Word of the day: "steatopygia" (that means YOU, Gabriel)

Believe it or not, that little experiment two days ago had... bizarre results. As of lunchtime, the shareprice that we had picked on was approx. RMx.00 (details distorted so as to avoid potential litigation from the Securities Commission). As of 4:15pm today, the price has shot up 35 cents!

Our attempt was inspired that day when we saw an ambassadorial car outside our target company's corporate headquarters. Immediately, we speculated on whether they were being bought out by a major overseas MNC, or, even better, ACQUIRING a major overseas MNC:) (if Proton can buy Lotus, any damn thing's possible) The experiment basically entailed us talking very loudly about the various share options we would gain, staff having to learn a new foreign language, speculation about how much the chairman and other majority shareholders would rake in, etc. etc...

As a result, some of my fellow colleagues have seen a substantial jump in their portfolio values. We shall try to replicate these results with other counters.

Actually, on a mildly boring note, I've started considering my financial future with some dismay. I realise that I have virtually no practical scheme in place for investment or other related opportunities; part of that is due to the terrible market conditions in Malaysia, but a larger part of it is due to my general crashing ignorance of matters financial, as well as any absence of a budget or planning mechanism. I really should rectify this; as soon as I finish off paying all my debts. And I definitely should save more; all of those little indulgences add up to large credit card bills.

I've already worked out a scheme where I can live comfortably off the capital gains from a substantial amount of money. Unfortunately I need at least 2.5million to start my "no more work"-life. Tricky.

My neighbour at work is currently developing a model for collaborative investing in Nikkei 225 futures as traded on the SGX-DT (Singaporean derivatives exchange). Any one
want to take a flyer?:)

Someone asked what dictionary I used. Well, I used to have access to the Oxford English Dictionary 2nd. ed. ALL FREAKING 20-VOLUMES OF WONDERFUL WORD LORE!!!!! swoon of ectasy* Too bad the uni library didn't have the 3-volume Additions series.

(To those people who wave their genteel Student Edition or Compact Edition OEDs, I say fuck off - a dictionary is indeed like a dick; no matter what people say, bigger is better. A dictionary isn't a dictionary if you can carry it without grunting)

However, having fallen on sad, horrible times (ie. returning home to live with family), I have been forced to downgrade to a feeble Collins English Dictionary (Aus. ed); which only weighs in at 8kgs. Depressing. But at least it has the decency to include a basic etymology for each word.