President Bush may be one of the lousiest presidents United States ever had but you just got to give this guy the credit for his fast reaction when he ducked as a size 10 shoe was thrown but missed him, apparently by Muntadhar al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist with Egypt-based al-Baghdadia television network. It was hilarious and I’m not sure how President Bush would have reacted if the shoe landed on his face. But I’m pretty sure if it was PM Abdullah Badawi he won’t be so lucky judging from his great agility. Badawi might just mumble about his painful nose after being whacked by the shoe, feeling dizziness. On the other hand if it was PM-in-waiting Najib, he may immediately issue instruction to get the man “ISA”ed *grin*.

Anyway the announcement by Citigroup Inc. that Malaysia’s stock market may continue to fall for at least another quarter as earnings shrink is long overdue. Somehow the local stock market only reacts to comment by foreign research house but not the local experts *strange*. It was a nice and encouraging advice from Citigroup that investors should sell the most-admired Public Bank Berhad (KLSE: PBBANK, stock-code 1295) and biggest lender Malayan Banking Berhad’s (KLSE: MAYBANK, stock-code 1155) stocks. Let’s hope Public Bank’s stock price will come under pressure and plunge soon (so that we can accumulate). Seriously if Public Bank tumbles the rest will follows.

The just concluded PC Fair at KL Convention Center was quite boring. Major “big names” did not take up the main booths and the whole atmosphere was as if you’re at Low Yat *yawn*. I’m not sure about the first and second day because I was there only on the third or the last day. The trick was always to pay such fair a visit only on the last day because that was when the big party starts. I’m sure most of us knew about this (the trick) as I noticed the crowd was building towards the late evening of third day. The theory was the participants would most likely dispose of their stocks at fire-sale price rather than take it back home. And this was the moment most of the hunters have been waiting for. Although it wasn’t as crazy as before nevertheless they would rather make RM1 in profit for each thumb or pen drive than to not sell any of them.

So what can you learn from the PC Fair and apply it in the stock markets? It was all about psychology warfare. It was about mind-games. It was about who blinks his or her eyes first. It was about who is the desperados. If I’m not mistaken many booths are selling portable hard-disks ranging from non-branded to Seagate, Maxtor, Western Digital, Buffalo and Imation. As I need to backup my data and my first portable hard-disk which I bought several years ago is hitting the threshold, thanks to my blogging hobby, I’ve got myself a Western Digital 320GB portable hard-disk for RM245 plus a 8GB Kingston pendrive (RM48).

Well, initially I was attracted to Imation’s Apollo portable hard-disk because the casing was quite solid and sexy looking. But I was put off by the strategy of the salesman. I was there researching all the booths (you got to break the ice with the sales persons to fish for their honest opinion) and I concluded the worst brand in terms of sales is Imation Apollo brand. You don’t need to be rocket scientist to know why Imation Apollo portable hard-disk couldn’t sell when its 320GB was selling at RM290 (one booth was even selling it for RM320) while other brands were selling for RM245 to RM260 for the same capacity.

Other brands also come with 3 years warranty with 1-to-1 swap, anti-shock resistance, backup and synchronization software and so on although nobody can guarantee they will honor such arrangement. Nowadays people are very cost-conscious, period. I don’t mind paying extra money because I really like Imation’s casing design but when the sales persons suddenly twist the fact and play dirty declaring that due to “over-whelming” sales (my foot) they are out of stock and if you want to buy the 320GB portable hard-disk, you need to pay down-payment first and then go to certain shop address to get the goods. Of course nobody gave them the hoot. I think this party has gone overboard and had just kill the brand.

Long story short, before you jump into the ocean please do your homework unless your intention it to burn your hard-earned money unnecessarily investing stocks. The current stock market is just like the PC Fair on the first day and second day but now is definitely not the third or last day so why the rush into the stock market? You need lots of patience to get the goods (stocks) at the lowest price possible. No doubt it’s tiring and challenging especially when the price keep dropping but you just need to know the psychology of the market (sellers and buyers). Anybody knows of freeware that can password protect my portable hard-disk?

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Tempted to buy stocks now? Do your homework please
• When is the Right time to buy Stocks? Ask yourself
• Economic Uncertainties breed Denial Syndrome?
• Cash is King but do you have the bullets?
• Should we rejoice or mourn on Maybank-BII deal?

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December 15th, 2008 by financetwitter

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