Entry 579: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac!!! - go wiki it. Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA - Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Loans Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC - Freddie Mac). - very affected by the sub-prime crisis as between them guarantee a majority of secondary mortgages. The trouble that has been boiling is about to to tip over. And the US govt has to prepare a rescue package. Like how they had to do for Bear Stearns which eventually led to JP Morgan buying them out.

Forex take:The USD collapsed over the past two days, showing signs that the AUD (now trading at a record 26 year high of 98.3 USD) could push past the 1 USD mark soon. Although there are signs that the USD is poised to launch a counter attack, signs that investor confidence is at its lowest levels are everywhere. The GBP/USD broke 2.00 today and the Euro traded above 1.60, a move anticipated by forex analysts not too long ago. The outlook on the Aussie dollar is still bullish (meaning they think it will still appreciate) but how long it will stay there? Quite a while is the prediction.

Been reading a book on Warren Buffett that Lynn bought for me as a present :). A chapter a night keeps the $$ in sight. Right..i mean erm..right..Very interesting how his approach is more fundamental than technical. Long term rather than short and simple rather than filled with complex algebra and statistical analysis. Return on equity vs earnings per share. All this accounting gimmickery he calls it...

I really want that internship in an investment bank..want it want it want it...grr..Maybe i should fly to Sydney and "work for free" or "pay to work"? I really wouldn't mind working for free if i got the chance. You learn so much more than the $22 an hour they pay you is worth.

1 share of Buffett's investment vehicle (an A share that is-there's A and B) , the all famous Bershire Hathaway is trading at only a low $113,000. For one share!!! If he gave you one share you could buy a house eh? Lol. And to think that Berkshire is in a somewhat "bear" market of its own!

Entry 578: Ahh..the weekend!! went to play futsal for the first time in months since camp..felt good to be back...but so unfit and rusty..urgh...

The weekend brings much joy...2 days of serenity..of peace..mmm..right...:S No more reconciling current accounts!!! yay!! done!!! finito!! all that stress for 3 weeks in gone! now back to normal life..

On to another busy Saturday..haircut time!!!

Forex take: None for today as markets are closed on weekends. However, I have found that after countless tries with different online sites, that web-based trading platforms are laggy and not fun to trade on. They either keep dropping off or you place a trade, it dosn't appear. Then you try again and now find it shows up with 2 trades open. Gah. CMC Markets have called me 3 times in an attempt to follow up my progress on their demo account which I dumped after just an hour. A lot of freedom to trade anything from CFDs, FX CFDs and commodities. But the system is messed up with a terrible stop/limit setter and the fact that there is no list that shows all your open positions on the go. Charting system across the board, from IG markets to Finotec to Saxo Bank is the same. Bad graphics, simple but untidy. Then again, it is a web based platform so no complains eh? the FXCM one is still the best charting system i've seen so far but its prolly cuz they are software/desktop based.

This means if next year I go back to uni and trade i'll prolly stick with FXCM (although I can't trade CFDs and commodities) but hafto get a mobile broadband so i can trade from uni...unless of course they upgrade to mobile trading like everyone else..hmph.

Entry 577: Didn't go to work for a good half a day today. Shoulders ached like mad. But managed to slide in at about 1. So different from working at Harris Scarfe where you don't have "yesterdays work" left over to do if you don't make it to work. Unlike now, where if i don't show up, the pile just gets higher. :(

Forex Take: My estimations were a bit premature on the AUD/USD movement. Stomping its way back up to a high of 96.15 midday, the fall yesterday would have just been a correction against the falling USD and it is expected to keep falling. Expectations are bullish across the board on the EUR and AUD v USD pairs. Any bets that the AUD will hit parity? That's the talk..same thing goes for EUR hitting 1.60. but hey, all it takes is for expectation to actually stimulate or create the outcome. If everyone believed or anticipated the AUD/USD to hit 1, they'd start buying now,bidding up the price..dadada... then when it hits somewhere around that mark, boom! sell!sell!sell! AUD falls back and then stabilizes. ladadee..

My demo share portfolio has remained dormant. Went back to check yesterday, after leaving it there for 3 months to find that I survived the credit crunch! lol. Portfolio made up of BHP, Potash and a few other oil babys meant that my profit sign showed green on all positions. Although profit was only about 5% of initial capital as I had only spent about 40% of the demo capital. :S

JP Morgan has closed it Sales and Trading internship application!! and i missed it!!! arghh...gah..off to apply for ABN AMRO now...

Entry 576: Been on one of those "apply for all the internships at investment banks" spree. Applied for every single one. Though i'm not theoretically in my penultimate year, i will be in August! lol. The timing is just weird when you enter mid year. I hope not too many people want to do fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC).

Forex take: The AUD/USD fell to about .9480 today for a while. A lot quicker than my prediction of a high 94 by the end of the week. Sitting around mid 95 now. Westpac Consumer Confidence result was a massive 6.7% fall in consumer confidence, some sort of record low in a while. One of the main reasons I would think, in terms of fundatmental analysis for the fall under 95. Falling consumer and business confidence = falling expenditure/investment coupled with falling retail sales could leave interest rates unchanged when the RBA meet again in August. Although tax-return time might see a small spike in spending. The economny did lose 19.7k jobs in May's unemployment result.

The best short term fixed deposit is with Savings and Loans for 3 months at 8.40% but with a $25,000 min. Other term deposits on 8.60% for 9 or 12 months are not too bad. You'll need $2 to open an account with S&L though.

My predictions on the GBP/JPY falling to 210 fell short last week. Sitting on a stable 211 the whole week. The EUR/USD saw that big plunge end rising back up to a steady mid 1.57. Although it is hard to tell whether the Fed or the ECB will react with some anticipating that the Fed should hold steady on interest rates.

On a different note, welcome back Shaleeni! Today was the second time i've been to Viet restaurant in 5 days!My take on Hancock is that the story is a tad short although the chick is hot! Can't wait to watch Batman and Wanted though. Should be good ones to watch at the cinema!

*i hear they google you when screening comes....good idea to change my name to wee anne?

Entry 575:

Tax time!!!!!! love it love it!!!! ooohhhhhh........yum yum yum..get my money back from the ATO..

time to trade again? argh..maybe next year....mmmph...