granddaddy8

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Don't I look adorable? This message was suggested by my youngest mistress, who as you would have guessed by now is a vain-pot. Me, I am more modest. So I let you judge for yourself.

This is a Border Collie bitch. She is due to deliver next month. The father is extremely intelligent. My master is thinking of getting one when litter arrives.

Here are some neighbours at my birthplace. Over at the top left hand corner, the Pekingnese has just delivered. They look about the size of a mouse.

That's me on the left with my sister. We are feeling a bit sad to be separated. But I know my new owners will treat me very well. I like my mistress as she looks very kind and loving. My master looks stern but I will work on him. Before you know it, I will have him eating out of my paws. BTW, my birthday is on 31 Aug 2005. So you have no excuse to forget my birthday. I prefer a T-bone steak as a present.

This is my mum. Her mouth is not so nice. Fortunately, my face follows that of my father. So I have a beautiful jaw.

Ok, let's start from the beginning. This is my Dad. He like a small lion. Look at his front paws. That is what I am going to look like when I grow up. So don't mess around with me.

TV is so boring.

Sorry, my room is in a bit of a mess. I need to get my mistress to clean up. I am getting quite comfortable here by now.

Ahhh! This is better. Soft and juicy. A bit smelly though. I wish my mistress would wash her legs more often.

Hmmm, this leg is quite tough.

There is this funny girl, Felicia, who likes to disturb me all the time. Always cuddling me and even kissing me, yulks. So much so, I had to yell at her "Leave me alone". But she is fun though, picking up my poo for me after I do my business and peeing. I am quite fastidious and will not do my business in my room, which was my master's former toilet.

How do you like my bowl? It has a rubber lining to prevent it from moving about during my feeding. The previous bowl was a cheapskate aluminium tray which had an irritating habit of running all over the place whenever I tried to eat from it. These humans are not so smart. I really have to train them to look after me properly

Monday, October 17, 2005

Hi, my name is Toby. I have taken over the Subang house. Watch it, here I come.

From Bravo to Toby

It is official. The majority has spoken. My new name is Toby. Those who voted yes are responsible for taking care of me.

See my photos here.

Regards,

Toby

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Say Hello To Bravo

15 Oct 2005

The latest addition to our family is Bravo. He was born on 31 Aug 2005 and is barely 6 weeks old today. He is a Golden Retriever puppy, weighing in at 4.3 kg, which is the same weight as Nicey.

His father is a majestic looking dog with a golden brown colour in 3 shades while his mother is a plain beige colour. The father's paws are huge, almost like that of a small lion.

Bravo has a strong jaw-bone, beautiful mouth and tongue, slanted eyes with large paws. He will grow up to be a good guardian for the family.

He has just been vaccinated. So we cannot bath him for another week. He is due for another jab at the end of the month, during which an identification chip will be injected into his body for future identification, in case he is lost.

His diet is very simple, consisting of 2 heaped spoonfuls of soaked puppy grade food - Eukanuba 100% lamb meat and rice premixed, together with milk and boiled water. His body is still fragile so we cannot give him tap water. He loves the milk and lapped it up very quickly. He needs to be fed 4 times a day.

Right now, mama has placed him in the toilet to toilet-train him. He looks so pitiful, locked up there. Probably he misses his siblings.

Nicey was so hostile to see the new intruder. She hissed at him and bit him on the head. Bravo has never been attacked before so he does not know the meaning of fear. He kept trying to be friends with nicey but I don't have much hope for that, knowing nicey's character - melancholy sanguine.

Later, I will post Bravo's photos here once I figure out how to do it.

papa

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Economics: Are we better off today?

18 June 2005

This article “Explaining Growth: Malaysia” by Kevin Chew and Chaynee Wong dated 14 Jun 2002 is probably instructive. Most of their data was extracted from Bank Negara and other government sources.

Here are a few highlights:
1. The study covers the period from 1970 to 2001
2. Per capita income grew at about 5.2% between 1970 to 1996 but shrunk by 1% in 1997 and 1998 during the Asian Financial Crisis. Overall per capita grew from RM860 in 1970 to RM 13,412 in 2000.
3. Real GDP (Gross Domestic Product) grew between 5 to 10%.
4. There was a comparison of household income classified by race.
5. The effects of the NEP in its various forms were discussed.
6. Poverty reduced from 49.3% to 7.5% from 1970 to 1999
7. Malaysia performed very poorly compared to the Newly Industrialised Economies (NIE) such as South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore in the following areas:
i. Per capita
ii. Tertiary enrolment, increased from 2 to 12% for Malaysia, 13 to 68% for South Korea, 7 to 28% for Hong Kong and 6 to 43% for Singapore,
iii. Total Factor Productivity, TFP, was the lowest for Malaysia
iv. Production of graduates in Science and Technology was also lowest for Malaysia
8. Growth in the past was achieved by pouring money into investments without a corresponding increase in technical progress and economic efficiency.
9. This strategy cannot be sustained in the face of China’s challenge and unless a change in strategy is adopted, Malaysia’s growth will reduce.

Other metrics to measure Malaysia’s progress:
A. Per capita income based on World Bank World Development Indicators in Year 2000 USD prices.
Income increased from USD 1131 in 1971 to USD 4641 in 2005

A. Performance of Ringgit (RM) against Singapore Dollar (SGD) –
In 1973, the RM was at par with the SGD. It gradually dropped to 89% over the next 12 years to 1985. Thereafter it dropped rapidly over the next 12 years to about 52% of the SGD. There was a sharp fall to 42.5% during the 1997 financial crisis before the introduction of capital control in Sept 1998. Since then, the RM has hovered around the 43 to 45% range.

Interpretation: The steep fall in the RM value from 1985 to 1997 coincided with the wide-spread privatisation of state assets by Dr. Mahathir. The value of the RM vis-a-vis the SGD can be taken as an indication of the relative progress of Malaysia compared to Singapore.

Finally, what does this mean for the typical graduate?
Over the past 35 years, the starting salary in government for a graduate has increased 237% from RM 750 to RM 1780.
Price of a Toyota has increased 730% from RM 8,000 to RM 58,400
Price of a typical double-storey house in Petaling Jaya has increased 1290% from RM 38,750 to RM 500,000.
It would take a fresh graduate in 1970 5.2 years to pay off the car and house, whereas in 2005, it would have taken him 26.1 years to do so. In other words, he has to work 5 times longer to buy that car and house!

Effectively, over the years, the average graduate has become poorer despite the apparent dramatic increase in per capita income.

If this trend were to continue, the outlook for the typical graduate 35 years hence in 2040 will be very bleak. The situation for an ordinary worker will be even worse.

What are the solutions?
1. Reduce import duties and taxes on cars
2. Improve land administration procedures. Make the process more transparent and more efficient through the creation of an online land database, publicly-available. This will reduce holding costs for the housing developers.
3. Eliminate hidden subsidies in housing prices that effectively increase the price to the house buyer. Cross subsidies for low-cost housing and purchases by Bumiputras should be removed.
4. Remove restriction on land ownership on all categories of land, thus increasing the supply of land to the public, thereby reducing the price. Malay reserve land and native land should be reclassified as non-reserve land, thus creating a greater demand and better price for the land.
5. All release of Government land should be through public tenders.

Sunday, May 15, 2005

1 May 05: JB relatives - Lina Loh, Loh Li Ling, Auntie Loh, Wong Lee Mui. At funeral of Wong Kok Kee

Friday, April 22, 2005

Personal Development: Learning from Mentors

This is a good article to learn from. Common mentors referred to, are parents and industry training gurus like Peter Drucker.

Are you learning from your parents?

How I wish I had the benefit of such great advice when I first started out. I have high-lighted in purple those I could relate to personally.

This is a good site to visit regularly if you are interested in finance or investment: http://www.bankstocks.com

Go out and make your world!

With love,

granddaddy

*****************

http://www.bankstocks.com/article.asp?type=1&id=9880625

Random Gleanings: The Best Advice

In Fortune, words of wisdom from prominent executives

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Eric T Miller

bankstocks.com

emiller@bankstocks.com

Almost everyone is interested in the advice of wise people, whether that advice involves life or careers, or something more specific, like golf, acting, or what-have-you. In its 75^th-anniversary issue, Fortune (3/21) provides a roundup of the best advice that successful leaders (largely business people) say that they’ve received over the course of their careers. The magazine doesn’t attempt to identify any themes that connect the various words of wisdom. And because the interviews are short, the answers risk becoming oversimplified and sounding like clichés. Even so, many of the comments warrant repetition: the people Fortune solicited are bright and successful, and presumably gave the question more than a moment’s thought.

To try to identify broad themes, we divided the responses in categories, such as one’s general approach to life, careers, and leadership. Not much is investment-specific, other than a short piece on Warren Buffet, who says the best advice he has received is from his father and from Ben Graham. Other than absorbing important principles from Ben Graham such as maintaining a margin of safety, Buffett says the important thing he learned early on from both mentors was to be an independent thinker.

Andrew Grove also emphasizes that. Buffett quotes Graham as saying: “You’re neither right nor wrong because others agree with you. You’re right because your facts and reasoning are right.”

Sprinkled among the various responses are references to Peter Drucker, another testimony to the broad impact he has had and continues to have on many of our business leaders.

General Approach

Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay, repeats what her father said to her when she was only 10. “Be nice to people. There is no point in being mean to anyone at any time…and by the way, you don’t change anything by being mean…” From her mother came another important bit of wisdom: “Remember that you can do anything you want to do. Don’t let anyone say ‘You’re not smart enough…it’s too hard.’” And from an early boss at Procter & Gamble: “Always do the best job you can do at whatever you’re assigned, even if you think it’s boring.” Whitman came to realize that any job she is given is a chance to prove herself. She had some other wisdom to offer, including giving credit to others, not hogging it. One of her bosses said that “you get ahead by crediting other people.” Whitman has gotten ahead, but she praises her husband with helping put her success in perspective and teaching some humility.

Herb Kelleher, the former chairman of Southwest Airlines who is widely applauded for his people skills, says his mother drummed into him when he was young that “people should be respected and trusted as people, not because of their position or title.” Accordingly, “I try not to judge anyone by superficial standards. I try to approach them with an open mind…You don’t have to have a doctorate to have an idea…Show that you care about them as individuals, not just as workers… If I’m talking to a person, that person is the only person in the world while we’re talking. They’re owed that.”

Clayton Christensen, professor at the Harvard Business School, makes many of the same points. He says that when he was in school he believed that you only learn from people who are smarter than you. He soon found out how that notion progressively constricted what he could learn. What followed was key: fundamental humility, “the belief that you can learn from anyone.”

Another airline executive queried by Fortune is David Neeleman, the CEO of Jet Blue. A Mormon, he credits Gordon Hinkley, head of his church, for reminding him that “it’s all about your family, your relationships. You’ve got to balance that with your work.” Neeleman says that advice helps him structure his life so that he can be with his family as much as possible in the evenings, on weekends, and for vacations.

Career

Several interviewees pass on career advice they have received. Ted Turner praises his father for getting him to go to work at his billboard company when he was only 12; Turner then put in 42 hours a week each summer at a variety of tasks. That taught him the basic lesson that a good business depends on good labor relations, enthusiastic leadership, making a profit, and reinvesting wisely. The experiences were the best business course he could have taken; Turner was able to take over running the company when he was only 24.

Klaus Kleinfeld, CEO of Siemens, and Ann Fudge, CEO of Young and Rubicam Brands offer seemingly contradictory advice. Kleinfeld suggests that before beginning in a new position, “sit down, lean back, close your eyes and think about what you really want to achieve and how you want things to look in a couple of years.” Ann Fudge was really talking about something else when she repeated the advice given her, “Don’t look too far ahead. Focus on what you’re doing right now.” She came to realize that she was better off “demonstrating capabilities at each level, really trying to excel in each job.” That’s a point made earlier by Meg Whitman.

In the entertainment field, an Academy Award winning producer, Brian Grazer, says that he had made a special effort over many years to solicit advice from people both within and outside the movie business--perhaps 1,000 people over 30 years. But he says that his whole career was built on the advice he received from two people, MCA’s Jules Stein and Lew Wasserman. They said to him separately, “In order for you to be in the entertainment business, you have to have leverage. Since you have none (i.e. money, pedigree, and valuable relationships) you must have creative leverage. That exists only in your mind. So you need to write what’s in your mind on paper.” Keeping that in mind, Glazer regularly mails his written-down ideas to himself, via registered mail. He says he now has about 1,000 letters in a vault.

Two respondents say that one key to success is loving what you do. Donny Deutsch, CEO of Deutsch, Inc. says his father told him to find something in his life that he loved, no matter how unimportant or menial the activity might seem. If you love something, you can be great at it, and money and success will come. Ted Koppel, anchor of ABC’s Nightline, says essentially the same thing. His career was shaped by another veteran reporter, who told him early on to do what he was good at and what he loved.

A slightly different viewpoint comes from A.G. Lafley, CEO of Procter & Gamble. Infused with his mother’s admonition to be independent and have the courage of his convictions, he says he was ready to leave P&G early in his career there because he found the bureaucratic atmosphere too stifling. But he was talked out of leaving: his mentor at the time convinced him that he’d just be running away from a tough job, and should have the courage to stay and try to change things, instead. Thus goaded, he spoke up more and helped change things. He eventually became the chief honcho.

On Leadership

Somewhat along the same lines, Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, says that after his first or second GE board meeting, a director, Paul Austin, chided him for not speaking up. He told him not to forget who he (Welch) was and how he had gotten there. Welch says he was never quiet again.

Sumner Redstone of Viacom (who probably has few quiet moments) says one of his longtime advisors was Ace Greenberg of Bear Stearns, who consistently advised him to follow his own instincts and not be influenced by the views of the naysayers or people with different visions. Paul Vivek, CEO of Wipro Technologies, says the best advice he ever received was from an elephant trainer in Bangalore. The trainer told him a parable about elephants, which teaches the lesson that we shouldn’t be limited by what we’ve been in the past, but should go for what we’re really capable of.

Another piece of advice, from Jack Welch, encouraged him to always think about regenerating himself, taking time to think what he should do differently.

Several others had comments on organization-building. Howard Schultz, chairman of Starbucks, praises Warren Bennis as a valued adviser and mentor. Bennis has had so many good ideas that it’s hard to single any one out, Schultz says. Bennis emphasizes that the art of becoming a great leader is your ability to leave your own ego at the door, and to recognize the skills and traits you don’t possess, that you need to build a world-class organization. In trying to broaden Starbucks’s skill base and quality, Schultz has tried to attract and retain people with like-minded values with the goal of achieving “the fragile balance of profitability, shareholder value, a sense of benevolence, and a social conscience.”

Another executive who’s been strongly influenced by a parent is Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, whose 85-year old father, Ralph, is his mentor. The elder Roberts helps by being a great listener and then asking questions. He sets the example of not taking the credit for anybody’s work. Roberts’s father told him, “if you let the others take the credit, it makes them feel like they’re part of something special.”

Along that line, Hector Ruiz, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, says he tries to surround himself with the right people, who have integrity, and then get out of their way. People will feel all the pressure they need when they are trusted. The most influential leader in Ruiz’s life was Bob Galvin of Motorola, who told him, “A good leader knows he is doing a good job when he knows with certainty that he can say yes to anything his staff asks and feel totally confident that they will do the right thing.”

Dick Parsons, CEO of Time Warner, voices a slight variation in the treatment of people. He says the best advice that he ever received was from Steve Ross, the late CEO of Warner Communications, who said to him: “Dick, always remember this is a small business and a long life. You are going to see all those guys come around and around again, so how you treat them on each individual transaction is going to make an impression in the long haul...Leave a little something to make everyone happy…”

Facing Big Problems

Ann Mucahy, CEO of Xerox, has been trying to revive the fortunes of that once-great company. She says a customer gave her a piece of advice four years ago that has become a mantra at Xerox. When everything is complicated and you feel overwhelmed, he said, you have to do three things. “First, get the cow out of the ditch. Second, find out how the cow got into the ditch. Third, make sure you do whatever it takes so that the cow doesn’t go into the ditch again.”

Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic, says that when he was thinking about setting up his own airline, he sought the counsel of Freddie Laker, who founded Laker Airways. Laker told him that since he would never have the advertising power to outspend British Airways, he had to get out there and use himself, even if he had to make a fool of himself. The other advice from Laker was that, since British Airways would use every weapon it had against Virgin Atlantic, when they do: “Sue the bastards.”

Pete Drucker

Several leaders note the important role for them of Peter Drucker. One, Rich Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life, says that he still goes and sits regularly at the feet of Peter Drucker. One of the wisdoms Drucker drilled into him was the difference between effectiveness and efficiency. Doing things right is efficiency, while effectiveness is doing the right thing. Warren, founder of Saddleback Church, says that a lot of churches and business organizations are efficient but not effective. Results are always on the outside of organizations, not the inside.

Separate from the Fortune piece was an interview with Peter Drucker in Forbes (12/13) which covered some of the same ground. In the interview, Drucker says that successful leaders don’t start out by asking “What do I want to do?” Instead, they ask, “What needs to be done? And of the things that would make a difference, which is right for me?”

Effective leaders don’t try to be somebody else, or fake on what they don’t believe in or are not great at. The one thing they’re not afraid of is strength in others. They follow Andrew Carnegie’s practice of attracting people into their employment who are better than themselves. Good leaders are purpose-driven; they learn to say no and then stick with that decision. But an organization can break down if the employees don’t know the boss’s priorities. The boss should in turn be sure he understands the priorities of his associates and communicates back to them.

A sidelight in the Drucker interview is how he plays down the importance of charisma in a leader. He thinks charisma is overrated, and cites two presidents in the last 100 years who were unusually effective, to prove his point. One was Harry Truman, who was totally lacking in charisma but was effective because he was trustworthy and worshipped by those working under him. Drucker grades Reagan as the other effective president of the last 100 years, not because of his charisma, but because he was aware and accepting of exactly what he could and could not do.

Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, provides a wonderful tribute to Drucker in the Fortune article. After visiting with Drucker, Collins says he realized his greatness lay in his drive, still, to learn something himself. Drucker had said to him, “Go out and make yourself useful.” Pay back by giving something back. Not bad advice.

/ETM/

The author is a contributor to bankstocks.com, a public web site operated by a hedge fund. The fund often buys and sells securities that are the subject of his articles, both before and after the articles are posted. Under no circumstances does this article represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. This article is intended to provide insight into the financial services industry and is not a solicitation of any kind. Neither the author nor bankstocks.com can provide investment advice or respond to individual requests for recommendations. However, we encourage your feedback and welcome your comments on any of the articles on this site. Neither the author nor bankstocks.com has undertaken any responsibility to update any portion of this article in response to events which may transpire subsequent to its original publication date

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

finance: Financial analysis of companies & book value

This is a useful site to learn about financial analysis of companies and how to determine their book value. Book values are useful for evaluating insurance companies, who generally have recommended share price/book values between 1.25 to 1.75. Companies with prices/book value lower than 1.25 represent a good buy while those above 2 may be over-priced.

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bookvalue.asp

Book Value What does it Mean?

1. The value at which an asset is carried on a balance sheet. In other words, the cost of an asset minus accumulated depreciation.

2. The net asset value of a company, calculated by total assets minus intangible assets (patents, goodwill) and liabilities.

Investopedia Says...

Book value is the accounting value of a firm. It has two main uses:

1) It is the total value of the company's assets that shareholders would theoretically receive if a company were liquidated.

2) By being compared to the company's market value, the book value can indicate whether a stock is under or over-priced.

In the U.K., Book Value is known as "Net Asset Value."

Value by the Book

- The P/B ratio can be an easy way to determine a company's value, but it isn't magic!

Introduction to Fundamental Analysis

- Here's an easy-to-understand tutorial on the techniques of analyzing a company's financial statements, including the annual and quarterly reports, the auditor's report, and much more.

Advanced Financial Statement Analysis

- Learn what it means to do your homework before investing in a company. Get a deeper understanding of the structure of financial statements and what they tell you about a company's performance and reporting practices.

In Position

- Check out this overview of how to determine and analyze a company's financial position

This blog is dedicated to my grandchildren. They have not been born yet. By the time they are old enough to read this, I hope they will be able to benefit from it.

Name: granddaddy

Location: Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Part of the baby-boomer generation in Malaysia. Having the time now to review the past and looking into the future. 6 kids. Never stopped to calculate the costs involved. Otherwise, wouldn't be having so many. Ah well, have to teach them how to travel along the Road To Freedom.

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