Kicking back after a long week

The week before was truly a blessed albeit tiring one. My woman came over from Saturday all the way till Wednesday. Spending time with her proved to be a form of compensation for juggling presentations on Tuesday and Thursday. Somehow, having her around me gives me the feel good aura and sometimes this aura can turn into the "I don't wanna move my damn body to go to class to see my 'lovely' lecturers because I have quality time to spend with mah woman" aura. :D On a more serious note, the presentation on Tuesday was the semi-finals of the Finance Challenge 2009 organized by uhh...I don't really know cuz I'm just in it for the money :p

There were about 13 of us for the semi-final presentation verbally presenting our takes on different aspects of the financial realm. We got to choose our own topics and mine was 'Re-pegging the ringgit as a means to address the global financial crisis of 2008'. I got to know who my competitors were only when I entered the Auditorium on the day itself. I was dressed like how I would normally do in a classroom presentation. Then along came a few participants with suits ablazing. Somehow, men in suits are more intimidating than those without. Maybe because wearing a suit screams 'I'm more successful thaan thou?' At that moment though, I was more concerned with the content of my presentation than how I looked in the eyes of the audience.

I initially feared that my topic was too complex not only for the audience but also myelf especially when it came to the Q&A session. Without much thought, I downed a can of Red Bull and proceeded to mesmerize the audience in the only way I knew; fiery speech. Because I was trained as a debater a long time ago, I only knew how to speak loud and confidently when I presented even though everything that came out from my mouth consisted of 90% bullshit and 10% facts. I guess with confidence in their speech, one can make it sound like 90% conviction instead of bullshit. Topics presented by others ranged from simple stuff to more complex ones like capital control and implementing GST.

Results were out on Thursday evening. I did it. Finals here I come. Along with the other 4 people I identified would make it to the finals and one more wildcard, that makes 6 of us for the finals which will be held on the 6th of October. Boo-hoo. Why did it have to be that day? The day where I turn 21? Could the fact that the finals falls on my birthday sway the judges into voluntarily handing me the trophy? This time, we're given the topic instead of choosing our own which makes all of us even. I would love to receive some input on how to address this topic from my dear readers:

The Economic - Financial Crisis in Malaysia (2009): Are we out of the woods and what should we do next?

October oh October, why did I have to be born in October? :(

Pretty girls looking for financial leverage?

CEO of J.P Morgan's Fantastic reply to a Pretty Girl

A young and pretty lady posted this on a popular forum:
Title: What should I do to marry a rich guy?


I'm going to be honest of what I'm going to say here:
I'm 25 this year.
I'm very pretty, have style and good taste.
I wish to marry a guy with $500k annual salary or above.
You might say that I'm greedy, but an annual salary of $1M is considered only as middle class in New York.
My requirement is not high:
Is there anyone in this forum who has an income of $500k annual salary?
Are you all married?
I wanted to ask: what should I do to marry rich persons like you?
Among those I've dated, the richest is $250k annual income, and it seems that this is my upper limit. If someone is going to move into high cost residential area on the west of New York City Garden, $250k annual income is not enough.
I'm here humbly to ask a few questions:

1) Where do most rich bachelors hang out?
(Please list down the names and addresses of bars, restaurant, gym)
2) Which age group should I target?
3) Why most wives of the riches is only average-looking?
I've met a few girls who doesn't have looks and are not interesting, but they are able to marry rich guys.
4) How do you decide who can be your wife, and who can only be your girlfriend? (my target now is to get married)

Ms. Pretty

Awesome reply:

Dear Ms. Pretty,

I have read your post with great interest.
Guess there are lots of girls out there who have similar questions like yours.
Please allow me to analyse your situation as a professional investor.
My annual income is more than $500k, which meets your requirement, so I hope everyone believes that I'm not wasting time here.
From the standpoint of a business person, it is a bad decision to marry you.
The answer is very simple, so let me explain.

Put the details aside, what you're trying to do is an exchange of "beauty" and "money":
Person A provides beauty, and Person B pays for it, fair and square.
However, there's a deadly problem here, your beauty will fade, but my money will not be gone without any good reason.
The fact is, my income might increase from year to year, but you can't be prettier year after year.
Hence from the viewpoint of economics, I am an appreciation asset, and you are a depreciation asset.
It's not just normal depreciation, but exponential depreciation.
If that is your only asset, your value will be much worried 10 years later.

By the terms we use in Wall Street, every trading has a position, dating with you is also a "trading position".
If the trade value dropped we will sell it and it is not a good idea to keep it for long term - same goes with the marriage that you wanted.
It might be cruel to say this, but in order to make a wiser decision any assets with great depreciation value will be sold or "leased".
Anyone with over $500k annual income is not a fool; we would only date you, but will not marry you.
I would advice that you forget looking for any clues to marry a rich guy.
And by the way, you could make yourself to become a rich person with $500k annual income. This has better chance than finding a rich fool.
Hope this reply helps. If you are interested in "leasing" services, do contact me...

J.P. Morgan CEO