No Agenda Gathering - 28th March 2008, 9.30pm

After a successful NAG session last thursday at Lau Pa Sat, I would like to invite you to NAG NAG NAG this coming friday @ 9.30pm to experience the power of NAG!

'NAG' essentially means No Agenda Gathering and aims to bring more people and this time round will be Supper! With a feasting session held regularly, we encourage people to bring their friends and collectively build up a sizeable support group of friends whom you and me can trust.

As it will be a feasting session with NO AGENDA, feel free free to eat whatever you want at National Library Han's (yup, the one at Bugis) and interact with anyone without any fear of been prospected for any form of selling.

Who should attend and NAG NAG NAG?

Anyone looking widen their social circle and expand their network of friends.

Singles looking for prospective life partners! (Don't nag in front of them!)

Anyone without ANY Agenda but just wanna talk!
Friday nothing to do so far... (or maybe you're sick of your existing circle of friends...)

Date: 28th March 2007 (Friday)
Time: 9.30pm, it's ok to be late and don't worry, you still get to NAG.
Venue: National Library Han's (at Bugis, beside Bras Basah)

Come and join in the fun! Eat and talk and NAG NAG NAG.

End of NAG....

FOMC 0.75% Rate Cut

Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.75%, delivering less than the markets hoped for despite the magnitude of the move.

The Fed's policy-making Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) cut its short-term interest rate target to 2.25% from 3% - the most rapid pace of easing in years.

But it was less than the full percentage point investors had come to expect after the Fed's dramatic intervention to prevent Bear Stearns (BSC) over the weekend signaled a heightened degree of concern that the severe credit crunch had put the stability of the financial system at risk. (BSC dropped from last Thursday $57 to Monday's lowest $2.80!!)


What do all things mean to the mighty Dollar?
In recent months, the dollar had fallen as foreign investors questioned the Fed's willingness to act against inflation, and investors seeking a hedge against both inflation and a weaker dollar had put money into commodities.

The Fed also on Tuesday lowered the discount rate it charges banks and brokers that borrow directly from the Fed by 0.75 percentage point to 2.5%, leaving the spread over fed funds at a quarter point.

But as the financial market crisis worsened last week and economic data disappointed, investors steadily upped their rate-cut forecasts to as high as 0.75 percentage point by the end of last week.

And after the Fed on Sunday lowered the discount rate by one-quarter point, extended $30 billion in financing to JP Morgan Chase (JPM) to complete its takeover of Bear Stearns and announced new liquidity measures on top of others that could pump hundreds of billions of dollars into credit markets, many economists concluded that anything less than 100 basis points would disappoint markets and threaten a renewed downward spiral.

The smaller-than-expected rate cut may also signal that officials are growing uneasy about the U.S. dollar's decline against other major currencies, which has pushed up prices of commodities like oil that are priced in dollars.

A 0.75-percentage-point cut signals "that the Fed does not harbor benign neglect toward the dollar, as has been the impression of late," said Miller Tabak strategist Tony Crescenzi in a research note before the Fed announcement.

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Adopted from WSJ Online


p/s: At the time of press, GBP/USD is 2.0151/2.0155 and Dow Jones is up 315 points at 12,287.

Come and NAG together - 20th March 2008

'NAG' essentially means No Agenda Gathering and aims to gather people coming together to foster fellowship. With a feasting session held regularly, we encourage people to bring their friends and collectively build up a sizeable support group of friends whom you and me can trust.

As it will be a feasting session with NO AGENDA, feel free free to eat whatever you like at Lau Pa Sat and interact with anyone without any fear of been prospected for any form of selling.

Forget about your daily work or business and you can really NAG in front of everyone (as long you like it and the person is willing to listen to you NAGGING!). This is definitely one good occasion to network with people and get to know more people...



Who should attend and NAG NAG NAG?
Anyone looking widen their social circle and expand their network of friends.
Singles looking for prospective life partners! (Don't nag in front of them!)
Anyone without ANY Agenda but just wanna talk!

Date: 20th March 2007 (Thursday)
Time: 7.30pm, you can be late and don't worry, you still get to NAG.
Venue: Lau Pa Sat, in front of Satay stall no. 5


Come and join in the fun! Eat and talk and NAG NAG NAG.


End of NAG....

Serious Masterminding Session - 10 March 2008

Octagon is organising the 2nd SERIOUS MASTERINDING SESSION. Anyone from the Money Mastery community are all welcome.

Once again, this is for SERIOUS people who will really want to plan and take actions immediately within 48 hours after the session.

Smith Street - Collingwood, Victoria, Australia

If you are into Australia property, consider one this exciting upcoming project at Collingwood.

Smith Street is one of Melbourne’s oldest shopping strips. It'a between the suburb of Fitzroy and Collingwood. Filled with cafes, restaurants, Smith Street is a Gen-Y street that is rather close to the Melbourne CBD. Perpendicular to Smith Street is Johnston Street where nightlife is prevalent with hip pubs spanning almost the whole street.

Collingwood is often touted as the poor cousin of Fitzroy and Carlton because of its older style developments and its ‘industrial’ looks. Its proximity to the CBD prompted numerous residential developments over the year. Gradually, warehouses are being renovated and converted to residential units to meet the growing demand of inner-city suburb living.

If the price barrier for Singapore property is still unattainable for you to enter the property market, this is one good option to be part of the action.

p/s: If you want to find out more about this project, contact me at klchoo@octagon-global.net or (65) 6329 9775 for more info.

Serious Masterminding Session

Octagon is organising a SERIOUS MASTERINDING SESSION for people who REALLY want to work on a new source of income. Anyone from the Money Mastery Singapore who has a good product on hand, looking for a business expansion, doing joint ventures, creating and combining MSIs and/or trying to actualize new business ideas are all welcome.

But seriously, this is for SERIOUS people who will really want to plan and take actions after this session.

Early Retirement Model

Under the new scheme introduced by the Singapore government, lifelong income scheme is to ensure Singaporean to have income for as long as they live. This has been advocated ongoingly by us at Octagon through the Early Retirement Planning (ERP) model.
By following the ERP model to create passive residual income, you won't be getting worried when your retirement fund will run out or whether your retirement expense will be eating up your life savings. In fact, you may retire earlier compared to the typical retirement age and don't have to downsize your everything!

Avoid Fear and Greed to survive Volatility

In today economic situation, it's really not wise to put your money in the stock money. To survive the volatility, invest outside the equity market. As mentioned in this article, "it is important to have a roadmap" to position your financial for the long term.

Mobile Wallet JB Grand Opening

Earlier today, we were at Grand Opening of Mobile Wallet Johor Bahru at the newly furnished HQ at Permas Jaya. We had a nice chat with the Chief Technology Officer of Mobile Wallet, Mr Rey Gan...

From left: Me, Rey Gan (CTO / Director, Mobile Wallet) & Michael

3rd Expo Central China 2008 Promotion Seminar

Singapore Business Federation invited me and Michael to the 3rd Expo Central China 2008 Promotion Seminar.

It was a great occasion where we met up with numerous China delegates. Here's one of the photos:


From left: Me, Mr Zhan Bisheng (Vice-Inspector, The Department of Commerce of Hubei Province) and Michael.

Pre-IPO Offerings

We, at Octagon, are recently dealing with a very good pre-IPO offering... Widely known as the next Alibaba.com on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, China Shenzhou Union Telecommunication Technology Co Ltd is going to be listed via RTO (Reverse takeover) by March 2008.

Generally, you want your pre-IPO share to gap up in great value when it officially listed on the stock market. This is one type of instrument that you earn 'fast money' in a short period of time, typically within 100 days!

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But exactly what is Pre-IPO?

Pre-IPO equity is the issuance of equity by a company prior to a stock market listing. Don't confuse this with 'private investment' or 'angel investing'. Here are some basic guidelines that may help you to find deals and what to look for when choosing what pre-IPOs to invest in:

1. Listen to Everybody. This is probably a controversial one to start off with, because there are so many jokers and dreamers out there who have zero chance of getting their issue, or that of their clients issue (in the case of brokers) off the ground.

Talking to everyone will also allow you to get a feel for who is good in the space and who isn't when dealing with brokers. I read an excellent quote on the net the other day "Even a blind squirrel sometimes finds a nut in the forest". This is a good quote to bear in mind when you are dealing with brokers you don't rate. Sooner or later they may stumble on something interesting.

2. Read the prospectus. Obvious? Most people don't get beyond the nice blurb in the first 15 pages.

The best places to look are 'Risk Factors' and 'Statutory and General Information'. Risk factors will, more often than not, be generic but may bring up something for further research.

The 'Stats and Gens' should give you a better idea of the company itself. Look at the history section. This should tell you how many shares are authorised (meaning how many shares they could issue) and the issued share capital (meaning how many shares they have issued). The issued share capital will tell you, for example, that there have been 10,000,000 shares issued and they are fully paid up.

Check out and 'loans from directors'. There simply shouldn't be any. I would be hugely suspicious if there were any outstanding loans because why would the directors be asking you to invest at a certain price but would not be prepared to capitalise their loans? They either believe in the company or they don't. If they haven't converted their loans it would be a pass for me.

Check out if any director has been involved in companies liquidated previously. This is point that I argue with people on. Some see failed companies as a bad thing, I believe that people grow by learning from their mistakes, don't write the company or director off because he has made errors, but do look at the circumstances of these errors.

Check out how much management owns of the shares. If its above 75% after the offer, be careful, there are a lot of things that can be done by someone holding 75% of the shares that may be against the interest of shareholders. If it is less than 30%, ask yourself whether there is enough to lose or gain from the success or failure of the company for the directors. I like to see between 40%-60% (obviously depending on the size of the company and the stage of investment).

Check out other shareholders. If you see Warren Buffet in there, chances are it is a good one to look at.

3. Do your Research. An obvious one, but a crucial one. Check out the sector, the management, the investors, the concept, the product, the accounts… everything. If you find that the information you come up with is beyond your knowledge then ask someone who knows about such things. If it is still beyond you and you cannot rely on other known investors to have done the research, pass.

4. Make a Move, but don't Over Do It. By all means, if you think you have discovered the next Google and want to invest your life savings, go ahead. But don't complain if it doesn't work out.

Agricultural Farmland Investment

Agricultural Farmland Investment - it's like a combination of bonds meet land investment. Basically, you invest in a managed agricultural farmland (arable crops, biofuels & carbon credits).

With the growing demand for renewable energies and food in the World, this is a unique opportunity for investors to buy arable land. The land will be used to grow carbon offset crops, which will generate a high annual income and capital growth.


The key features of this investment are:

• 10% Guaranteed annual return (from the harvests)
• Estimated 15% to 30% annual capital appreciation on the land itself
• Freehold
• Liquidity is there: Free to sell any time at market value (after factoring the capital appreciation)
• Investment and returns can be in SGD or USD (so you can consider buying in USD now and sell in the currency that favors you in the future.)
• HSBC insured!

This may suit you quite well if you are looking at high liquidity investment.

KL, Mike & Ernest!

Photo taken at OG Bugis 'Ah Ma' Cafe.

From left:
CHOO Koon Lip (Investment Strategist, Octagon Global Alliances)
Michael CHONG (Director, Octagon Global Alliances)
Ernest NG (Consultant, Info Masters Services)

Wine Investment

A lot of instruments in the investment market are synthetic and not supported by true assets. But, have you ever considered fine wine investments?

Fine wines investments are what I called real assets that are not subjected to the volatility of the stock market. Though very new in Singapore, fine wine investment is not new and can be one very solid investment.

In fact, major private banks like BNP Paribas and Societe Generale are offering wine investment to high net worth clients.


Think of a new combination of 'Investing and Drinking with Passion'!

Investment Evaluation

On Wednesday, I just met a friend telling me that he just invested in the best investment. He invested in Malaysian plantations that required him to hang on for 23 years; the investment will be giving him 8% returns per annum for the first 3 years, and subsequently 11% (and above) for the remaining 20 years.

As an Investment Strategist, I strongly believe that there is no such thing as a best investment. A best investment, based on our Investment Evaluation model, is one that fits your capital base, your risk profile, your required fund liquidity and your lifestyle and habits.

So next time, you hear your financial planners or friends telling you that theirs are the Best Investment opportunities available, do evaluate for yourself.

Early Retirement!

I'm not a strong believer of Insurance agents planning your financial and wealth nowadays. Yes, you do need at least some basic health & medical insurance policy to protect yourself. But, the next thing is basically looking into investments and growing your money.

This is the typical insurance model where you work and save for your whole lifetime till your retirement age. And when you retire, you have to downsize yourself (whether is it your house, your car, and all your daily expenses etc) and your equity level starts to fall. But when if you out-live your retirement fund?

At OCTAGON, I advocate people to look into EARLY RETIREMENT PLANNING (ERP) with us. With ERP, you don't have to worry when your retirement funds will run out and you'll be able to retire earlier with a bigger pools of assets generating ongoing passive income for you.


What you see here is the revised Capital Preservation Model. A typical Capital Preservation Model is one where you see your money continue to grow (i.e. positive gradient) after retirement.

So what you are seeing here is that you don't have to downsize yourself. I called it the Early Retirement Model. In fact, we believe that when you save and invest in assets (like properties etc) till your retirement, this is the time you should spend on yourself and your family.

Go tour around the world (this is the dream of many people around), do something you never do before (remember you are still young compared to the typical retired guy next door!), buy a bigger apartment (another asset for you again), drive a better car etc... You deserve because you PLAN!

First post!

A short introduction on OCTAGON GLOBAL ALLIANCES PTE LTD:

MISSION

OCTAGON GLOBAL ALLIANCES dedicates to provide a systematic platform for individuals to embark on a financial journey towards a better life and create financial abundance for themselves. We do this through ongoing research and resources development on the global business and financial environment.

VISION

To create the leading business network and provide individuals the financial advantages to achieve real-world financial success with the best business, trading and investment opportunities regionally and globally.