Sub-Prime

After reading so many articles on the internet from top notch financial analysts and advisors on why funds and shares are devastated by the sub-prime crisis, I come to one conclusion:

Many of those top-notch financial analysts and advisors all ought to be shot. And shot again.

Let me just say once and for all many of these buggers are all lying. The value of companies has been dropping noticeably even before the sub-prime crisis blew up in everyone's face. Oh yeah, if you invest in property companies, let it be known that property sales elsewhere (not in S'pore obviously) had been dropping steadily. It has nothing to do with sub-prime but good, old fashioned demand and supply aka Economics 101. The sub-prime has become a ready made, convenient excuse for fund managers to hide their incompetence. They of all people, are thanking their lucky stars now that sub-prime crisis happened because they got to keep their jobs.

Those people who sank their life savings in funds and shares should take heart and learn a lesson. And the lesson is patience and learn how to discern lies. Especially people in suits and pretend that they know what they are talking about.

I look at all those old people at our local, big four banks like OCBC and I wonder what sort of financial advice are they receiving from our local bankers. Judging from experience, they will be getting the same-old, same-old "diversify and be safe" advice which quite honestly, sucks ass. Singaporeans are trusting, that's the country's boon but also bane. I can honestly say, the same bankers in our big four banks, would easily be sued in the US for being ignorant and negligent in the discharge of their financial duties. They honestly spout bland "companies' lines" and know next to nothing about the products that they are selling and only specialise in asking you to fill in the investors' profile survey. A monkey can do that.

I have come to the sad realisation that most of our local bankers and financial advisors are garbage. Being trapped in a hotel in New Delhi and Tokyo for the better part of two weeks, I was forced to watch CNBC daily and see American bankers in action.

Have you watched CNBC? They have bankers and traders bloody arguing with each other and almost throwing things at one another on why some stocks go up or down. You can tell most know what the F they are talking about. Of course, their opinions differ drastically but this is only to be expected.

We are taught at school to adopt different debating positions so that we can see things from all angles. I wonder why our local bankers keep telling me the same thing over and over ad nauseum till i feel like vomitting. Surely, different financial situations require financial strategy. The sub-prime crisis is also an opportunity to buy nice, blue-chip funds now because their prices are low. Our Temasek Holdings (wonder whether their advisers are local or foreign) did the smart thing to buy into UBS and Merril Lynch now when prices are low. Instead of telling old people to put their $ into some bullshit funds that are supposed to be safe (and yet lose even more money than riskier funds!!!), they might as well advise them to use the opportunity to buy blue-chip funds now so that our old folks will get a higher return in the long run.