Under Current Pending world recession, you need to keep your blood pressure under control and relaxation is paramount important. How to achieve this? See below.
Joyful music improves blood vessel function
Posted in Cardio-Vascular on Mon November 17, 2008
Recent study results suggest that laughing and listening to music that makes people feel joyful can help to improve blood vessel function.
Michael Miller and colleagues studied the effect of different music on 10 volunteers. While the volunteers were listening to the music the researchers measured how well their blood vessels responded to a sudden increase in blood flow caused by the release of a blood pressure cuff.
Results showed that when the volunteers listened to music that made them feel joyful their blood vessels dilated by 26%. In comparison, listening to music that made the volunteers feel anxious caused blood vessels to dilate by 6%. Laughter was also found to improve blood flow. Listening to a comedy tape caused blood vessels to dilate by 19%.
Miller M, Beach V, Mangano C, Vogel RA. Positive Emotions and the Endothelium: Does Joyful Music Improve Vascular Health?” Miller M, Beach V, Mangano C, Vogel RA. Presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, November 11th 2008.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Management Case Study
Management Case Study No.1
The manager of a large corporation got a heart attack, and the Doctortold him to go for several weeks to a farm to relax. The guy went to a farm, and after a couple of days he was very bored, so he asked the farmer to give him some job to do. The farmer told him to clean the shit of the cows. The farmer thought that to somebody coming fromthe city, working the whole life sitting in an office, it will take over a week to finish the job, but to his surprise the manager finished the job in less than one day.
The next day the farmer gave to the manager a more difficult job: to cutthe heads of 500 chickens. The farmer was sure that the manager will notbe able to do the job, but at the end of the day the job was done. The next morning, as most of the jobs in the farm were done, the farmerasked the manager to divide a bag of potatoes in two boxes: one box withsmall potatoes, and one box with big potatoes. At the end of the day the farmer saw that the manager was sitting in front of the potatoes bag, but the two boxes were empty. The farmer asked the manager: "How is that you did such difficult jobs during the first days, and now you cannot do this simple job?" The manager answered: "Listen, all my life I'm cutting heads and dealing with shit, but now you ask me to make decisions!"
Management Case Study No.2
A man goes into a pet shop to buy a parrot. The shop owner points to three identical looking parrots on a perch and says, "the parrot on the left costs 500 dollars".
"Why does the parrot cost so much," asks the man.
The shop owner says, "well, the parrot knows how to use a computer".
The man then asks about the next parrot to be told that this one costs1,000 dollars because it can do everything the other parrot can do plusit knows how to use the UNIX operating system.
Naturally, the increasingly startled man asks about the third Parrot to be told that it costs 2,000 dollars. Needless to say this begs thequestion,
"What can it do?"
To which the shop owner replies, "to be honest I have never seen it do anything, but the other two call him boss!"
Management Case Study No.3
A big manager is giving his emploees a lecture about improving production. He entered the room with a large, emgty jar, and a big bag. Presenting the jar to the emploees, he opens his bag and starts taking out rocks out of it, putting them in the jar.
As he finished, he asks his emploees whether the jar is full.
"Yes, of course."
The manager than opens a package of peas, and starts pouring them into the jar. When he finished, he asks the emploees whether the jar is full again.
"Yes, indeed"
Then he opens a package of rice, and starts pouring the rice inside. When he finishes, he asks the question again:
"Is the jar full now?"
"Yes, it is."
He takes a bottle of beer out of his bag and pours it in the jar, filling it to the edges. Then, he asks his workers:
"So, what moral have you learned today?"
"Bigger matters come first?"
.......................................................................................................................
Management Case Study No. 4
This is for those amongst you that think some people get paid too much
Ever heard the story of the giant ship engine that failed? The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him, a nd when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.
Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.
"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!"
So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."
The man sent a bill that read:
Tapping with a hammer . $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap ........................... $ 9998.00
Total $ 10,000.00
The manager of a large corporation got a heart attack, and the Doctortold him to go for several weeks to a farm to relax. The guy went to a farm, and after a couple of days he was very bored, so he asked the farmer to give him some job to do. The farmer told him to clean the shit of the cows. The farmer thought that to somebody coming fromthe city, working the whole life sitting in an office, it will take over a week to finish the job, but to his surprise the manager finished the job in less than one day.
The next day the farmer gave to the manager a more difficult job: to cutthe heads of 500 chickens. The farmer was sure that the manager will notbe able to do the job, but at the end of the day the job was done. The next morning, as most of the jobs in the farm were done, the farmerasked the manager to divide a bag of potatoes in two boxes: one box withsmall potatoes, and one box with big potatoes. At the end of the day the farmer saw that the manager was sitting in front of the potatoes bag, but the two boxes were empty. The farmer asked the manager: "How is that you did such difficult jobs during the first days, and now you cannot do this simple job?" The manager answered: "Listen, all my life I'm cutting heads and dealing with shit, but now you ask me to make decisions!"
Management Case Study No.2
A man goes into a pet shop to buy a parrot. The shop owner points to three identical looking parrots on a perch and says, "the parrot on the left costs 500 dollars".
"Why does the parrot cost so much," asks the man.
The shop owner says, "well, the parrot knows how to use a computer".
The man then asks about the next parrot to be told that this one costs1,000 dollars because it can do everything the other parrot can do plusit knows how to use the UNIX operating system.
Naturally, the increasingly startled man asks about the third Parrot to be told that it costs 2,000 dollars. Needless to say this begs thequestion,
"What can it do?"
To which the shop owner replies, "to be honest I have never seen it do anything, but the other two call him boss!"
Management Case Study No.3
A big manager is giving his emploees a lecture about improving production. He entered the room with a large, emgty jar, and a big bag. Presenting the jar to the emploees, he opens his bag and starts taking out rocks out of it, putting them in the jar.
As he finished, he asks his emploees whether the jar is full.
"Yes, of course."
The manager than opens a package of peas, and starts pouring them into the jar. When he finished, he asks the emploees whether the jar is full again.
"Yes, indeed"
Then he opens a package of rice, and starts pouring the rice inside. When he finishes, he asks the question again:
"Is the jar full now?"
"Yes, it is."
He takes a bottle of beer out of his bag and pours it in the jar, filling it to the edges. Then, he asks his workers:
"So, what moral have you learned today?"
"Bigger matters come first?"
.......................................................................................................................
Management Case Study No. 4
This is for those amongst you that think some people get paid too much
Ever heard the story of the giant ship engine that failed? The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him, a nd when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.
Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.
"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!"
So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."
The man sent a bill that read:
Tapping with a hammer . $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap ........................... $ 9998.00
Total $ 10,000.00
The market is bad...So decided to tell some jokes
Joke No.1 :
A UM graduate found himself difficult to get a job here. He finally accepted the offer to work with Taiping Zoo.
"What to do? It's better to work like this than earning nothing...", mumbling to himself.
So since that day, the IT grad started work acting as a monkey. He has to wear monkey suit and mask, chew nuts and eat bananas. He has to climb trees too and jump from one to another to attract visitors.
The zoo has since then enjoyed tremendous business due to the increase in visitors. Even Mahathir wanted to see the super 'smart' monkey in the world.
Unfortunately, one day when he was jumping from the trees, he fell down into a crocodile pool!
"Oh my God...I'm dying...now" he thought, as a hungry looking crocodile swam steadily towards his direction.
In the middle of his struggle, suddenly he heard a soft voice, "Don't be afraid my friend... I'm from UKM".
Have a good laugh !
Next Joke: Night Courses! - This is really Funny...
Ah Beng went to take night courses so that he could get
a promotion or a better job. During work, Ah Beng likes
to show off to Ah Seng about his knowledge.
Ah Beng: Ah Seng ah... I've been taking night courses
for 3 months already, next week is the exam.
Ah Seng: Oh... Good luck ah.
Then Ah Beng started show off...
Ah Beng: Ok, I test you, who is Graham Bell?
Ah Seng: Don't know
Ah Beng: He is the inventor of phone la... in 1876,
see... if you take night courses, you would know this.!
Ah Seng: ....................... *speechless*
The next day, Ah Beng shows off again...
Ah Beng: Ah Seng ah... let me ask you, who is Jean
Jacques Rousseau?
Ah Seng: Wash your toilet one ah?
Ah Beng: No! He's the author of "Confessions",
nah nah nah... told you already, if you take night
courses, you would know this.
Ah Seng: .................. *speechless + frustrated*
The next day, once again...
Ah Beng: Do you know who is Alexander Dumas?
Ah Seng: Your gay partner?
Ah Beng: Choiii!!! If you do! n't know don't simply
answer la. He's the author of "The 3 Musketeers" ,
if you take night courses, you would know this.
Ah Seng: ........ *speechless + frustrated + irritated
This time Ah Seng cannot tahan (stand) anymore and ask
Ah Beng...
Ah Seng: Eh... Do you know who is Ah Kaw?
Ah Beng: Errrr... No!
Ah Seng: He's the guy sleeping with your wife!!
If you stop night courses, you would know this!!
Ah Beng: ........................ *fainted*
NEXT... Legal Misunderstandings...
One afternoon, a wealthy lawyer was riding in the back of his limousine when he saw two men eating grass by the road side. He ordered his driver to stop and he got out to investigate.
"Why are you eating grass?" he asked one man.
"We don't have any money for food," the poor man replied.
"Oh, come along with me then."
"But sir, I have a wife with two children!"
"Bring them along! And you, come with us too!" he said to the other man.
"But sir, I have a wife with six children!" the second man answered.
"Bring them as well!"
They all climbed into the car, which was no easy task, even for a car as large as the limo.
Once underway, one of the poor fellows says, "Sir, you are too kind. Thank you for taking all of us with you."
The lawyer replied, "No problem, the grass at my home is about two feet tall."
NEXT.....This particular joke won an award for the best joke in a competition in Britain:
One Chinese person walks into a bar in America late one night and he saw Steven Spielberg.
As he was a great fan of his movies, he rushes over to him, and asks for his autograph.
Instead, Spielberg gives him a slap and says 'You Chinese people bombed our Pearl Harbor, get out of here.'
The astonished Chinese man replied 'It was not the Chinese who bombed your Pearl Harbor , it was the Japanese'.
'Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, you're all the same,' replied Spielberg.
In return, the Chinese gives Spielberg a slap and says 'You sank the Titanic; my forefathers were on that ship.'
Shocked, Spielberg replies 'It was the iceberg that sank the ship, not me.'
The Chinese replies, 'Iceberg, Spielberg, Carlsberg, you're all the same.'
Have a good day !
These jokes below, Ladies out there, you'll love this!
Husband StoreA store that sells husbands has just opened in New York City, where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates. You may visit the store ONLY ONCE ! There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights. There is, however, a catch. . . . You may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!
So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband...
On the first floor the sign on the door reads: Floor 1 - These men have jobs and love the Lord.
The second floor sign reads: Floor 2 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids.
The third floor sign reads: Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking. "Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.
She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads: Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-dead good looking and help with the housework.
"Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims,"I can hardly stand it!"
Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads: Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak.
She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads:Floor 6 - You are visitor 4,363,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building, and have a nice day!
NEXT...
Several men are in the locker room of a golf club.
A cell phone on a bench rings and a man engages the hands free speaker function and begins to talk.
Everyone else in the room stops to listen.
MAN: 'Hello'
WOMAN: 'Honey, it's me. Are you at the club?'
MAN: 'Yes'
WOMAN: 'I am at the mall now and found this beautiful leather coat. It's only $1,000. Is it OK if I buy it?'
MAN: 'Sure, go ahead if you like it that much.'
WOMAN: 'I also stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the new 2008 models. I saw one I really liked.'
MAN: 'How much?'
WOMAN: '$390,000'
MAN: 'OK, but for that price I want it with all the options.'
WOMAN: 'Great! Oh, and one more thing....the house I wanted last year is back on the market They're asking $2,950,000' for it.
MAN: 'Well, then go ahead and give them an offer of $2,800,000. They will probably take it. If not, we can go the extra $150,000 if it's really a pretty good price.'
WOMAN: 'OK.. I'll see you later! I love you so much!'
MAN: 'Bye! I love you, too.'
The man hangs up.
The other men in the locker room are staring at him in astonishment, mouths agape.
He turns and asks: 'Anyone know who this phone belongs to?'
A UM graduate found himself difficult to get a job here. He finally accepted the offer to work with Taiping Zoo.
"What to do? It's better to work like this than earning nothing...", mumbling to himself.
So since that day, the IT grad started work acting as a monkey. He has to wear monkey suit and mask, chew nuts and eat bananas. He has to climb trees too and jump from one to another to attract visitors.
The zoo has since then enjoyed tremendous business due to the increase in visitors. Even Mahathir wanted to see the super 'smart' monkey in the world.
Unfortunately, one day when he was jumping from the trees, he fell down into a crocodile pool!
"Oh my God...I'm dying...now" he thought, as a hungry looking crocodile swam steadily towards his direction.
In the middle of his struggle, suddenly he heard a soft voice, "Don't be afraid my friend... I'm from UKM".
Have a good laugh !
Next Joke: Night Courses! - This is really Funny...
Ah Beng went to take night courses so that he could get
a promotion or a better job. During work, Ah Beng likes
to show off to Ah Seng about his knowledge.
Ah Beng: Ah Seng ah... I've been taking night courses
for 3 months already, next week is the exam.
Ah Seng: Oh... Good luck ah.
Then Ah Beng started show off...
Ah Beng: Ok, I test you, who is Graham Bell?
Ah Seng: Don't know
Ah Beng: He is the inventor of phone la... in 1876,
see... if you take night courses, you would know this.!
Ah Seng: ....................... *speechless*
The next day, Ah Beng shows off again...
Ah Beng: Ah Seng ah... let me ask you, who is Jean
Jacques Rousseau?
Ah Seng: Wash your toilet one ah?
Ah Beng: No! He's the author of "Confessions",
nah nah nah... told you already, if you take night
courses, you would know this.
Ah Seng: .................. *speechless + frustrated*
The next day, once again...
Ah Beng: Do you know who is Alexander Dumas?
Ah Seng: Your gay partner?
Ah Beng: Choiii!!! If you do! n't know don't simply
answer la. He's the author of "The 3 Musketeers" ,
if you take night courses, you would know this.
Ah Seng: ........ *speechless + frustrated + irritated
This time Ah Seng cannot tahan (stand) anymore and ask
Ah Beng...
Ah Seng: Eh... Do you know who is Ah Kaw?
Ah Beng: Errrr... No!
Ah Seng: He's the guy sleeping with your wife!!
If you stop night courses, you would know this!!
Ah Beng: ........................ *fainted*
NEXT... Legal Misunderstandings...
One afternoon, a wealthy lawyer was riding in the back of his limousine when he saw two men eating grass by the road side. He ordered his driver to stop and he got out to investigate.
"Why are you eating grass?" he asked one man.
"We don't have any money for food," the poor man replied.
"Oh, come along with me then."
"But sir, I have a wife with two children!"
"Bring them along! And you, come with us too!" he said to the other man.
"But sir, I have a wife with six children!" the second man answered.
"Bring them as well!"
They all climbed into the car, which was no easy task, even for a car as large as the limo.
Once underway, one of the poor fellows says, "Sir, you are too kind. Thank you for taking all of us with you."
The lawyer replied, "No problem, the grass at my home is about two feet tall."
NEXT.....This particular joke won an award for the best joke in a competition in Britain:
One Chinese person walks into a bar in America late one night and he saw Steven Spielberg.
As he was a great fan of his movies, he rushes over to him, and asks for his autograph.
Instead, Spielberg gives him a slap and says 'You Chinese people bombed our Pearl Harbor, get out of here.'
The astonished Chinese man replied 'It was not the Chinese who bombed your Pearl Harbor , it was the Japanese'.
'Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, you're all the same,' replied Spielberg.
In return, the Chinese gives Spielberg a slap and says 'You sank the Titanic; my forefathers were on that ship.'
Shocked, Spielberg replies 'It was the iceberg that sank the ship, not me.'
The Chinese replies, 'Iceberg, Spielberg, Carlsberg, you're all the same.'
Have a good day !
These jokes below, Ladies out there, you'll love this!
Husband StoreA store that sells husbands has just opened in New York City, where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates. You may visit the store ONLY ONCE ! There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights. There is, however, a catch. . . . You may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!
So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband...
On the first floor the sign on the door reads: Floor 1 - These men have jobs and love the Lord.
The second floor sign reads: Floor 2 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids.
The third floor sign reads: Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking. "Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.
She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads: Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-dead good looking and help with the housework.
"Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims,"I can hardly stand it!"
Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads: Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak.
She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads:Floor 6 - You are visitor 4,363,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building, and have a nice day!
NEXT...
Several men are in the locker room of a golf club.
A cell phone on a bench rings and a man engages the hands free speaker function and begins to talk.
Everyone else in the room stops to listen.
MAN: 'Hello'
WOMAN: 'Honey, it's me. Are you at the club?'
MAN: 'Yes'
WOMAN: 'I am at the mall now and found this beautiful leather coat. It's only $1,000. Is it OK if I buy it?'
MAN: 'Sure, go ahead if you like it that much.'
WOMAN: 'I also stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the new 2008 models. I saw one I really liked.'
MAN: 'How much?'
WOMAN: '$390,000'
MAN: 'OK, but for that price I want it with all the options.'
WOMAN: 'Great! Oh, and one more thing....the house I wanted last year is back on the market They're asking $2,950,000' for it.
MAN: 'Well, then go ahead and give them an offer of $2,800,000. They will probably take it. If not, we can go the extra $150,000 if it's really a pretty good price.'
WOMAN: 'OK.. I'll see you later! I love you so much!'
MAN: 'Bye! I love you, too.'
The man hangs up.
The other men in the locker room are staring at him in astonishment, mouths agape.
He turns and asks: 'Anyone know who this phone belongs to?'
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Truth and justice are no longer Malaysian way
I am very impressed with this article written by Michael Backman, so decided to post it in my blog for sharing...
Truth and justice are no longer Malaysian way
By Michael Backman
The Age
November 21, 2007
THE Government of Australia will probably change hands this weekend. There will be no arrests, no tear gas and no water cannons. The Government of John Howard will leave office, the Opposition will form a government and everyone will accept the verdict.
For this, every Australian can feel justifiably proud. This playing by the rules is what has made Australia rich and a good place in which to invest. It is a country to which people want to migrate; not leave.
Now consider Malaysia. The weekend before last, up to 40,000 Malaysians took to the streets in Kuala Lumpur to protest peacefully against the judiciary's lack of independence, electoral fraud, corruption and a controlled media.
In response, they were threatened by the Prime Minister, called monkeys by his powerful son-in-law, and blasted with water cannons and tear gas. And yet the vast majority of Malaysians do not want a change of government. All they want is for their government to govern better.
Both Malaysia and Australia have a rule of law that's based on the English system. Both started out as colonies of Britain. So why is Malaysia getting it so wrong now?
Malaysia's Government hates feedback. Dissent is regarded as dangerous, rather than a product of diversity. And like the wicked witch so ugly that she can't stand mirrors, the Government of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi controls the media so that it doesn't have to see its own reflection.
Demonstrations are typically banned. But what every Malaysian should know is that in Britain, Australia and other modern countries, when people wish to demonstrate, the police typically clear the way and make sure no one gets hurt. The streets belong to the people. And the police, like the politicians, are their servants. It is not the other way around.
But increasingly in Malaysia, Malaysians are being denied a voice — especially young people.
Section 15 of Malaysia's Universities and University Colleges Act states that no student shall be a member of or in any manner associate with any society, political party, trade union or any other organisation, body or group of people whatsoever, be it in or outside Malaysia, unless it is approved in advance and in writing by the vice-chancellor.
Nor can any student express or do anything that may be construed as expressing support, sympathy or opposition to any political party or union. Breaking this law can lead to a fine, a jail term or both.
The judiciary as a source of independent viewpoints has been squashed. The previous prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, did many good things for Malaysia, but his firing of the Lord President (chief justice) and two other Supreme Court judges in 1988 was an unmitigated disaster. Since then, what passes for a judiciary in Malaysia has been an utter disgrace and the Government knows it.
Several years ago, Daim Zainuddin, the country's then powerful finance minister, told me that judges in Malaysia were a bunch of idiots. Of course we want them to be biased, he told me, but not that biased.
Rarely do government ministers need to telephone a judge and demand this or that verdict because the judges are so in tune with the Government's desires that they automatically do the Government's beckoning.
Just how appalling Malaysia's judiciary has become was made clear in recent weeks with the circulation of a video clip showing a senior lawyer assuring someone by telephone that he will lobby the Government to have him made Lord President of the Supreme Court because he had been loyal to the Government. That someone is believed to have been Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim, who did in fact become Lord President.
A protest march organised by the Malaysian Bar Council was staged in response to this, and corruption among the judiciary in general. But the mainstream Malaysian media barely covered the march even though up to 2000 Bar Council members were taking part. Reportedly, the Prime Minister's office instructed editors to play down the event.
Instead of a free media, independent judges and open public debate, Malaysians are given stunts — the world's tallest building and most recently, a Malaysian cosmonaut. Essentially, they are given the play things of modernity but not modernity itself.
Many senior Malays are absolutely despairing at the direction of their country today. But with the media tightly controlled they have no way of getting their views out to their fellow countrymen. This means that most Malaysians falsely assume that the Malay elite is unified when it comes to the country's direction.
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, a former finance minister and today still a member of the Government, told me several weeks ago in Kuala Lumpur that he could see no reason why today Malaysia could not have a completely free media, a completely independent judiciary and that corrupt ministers and other officials should be publicly exposed and humiliated.
According to Tengku Razaleigh, all of the institutions designed to make Malaysia's Government accountable and honest have been dismantled or neutered.
It didn't need to be like this. Malaysia is not North Korea or Indonesia. It is something quite different. Its legal system is based on British codes. Coupled with traditional Malay culture, which is one of the world's most hospitable, decent and gentle cultures, Malaysia has the cultural and historical underpinnings to become one of Asia's most civilised, rules-based, successful societies.
Instead, Malaysia's Government is incrementally wasting Malaysia's inheritance.
ends
Also available on the Age's website:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/truth-and-justice-are-no-longer-malaysian-
way/2007/11/20/1195321781628.html
Truth and justice are no longer Malaysian way
By Michael Backman
The Age
November 21, 2007
THE Government of Australia will probably change hands this weekend. There will be no arrests, no tear gas and no water cannons. The Government of John Howard will leave office, the Opposition will form a government and everyone will accept the verdict.
For this, every Australian can feel justifiably proud. This playing by the rules is what has made Australia rich and a good place in which to invest. It is a country to which people want to migrate; not leave.
Now consider Malaysia. The weekend before last, up to 40,000 Malaysians took to the streets in Kuala Lumpur to protest peacefully against the judiciary's lack of independence, electoral fraud, corruption and a controlled media.
In response, they were threatened by the Prime Minister, called monkeys by his powerful son-in-law, and blasted with water cannons and tear gas. And yet the vast majority of Malaysians do not want a change of government. All they want is for their government to govern better.
Both Malaysia and Australia have a rule of law that's based on the English system. Both started out as colonies of Britain. So why is Malaysia getting it so wrong now?
Malaysia's Government hates feedback. Dissent is regarded as dangerous, rather than a product of diversity. And like the wicked witch so ugly that she can't stand mirrors, the Government of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi controls the media so that it doesn't have to see its own reflection.
Demonstrations are typically banned. But what every Malaysian should know is that in Britain, Australia and other modern countries, when people wish to demonstrate, the police typically clear the way and make sure no one gets hurt. The streets belong to the people. And the police, like the politicians, are their servants. It is not the other way around.
But increasingly in Malaysia, Malaysians are being denied a voice — especially young people.
Section 15 of Malaysia's Universities and University Colleges Act states that no student shall be a member of or in any manner associate with any society, political party, trade union or any other organisation, body or group of people whatsoever, be it in or outside Malaysia, unless it is approved in advance and in writing by the vice-chancellor.
Nor can any student express or do anything that may be construed as expressing support, sympathy or opposition to any political party or union. Breaking this law can lead to a fine, a jail term or both.
The judiciary as a source of independent viewpoints has been squashed. The previous prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, did many good things for Malaysia, but his firing of the Lord President (chief justice) and two other Supreme Court judges in 1988 was an unmitigated disaster. Since then, what passes for a judiciary in Malaysia has been an utter disgrace and the Government knows it.
Several years ago, Daim Zainuddin, the country's then powerful finance minister, told me that judges in Malaysia were a bunch of idiots. Of course we want them to be biased, he told me, but not that biased.
Rarely do government ministers need to telephone a judge and demand this or that verdict because the judges are so in tune with the Government's desires that they automatically do the Government's beckoning.
Just how appalling Malaysia's judiciary has become was made clear in recent weeks with the circulation of a video clip showing a senior lawyer assuring someone by telephone that he will lobby the Government to have him made Lord President of the Supreme Court because he had been loyal to the Government. That someone is believed to have been Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim, who did in fact become Lord President.
A protest march organised by the Malaysian Bar Council was staged in response to this, and corruption among the judiciary in general. But the mainstream Malaysian media barely covered the march even though up to 2000 Bar Council members were taking part. Reportedly, the Prime Minister's office instructed editors to play down the event.
Instead of a free media, independent judges and open public debate, Malaysians are given stunts — the world's tallest building and most recently, a Malaysian cosmonaut. Essentially, they are given the play things of modernity but not modernity itself.
Many senior Malays are absolutely despairing at the direction of their country today. But with the media tightly controlled they have no way of getting their views out to their fellow countrymen. This means that most Malaysians falsely assume that the Malay elite is unified when it comes to the country's direction.
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, a former finance minister and today still a member of the Government, told me several weeks ago in Kuala Lumpur that he could see no reason why today Malaysia could not have a completely free media, a completely independent judiciary and that corrupt ministers and other officials should be publicly exposed and humiliated.
According to Tengku Razaleigh, all of the institutions designed to make Malaysia's Government accountable and honest have been dismantled or neutered.
It didn't need to be like this. Malaysia is not North Korea or Indonesia. It is something quite different. Its legal system is based on British codes. Coupled with traditional Malay culture, which is one of the world's most hospitable, decent and gentle cultures, Malaysia has the cultural and historical underpinnings to become one of Asia's most civilised, rules-based, successful societies.
Instead, Malaysia's Government is incrementally wasting Malaysia's inheritance.
ends
Also available on the Age's website:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/truth-and-justice-are-no-longer-malaysian-
way/2007/11/20/1195321781628.html
Saturday, November 24, 2007
A Time of Reflection…
I am impressed with this view…Hope to share with you guys:)
GEORGE CARLIN WROTE THIS:
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...
Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.
Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
Beautiful words right? :)
Cheers!
GEORGE CARLIN WROTE THIS:
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...
Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.
Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
Beautiful words right? :)
Cheers!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
A Revision 0n FA & TA...Boring stuff.
F A = Fundamental Analysis: Fundamental analysis
Fundamental analysis of a business involves analyzing its income statement, financial statements and health, its management and competitive advantages, and its competitors and markets.
The analysis is performed on historical and present data, but with the goal to make financial projections. There are several possible objectives:
to calculate a company's credit risk,
to make projection on its business performance,
to evaluate its management and make internal business decisions,
to make the company's stock valuation and predict its probable price evolution.
Contents
1 Two analytical models
2 Use by different portfolio styles
3 Top-down and Bottom-up
4 Procedures
5 Criticisms
Two analytical models
When the objective of the analysis is to determine what stock to buy and at what price, there are two basic methodologies.
Fundamental analysis maintains that markets may misprice a security in the short run but that the "correct" price will eventually be reached. Profits can be made by trading the mispriced security and then waiting for the market to recognize its "mistake" and reprice the security.
Technical analysis maintains that all information is reflected already in the stock price, so fundamental analysis is a waste of time. Trends 'are your friend' and sentiment changes predate and predict trend changes. Investors' emotional responses to price movements lead to recognizable price chart patterns. Technical analysis does not care what the 'value' of a stock is. Their price predictions are only extrapolations from historical price patterns.
Investors can use both these different but somewhat complementary methods for stock picking. Many fundamental investors use technical for deciding entry and exit points. Many technical investors use fundamentals to limit their universe of possible stock to 'good' companies.
The choice of stock analysis is determined by the investor's belief in the different paradigms for "how the stock market works". See the discussions at efficient market hypothesis , random walk hypothesis, Capital Asset Pricing Model, Fed model Theory of Equity Valuation, and behavioral finance. Use by different portfolio styles Investors may use fundamental analysis within different portfolio management styles.
Buy and hold investors believe that latching onto good businesses allows the investor's asset to grow with the business. Fundamental analysis lets them find 'good' companies, so they lower their risk and probability of wipe-out.
Managers may use fundamental analysis to correctly value 'good' and 'bad' companies. Even 'bad' company's stock goes up and down, creating opportunities for profits.
Contrarian’s investors distinguish "in the short run, the market is a voting machine, not a weighing machine"[1]. Fundamental analysis allows you to make your own decision on value, and ignore the market.
Value investors restrict their attention to under-valued companies, believing that 'it's hard to fall out of a ditch'. The value comes from fundamental analysis.
Managers may use fundamental analysis to determine future growth rates for buying high priced growth stocks.
Managers may also include fundamental factors along with technical factors into computer models (quantitative analysis).
Top-down and Bottom-up
Investors can use either a top-down or bottom-up approach.
The top-down investor starts his analysis with global economics, including both international and national economic indicators, such as GDP growth rates, inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, productivity, and energy prices. He narrows his search down to regional/industry analysis of total sales, price levels, the effects of competing products, foreign competition, and entry or exit from the industry. Only then does he narrow his search to the best business in that area.
The bottom-up investor starts with specific businesses, regardless of their industry/region.
Procedures
The analysis of a business' health starts with financial statement analysis that includes ratios. It looks at dividends paid, operating cash flow, new equity issues and capital financing. The earnings estimates and growth rate projections published widely by Thomson Financial and others can be considered either 'fundamental' (they are facts) or 'technical' (they are investor sentiment) based on your perception of their validity.
The determined growth rates (of income and cash) and risk levels (to determine the discount rate) are used in various valuation models. The foremost is the discounted cash flow model, which calculates the present value of the future
Dividends received by the investor, along with the eventual sale price. (Gordon model) earnings of the company or cash flows of the company.
The simple model commonly used is the Price/Earnings ratio. Implicit in this model of a perpetual annuity (Time value of money) is that the 'flip' of the P/E is the discount rate appropriate to the risk of the business. The multiple accepted is adjusted for expected growth (that is not built into the model).
Growth estimates are incorporated into the PEG ratio but the math does not hold up to analysis. [Neutrality disputed] Its validity depends on the length of time you think the growth will continue.
Computer modeling of stock prices has now replaced much of the subjective interpretation of fundamental data (along with technical data) in the industry. Since about year 2000, with the power of computers to crunch vast quantities of data, a new career has been invented. At some funds the manager's decisions have been replaced by proprietary mathematical models. [Citation needed]
Criticisms
Some economists such as Burton Malkiel suggest that neither fundamental analysis nor technical analysis is useful in outperforming the markets [2].
T.A. =Technical Analysis
Technical analysis is the study of past financial market data, primarily through the use of charts, to forecast price trends and make investment decisions. [1] In its purest form, technical analysis considers only the actual price behavior of the market or instrument, based on the premise that price reflects all relevant factors before an investor becomes aware of them through other channels.
Technical analysis is widely used among traders and financial professionals, and some studies say its use is more widespread than is "fundamental" analysis in the foreign exchange market.[2][3] Academics such as Eugene Fama say the evidence for technical analysis is sparse and is refuted by the efficient market hypothesis,[4][5] yet some Federal Reserve and academic studies include evidence that supports technical analysis.[6][7][8] MIT finance professor Andrew Lo argues that "several academic studies suggest that technical analysis may well be an effective means for extracting useful information from market prices."[9] But as Burton Malkiel argues, "Technical analysis is anathema to the academic world."[10]
General description
Technical analysts (or technicians) identify non-random price patterns and trends in financial markets and attempt to exploit those patterns.[1] While technicians use various methods and tools, the study of price charts is primary. Technicians especially search for archetypal patterns, such as the well-known head and shoulders reversal pattern, and also study such indicators as price, volume, and moving averages of the price. Many technical analysts also follow indicators of investor psychology (market sentiment).
Technicians seek to forecast price movements such that large gains from successful trades exceed more numerous but smaller losing trades, producing positive returns in the long run through proper risk control and money management.
There are several schools of technical analysis. Adherents of different schools (for example, candlestick charting, Dow Theory, and Elliott wave theory) may ignore the other approaches, yet many traders combine elements from more than one school. Technical analysts use judgment gained from experience to decide which pattern a particular instrument reflects at a given time, and what the interpretation of that pattern should be. Technical analysts may disagree among themselves over the interpretation of a given chart.
Technical analysis is frequently contrasted with fundamental analysis; the study of economic factors that some analysts say can influence prices in financial markets. Pure technical analysis holds that prices already reflect all such influences before investors are aware of them, hence the study of price action alone. Some traders use technical or fundamental analysis exclusively, while others use both types to make trading decisions.
History
The principles of technical analysis derive from the observation of financial markets over hundreds of years.[citation needed] The oldest known example of technical analysis was a method used by Japanese traders as early as the 18th century,[citation needed] which evolved into the use of candlestick techniques, and is today a main charting tool.[11][12]
Dow Theory is based on the collected writings of Dow Jones co-founder and editor Charles Dow, and inspired the use and development of modern technical analysis from the end of the 19th century. Modern technical analysis considers Dow Theory its cornerstone. [13]
Many more technical tools and theories have been developed and enhanced in recent decades, with an increasing emphasis on computer-assisted techniques.
Principles of technical analysis
Technicians say that a market's price reflects all relevant information, so their analysis looks more at "internals" than at "externals" such as news events. Price action also tends to repeat itself because investors collectively tend toward patterned behavior -- hence technicians' focus on identifiable trends and conditions.
Market action discounts everything
Based on the premise that all relevant information is already reflected by prices, technical analysts believe it is redundant to do fundamental analysis -- they say news and news events do not significantly influence price, and cite supporting research such as the study by Cutler, Poterba, and Summers titled "What Moves Stock Prices?"
On most of the sizable return days [large market moves] the information that the press cites as the cause of the market move is not particularly important. Press reports on adjacent days also fail to reveal any convincing accounts of why future profits or discount rates might have changed. Our inability to identify the fundamental shocks that accounted for these significant market moves is difficult to reconcile with the view that such shocks account for most of the variation in stock returns. [14]
Prices move in trends
Technical analysts believe that prices trend. Technicians say that markets trend up, down, or sideways (flat). This basic definition of price trends is the one put forward by Dow Theory. [1]
AOL Time Warner price action.
An example of a security that had an apparent trend is AOL from November 2001 through August 2002. A technical analyst or trend follower recognizing this trend would look for opportunities to sell this security. AOL consistently moves downward in price. Each time the stock rose, sellers would enter the market and sell the stock; hence the "zig-zag" movement in the price. The series of "lower highs" and "lower lows" is a tell tale sign of a stock in a down trend.[15] In other words, each time the stock edged lower, it fell below its previous relative low price. Each time the stock moved higher, it could not reach the level of its previous relative high price.
Note that the sequence of lower lows and lower highs did not begin until August. Then AOL makes a low price that doesn't pierce the relative low set earlier in the month. Later in the same month, the stock makes a relative high equal to the most recent relative high. In this a technician sees strong indications that the down trend is at least pausing and possibly ending, and would likely stop actively selling the stock at that point.
History tends to repeat itself
Technical analysts believe that investors collectively repeat the behavior of the investors that preceded them. "Everyone wants in on the next Microsoft," "If this stock ever gets to $50 again, I will buy it," "This company's technology will revolutionize its industry, therefore this stock will skyrocket" -- these are all examples of investor sentiment repeating itself. To a technician, the emotions in the market may be irrational, but they exist. Because investor behavior does repeat itself so often, technicians believe that recognizable (and predictable) price patterns will develop on a chart. [1]
Technical analysis is not limited to charting, yet is always concerned with price trends. For example, many technicians monitor surveys of investor sentiment. These surveys gauge the attitude of market participants, specifically whether they are bearish or bullish. Technicians use these surveys to help determine whether a trend will continue or if a reversal could develop; they are most likely to anticipate a change when the surveys report extreme investor sentiment. Surveys that show overwhelming bullishness, for example, are evidence that an uptrend may reverse -- the premise being that if most investors are bullish they have already bought the market (anticipating higher prices). And because most investors are bullish and invested, one assumes that few buyers remain. This leaves more potential sellers than buyers, despite the bullish sentiment. This suggests that prices will trend down, and is an example of contrarian trading.
Criticism
The Wall Street Journal Europe states "Whether technical analysis is really useful ... is a matter of some dispute on Wall Street. Some investors believe that it is impossible to forecast the market's ups and downs. Academic studies have shown that when most people, professionals and amateurs alike, try to move money in and out of stocks to beat market fluctuations, they tend to wind up with losses."[16] The same article shows how several technical analysts can simultaneously make contradictory predictions.
Lack of evidence
Critics of technical analysis include well known fundamental analysts. For example, Peter Lynch once commented, "Charts are great for predicting the past." Warren Buffett has said, "I realized technical analysis didn't work when I turned the charts upside down and didn't get a different answer" and "If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians."[1]
Some academic studies say technical analysis has little predictive power, but other studies say it may produce excess returns. For example, measurable forms of technical analysis, such as non-linear prediction using neural networks, have been shown to occasionally produce statistically significant prediction results.[17] A Federal Reserve working paper[7] regarding support and resistance levels in short-term foreign exchange rates "offers strong evidence that the levels help to predict intraday trend interruptions," although the "predictive power" of those levels was "found to vary across the exchange rates and firms examined."
Cheol-Ho Park and Scott H. Irwin reviewed 95 modern studies on the profitability of technical analysis and said 56 of them find positive results, 20 obtain negative results, and 19 indicate mixed results: "Despite the positive evidence...most empirical studies are subject to various problems in their testing procedures, e.g., data snooping, ex post selection of trading rules or search technologies, and difficulties in estimation of risk and transaction costs. Future research must address these deficiencies in testing in order to provide conclusive evidence on the profitability of technical trading strategies."[18]
However, a comprehensive study of the question by Amsterdam economist Gerwin Griffioen concludes that: "for the U.S., Japanese and most Western European stock market indices the recursive out-of-sample forecasting procedure does not show to be profitable, after implementing little transaction costs. Moreover, for sufficiently high transaction costs it is found, by estimating CAPMs, that technical trading shows no statistically significant risk-corrected out-of-sample forecasting power for almost all of the stock market indices."[5]
Efficient market hypothesis
The efficient market hypothesis (EMH) contradicts the basic tenets of technical analysis, by stating that past prices cannot be used to profitably predict future prices. Thus it holds that technical analysis cannot be effective. Economist Eugene Fama published the seminal paper on the EMH in the Journal of Finance in 1970, and said "In short, the evidence in support of the efficient markets model is extensive, and (somewhat uniquely in economics) contradictory evidence is sparse." [19] EMH advocates say that if prices quickly reflect all relevant information, no method (including technical analysis) can "beat the market." Developments which influence prices occur randomly and are unknowable in advance.
Technicians say that EMH ignores the way markets work, in that many investors base their expectations on past earnings, track record, etc. Because future stock prices can be strongly influenced by investor expectations, technicians claim it only follows that past prices influence future prices. [20] They also point to research in the field of behavioral finance, specifically that people are not the rational participants EMH makes them out to be. Technicians have long said that irrational human behavior influences stock prices, and that this behavior leads to predictable outcomes. [21] Author David Aronson says that the theory of behavioral finance blends with the practice of technical analysis:
By considering the impact of emotions, cognitive errors, irrational preferences, and the dynamics of group behavior, behavioral finance offers succinct explanations of excess market volatility as well as the excess returns earned by stale information strategies? cognitive errors may also explain the existence of market inefficiencies that spawn the systematic price movements that allow objective TA [technical analysis] methods to work. [20]
EMH advocates reply that while individual market participants do not always act rationally (or have complete information), their aggregate decisions balance each other, resulting in a rational outcome (optimists who buy stock and bid the price higher are countered by pessimists who sell their stock, which keeps the price in equilibrium).[22] Likewise, complete information is reflected in the price because all market participants bring their own individual, but incomplete, knowledge together in the market.[22]
Random walk hypothesis
The random walk hypothesis may be derived from the weak-form efficient markets hypothesis, which is based on the assumption that market participants take full account of any information contained in past price movements (but not necessarily other public information). In his book A Random Walk Down Wall Street, Princeton economist Burton Malkiel said that technical forecasting tools such as pattern analysis must ultimately be self-defeating: "The problem is that once such regularity is known to market participants, people will act in such a way that prevents it from happening in the future." [23]
Technicians say the EMH and Random Walk theories both ignore the realities of markets, in that participants are not completely rational (they can be greedy, overly risky, etc.) and that current price moves are not independent of previous moves (technicians point to charts similar to AOL above.)[15][24] Critics reply that one can find virtually any chart pattern after the fact, but that this does not prove that such patterns are predictable. Technicians maintain that both theories would also invalidate numerous other trading strategies such as index arbitrage, statistical arbitrage and many other trading systems. [20]
Industry
Globally, the industry is represented by The International Federation of Technical Analysts (IFTA). In the United States the industry is represented by two national organizations: the Market Technicians Association (MTA), and the American Association of Professional Technical Analysts (AAPTA). In Canada the industry is represented by the Canadian Society of Technical Analysts.
Use of technical analysis
Many traders say that trading in the direction of the trend is the most effective means to be profitable in financial or commodities markets. John W. Henry, Larry Hite, Ed Seykota, Richard Dennis, William Eckhardt, Victor Sperandeo, Michael Marcus and Paul Tudor Jones (some of the so-called Market Wizards in the popular book of the same name by Jack D. Schwager) have each amassed massive fortunes via the use of technical analysis and its concepts. George Lane, a technical analyst, coined one of the most popular phrases on Wall Street, "The trend is your friend!"
Many non-arbitrage algorithmic trading systems rely on the idea of trend-following, as do many hedge funds. A relatively recent trend, both in research and industrial practice, has been the development of increasingly sophisticated automated trading strategies. These often rely on underlying technical analysis principles (see algorithmic trading article for an overview).
Systematic trading and technical analysis
Neural networks
Since the early 90's when the first practically usable types emerged, artificial neural networks (ANNs) have rapidly grown in popularity. They are artificial intelligence adaptive software systems that have been inspired by how biological neural networks work. Their use comes in because they can learn to detect complex patterns in data. In mathematical terms, they are universal non-linear function approximators[25] [26] meaning that given the right data and configured correctly, they can capture and model any input-output relationships. This not only removes the need for human interpretation of charts or the series of rules for generating entry/exit signals but also provides a bridge to fundamental analysis as the variables used in fundamental analysis can be used as input.
In addition, as ANNs are essentially non-linear statistical models, their accuracy and prediction capabilities can be both mathematically and empirically tested. In various studies neural networks used for generating trading signals have significantly outperformed buy-hold strategies as well as traditional linear technical analysis methods.[27] [28] [29]
While the advanced mathematical nature of such adaptive systems have kept neural networks for financial analysis mostly within academic research circles, in recent years more user friendly neural network software has made the technology more accessible to traders.
Rule-based trading
Rule-based trading is an approach to make one's trading plans by strict and clear-cut rules. Unlike some other technical methods or most fundamental analysis, it defines a set of rules that determines all trades, leaving minimal discretion.
For instance, a trader might make a set of rules stating that he will take a long position whenever the price of a particular instrument closes above its 50-day moving average, and shorting it whenever it drops below.
Charting terms and indicators
Widely-known technical analysis concepts include:
Accumulation/distribution index based on the close within the day's range
Average true range - averaged daily trading range
Bollinger bands - a range of price volatility
Breakout - when a price passes through and stays above an area of support or resistance
Commodity Channel Index - identifies cyclical trends
Elliott wave principle and the golden ratio to calculate successive price movements and retracements
Hikkake Pattern - pattern for identifying reversals and continuations
MACD - moving average convergence/divergence
Momentum - the rate of price change
Money Flow - the amount of stock traded on days the price went up
Moving average - lags behind the price action
On-balance volume - the momentum of buying and selling stocks
PAC charts - two-dimensional method for charting volume by price level
Parabolic SAR - Wilder's trailing stop based on prices tending to stay within a parabolic curve during a strong trend
Pivot point - derived by calculating the numerical average of a particular currency's or stock's high, low and closing prices
Point and figure charts - charts based on price without time
Relative Strength Index (RSI) - oscillator showing price strength
Resistance - an area that brings on increased selling
Rahul Mohindar Oscillator - a trend indentifying indicator
Stochastic oscillator, close position within recent trading range
Support - an area that brings on increased buying
Trend line - a sloping line of support or resistance
Trix - an oscillator showing the slope of a triple-smoothed exponential moving average, developed in the 1980s by Jack Hutson
My view is that you cannot wholly rely on TA. Some input from FA is necessary to select which stock to invest.TA will come in useful if you are a short term investor or punter as some would like to call it. If you want to use TA, you'll need a lot of practice to see which indicators among the huge number of them that gives you the desired result. Compare your forecasting based on TA and what really happens and then you get the hang of it TA and charting goes hand in hand and studying patterns is useful.
Japanese Candlesstick Charting Techniques is useful and I like it. If you like to learn more get hold the this book"Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques" by Steve Nison published by New York Institute of Finance.
I always like to compare TA & Charting to brass balls use by some people to exercise their hand and fingers. The more you use it, the brighter it becomes.
Cheers
Stocks Plunge With Dollar; Dow Down 360
Wednesday November 7, 7:06 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Stocks Fall Sharply As Dollar Sinks to Fresh Lows, Credit Concerns Grow, Financial Stocks Drop
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street suffered its second big drop in a week Wednesday, with investors worried about spreading fallout from the credit crisis at banks and about a dollar that just keeps getting weaker. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 360 points -- just about matching its pullback of last Thursday.
A passel of worries tormented investors, including comments by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo about conflicts of interest in the mortgage industry that exacerbated declines among bank stocks.
Meanwhile, the dollar swooned amid speculation that China will seek to diversify some of its foreign currency stockpiles beyond the greenback and General Motors Corp. further dampened sentiment by posting a record loss tied to an accounting adjustment.
Oil hit a record, rising above $98 per barrel before retreating, and gold pushed higher, moves exacerbated by an anemic dollar.
The fear with a huge drop like Wednesday's is whether it is part not just of a correction, which is a 10 percent pullback in stock prices, but that it could be the beginning of a bear market. With the huge volatility that has swept Wall Street since the summer, and triple-digit moves in the Dow becoming commonplace, no one can be sure.
Still, the concern on the Street is that the extent of the fallout from the credit market crisis that has led to billions of dollars in losses for major banks and investment firms is not yet known. With Citigroup Inc. announcing Sunday it needed to take an additional $8 billion to $11 billion in writedowns, investors are very uneasy not just about stocks, but the economy as a whole.
"The financials are the bodyguards of the market and when the bodyguards are taking shots then the market can't do well," said David Darst, chief investment strategist for Morgan Stanley's global wealth management group.
"A lot of the bad stuff is known; what the markets are worrying about is the unknown," Darst said.
The Dow fell 360.92, or 2.64 percent, to 13,300.02. The Dow, which had gained 117 points on Tuesday, had fallen 362.14 last Thursday, reflecting the extreme fractiousness on Wall Street these days. It was the third time in a month the blue chip index has dropped by more than 350 points, and leaves the Dow up 6.71 percent for the year.
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Stocks Fall Sharply As Dollar Sinks to Fresh Lows, Credit Concerns Grow, Financial Stocks Drop
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street suffered its second big drop in a week Wednesday, with investors worried about spreading fallout from the credit crisis at banks and about a dollar that just keeps getting weaker. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 360 points -- just about matching its pullback of last Thursday.
A passel of worries tormented investors, including comments by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo about conflicts of interest in the mortgage industry that exacerbated declines among bank stocks.
Meanwhile, the dollar swooned amid speculation that China will seek to diversify some of its foreign currency stockpiles beyond the greenback and General Motors Corp. further dampened sentiment by posting a record loss tied to an accounting adjustment.
Oil hit a record, rising above $98 per barrel before retreating, and gold pushed higher, moves exacerbated by an anemic dollar.
The fear with a huge drop like Wednesday's is whether it is part not just of a correction, which is a 10 percent pullback in stock prices, but that it could be the beginning of a bear market. With the huge volatility that has swept Wall Street since the summer, and triple-digit moves in the Dow becoming commonplace, no one can be sure.
Still, the concern on the Street is that the extent of the fallout from the credit market crisis that has led to billions of dollars in losses for major banks and investment firms is not yet known. With Citigroup Inc. announcing Sunday it needed to take an additional $8 billion to $11 billion in writedowns, investors are very uneasy not just about stocks, but the economy as a whole.
"The financials are the bodyguards of the market and when the bodyguards are taking shots then the market can't do well," said David Darst, chief investment strategist for Morgan Stanley's global wealth management group.
"A lot of the bad stuff is known; what the markets are worrying about is the unknown," Darst said.
The Dow fell 360.92, or 2.64 percent, to 13,300.02. The Dow, which had gained 117 points on Tuesday, had fallen 362.14 last Thursday, reflecting the extreme fractiousness on Wall Street these days. It was the third time in a month the blue chip index has dropped by more than 350 points, and leaves the Dow up 6.71 percent for the year.
More reading..
New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071107/wall_street.html?.v=39
New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071107/wall_street.html?.v=39
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