Rallying the stock market
Posted by Irwan in Daily Blog on September 14, 2009
Do you know what’s the best analogy for stock market? It’s rally. Yes, I’ve been psyched over a new game, DIRT 2. I’ve been playing it for 5 hours and I found so many similarities between investing and negotiating corners in Dirt 2.
In rally, there is a mini map where you can see the tracks layout for the track ahead of you. No matter how perfect the map is, there is still some surprises that can make or break your race. There are loopholes, water ponds, crests, long jumps and rocks at sides and many more. Same for the stock market, you have your own indications, technical or fundamental. However, no matter how clear your indications are, they aren’t always right.
In rally, if the track in front of you is not visible, you have to make the decision. You might want to cut the corner and get faster speed, or you don’t want to cut because you afraid there will be a big rock that can total your car. The decision that you make depends on who you are; a risk taker or not. There is no right decision, it’s just the best decision based on who you are.
As in rally, if you have gone through the same track again and again, you will get familiar with it. You’ll know when to cut and when to stay in the track, when to make a big jump and when to slow things down. As you become a more experience driver, the better are your decision.
And if you are a beginner, don’t sweat it. Take the “P” sign, stick on your back, and cruise the track with caution and knowledge.
Unique Value Proposition
Posted by Irwan in Daily Blog on September 12, 2009
My boss talk a lot about Unique Value Proposition. The most important thing about selling your product is to know what is the uniqueness of your product. Please don’t depend on cheap price only (unless your production cost is cheap due to your creative approach). If you are selling burgers, put some value added innovation that can make your customers want to pay higher price for your burgers. Everybody can compete on price, but not all can have the unique advantage that you might add to your products.
My Sister’s Wedding
Posted by Irwan in Calculators, Daily Blog, Marriage on July 8, 2009
Love at first sight is easy to understand; it’s when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle – Amy Bloom
The title sounds like some romantic movie title but this is my real sister’s wedding. There have been a lot of weddings lately. My friend, Afham, just got married last Saturday and Kaklong, will get married 2 weeks from now. That’s fast . I hope you guys are ready to be a father or a mother. I’ve been thinking maybe I should post some parental advices since we are entering that phase. That should be interesting, parental advice from a yet-to-be-married friend.
Back to the title, my sister’s wedding took place in Kota Bharu at our family’s Yellow House. The ceremony for bridgeroom’s family took place in Kulai, Johor. I didn’t take many pictures in Kota Bharu because my sister had a professional photographer taking care of that. On the other hand, I took almost 600 pictures from the ceremony alone. Below are some of my work (hehe, showing off): Read the rest of this entry »
The One
Posted by Irwan in Daily Blog on May 25, 2009
The idea of finding The One – find the one that you like and live your life together. Check whether she is the one, are you sure you want her be besides you for all your life? You test your skill of problem solving between both of you. You would like to go travel together, seeing how the world sees both of you as a couple. If anything went wrong through this phase, break up and find another one.
Feeling for each other is important. Everything is in the romance and your heart glows when both of you are together. You like to be in company of each other and of course, being alone is torturous. Thinking about her all the time, before sleep or after wake up is a ritual. Breakfast on the bed? A morning kiss from her, while wearing your shirt? Wow. That’s how to live a life.
All of this seems perfect, except that you are not married. If this behavior becomes a girlfriend/boyfriend custom, there will be nothing new when you get married. Your previous experience will make you want more. Romance is a normal thing for you and marriage does not offer something new.
Marriage is about going on a lifetime journey on a big ship. Both of you will discover new colors of the world as a couple, experiencing sparkling new things together and endure stormy hardships with a new strength of marriage’s bond. If you hop in the ship when you are already tired of the sea, with all the bad experiences of breakups and betrayals, it won’t be as exciting as the former case.
My idea of marriage may seem conservative or kolot but that’s how I see it. This is an incomplete post on my incomplete thought. Feel free to comment and remember, attack the idea, not the person.
My new Daily Deal thread in lowyat.net
Posted by Irwan in Daily Blog on May 11, 2009
There are many daily deals website in the US and most of them carries a great deal each day. I’ve been thinking about bringing it to Malaysia when I’m going back for good this June. For further info, please visit the thread in lowyat.net.
I’m excited to bring the first daily deal which is:
Swiss Legend 90013-11 Swiss Quartz Stainless Steel Black Multi-Textured GMT Dial 100M Mens Watch – RM410 
For over a quarter of a century, the makers of Swiss Legend have carved out a legendary reputation by manufacturing timepieces steeped in tradition, design and functionality. At the very core of the Swiss Legend design philosophy rests their commitment to introducing stylish and distinctive watches that harmoniously balance cutting-edge design with old-world precision and accuracy.
This is one cool watch! It features GMT World Time functionality (controlled by the Crown at the 10:00 hour position) with World Cities Scale on outer dial, a precise 515.24H Swiss Quartz movement, a stainless steel bezel with a seconds scale & engraved chapter markers, a multi-textured jet black dial with silvertone luminous hands, red seconds hand, a black/red GMT hand and luminous Arabic numerals & hour markers, a scratch-resistant Sapphire coated mineral crystal, date display window located at 3:00, screwdown stainless steel crown and a brushed and polished solid stainless steel triple-link bracelet secured by a hidden push-button safety deployment clasp. With water resistance to 100 Meters (330 Feet – 10ATM), the Swiss Legend 90013-11 GMT watch is truly a versatile and stylish watch that is engineered to last a lifetime. Get yours today!
Detailed Specifications
Model Brand New Swiss Legend 90013-11 Mens GMT World Time Watch
List Price $695.00 USD
Case Material Polished Stainless Steel
Case Dimensions 45mm (1.77") Diameter, 14mm (0.6") Thick
Movement 515.24H Swiss Quartz Movement
Crystal Scratch Resistant Sapphire Coated Mineral Crystal
Bezel Silvertone Stainless Steel Bezel with Seconds Scale & Engraved Chapter Markers
Crown Screwdown Stainless Steel Crown at the 3:00 Hour Position for Local Time Setting, Stainless Steel Crown at the 10:00 Hour Position for GMT World Time Setting
Dial Jet Black Dial with Textured Center featuring World Cities Scale on Outer Dial, Silvertone Hands and Hour Markers, Red Seconds Hand, Red/Black GMT Hand
Calendar Date Display Window located at the 3:00 Hour Position
Luminous Luminous Hands, Arabic Numerals and Hour Markers
Bracelet-Strap Triple-Link Brushed and Polished Solid Silvertone Stainless Steel Bracelet (24mm (0.94") Wide, Adjustable to 10.5" Length)
Clasp Type Push-Button Hidden Deployment Safety Clasp
Water Resistance 100 Meters (330 Feet – 10 ATM)
Warranty 1 Year Local Manufacturer warranty
Big Picture: 
Dollar Cost Averaging, Again
Posted by Irwan in Anatomy of Investment on April 26, 2009
I can’t stress enough how the concept of cost dollar averaging can help you to invest smarter. I found this article from Ric Edelmen’s email that is very motivating and informational. If you only read one article about investing in a year, here’s the one that you should read:
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How Dollar Cost Averaging Works
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Say you have $100 and you buy a stock that costs $10 per share. That means you buy 10 shares. Next month, you save another $100, which you place into the same fund, only now the shares are just $5. Thus, you buy 20 shares. What’s the average price of all your shares?
If you said $7.50, you’re wrong.
You invested $200 ($100 per month over two months) and you own 30 shares (you bought 10 shares, then 20). Divide $200 by 30 shares and you’ll find that the answer is $6.67.
Why did you think the answer was $7.50?
Because you used the arithmetic mean ($10 + $5 divided by 2 = $7.50). But I used the harmonic mean ($200 divided by 30). Thus, we’re both right — the average price is $7.50, but the average cost is $6.67. Since the harmonic mean always produces a lower number than the arithmetic mean, you have a built-in profit!
Dollar cost averaging succeeds because you buy fewer shares at higher prices and relatively more shares at lower prices. To make it work for you, simply invest a specific amount of money at a specific interval. Perhaps $100 per month, $25 per quarter or a $3,000 IRA each year. It does not matter as long as you are consistent. Be sure to invest at each interval, regardless of what the stock market is doing at the moment.
In fact, dollar cost averaging helps you overcome your fear that you’ll invest at the top of the market. If you had invested $1,000 in the S&P 500 on January 1 of every year from 1965 through 2002, you’d have earned an average annual return of 10.2%. But if you got really lucky and were able to make your investments on the one day each year when prices were at their lowest, you’d have averaged 10.9% instead. But, knowing your luck, it’s more likely that you’d have picked the worst day to invest each year. If so, your average annual return would have been 9.8%.
As you can see, it doesn’t much matter when you invest when you dollar cost average. It only matters that you do invest and that you stay invested. "Timing" doesn’t matter — "time in" does.*
~excerpt from the Truth About Money by Ric Edelman