2009: Taking stock, and looking ahead...

I always review the wrap-up from the previous year, and the looking-ahead apart, to see how things have fared for me in general in this past year in 2009.

After the new-found interest in politics and the election in 2008, I've settled back in my usual way of life, which is not a bad thing. How much adrenaline can one pump through the veins? Apparently, you can pump all you can, but not for too long. After Obama was sworn into office, I revert back into the mode of observing from afar, mostly just to see how many promises Obama would break, and how business-as-usual he really would have been in politics. For all the campaign talk of I'll-have-a-sit-down-with-Iran from Obama the candidate, he now realizes how incredibly naive and unrealistic he has been. But even more incredulous, tens of millions voters bought in to his naive talk. Looking at his Iran policy, there's nothing distinguishing at all.

Although I don't spend much energy following politics now, I still can't seem to avoid the daily barrage of the Obama news coverage. He seems to be all over the place, inserting himself in every single subject in ordinary American's daily dinner-table discussions. The only notable exception was during the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack. Suddenly, the talk was relegated to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), rather than the chosen one. It might just as well, since her backpedaling put the spotlight squarely on her. Oh well, what's new anyways. So much for "leadership" from the prez.

Of course politics isn't the main focus this year; the economy is. By almost all measure, the economy as a whole has probably bottomed out around March this year. Things are looking brighter now, although having unemployment above 10% is nothing to brag about. While things don't look so bleak, I'm not sure if I can call it economic recovery, as per the book definition of economists.

But while I feel bad for those who lost their jobs and whose livelihood is threatened, I'm somewhat ambivalent everytime I read news reports on how we should save those who're underwater in their real estate hole they dug themselves with easy credit from banks. By all means, we save alot (even in the best of times), and in July, we refinanced in order to lock in a low rate of 4.25% for 30 years. From what I see it, if we had played it fast and loose, we could have borrowed to buy a $1+ million house, and we would have been in the same sh*t hole as these people. But we're still living in our modest condo, because we knew then (as we know now), that we shouldn't borrow and live beyond our means; so we didn't. I do not foresee or expect anyone would have rushed to help us out, if we dig a financial hole like that for ourselves. For this, I ask myself time and again, why would these people feel so entitled that Washington and the banks should bail them out, and reduce their balance, so that they can continue to keep their ill-gotten big houses? They might come out begging, but that sense of entitlement still puzzles (even enrages) me. It's simply wrong.

The same can be said of those in the financial industry (eg. banks), who play it fast and loose, and now they're suddenly "too big to fail." In short, they use someone else's money to get short-term gains, collect humongous bonus, but when things go bad, it's someone else's mess. The compensation structure of this industry is just so darn wrong.

With everyone in holding pattern, no one is buying much luxury (watches, accessories). So, our side venture goes into a holding pattern too. Hopefully, 2010 will look brighter. Asia has certainly been holding up much better in 2009, and most likely will continue the surge ahead next year.

On the bright side, I'm half way through my masters degree. Hard work it might be, but it helps keeping me busy. At least it's something productive I'm doing, apart from work. With the work I might be doing for another startup, I sometimes wonder how much more crazy my schedule is going to be.

It's a good thing too, that I've found an interest in stock trading. I don't like day-trading, but for the momentum buying/selling that I do, which gives me 23% return this year, I'm very thankful already. Along the way, I'm getting a sense of how it's like, for those people whose job involves meeting targets (eg. sales quota), and the stress that comes with it. Around mid-year, I've a sense of how much I could make in a monthly, given the amount of risks that I'm willing to take. That, in turns, has become my quasi-target each month that I'm testing myself (to see if I can make the monthly goal). Interestingly, I'm close to making the ~2% target each month on average, even though I have up's and downs, contributing to the 23% yearly return. I've been thinking, from here on out, given less volatibility, I'll probably take even less risks.

I've been talking to the kids about the economy, and its effect on people's daily lives. It's good that they're becoming more aware of what's around them (eg. they're more conscious of making donations), without getting too nervous about their own way of lives. I hope this serves them well in the future.