That is a good motto to have. For those who wish to follow the financial saga as it unfolds may wish to go to these websites and read the interesting articles:

http://www.gold-eagle.com
http://www.kitco.com
http://www.professorfekete.com/ (do read his popular economics)
http://www.webofdebt.com/
http://www.trendsresearch.com/forecast.html

Oops I made a typo error by saying that “Some analysts opined that the current meltdown could last till 2104 or 2105. ” It should read 2014 to 2015.

More like I am the curious one. Thanks indeed for the sharing. It really is an eye-opener for me and I think more Singaporeans ought to know the extent of the impact we are going to face for goodness how long.

I have just written this word and placed it in front of my desk: “Prudence!”. This will be my motto from now on.

Thanks.

Remember Bernard Mardoff? Trust him blindly because of his reputation?

We out source for people in other fields , perhaps its time to outsource for our government as well. Its an idea that we should seriously think about. Think about how much money we could save from our government and tax payers wage bill??

So the time has come for us to start outsourcing for our government personnel. Definitley they will be much cheaper and I think better qualified when compared to the present crop of ministers who don’t walk the talk but just plain talk and talk utter rubbish!

I wonder then how come our leaders are still payed the big bucks!! Not to long ago the papers reported that our President is payed something like $ 3 million and so is some of our PM and others ministers. So at times like this should they still be payed the same amount??

You can bet your last dollar that when times improve thier pay will surely be increased further!! So please tell me the logic behing this rationale about the ministers pay? What justifies that our President be payed so much and so goes for all the other mnisters . The people have to tighten thier belts so that they can keep thier pays and be payed even more later? Someting is wrong somewhere with this system in singapore. PLEASE ENLIGHTEN ME , PLEASE!

The president of America and other countries dont even get half of what our so called ministers get. So if that is the case our ministers should be employed by all these other countries to help them get out of this financial situation. We should be sending our ministers to all these countries who need help cos we are supposed to have the best!

Cash is king only if there is deflation. In hyper-inflation gold is king as cash may become less desired. It may not happen in Singapore but it did in Zimbabwe,
where the hyper-inflation has destroyed their currency.

If one bought gold in Zimbabwe and hid them from the govt then one is safe. If one has a billion of old Zim dollar in cash today one may only have enough cash to buy a small pack of cigarettes !!

Zimbabwe has just printed its 100 Billion dollar note this week.

“Now, let’s say the unthinkable happens and I am out of my job, how long am I looking at before the recovery is good enough for market forces to pick up?”

No one knows. The 1930 Great Depression lasted 10 years till the out-break of ww2. In the 1990 stock meltdown in Japan, there was a rolling recession for close to 14 years. Some analysts opined that the current meltdown could last till 2104 or 2105. But don’t take this as gospel, as no one can see the future.

“Why aren’t they telling the truth the way you have told it?”

Most, if not all govts, like all of us, do not know what will be the exact scenario.
And no govt on earth can prevent a meltdown from taking place as 30 trillions have evaporated. No one knows when the next shoe will drop. We can make guesses only and take personal actions to protect ourselves and our families in the event the current crash turns into the Great Depression II. Hope not !

Thanks for tips.

Job wise, I think I am in a rather good position to keep my job because I think healthcare is one of the stronger industry amid the gloom. I hope I guess correct though.

I have heard also that the common advise is ‘ca$h is king’ and indeed we have to be more prudent with our spendings and to do so under an absolutely necessary condition.

Debt wise, the only debt is my HDB mortgage loan which is taken care of by my CPF and full payment is almost complete. So no issue here. Lucky me, I have no other debt issues.

Now, let’s say the unthinkable happens and I am out of my job, how long am I looking at before the recovery is good enough for market forces to pick up? The govt have not said it loud enough how long this recovery will take.They have only been touching on the impact of the downturn in short measures and not looking any futher that 2009.

Are we been misled into being too hopeful, even when they caution that this downturn is bad? They way I look at it, I don’t think it will recover anytime within the next 3 years? And I am only looking at part recovery because it is also a known fact that full recovery is wishful thinking at best.

Why aren’t they telling the truth the way you have told it? This will better prepare us to face the eventualities when they come.

I am not expert nor an investment adviser. Common sense dictates that those with jobs work harder to stay put, if not have an exit strategy and find another now.

In the 1930s Great Depression about 25% of the workers in America lost their jobs. About 9000 banks went bust. In a deflation cash is king ! In a hyper-inflation gold is king !

The other thing I would do is to live within my means. Lower or get rid of my debts now because when deflation hits, my debts will still be there and magnified but the assets that I hold and lean against those debt will face a meltdown in price.

If more US dollars are printed it will lose its value greatly and this will affect all currencies around the world. To protect their wealth investors are buying gold and gold coins are now hard to find. Be careful of dead cat bounce in the stock market as it does not necessarily signal a recovery next year. About US$30 Trillions have evaporated in the current meltdown around the world. This is deflationary but when they start printing desperately more dollars in the USA it will be inflationary !

Then most important of all pray hard it will not be another Great Depression !!!

Thanks for the six scenarios. I knew it was bad but you have helped make me see the extend of it in its proper perspective. We ought to be shivering man!

So what now? Any good advice to go along with it? Anyone?

The prediction for 2009 is even worst. In the USA there are six scenarios that could tip the economy into in a deep recession or an economic depression :

1 The coming larger Alt-A mortgage crash as the rates are reset in 2009
2 The coming auto loan failure
3 The coming credit card default (US$40 billion)
4 The coming commercial mortgages crash.
5 The coming US$55 trillion credit default swaps (CDS) meltdown
6 The coming unraveling of the global US$500 TRILLION derivatives.

All the above above will send shock waves around the world like a Tsunami and remember before a Tsunami hits, the water will recedes and then rebounds.

There is an old saying that when the tide is low it will expose all the naked bodies. So there will be no place to hide when the sh*t hits the fan in 2009.

You’re right. We’ve been hearing what the immediate, not too immediate and future holds but has anyone heard what are the proposed solutions to tackle these situations especially the long term ones?

Does it mean that getting more people to enlist with the various armed forces would solve the problem? Is this what they mean by job-creation? More like giving the people no choice, and taking advantage of the situation to increase the manpower of the SAF, an institution that most would avoid under normal circumctances.

Everywhere you turn, you can see the SAF, Police, Navy and Air Force booths tempting you to sign up with them because they provide a stable carreer path very much immuned to the economical climate, whether locally or internationally.

Where is the transparency to lay down the action plans to help our economy recover? Transparent enough only for the eyes of million dollar public servants?

I think TOC readers have contributed and made much more proposals than those we have heard thus far from the govt. We have been more than transparent in playing our roles as active citizens helping the govt to find solutions. Why can’t our transparency meet their transparency?

Is it because we are looking at two different types of tranparency? Transparencies must be placed onto the overhead-projector for all to see the written words, if not, it is as good as just a useless piece of plastic.

Who grow in wealth and who suffer?

U have the answers.

Their times are up soon, so long as the master is gone, the problem will erupt from within the party and that will be down the history of singapore. The different here is whether one wish to have a good name or a bad name down history when one is gone, what is money, what is power? absolutely nothing when one is gone . . . .

I have a suggestion for TOC. Print and sell T-shirts to fund the maintenance of the site with TOC emblazoned front and back as well as it’s URL.

The only problem I can foresee will be payment and delivery issues!

Payment issues most likely with wu lioa cheapskates!

Delivery issues will be with kiah see and leh chay Singanoballeons!

But I’m sure TOC will work around it!

Tell me when and where. I’m ordering two!

dark years ahead how huh?

ELITEs got good solutions for commoners huh?
how huh if become reality (dark year)?

CNA today says
[International finance leaders see "very dark" year ahead]
[World faces "total" financial meltdown, says Bank of Spain chief]

aiyoyo

today CNA news say 2009 ‘very dark’, how?

is ELITEs come up with solutions to economy tsunami?

commoners how to tide over upcoming dark years huh?

ELITEs sinking funds investment (make loss, reply many ‘reasons’ etc.)
hear ppl say got some more investments also (not sure got make $ or not leh?)
got make $, got share share with commoners huh?
seems prices still sky high in this country leh.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world_business/view/397819/1/.html

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific_business/view/397826/1/.html

aiyoyo