FREE lunches - the real one !

Dear Michael,

While many people still think there is no such thing as FREE lunch in this world.  I have been having FREE lunches for more than 5 years now.  Not only that, I actually get paid when I eat.  Sometimes they even force me to bring a friend with me for FREE too !


Unlike some who thought I may have been keeping it a secret, I didn't !  I actually told my friends about it.  And remember ?  Sometimes I have to bring my friends to have the FREE lunch.  So I had to explain to them what it is all about.

Most would guess that once people know it, people would go grab all these FREE lunches.  Normal people like you and I would have no chance of getting them at all !  But after years of having FREE lunches, I can tell you in confidence that on the contrary, I actually received calls begging me to go for some FREE lunches and I actually have to turn some of them down.

There is NO special contacts needed, I am not any Datuk's son, no special pre-qualify skills needed.  All I need a computer and internet connection.  They teach me all the things I needed and I am good to go.

Ok, no more suspense.  All you need to know can be found in gapbuster.com

The reason I am sharing with you is that I want to bet with you.  Even after your readers learn this secret of FREE lunches.  Most of them, may be ALL of them, will still NOT join me here.  You see, human are always limited by their own thoughts without realizing it.  For some who realize it, they refuse to make a change on it.  Well, I shall explain more later if needed but let's see ....

Love your Finance Tips,
Mathew

The Only Man in the World Who Knows What Really Went Wrong at JPMorgan Chase

If you were following Nasser's blog and have missed his commentaries, I just posted a conversation with him on my blog. Thought you might want to know.

Who make money from stock market ?

why some idiot can earn money from stock market but some smartest analysts don't ?

list of Malaysia past expenditures ?

I saw below list from facebook, do you know what they are !?!?


1. PKFZ RM12 billion

2. Submarine Commission RM500 million

3. Sime Darby RM964 million

4. Paya Indah Westland RM88 million

5. Pos Malaysia (Transmile) RM230 million lost

6. Eurocopter deal RM1 billion wasted?

7. Terengganu Stadium collapse RM292 million

8. MRR2 repair cost RM70 million

9. Maybank overpaid BII RM4 billion

10. Tourism - NYY kickback RM10 million

11. 3 paintings bought by MAS RM1.5 million

12. Overpayment by Sport Ministry RM8.4 million

13. London’s white elephant sports complex RM70 million

14. MATRADE repairs RM120 million

15. Cost of new plane used by PM RM200 million

16. InventQ irrecoverable debt RM228 million

17. Compensation for killing crooked bridge RM257 million

18. Loss in selling Augusta RM 510 million

19. Worth of APs given out in a year RM1.8 billion

20. Submarines (future Muzium Negara artifacts) RM4.1 billion

21. PSC Naval dockyard RM6.75 billion

22. The Bank Bumiputra twin scandals in the early 1980s saw US$1
billion losses (RM3.2 billion in 2008)

23. The Maminco attempt to corner the World Tin Market in the
1980s is believed to have cost some US$500 million (RM1.6
billion)

24. Betting in foreign exchange futures cost Bank Negara Malaysia
RM30 billion in the 1990s

25. Perwaja Steel’s US$800 million (RM2.56 billion) losses

26. Use of RM10 billion public funds in the Valuecap Sdn Bhd operation to shore up the stock market

27. Banking scandal of RM700 million losses in Bank Islam

28. The sale of M.V. Agusta by Proton for one Euro making a loss of €75.99 million (RM348 million) Same as No.20?

29. Wang Ehsan from oil royalty on Terengganu RM7.4 billion from 2004 – 2007

30. For the past 10 years since Philharmonic Orchestra was established, this orchestra has swallowed a total of RM500 million. Hiring a Kwai-Lo CEO with a salary of more than RM1 million per annum!

31. In Advisors Fees, Mahathir was paid RM180,000, Shahrizat Abdul RM404,726 and Abdul Hamid Othman (religious) RM549,675 per annum

32. The government has spent a total of RM3.2 billion in teaching Maths and Science in English over the past five years. Of the amount, the government paid a whopping RM2.21 billion for the purchase of information and computer technology (ICT) equipment which it is unable to give a breakdown. Government paid more than RM6,000 per notebook vs per market price of less than RM3,000 through some new consortiums that was setup just to transact the notebook deal. There was no Maths & Science Content for the teachers and the notebooks are all with the teachers' children now.

33. The commission paid for purchase of jets and submarines to two private companies - Perimeker Sdn Bhd and IMT Defence Sdn Bhd amounted to RM910 million. Expanding on No. 2?

37. RM300 million to compensate Gerbang Perdana for the RM1.1 billion "Crooked Scenic Half-Bridge"

38. RM1.3 billion has been wasted building the white elephant Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) facilities on cancellation of the Malaysia-Singapore Scenic Bridge

39. RM100 million on renovation of Parliament building which leaks

40. National Astronaut (actually tourist) Programme – RM40 million

41. National Service Training Programme – yearly an estimate of RM 500 million ( MOST National Service Camp LAND OWNERS are tied to Najib or old 'friends' of Najib )

42. Eye of Malaysia - RM30 million and another RM5.7 million of free tickets

43. RM2.4 million on indelible ink

44. Samy Vellu announced in September 2006 that the government paid compensation amounting to RM38.5 billion to 20 highway companies. RM380 million windfalls for 9 toll concessionaires earned solely from the toll hike in 2008 alone

45. RM32 million timber export kickbacks involving companies connected to Sarawak Chief Minister and his family.

46. Two bailouts of Malaysia Airline System RM7.9 billion. At a time when MAS is incurring losses every year, RM1.55 million used to buy three paintings to decorate its Chairman’s (Munir) office. Expanding on No.11

47. Putra transport system bailout which cost RM4.486 billion.

48. STAR-LRT bailout costing RM3.256 billion.

49. National Sewerage System bailout costing RM192.54 million.

50. Seremban-Port Dickson Highway bailout costing RM142 million

51. Kuching Prison bailout costing RM135 million

52. Kajian Makanan dan Gunaan Orang Islam bailout costing RM8.3 million

53. Le Tour de Langkawi bailout costing RM3.5 Million

54. Wholesale distribution of tens of millions of shares in Bursa Malaysia under the guise of NEP to cronies, children and relatives of BN leaders and ministers worth billions of ringgit.

55. Alienation of tens of thousands of hectares of commercial lands and forestry concessions to children and relatives of BN leaders and Ministers worth tens of billions of ringgits.

56. Since 1997, Petronas has handed out a staggering RM30 billion in natural gas subsidies to IPPs who were reaping huge profits. In addition, there were much wastages and forward trading of Petronas oil in the 1990s based on the low price of oil then. Since the accounts of Petronas are for the eyes of the Prime Minister only, we have absolutely no idea of the amount.

57. RM5,700 for a car jack worth only RM50

58. Government-owned vehicle consumed a tank of petrol worth RM113 within a few minutes

59. A pole platform that cost RM990 was bought for RM30,000

60. A thumb drive that cost RM90 was bought for RM480

61. A cabinet that cost RM1,500 was bought for RM13,500
62. A flashlight that cost RM35 was bought for RM143

63. Expenses for 1Malaysia campaign paid to APCO?

64. RM17 billion subsidy to IPP

65. US$24 million Diamond Ring for Ro$mah - Cancellation of Order - how much compensation?

66. CowGate ... RM250 million

67. Monsoon Cup . . . RM800 million per year

68. Illicit Fund Transfers out of Malaysia (2000 - 2009) : RM 1,077,000,000,000!

69. Tajudin-Danaharta settlement to cover up for Dr M and Daim

70. Billions of ringgit toll concessions that disadvantage the government and taxpayers

71. MUSA-AMAN's Timber-Concessions kick-backs worth $90Million US Dollars into his personal account causing thousands of acres of precious Rainforest in Sabah ( homes of endangered wild life such as Orangutans, Borneo Pygmy-Elephants & the Sumatran Rhino ) to be cut-down....

Malaysia Best Rates 2012 April 29 Update

TOP Fix Deposit up to 12 months is Affin = 3.6%.  Most others are offering 3.1% to 3.2% so you should change your FD bank if they are still giving you 3% or below ...

Monthly renewal FD is 3.05% from Affin, Bangkok Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia.

Alliance offers the lowest car loan rate at 2.65% but it may goes up to 4.8% as well so it really depends on your negotiation skill.

BLR hasn't changed much since Nov 2011, JP Morgan 6.2%, Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of Tokyo offers 6.25%.  Most of the others are 6.5% to 6.6%.

CIMB's AirAsia saver account offers 1.6% saving account interest while Maybank's Flexi Safer Plan offers 1.5%.  Most of the others are offering 0.X%


HAPPY LABOUR DAY !!


FREE INFO on Malaysia Best Rates

A Note to Friends and Readers

That the posts on this blog have become spotty and less frequent goes without saying. That is because it has become impossible for Nasser to write, if you take “impossible” in its practical and not literal sense.

The fourth and final volume of Speculative Capital is just one impediment. Nasser is determined to complete the manuscript this year. But the manuscript keeps changing. Nasser says that is indicative of a dialectical process. That may be. But rewrites take time, leaving little room for much else.

I realized it was time to take the subject head on after three more translations of Hegel’s Logic arrived at our doorsteps. One was the 700+ page The Science of Logic from Cambridge University, translated by Prof. George di Giovanni of McGill. His opening sentence in the translator’s 70-page introduction says: “Writing an introduction to a translation of Hegel’s Logic is an even more formidable task than the translation itself”. You get the idea.

The other was Henry Stuart Marcan’s 1912 book with the friendly title Doctrine of Formal Logic, Being a Translation of the First Section of the Subjunctive Logic. More than a third of the book’s 300 pages is the translator’s introduction.

The third book was Hegel: Three Studies, translated by Shierry Nicholsen from Theodor Adorno’s 1963 book in German. Adorno writes:

The way in which Hegel’s great systematic works, especially the Science of Logic, resist understanding are qualitatively different from those of other infamous texts. With Hegel the task is not to simply ascertain, through intellectual effort and careful examination of the wording, a meaning of whose existence one has no doubt. Rather, at many points the meaning itself is uncertain, and no hermeneutic art has yet established it indisputably.

No one who reads these books on the sideline and during breaks from his other responsibilities will have much free time. Adab– that Farsi word for politeness, concern and respect – demanded that the blog’s friends and readers were informed.

Why, you may ask, this bookish interest in Hegel from a student of economics/finance in the midst of an economic/financial crisis?

Hegel’s dialectics is the account of the movement of thought in search of Truth. Do not be alarmed by that word. It has a technical meaning that will become clear in Vol. 4. The point is that the compulsion of thought constantly drives the mind to higher phases in search of more satisfying answers. In practical terms, that means going to the root of the problems. And that is the aim of Vol. 4: to go to the root of the problems in economics and finance, beyond incidental tales of events and characters. Hence, the need for the author to master Hegel.

But I must warn you against drawing conclusions about the readability of Vol. 4 by “associating” it with Hegel’s “infamous” texts.

Hegel wrote that “self-consciousness achieves its satisfaction only in another self-consciousness”. The “other” of Hegel’s western philosophy is Jalaludin Rumi’s Eastern philosophy. Hegel’s Western scholars are deprived of the “other”, hence their confusion and difficulties in reading him. Nasser knows them both and thus, indisputably. That translates to a penetration of thought and clarity of writing that is unparalleled.

As proof of that assertion and as a prelude to the book’s release, I have decided to adopt ideas from the manuscript and present them in a new blog called Dialectics of Social Change. I do not have Nasser’s encyclopedic knowledge in economics, finance and politics. But I know his Theory of Speculative Capital and his writing style; I have edited his books. So my writing should offer some continuity of style and content – and keep the bench warm until the man himself returns.

The first entry is ‘No Country for Old Man’. Channel hopping one evening while waiting for Nasser to go to a dinner party, I paused on a movie that was in progress. Nasser came in and recognized the movie. A long conversation that followed on the way and continued during the dinner is the basis for the post.

See what I mean by the inability of the mind to rest on the untruth – its compulsion to seek progressively higher stages of truth.

Sarina Saber

Use Home Loan to Buy Car ?

Matthew is refinancing his property @ 4.2%.  He will have an extra $100k.  So he is planning to buy a $100k car too.  The car loan is offering him 2.88%.

Should Matthew use his home loan to buy this car or should Matthew take the car loan ?

The answer, contradict to common comments, is actually home loan but . . .
Assumption : 7 years loan


Reason 1

If you take home loan approach, your monthly repayment is $1,376.11
If you take car loan approach, your monthly repayment is $1,430.48

You will have a better CASH FLOW 

with the home loan approach.

You pay less.

Reason 2

If you take home loan approach, you have paid a total of $115,593 after 7 years

If you take car loan approach, you have paid a total of $120,160 after 7 years

You save a total of $4,567 with the home loan approach.

So either way you analysis the comparison, it is BETTER to use the home loan to buy the car instead of getting the car loan.

WHY ?  How can this be possible ?  How can 2.88% worst than 4.2% !?!?  The answer is all in an old post.  In short, car loan rate is 1.9x equivalent to home loan rate.  So in this case, 2.88 x 1.9 = 5.4 which is higher than 4.2% ( home loan ), hence this particular car loan is not better than this particular home loan.

However . . .

1.  The home loan is NOT a 7 year loan.  Above analysis is only valid if Matthew top up $1,376 monthly repayment to his 'flexi' home loan.  Else continue paying original repayment amount would drag this extra $100k loan to 30 years, that will make home loan a losing deal.

2.  his home loan offer is actually BLR - 2.4%.  So if the BLR raise above 8% one day before the 7 years period, this may become a losing deal again in future.

The world is fair and balance, in this particular case, it is obvious scientifically better to use home loan to buy the car instead of getting another new car loan ie. a saving of 4.5k plus.  However, it does come with certain risk ie. future BLR rate and a requirement - discipline top up repayment.

other may-be-related articles . . .