is he leading us into a bigger mire if rising bond yields and wobbly emerging markets are early troubling signs?

The world is increasingly willing to vote for those who speak what they want to hear. The populist vote.
But can hope turn into a new dawn just because of wistful thinking?

Stagflation, the terrible beast of the early 1980s is stirring, and Mr Trump could be the key that release this beast, that will bring the world into a double despair of deep recession and high inflation.
  

MoneySense#20 Great shakes (3 Sep 2016)

I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence 

Jeremiah 44:13

It is not ¨is Zika a pestilence?"But rather, what is happening to us the clinically clean Singapore?
Back in the days of SARS, when we together with Hong Kong were amongst the worst hit, a Thai friend figured that Bangkok with all its grime and bad air, has probably killed off the germs unlike green and clean Singapore. But then Hong Kong is not that clean!!

PM Lee is off to Hangzhou prayerfully to make our peace with Big Brother Xi, who is not too pleased with our stance on the ongoing drama in the South China Sea. The ominous dragon looms!!

And with the lack of moral courage by the perpetrators of our cascading local bond implosion, are we a society that is rich materially, but deteriorating morally?

But they did not listen or incline their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods.
        Jeremiah 44:5

Is it a gut feel or an impression from the indwelling Holy Spirit? That unless we realign our hearts to the value system of our founding fathers, where the needs of others come before self, the swoon in the values of the material assets that many of us cling on to, will be much more dramatic than was witnessed in the National Day Rally.

NOTE
Events since this sharing. China squeezing Singapore

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/seizure-saf-armoured-vehicles-hk-began-chinese-law-enforcement-tip-factwire

MoneySense#19 Entrust (3 July 2016)

Post Brexit, the UK political landscape is less than pretty, with no clear leadership. A rudderless ship into an approaching storm. What about the rest of the world? Is our faith in the infallibility of the Central Bankers a misguided notion that will soon come to roost?

Not to long ago, Mr Alan Greenspan could do no wrong. He was worshiped as a demi-god, where his every word, and nuance was placed on the elevated pedestal of wisdom. Today, his claim that the sub-prime issues that brewed during his watch was not within his sniffles, much as his reach of influence and power then was much longer than his nose, made him look like a very sorry incapable human specimen.

David Cameron, Nick Farage, and now brash Boris all seemed to have skipped town, after the colossal mess they created in disunited UK.

Will our seemingly wise but in truth bankrupt of ideas developed countries Central Bankers scoot off as well should interest rates ever do a dramatic reversal up. and leave many gullible enough to believe that holding a 60 years bond at 0.1% pa interest rate was a sensible decision.

Proverbs 3:5-6New International Version (NIV)

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways submit to him,

    and he will make your paths straight.[a]

NOTE 

Events since this sharing

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/14/donald-trump-blew-up-the-bond-market-and-changed-everyones-view-of-interest-rates.html

  

MoneySense#18 Post Brexit (25 June 2016 )

Not too long ago, the leaders of the big 3 nations of Continental Europe came together to witness the celebratory ceremony for the opening of the Gotthard tunnel, the longest tunnel in the world.
A celebration of man over nature. Was it also a showcase of a  Europe that seeks to worship self? And a Satanic ritual is probably apt given the narcissism of the devil.

This same month, Brexit truly occurred, catching the world on the wrong side.
An act of self interest on the part of the Brits? Or rather very soon only the English?
The orderly world is falling apart at her seams, and it will be difficult on one's own wit to escape unscathed from the crumbling edifices, as selfishness rears her ugly head.

"When the world around us is crumbling, Christ is the solid Rock on which we stand."
( Our Daily Bread Sat Jun 25)


NOTE
Events since this sharing

http://fortune.com/2016/08/24/austria-italy-france-eu-exit/

MoneySense#17 The simple life (13 June 2016)

Been in hiatus since my last blog in April. My full attention was upon my coming of age.
Not into young adulthood at age 21, but rather into that once hallowed age of 55 when a nice pension awaits followed closely by a life of leisure. That was the past.

Today, the popular press in cahoots with the financial services industry tell us that you will need a million bucks to retire decently or be prepared to work to age 65 to attain that magic nest egg.
The pursuit of this popular mantra has led many to speculate rather than invest prudently, and leverage to maximize returns.

Should not one start with simplifying one's life?  More about needs and less about wants.
What is considered a comfortable retirement income need no longer be at the stratosphere, but can be closer to the ground.

MoneySense#16 Pax Americana - passé ( 9 April 2016)

The US Federal Reserve is bereft of sensible solutions to an over indebted economy.
Is this a reflection of a broader and deeper malaise? The once mighty Pax America that dominated the world post World War 2 is not just losing her sheen but on the inside, is in moral decay and tottering.

A society that no longer has God as her focus and instead is hell bent on persecuting Christians on the warp logic that the rights of LGBTs is more equal than everyone else. Very similar to the pigs in George Orwell's  "Animal Farm" where four legs are better than two legs with the exception of the pigs that now stood on their back two legs, just like the hated humans.

Prayerfully this is not a diatribe against people of a different orientation. But rather, a concern that in a once moral society that has been a light to an oppressed world, as epitomized by the Statue of Liberty, has lost her way. And like the decaying once great Qing Empire that found herself hooked on  opium. America today is not just ensnared in a debt trap, but has taken to marijuana.

The big shake to get America out of her delusion is near. And if history was to repeat itself as seen in post Pax Romana and post Pax Brittania, the world is in for big upheavals.

' The Light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.'
      John 1:5

MoneySense#15. Seven years itch(19 Mar 2016)

"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:” 
2 Thessalonians 8:11

After a couple of months of nerve wracking financial upheaval, the world's rattled nerves have been calmed by Central Bank's continued indulgence with easy monies.

If history is any gauge, global markets are overdue for a major reset, to make right for the excesses of the years since subprime.

Year 2008 was the subprime crisis.
 7 years preceding that was the deflating of the Dotcom bubble in year 2001.
Year 1994 was the onset of the Asian Crisis.
Less 7 years to that will bring us to to 1987 Oct Black Monday when the Dow Jones plunge.

Take off another 7 years and we were in the midst of the 

US Savings and Loan debacle.

And many might forget the stratospheric interest rates of the early 1980s, in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur war and 2nd oil crisis.

God is faithful much as sinful man is consistently inconsistent. Cycles are a reflection of God's grace. In the trajectory of prideful optimism, man tend to forget God. And in the slide towards the abyss of pessimism, man is so mired that God seems distinctly absent.

 Till Christ returns, what goes down must come up,and what goes up must come down.Much as the alchemist of delusion inthe world's Central Banks might think or try otherwise.

MoneySense#14 "Arigatou gozaimasu" (31 Jan 2016)

Soaking myself in the vibrancy of Osaka and enjoying the genteel atmosphere of Kyoto, one almost forget that Japan is still mired in the economic doldrum of the past 25 years.

As a transient visitor amongst the many, the seemingly stronger pulse of economic activity on the streets might just be reflective of the purchasing power of us visitors rather than the general local populace.

Squeezed by high unemployment and low wages. A moribund housing market only starting to show signs of life. Prime Minister Abe has tightened the screws further with a huge decline in the value of the Yen and now negative interest rates.

Should the average Tanaka san and Fumiko san throw all caution to the wind and just go on a spending binge?

All the world's Central Banks wants it. To zap life into our lethargic "drug" induced global economy.

What comes next when this "zombie like" global economy takes on a life independent of its Central Bank handlers?

I pray you do know and trust God our Sovereign Lord

MoneySense #13. Just a bad dream?? (16 Jan 2016)

"China has entered bear territory," screamed the headlines in the financial press.
Will the Great Wall that has played such an important role in keeping the world away from the clutches of near death aka sub prime 2008, be the same but now crumbling wall that will shake us out of our zombie like delusions?

Nehemiah was the man of God sent to rebuilt the destroyed walls of once glorious Jerusalem.
Our present world is a little behind. We were shaken terribly back in year 2008. Will the glue of delusion generously dapped by conniving Central Bankers be able to withstand the weight of panic when the scales of self deceit finally dropped off from our willing gullibility?

"What must we do to be saved? Says the earthquake shocked  pagan jailer to Apostle Paul.
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved..." Acts 16:29-31

Much as my past few blogs have seemingly to some been a purveyor of bad news, to me they were observations of reality long denied.  The chicken has come to roost..
But yet despair not, till Jesus Christ returns, and He will. Markets and life in general will continue to have her highs and lows, for a one way up will mean many will have no time for God. And a single direction down will mire too many despairing souls to even consider the possibility of the outstretched hands of our omnipresent and loving Father in Heaven.

Sit tight and enjoy the ride, if you know and trust the Sovereign God.