The Craftsman’s Forge

Do you think food prices have peaked? The UN food index as this BBC report shows, seems to indicate so.

BBC Report

This is really really funny! I know my ex-colleague Chris Yeo would absolutely love this.

This is hilarious . Enjoy and have a good laugh!

The Smiths were unable to conceive children and decided to use a surrogatefather to start their family.
On the day the proxy father was to arrive, Mr. Smith kissed his wife goodbye and said, ‘Well, I’m off now. The manshould be here soon.’
Half an hour later, just by chance, a free-lance baby photographerhappened to ring the doorbell, hoping to make a sale.
‘Good morning,Ma’am’, he said, ‘I’ve come to…’ ‘Oh, no need to explain,’ Mrs. Smith cut in, embarrassed, ‘I’ve been expecting you.
‘ ‘Have you really?’ said the photographer.
‘Well, that’s good. Did you knowbabies are my specialty?
‘ ‘Well that’s what my husband and I had hoped.
Please come in and have a seat’.
After a moment she asked, blushing, ‘Well, where do we start?
‘ ‘Leave everything to me. I usually try two in the bathtub, one on the couch, and perhaps a couple on the bed.
And sometimes the living roomfloor is fun.
You can really spread out there.
‘ ‘Bathtub, living room floor? No wonder it didn’t work out for Harry and me!
‘ ‘Well, Ma’am, none of us can guarantee a good one every time.
But if we try several different positions and I shoot from six or seven angles, I’msure you’ll be pleased with the results.
‘ ‘My, that’s a lot!’, gasped Mrs. Smith.
‘Ma’am, in my line of work a man has to take his time.
I’d love to be In and out in five minutes, but I’m sure you’d be disappointed with that.
‘ ‘Don’t I know it,’ said Mrs. Smith quietly.
The photographer opened his briefcase and pulled out a portfolio of his baby pictures.
‘This was done on the top of a bus,’ he said.
‘Oh, my word!’ Mrs. Smith exclaimed, grasping at her throat.
‘And these twins turned out exceptionally well - when you consider theirmother was so difficult to work with.
‘ ‘She was difficult?’ asked Mrs. Smith.
‘Yes, I’m afraid so. I finally had to take her to the park to get the job done right. People were crowding around four and five deep to get a goodlook
‘ ‘Four and five deep?’ said Mrs. Smith, her eyes wide with amazement.
‘Yes’, the photographer replied.
‘And for more than three hours, too.
The mother was constantly squealing and yelling - I could hardly concentrate,and when darkness approached I had to rush my shots. Finally, when the squirrels began nibbling on my equipment, I just had to pack it all in.’
Mrs. Smith leaned forward. ‘Do you mean they actually chewed on your,uh…equipment?
‘ ‘It’s true, Ma’am, yes.. Well, if you’re ready, I’ll set-up my tripod and we can get to work right away. ‘ ‘Tripod?’
‘Oh yes, Ma’am. I need to use a tripod to rest my Canon on.
It’s much too big to be held in the hand for very long.’Mrs. Smith fainted…..

Its been about just over a month since I started getting into the stock market. Have made just over a thousand, and more to come.

The journey has been very very fun, enriching and absolutely absorbing. I’ve learnt so much since March, and realise that there is so much more to learn. But, what I have started to realise, is that I’m starting to begin fashioning my own style in trading/investing/speculating.

There is really so much information out there, that one can literally drown if he/she tries to listen to everything.

For example, there are fundamental and technical ways to analyse a stock, micro economic and macro economic factors, intra-day trading, swing trading, value investing, swing trading, etc. I’m still streamlining my methods and style, but I’m happy to note that I’m settling on a style that I’m comfortable with. It’s different when you trade on paper and in real life. Don’t know how to fully describe except through an example.

I remember when I was in secondary school, sometimes I come back home after school and cook my own lunch. Most of the time, its maggi mee or something simple, but I remember there were a couple of times I went to the supermarket and picked out a whole chicken for roasting. The first time I used a knife to cut off the chicken’s feet, my mind went numb when I heard and felt the steel go through the bones and tendons of the dead chicken’s joints. urrgghh….. I felt like I had just murdered someone. But, the second and third time, it became easier and easier.

Same thing with live trading. My first trade with Macquarie Infra and Babcock & Brown, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I just put in the money after considering for ages whether I should do it or not. It was just 2 lots each, and they weren’t expensive stocks. Just about 80 cents I think. But…. I felt like I was putting down at stake, a million dollars! Good thing I came out of those trades relatively unscathed.

Even though its only been over a month, I’ve come quite a long way. I no longer have the stress and shakes when plonking money down for a good stock. My heart no longer beats irregularly nor skip beats. I guess a lot of it is also due to the confidence in knowing what to do, what to expect and the exit plans, etc.

Walking to the car after church this morning, Elkan asked his mummy with a stoic straight face “Mummy, we need to go to Seven Eleven to buy some chocolates for daddy, or else he will faint!”. Christine was walking just ahead of me and the girls along the path to the car, just 50 metres away from the church building, and just a mere stone’s throw away from the Seven Eleven store at the mall.

Then he turned to look at me and shouted… “Daddy! you feeling faint right? Right? Right? Daddy!”

Man…. this young man is getting very manipulative. certainly cute at this stage and age, but not good values to grow into. Hmm… will be trying to spend more time with him to impart Godly values.