Sunday, August 12, 2007

Financing cow dung

It's no surprise finance is a subject I have no affinity for. Actually anything that has to do with rates of some sort, I have no stomach for it. Foreign exchange? Easy, I go to the foreign exchange counter, tell the guy i want such and such amount of foreign currency, he punches a calculator, tells me how much I need to pay in SGD. Voila, I get foreign currency. But no, in the past 2 days, I learnt that foreign exchange is like a jungle, you have to navigate like a maze, you have to wheel and deal. If nothing else, finance is like shark invested waters, swim or just die. Maybe it's something right up Slick's alley, he'll probably get on the phone to a broker next morning, taking out a 6 mth USD forward contract, or maybe a currency option in swiss francs, reinvest excess funds, take advantage of weakening rates in south africa, play the money market and make a nice quick buck and earn his ticket to a luxury vacation in the Bahamas. Think somewhere in there may be a swap as well. Exchange rates? It's not about going to the counter to change money anymore, it's evil, cunning, scheming and plotting. Oh, and it does not hurt to have good forecasting abilities so we know how hedge correctly. But then, if one has good forecasting abilities, let's just make it easier by forecasting the next winning lottery numbers. It's simpler, more direct, and we don't have to pay transaction costs to the bank. Windfall is non-taxable too, capital gains are not - unless one finds a way to hide money in an offshore account.

Man, I'm so confused. The only numbers I know well are my phone numbers, my bank account number, and the number of dogs I have. Say, if I go to the forex counters to swap my dogs, you think they would give me 1 show quality whippet in return? Hmmm.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

For Biz and Hol, the MOST you would get is a HOT DOG with mustard!

Hmmm.. Slick is a smartie, he would hire his own fund manager and trade with his numbered account in the Cayman Islands... tax evasion and money laundering in one go too!!!Ask slick.. he is listed as having zero income and he can go for many holidays in a year! plus live in TODS!!

Slick is a smartie

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