Hello!
The comments on this profile are unclaimed and thus are unverified.
Do they belong to you? Claim these comments.
Sean
Is this you? Claim Profile »
8 months ago
in 10 “Pearlers” for Positive Stock Market Investing in Negative Times on SNOBs
I've been meaning to chime in here, and now I'm finally getting around to adding a few thoughts to the points already made by Carlee and Nathan.
First, adding to the points Nathan has already made on the US housing market:
* The easy lending standards led to a bubble: part of the reason prices fell so much was because they'd risen far too fast as too many bought properties in the expectations would keep going up. They did for a while, but then the music stopped.
* The bonds that helped channel global funds to the US housing market did not get their ratings by mixing good an bad loans. Rather they used "tranching", a structuring technique that is explained well in this video.
* I agree with Nathan that our Aussie banks have balance sheets in better shape that others around the world. Nevertheless, liquidity became a problem. What this means is that if everyone wants their money out of a bank at the same time (or if no-one will buy bonds from the bank as older ones mature), then the bank has a problem, regardless of how good the bank's assets are.
* As Nathan says, all businesses relying on lending to some degree in their business operations, even if it's just for working capital so they can pay staff and creditors on a regular basis even if the timing of their business income is lumpier. This, combined with the enormous uncertainty generated by falling sharemarkets, means that problems in the finance sector will have a knock on effect to other sectors. So while the bursting of the tech bubble hurt investors, people working in the industry and some banks with loans to failing companies, the spill-over effect was much less than is the case with the current crisis.
* Finally, for more extensive reflections, let me point you in the direction of a recent blog post on the crisis (by yours truly) that gives an overview of what has happened, with a particular focus on Australia.
First, adding to the points Nathan has already made on the US housing market:
* The easy lending standards led to a bubble: part of the reason prices fell so much was because they'd risen far too fast as too many bought properties in the expectations would keep going up. They did for a while, but then the music stopped.
* The bonds that helped channel global funds to the US housing market did not get their ratings by mixing good an bad loans. Rather they used "tranching", a structuring technique that is explained well in this video.
* I agree with Nathan that our Aussie banks have balance sheets in better shape that others around the world. Nevertheless, liquidity became a problem. What this means is that if everyone wants their money out of a bank at the same time (or if no-one will buy bonds from the bank as older ones mature), then the bank has a problem, regardless of how good the bank's assets are.
* As Nathan says, all businesses relying on lending to some degree in their business operations, even if it's just for working capital so they can pay staff and creditors on a regular basis even if the timing of their business income is lumpier. This, combined with the enormous uncertainty generated by falling sharemarkets, means that problems in the finance sector will have a knock on effect to other sectors. So while the bursting of the tech bubble hurt investors, people working in the industry and some banks with loans to failing companies, the spill-over effect was much less than is the case with the current crisis.
* Finally, for more extensive reflections, let me point you in the direction of a recent blog post on the crisis (by yours truly) that gives an overview of what has happened, with a particular focus on Australia.
10 months ago
in 2008 Olympic Medal Counts by Population on Java Rants
@Gaurav Why? Because it's fun!
10 months ago
in 2008 Olympic Medal Counts by Population on Java Rants
@sam: The more the merrier, I say! But, I'm glad you found my piece as well! In a follow-up post I actually decided to award the adjusted Olympic games to Jamaica. This is because they came second in the medals per capita and third by GDP. In fact, if you look at score (Gold = 3 points, Silver = 2 points, Bronze = 1 point), Jamaica actually came first per capita!
Note also that the Netherland Antilles place in the ranking was short-lived as their runner was disqualified and lost their medal!
I've popped all the data (including GDP results) over on Swivel and you can find everything here: http://www.swivel.com/users/show/1009803
Note also that the Netherland Antilles place in the ranking was short-lived as their runner was disqualified and lost their medal!
I've popped all the data (including GDP results) over on Swivel and you can find everything here: http://www.swivel.com/users/show/1009803
10 months ago
in I miss the old twitter. on Richard's Blog
I agree wholeheartedly. The killer feature for me that twitter had over pownce, jaiku, kwippy, identi.ca, etc, etc, etc was the sms. Now that's gone, I'll be easy pickings for the first service that fills the void!
11 months ago
in 2008/03/24/twitter-spam/ on Mashable - The Social Media Guide
Nice post. I have also just blogged on the issue of spam on social networks.
1 year ago
in The Long And Winding Road To Bruny on LOL: Life of Leo
Glad you're enjoying the trip. I see from SmugMug that you visited the old Cascade brewery. I hope you've been sampling some of their brew (I know from a tweet that you've been drinking the northern brew, Boag's...there's always a few of those in my fridge!). Anyway, so far your snaps are looking very good.
