I still have to do my homework

Today has been very busy. I was trying to catch up on school. The shuttling between HKS and MIT has been time consuming, not to mention that I am taking six classes this semester.

I figured that my self-imposed break is more than half way through. The 2 years I plan to take off have only slightly less than 1 left. So I told myself that I am going to enjoy the remaining 8 months to the max. Because once I am done, I am probably done with formal education and I will be reentering the workforce. Life will then move at a pace determined by the routines of my career.

Anyway, enough of forward projection for now. I just read my buddy's blog, HH. One thing that caught my eyes was his entry on JK Rowling's speech. I completely missed that since I was in SF during that time hanging out with another buddy of mine, Ah Bao. Man ... that was June. Now is end of September. Summer ended about a week or two ago. Fall is here and the weather starts to get cranky.

Rowling's speech was a bit dry for me since I am very used to the American fast pace, humor laced kind of speech. But still, there are parts which I truly enjoy. And the every best is no doubt the quotes from Seneca:

As is a tale, so is life; not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.

It gives me a very rustic, soft and touching feeling. I close my eyes and see myself standing in a middle of a grass field, with falling maple leaves of orange, red, brown, yellow and green colors - the kind of scene you will find in New England during the fall season. This makes me treasure every best moments of my life.

This fall, I am going to take some time and explore the region, catching up what I am been missing over the past year.

So I see, the past of me;
treasured moments, memorable times;
never forget what lies ahead;
in life we live, with no regrets

I love my iphone

I got the iphone. Yes ... and it is fucking awesome. I am not a supporter of Mac but this is one thing that Apple and Steve Jobs got it right.

So today, I cycled to MIT from my school listening to Tiesto on my phone. And the feeling is just superb. Sunshine, wind and Tiesto - what else can I ask for. And if I get lost, I just press the google map button on my phone and it will locate me using GPS telling me my exact location. Man, I haven't lived technology for so long and I am starting to believe in the power of mobile computing again.

When I reached MIT for my finance class, I just clicked on the stock button and it automatically showed me the latest stock prices and market trend. I can follow the market on the go. Reply to messages, emails and smses - anytime, anywhere ... 3G

Got iphone?

Double or Nothing

This week has been especially crazy from a market standpoint. First, you have the demise of 2 great firms - Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch. Well, technically speaking, Merrill is merging with BoA or rather forced to. We don't know yet if BoA is going to retain any of Merrill's brand name. My guest is probably not and even if they do, there will be some BoA's brand attached to it. Years ago, no one could ever imagined this to happen. Morgan is next in line for merger talks even though it is a very well run firm. The only strong survivor that will emerge from this mess is Goldman Sachs - the king of all investment banks.

The market tanked for 2 days and then has a great run for the next 2 days. Dow is up 400 points yesterday and today is up as of now. Given this volatility, it is a trader's heaven especially if you dare to bet. I picked up GE 2 days ago and flipped it today. If you had flipped Morgan, Citi and Goldman just over 1 day, you would have doubled your money ;p

So, a few stocks I would recommend for the next run (from highest risk/reward ratio):
AIG (if you are risk loving), MS, C, GS, GE

... and depending on your risk appetite, your return is determined by the stock you pick.