Ever since the CPFB introduced a colorful pie chart of our CPF savings a few years ago, I would look forward to mine every year like a teena...
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On one of my evening walks, when I walked by the stall, there wasn't much of a queue. So, I tried the noodles. I didn't have to wait very long. What does this tell us? If we die die must buy, then, there is a price we have to pay and that price might not be monetary in nature.
You want an example that is monetary in nature? For those of us who buy cars, we would know the "discount" that they offer if we took a loan through the car dealer. If we did not, then, the price tag of the car would be higher. For both my current and previous cars, they did that to me.
I told the sales staff I would just buy a car elsewhere. It was not as if I die, die must buy a car from them. Suddenly, I could get the "discount" even though I didn't take a loan. If we are die die must buy type of consumers, then, we could pay higher prices and it might or might not be in dollar terms.
Is this a story for consumers only or does it apply to investors too?
Wah! Such a long queue of people waiting to buy Old Chang Kee curry puffs or maybe waiting to get into Din Tai Fung? Nah! Mr Andy Koh, spent $5,900 on four items, including aT-shirt and bag. He held ticket No. 3. Says the NS-man, 23: "I didn't look at the price, I just grabbed the items." Read full article: HERE. NS man so rich!!! Reader WYK: "...don't understand the mentality of teens nowadays or maybe I'm just poor😖" Alamak. I also don't understand! These shoppers are so stupid! So expensive lah. Most learn how to save money lah. Like that how can? Let me tell you a secret. Ready? Must fly to Europe and buy lah. Will save more money. Even AK knows this. These shoppers so stupid. Don't believe me? Read this: http://singaporeanstocksinvestor.blogspot.sg/2016/05/ak-learns-to-embrace-yolo.html
Japanese Shoppers to Spend More, Credit Suisse Says
By Masaki Kondo and Akiko Ikeda
April 16 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese service providers and other companies reliant on domestic demand will benefit from increasing consumption, Credit Suisse Group AG said.
An improving job market and a demographic shift in the workplace are likely to boost spending, Credit Suisse’s chief Japan economist Hiromichi Shirakawa, said in an interview yesterday. As the nation ages, there are more opportunities for young people, he said.
Japan Spending, Wages Rise as Prices Slump 13th Month
By Aki Ito and Keiko Ujikane
April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s household spending, wages and job openings increased, while consumer prices tumbled for a 13th straight month, signaling a sustained recovery that’s still not strong enough to end deflation.
Today’s statistics were released hours before Bank of Japan policy makers are scheduled to announce their decision on monetary policy. Board members must decide whether to step up their efforts to contain price declines by expanding a 20 trillion yen ($212 billion) lending program. The bank is forecast to keep its benchmark interest rate near zero.
“The economy’s recovery is steadily continuing,” said Hiroshi Miyazaki, chief economist at Shinkin Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. Even so, “deflationary pressures are still deep- seated in the economy,” he said.
Household outlays rose 4.4 percent in March from a year earlier, the biggest gain since May 2004, the statistics bureau said today in Tokyo. Consumer prices excluding fresh food slid 1.2 percent from a year earlier. Wages advanced 0.8 percent, the first increase in 22 months, the Labor Ministry said.
There is a saying: "old habits die hard". This is why I always say what we see happening in the global economy is not just a function of economics and politics, it is also a function of culture. For any culture to change their practices, it would usually take an entire generation and the will to change has to be forceful. Usually, this means that reality must have shifted so much as to burn an indelible mark in the psyche of its people.
Thus, we saw the Americans saving more when it looked as if their country was plunging into a bottomless pit in the midst of the global financial crisis (which, by the way, originated in the USA). A worsening of the crisis was averted by the decisive actions of the US government. With the spectre of prolonged hardship receding, it seems that the American consumers are back at what they do best. This is a double edged sword, I do not doubt. However, it is good news for the economy while it lasts.
Visa 2Q profit jumps as consumer spending rebounds
Visa posts 33 percent jump in 2nd-quarter profit as consumer spending gains strength
Eileen Aj Connelly, AP Business Writer, On Wednesday April 28, 2010, 6:49 pm EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Revived consumer spending drove Visa Inc.'s fiscal second-quarter profit up 33 percent and the credit and debit card processor forecast strong revenue growth for the full year.
Visa's growth continued to lean heavily on surging debit card usage as customers still prefer paying with checking account funds rather than with credit cards. The increased fees that Visa is collecting from merchants for processing customers' payments echoes the improved sales results many companies have reported in recent weeks as consumers appear to be more confident about spending.
In the U.S., Visa said 19 percent more transactions were made with debit cards and the size of those purchases in dollars rose 18 percent. In foreign markets, 20 percent more transactions were made with debit cards and the value of those transactions in dollars surged 33 percent.
Chairman and CEO Joseph Saunders noted that volume growth fueled the earnings gains, but said the company is "increasingly optimistic that economic growth will gradually improve."
The Bears are Wrong: "The Consumer Is RE-leveraging," Jon Markman Says
Posted Apr 26, 2010 09:34am EDT by Peter Gorenstein
The recent data is convincing; The U.S. consumer is making a comeback. New home sales jumped 27% percent in March, rising to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 411,000, the Commerce Department said Friday. Meanwhile, durable goods orders (large manufactured products) rose the most since the 'great recession' began.
As sure as buying low and selling high is a winning formula, an American with money will purchase goods, says Marketwatch columnist and author Jon Markman. "Anybody who's bet against the American consumer over the long term has gone broke," he tells Aaron in this clip.
The USA was not always the global economic leader. It took its current place more or less after the world wars. Before the USA, the UK was the leader. The Sterling Pound was worth a lot more than what it's worth today. I remember my parents and my grandparents keeping the Sterling Pound. The exchange rate was S$7 to a Sterling Pound, if I remember their accounts correctly. So, global economic leadership shifted from the UK to the USA.
Now, Jim Rogers has said this many times and I agree with him: economic leadership is shifting once more and the next 100 years will see Asia taking over the reigns of global economic leadership and he expects China to take the lead.
That's why I've also shared my views with friends that my favourite currencies, apart from gold, are the RMB and the Indonesian Rupiah. I've a bit of all three and intend to accumulate more gold. The RMB and the Rupiah are fiat currencies like the US$ but they have not been abused and are not as flawed.
The Chinese economy is large and dynamic. However, it has to undergo a huge behavioral and structural transformation for the Chinese to consume more and to rely less on exports. Why do I say this? Let's look at Indonesia. It has a population of 240 million, a far cry from China's 1.6 billion, and private consumption is 60% of its GDP. In China, private consumption is only 36% of its GDP.
Many might or might not know this but "China's consumption-to-GDP ratio has dropped by nearly 15 percentage points since 1990 and continues to deteriorate in the aftermath of the financial crisis. The sources of China's low consumption rate are both behavioral and structural." This was in a recent report by McKinsey.
Asia might be the future economic powerhouse of the world and China might become the leader but the journey has only begun.
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