Tumbling, crumbling, melting ...real humbling

The global stock markets started to become jittery late last year(2007) as the subprime crisis in US surfaced. Within less than a year, the financial crisis arising from the subsequent credit crunch, has deepened and swiftly affected the rest of the world. The credit crunch is mostly brought about by the loss of trust in the lending business. Banks are just not lending to each other like they used to. Some failed banks are being "nationalized" to protect depositors. Some banks suffer from a run as scared depositors scramble to withdraw their money.

Despite the massive government bailout or rescue package for the failing financial institutions, investors' fear rear its ugly head and has come to rule. Bourses around the world have lost their market values,the magnitude of which is unheard of in the last 35 years. Billions (USD) have been wiped out from stock markets worldwide within a couple of weeks in late September and early October 2008. This is reminiscent of the Asian financial crisis in 1997/1998 though on a much, much larger scale.

The stocks went on a merry tumble and now, at the time of blogging, have virtually crumbled. The melt-down may signal a global recession. Crisis of this magnitude has humbled many an investor whose investments collectively and cumulatively help create and drive the financial system which supports the economy of the country.

Devastating as it is, what can the poor individual investor do except to sigh and wait for the financial turmoil to evolve fully, bottom out and place a mark on the new seven-year cycle! For the courageous, this is the time to buy stocks of good companies at a cheap price, with a long term horizon in mind.

Keep your hand off that ear!

A 27 year old man presented with left ear pain and had begun to feel feverish. He revealed that a few days back, water had got into his ear canals and he used cotton buds to dry them up. About 24 hours later he started to feel pain. He medicated himself by using some kind of solution purchased over the counter (OTC), however the condition deteriorated and fever had set in.

Examination of his left ear showed some serous discharge and a small ulcerated area at 10 o'clock and fortunately his tympanic membrane (ear drum) was intact.The lesson drawn from this case is refrain from inserting cotton buds into you ear canal. Ear has the amazing mechanism of cleaning itself. Any attempt to clean it will risk injury and infection.

A SOjoURN.... A reAL HoliDay

It has been a most challenging month for me in terms of suffering from unbearable back pain which was unnecessarily prolonged, performing religious obligations and driving long distance in congested traffics to go to work, so yesterday afternoon I decided to give myself a treat by checking into a five-star hotel and just sit in the beautiful room and let myself be pampered by maids making up my room and having room service for my meals..no cooking, no washing and no cleaning for three days, thank you. And as luck would have it, I am upgraded by the hotel to a suite because all the rooms are fully booked!

The good thing about this holiday is I do not have to rush here and there shopping or sightseeing and the like. No schedules to keep just laze away and listen to the soft and soothing music from the hotel TV. As I am sitting here blogging away, the sea view is nothing but tranquil with yachts mooring by the hotel marina point and the green islands dotting the background. The two views above are from my hotel window.

I am now feeling invigorated, refreshed and motivated to return to work and deal with life challenges for the next few months. This sojourn is, in essence, a real holiday in every sense of the word.

Acute Back Pain is Really a Pain in the Neck!

Being very tired one day I fell asleep on the sofa while watching TV. It must have been the abnormal position of the body that the back muscle became strained and went into spasm causing, initially,niggling pain and after 48 hours it became unbearable. I could not bend down or even place my hand at the back. Luckily I had no dresses with back zippers!Fortunately for me, the aching pain was confined to the back muscle and did not spread to my legs, so heroically I still managed to drive to work. However sitting at work was a torture!

I first went for physiotherapy at the primary care level which could only offer ultrasound treatment.The pain did not go away despite two sessions of treatment and the week dragged on without respite and I even woke up with the pain, which was a bad sign. I was alternating paracetamol and ibuprofen to relieve the pain. I suffered through the weekend, vowing to seek treatment at the secondary care level where they have a much better physiotherapy facilities the following Monday. My oh my! Didn't I then feel I really and actually have a back? I took it too much for granted.

Mrs Tay, the hospital Physiotherapist was terrific, not only was I given the latest electronic treatment, she also gave me the human message which I really appreciated. After three one-hour sessions of human,electronic and heat treatment, my back gradually became better and no longer a pain in the neck!I was given a simple back exercise brochure to follow at home.All in all,the duration of my suffering was about 10 days. I am pain-free now and no longer "aware" that I have a back....

Young, obese, depressed and female.

There appears to be a rising incident of hypertension (high blood pressure) among the young in developed countries. This statement is, however, not evidence-based as there is no data to support this perceived trend, at least in this country.

Patients as young as 22 years old have been diagnosed as hypertensive (having high blood pressure). The symptoms are almost always frequent headaches and nausea with occasional blurring of vision. There is a specific examination work-up for young hypertensives to exclude causes such as abnormal hormone level and renal artery stenosis (blockage of artery supplying blood to the kidney). Young male hypertensives are usually obese (body mass index [BMI] in excess of 30).

There is yet a class of young hypertensives who can be detected by their physical appearance. This is the female who, apart from being obese, is depressed, hirsute (having visible facial hairs) and suffers from abnormal menstruation. These unfortunate souls have abnormal metabolic syndrome as well, leading to diabetes and hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol in the blood). This condition is referred to as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Left untreated, these people will end up with kidney failure.

Post- September 16 Stock Market

I believe there had been some minimal effects of the local politics on the stock market, though the major impact is, of course from the current financial turmoil coming out of Wall St in the US. Indeed global financial system and investors the world over are waiting anxiously for the revised bailout plan currently being debated by the US law makers to be hopefully and finally passed!

Since March 2008, some of the favorite stocks have fallen by more than 70%. Anyway, I picked up some SIME shares on 12 September at 6.00 per unit and look at the current price last Tuesday 30 September..but I also bought some SWKPLNT shares whose price is now at rock bottom and obviously not affected by local politics but by the low CPO prices and by the negative re evaluation of our plantations by some foreign bodies... such is the volatility of the market now, many investors are taking a "wait and see" attitude. For me, I will keep looking for opportunities created by panicky horde of investors.