trading journal 1: the national debt issue

This marks the official unveiling of long-awaited Richard's trading journal series where various trading techniques and research materials are discussed and probed here over the course of my trading career. Today we will focus our attention on the interesting phenomenon of US national debt issue, which is a macroeconomic problem affecting everyone including traders.

an article on optionetics today (http://www.optionetics.com/articles/article_full.asp?idNo=15143) details the perils of national debt of US which is at a massive level. It warns that economists are alerted to sign of unstability cause of rising interest rate in the U.S. Basically, a viscious cycle of foreign tighting of fiscal policy -> us treasury loses attractiveness -> higher interest in us -> deteriorating economy performance in US -> us market crash.

It goes on to discuss on great powers of the past have all been big lenders of the time. US today, it seems, is nothing but a huge shell wielding scary swords at weak buddies. so must trading a bit cautiously it seems, However it still is a macro issue and serves only as the peripheral concern for mid range trading.

My Toy Cars

My toy car collection has grown substantially yesterday following a mass exodus of a fleet of 5 joined my personal fleet, courtesy of Matchbox. Allow me the indulgence of introducing them:

Hummer H3


3rd generation of what was originally AM general's mobile fighting unit. I think after 3 generations it has degenerated into something of a laughing stock of American's obsession with gas guzzlers that never go off-road. Nowadays it represents something of a dilemma when HUMVEE continues to be used as corpse carriers in Iraq battlefields while Arnold-wannabes still crave them back in US. Recently it was made famous in Pixar animation feature "cars" where a WW2 jeep holds an offroading class for a group of SUVs including an H3 which is visibly scared. The shear size of this baby makes it one of the strongest personal statement one can make. Its shape defies any aero dynamics and modern car design, yet surprisingly muscular.


Porsche Cayenne Turbo



The hyper version of Cayenne Turbo. Jeremy Clarkson walked out of the car disgusted during his review, but from this angle it's rather good. You've got to let car makers to diversify even if they are as pure as Porsche. Ferrari's making a four door now isn't it?

Mitsubishi Eclipse



Eclipse is a genuine two door sporty coupe for the north American market. Background of this car can be found at ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Eclipse.
In the original GT game for PS1, eclipse was a competent car with excellent manouvrability and speed, drifting with this car was a breeze.


Ford GT


Ford GT is a crazy car. It single handedly created Ford's legacy on the track out of pure spite for Ferrari. Every line, every curve, every stroke of this car is a climax of veagence. It's evil, it's bad, and it's no longer made. ... say what? yep, GT has ended a brief 2 year stint in the world stage. Maybe it's the quality issue, maybe it's coz nobody buys it, but it's a legend nonetheless. A true symbol of our time, of industrialization, of exhilaration, of modern marvel.

Shelby Cobra Concept

Shelby Cobra is a seperate entity external to Ford. Shelby actually have a close tie with the car above, the GT and the original GT40, one of the most beautiful car of our era. Shelby was a former army man who came to race expensive cars and later designed several extraordinary automobiles. This Shelby concept is a distinctively beautiful car, bold and strong, encompassing what true american muscle car should be. Heart of a Hummer, stance of a Jaguar, speed of a Ferrari.

Mercedes SL-55 AMG


Some stats should do the trick for this baby here:

• AMG Manual shift buttons
• Sensotronic brakes with 8-piston front calipers
  AMG Active Body Control suspension.
• US$122,220
• AMG supercharged 5.5 L (5543 cc) 24-valve V8 engine 476 hp (367 kW) at 6,100 rpm
• 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) 4.7 s

SL stands for "sports light", or "Sport Leicht" in Germany. in AMG form, it's meaner and lower. An proper proposition for a footballer's wife or rich hair salon owner who's too bothered to spend time on car picking. The human version of this car is probably Victoria Beckam.

Porsche Boxter




Porsche Boxter is the best value sports car at any price range. Over the years, Porsche Boxter, like a precision-cut German knife, has cut through formidable opponents like Merc SLK, Beemer Z4, the ugly Crossfire, and more recently 350Z cabriolet. It is the unshakable yardstick of prestige roadster, the MX-5 of its segment. Recently Porsche reported to be contemplating about stuffing the cayman engine into this baby, which can't be a bad thing.

BMW 850i




I've personally sat in one of this baby. V12 powered BMW at its mass production form. Too bad a beauty like this was withdrawn due to the v12 unfriendly climate it was launched into. Dad actually seriously considered one of these, count it as a blessing he didn't buy it, otherwise there won't be enough money for food now with petrol at AUD$1.30. Seen one or two of these in Sydney, not very popular down under. Making my collection ever so much more valuable :P

Pontiac Firebird Ram Air




My least favourite of the bunch. Mine was a convertible version but this is the nicest pic i could find. This car, like GT, gone out of production. It had a substantially longer run of '67-'02. Powered by V8 engine from various division of GM conglomerate, it's a cheap and cheerful muscle car for American population.

Ferrari F430



It gives me enormous pleasure to welcome the newest member of my fledging car fleet, the Ferrari F430 Spyder, although in a lesser attractive black veneer instead of the sexy Ferrari Red that is such a fearsome colour both on the street and in motorsport. Personally i think it's the most bella machina the current auto industry has produced. The 4.3 litre v8 might not be a v12 that Ferrari's are famous for, or even the V10 lambos are made of, but it's a giant step leap from 360, and the upcoming 430 CS is geared to be a winner.

movie journal: the omen

first and foremost, not a single horror bone in my body. matthew perry once said he doesn't like to be scared in cinma and doesn't consider it entertainment. the movie did provide scare to a small extent, but nothing we haven't seen in the trailer so it was not overdone. the film itself foreshadows greater evil to come in the form of higher politically induced conflict which will affect everybody on earth. it's hard to avoid politic tone and taking a one sided view of world events these days in hollywood productions, most producers prefer to be pro-democratic, just to be on the safe side.

acting-wise nothing outstanding to be noted. it's either too bland like our embassodor dude or too animated like the cranky priest. so basically the kid got jackal blood and really evil, even draw evil nanny/dog to protect him. dad trying to hide the fact that he didn't have a clue where the kid came from apart from it's just not his child, but couldn't hide it anymore when shit start to happen around him that he can't deny. oh and isn't the whole film just a giant LEXUS ad?! i mean, apart from a few rusty alpha in rome, it's all lexus-fare. the GS even looked surprisingly shiny after ram 2 steel doors and banged quite a lot of pots and walls. perfect.

movie journal: the "trying very hard" hookwinked story, fast and furious tokyo drift

Hookwinked

Now we all know the story of little red hat and that big bad wolf.. or do we? i seem to forgot wot the original story was talking about... but anyway, fox has just released (straight to piracy it seems) a little red hat story for the modern day. now i'm talking straight after my home screening and prior to any IMDB reading, the initial feedback from my trusty brains says "mediocre"

there are always those "priceless moments" of a movie that you just think is ingenius. in Pixar's cars, it's:

• the short "one man band"
• how that WW2 jeep teach hummers offroad
• luigi and little wheeler's tyre change
• the cocky sports car dudes and how they seduce big MACK to sleep
• and the list goes on

now let's talk about the "priceless moments" of hookwinked. top of the list is that "triple G" mark behind granny's neck, an obvioius reference to xXx series. the ensuing action scenes also felt to be a direct carbon copy of vin diesel. fair enough, granny zipping down an explosive slope x-treme sports style, lot of fun. the second priceless moments can be attributed to the little squarrel talking super fast, but somehow you are reminded of the little rat from "ice age" and millions others side kicks in such movies. nonetheless, it provided loads of fun. the smooth talking wolf is different too, but i would've thought of it even if i'm asked to write the script, so no surprise there.

the biggest let down or dissappointment of this film, however, is not in its plot, but rather the graphics. CG came a long way and this fox production was still stuck somewhere before toy story. characters appears lifeless and rigid. what happened to a little skin tone on red's face or some scars on that big tree hacking dude's head? wolf was rather convincing though, but then again it's to be expected from a hairy animal. hair is the least they have to do.

so to sum up, hookwinked opens internationally on the internet, rated E for everybody. just realised it's not by fox, but what the hell. IMDB says it's independent and director's first feature. full kudos to him. IMDB was right in saying it's more entertaining than "chicken little" can ever hope to be.

Fast and Furiouis - tokyo drift

After the annoyingly disappointment of the second instalment to the fast and furious franchise, the story moved to tokyo for a surprisingly good oriental twist. the plot itself it nice and simple, a natural trouble maker kid can't make it anymore in the states and got sent across the pacific to his divorced/depressed Navy dad stationed at populous Tokyo. Now if hollywood ever makes an Initial-D movie, this would be the closest they ever got. Jay Chou & co's attempt at visualizing drift never looked this good. our protangonist got hooked up to an underground gang that shift illegal goods at day, drift nissan 350Z at night. sounds intriguing right? and probably very convenient too. so the only sensible sentence of the whole movie is probably "know what you want, and don't stop until you get there" by our guy. sweet.

apart from the so-so leading actress, the movie pretty much a drift show shown first in 350Z, 180sx, evo 9, rx-7, and finally muscle mustang with nissan engine.

oz win

Every sporting event is best remembered later on through the generations as tidbits and snapshots. The kodak moments of the game so to speak. years later, what will the australian nation remember the our opening game of Germany 06? one of immense trepidation and hope, one dashed initially by an unfortunate incident but the resilient ozzie buggers persevered and triumphed. forget how the format tactics were all wrong for most of the match, forget the sloppiness of the refree, but the true essence of this moment is that oz overcame. time and again it proved that we are an lucky nation. a bit of redneck hardworking spirit and a little attitude, in the end we won. a truly great statement of who we are.

Favourite of the Hour

Favourite saying of the hour: 人无远虑必有近忧
Favourite food of the hour: arnotts raspberry short bread – can’t get enough of this
Favourite thinking of the hour: must beat time deadline

just scooped these from another blog. saw it a few days ago but took a detailed look today. quite some insight into the heydays of dotcom era where any thing can be sold by a tech company. Looking back on them make u realise the madness of it all.

The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time, from PC Magazine.
1. America Online (1989-2006)
2. RealNetworks RealPlayer (1999)
3. Syncronys SoftRAM (1995)
4. Microsoft Windows Millennium (2000)
5. Sony BMG Music CDs (2005)
6. Disney The Lion King CD-ROM (1994)
7. Microsoft Bob (1995)
8. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (2001)
9. Pressplay and Musicnet (2002)
10. dBASE IV (1988)
11. Priceline Groceries and Gas (2000)
12. PointCast (1996)
13. IBM PCjr. (1984)
14. Gateway 2000 10th Anniversary PC (1995)
15. Iomega Zip Drive (1998)
16. Comet Cursor (1997)
17. Apple Macintosh Portable (1989)
18. IBM Deskstar 75GXP (2000)
19. OQO Model 1 (2004)
20. CueCat (2000)
21. Eyetop Wearable DVD Player (2004)
22. Apple Pippin @World (1996)
23. Free PCs (1999)
24. DigiScents iSmell (2001)
25. Sharp RD3D Notebook (2004)