The Power of No

I took a look at my internet bill today and noticed that my rate was bumped up $20 per month starting in June.  Then I remember the promotional rate I was given must have ended.  Given everything is negotiable in this country, I would give it a try.  I called my internet company and talked to 3 different people.  The first one said they can upgrade me to a faster service with twice the speed with their affiliated company but I have to pay $10 more per month than what I am paying now.  Not bad, but I would rather pay the same price for the same internet speed. 

I was passed to another department to see if there is a better promotion.  The next one told me there was nothing she could do for me.  She said I was not even qualified for the faster service's promotional rate because I was not a new customer.  So I asked her to transfer me to the cancellation department as there were other options out there for me.  So I talked to a third person who completely understood my situation and researched if there were new promotions available.  Then he told me I would be qualified for the new service at their affiliated company, twice the speed at only $5 more per month for the next 12 months.  I thought that was terrific.  Remember the first lady offered me the same service at $10 more per month.

But then a problem came when he wanted to get my information to open a new account.  He told me the computer could not take one letter for the last name; indeed my last name has only one letter.  I said surely the parent company had no problem before and he should be able to use my existing information.  He said no and asked me if I had another surname. At this point, I was getting late for my train, so I told him no thank you for the new service, I would have to call him back.   He immediately found a way to override the system and miraculously opened the new account for me so that I can have the new service in 4 days. In addition, he even knocked my current bill down by $20.   My lesson learned today is: say No positively and people would respond in a positive way.

How Much Fruits and Veggie Should You Eat?

I was scratching my head a bit as to the the right amount of fruits and veggie that I should eat per day.  The American MyPlate advocates one should fill half of each of your dinner plate with fruits and vegetables.  Still I want to know how much is a cup of fruit or 1/2 cup of veggie. 

Here is the chart from: http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/how-much-do-i-need.  According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, for a moderately active woman aged 19-51, one should eat 2 cups of fruits and 3 cups of vegetables.  For a moderately active man, one should eat 2 cups of fruits and 3 1/2 cups of vegetables.  For people who need to control their blood sugar better, I would recommend cutting up their fruit and eat them regularly during the day.

Great Outdoors of Hong Kong - the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense

When I was growing up in Hong Kong, I learned that the British who governed Hong Kong for over 150 years built up fortifications to defend their tiny colony from external threats.  Never did I once visit any of the forts, counting at least 10, in Hong Kong until my last visit back to Hong Kong in March this year.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover such a historical and beautiful museum called the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense previously called the Lei Yue Mun Fort, built in 1887.  The Redoubt was the core structure of the Lei Yeu Mun Fort, and contained barracks, batteries and a large open area for soldiers assembly in the old days.  The Museum is situated at the north-easterly tip of the Hong Kong Island in Shau Kei Wan. The Lei Yue Mun Fort was the most formidable fortification built by the British Royal Engineers against attacks by the French, Russian, and most importantly the Japanese during the Battle of Hong Kong in 1941.

The Museum has a superb view of the Victoria Harbour obviously because of its strategic and high position.  The Redoubt is now 2 floors of galleries with the first floor containing 11 permanent exhibitions titled "600 Years of Coastal Defense in Hong Kong" and other special exhibitions, and the second floor containing thematic exhibitions, a small theatre and a children's corner for computer games and drawings.  The second floor balcony opens to the views of the beautiful Victoria Harbour and many military structures including the famous Brennan Torpedo station which was believed to be the most powerful underwater weapon at that time. 

I took some pictures of the exbihitions: the Chinese junk battleships (hard to believe they would be able to fight the iron ships of the West), the Redoubt gallery, a tank, and last but not least, my 6-year-old nephew's impression of a war plane after he urged me to visit this Museum and then drew me this gift during the visit.

Click to enlarge picture

Investment is about Human Behaviour

Great investors are often articulate writers who openly share their investment views and philosophy in open newsletters or annual reports.  My own favorite reads from great investors in no particular order are: (1) Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder letters (2) GMO's co-founder and chief investment strategist Jeremy Grantham's quarterly newsletters and (3) Oaktree Capital Management's chairman Howard Marks' Memos.

Today I also had the pleasure of listening to Howard Marks' webcast at the CFA Institute about his latest book "The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor" and how investment theories and practices diverge.

I not only share his philosophy of investment is first and foremost about protecting your downside, but also enjoy many of his favorite quotes about the human side of investing which is a great reminder for all investors:

"What the wise man does in the beginning, the fool does in the end" (also one of Warren Buffett's favorite quotes, essentially saying people generally rush in as prices are elevated and sell when prices have slumped).

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble.  It's what you know for sure that just ain't so" - Mark Twain. (It is better to know what you don't know).

"Never forget the six-foot-tall man who drowned crossing the stream that was five feet deep on average" (surviving the outlying events is what counts for funds).

"It is better to fail conventionally than to succeed unconventionally" - John Maynard Keynes (describing typical institutional investors' risk averse attitude for their career sake).

"Randomness alone can produce just about any outcome in the short run" (Howard Marks' interpretation of ideas in Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb - a favorite book of Howard's).

Howard Marks' conclusion particularly resonates with me as we both believe in "margin of safety" in investing and the abundance of "inefficiencies": "Smart investing doesn't consist of buying good things, but rather of buying things well.  Price is what matters most for investment success.  Only disciplined, objective, unemotional, expert investors can know the right price."

To supplement this conclusion, I also want to refer to something Malcolm Gladwell said in his profile on Nassim Nicholas Taleb on his website: "There is more courage and heroism in defying the human impulse, in taking the purposeful and painful steps to prepare for the unimaginable."

It was a very well-spent 45 minutes.  Lots of things to contemplate about the human side of investing.

How to Cook Better

10 years ago, I would not even think of buying a cookbook, let alone reading one as if it were a book.  How things have changed.  My favorite pastime includes reading cookbooks (especially ones that tell great stories such as "The Seventh Daughter" or "Gluten-free Girl and the Chef") and food blogs.  One of the reasons is that I realize I have to invest more time to eat better and to cook better - things which are in my control to maintain good health.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a 1-hour Nutrition 101 talk by food blogger and health writer, Darya Pino, whose website: summer tomato becomes an instant favorite of mine.  Just in 1 hour I learned how to cook better, several ideas for breakfast and lunch, what staples you should shop, how to eat (mindfully), how to snack and how to eat healthy when eating out, etc.

I especially like her 4 essential tips for cooking which she repeated in her blog here:

(1) Start with great and fresh ingredients;
(2) Do not overcook food especially veggies, meat and eggs (this is a big tip for me, yet the idea is so simple);
(3) Use more salt!  This may sound controversial.  Apparently 75% of sodium comes from the processed food we eat.  So if we do more home cooking, we will dramatically cut down on sodium anyway so a bit more salt in our food will not only make our food taste better but also will not do that much harm to our body.
(4) When in doubt, add some acid such as vinegar and lemon which will also brighten the food.

While Darya's food blog is filled with tips, colours, articles reviews and recipes, the stonesoup food blog in contrast is a minimalist blog which is extremely refreshing to look at, and has wonderfully simple recipes.  The blogger Jules Clancy also produces a video for each blog which is very easy to follow.  To round up my favorite blogs, here is an Asian-inspired food blog which is inspiring too.  When I run out of ideas to cook, I type in an ingredient and viola! several dishes come out. Then if you like Japanese food and bento-making, this colourful blog is just a delight to look at (Japanese is the Master of making everything looks so good). 

I am just thankful for the invention of web and blogs.

21 Days of Inspiration and Daily Challenge

It is still not too late to register for the Chopra Centre's 21 Days of Inspiration online program at http://www.chopra.com/.  Program has already begun on January 15 while registration ends on January 21, 2012 (I believe, U.S. Eastern Standard Time). It is all free.


I have already been inspired by the subject of transformation, gratitude and purification. Each day I will read a bit about the "Seven Spiritual Laws of Success" and ponder on the daily inspiration and explore a new activity.

To quote from today's Daily Inspiration:

As Ayurveda teaches, when we quiet our minds and listen to the wisdom of the body, it will tell us what we need to know. Tune into your innate knowing today and let it guide you.

This, the Daily Challenge (http://www.chopra.com/ ) from the Chopra Centre as well as this inspiring book called Beyond Wealth are giving me lots of new ideas to improve my overall well-being for the New Year, the Year of the Dragon.

Also here is the link for the registration for the 21 Day Meditation Challenge for Winter 2012 which will begin on February 20, 2012.

The Year of Distressed Sovereigns

In our investment process for emerging markets, we'd like to describe typical phases of market development of a country going from distressed, stabilizing, reforming to converging.  An emerging market can move backwards from its current phase too.  Therefore an emerging market may have emerged/converged, but due to bad economic policy or political leadership, the country submerges and goes back to the distressed phase e.g. several of the investment grade-rated Asian countries during the Asian Crisis in 1997-1998 or several of the Baltic countries during the 2008 global financial crisis.

We normally would not apply these dynamic phases of market development to developed markets including the US, Japan and Europe.  But there you have it.  This may look like the year of many developed markets going into the distressed phase.

A recent Bloomberg article calculates that the world leading economies have more than $7.6 trillion of debt maturing in 2012 ($8.8 trillion if interest burden is included) and face rising borrowing costs.