Coming out of a team meeting that was definitely infused with a sense of the holidays, I went back to my desk and have been listening to carols from Pandora ever since.

Music has power, and that is something I definitely appreciate however carols have a special meaning for me. They take me back to childhood and a set of specific circumstances in my childhood, which are definitely happy places.

Here are some:

1. Kingsway Stores  (sometimes Leventis Department Stores )– this was the premier shopping mall/store in Ibadan. And my Dad will take me and my sister to see father Christmas. We will ride the train and then we get to sit on Santa’s lap and take picture.

2. The fire truck gift, which was wrapped in brown wrapping paper. I can still clearly remember how I was positively beaming and how happy I was! I literarily can reengage the feeling over 30 years later!!!

3. The cowboy gun, from the year after that. This was the one where I started the fantasy of wanting to be a thief/robber/bad guy. I simply never liked the good guys in the western movies. Even in “the good, the bad and the ugly” I prefer the bad guy.

4. Christmas day lunch – I get the chicken head. I really love tearing into those heads and still do. Second choice is legs and if you have been to a dim sum with me, you know I still do.

If you have children make the holiday season special for your children, it is memory they will carry for their lifetimes.

Focus on the big stone / Do the hard things first

You’ll work hard ~ 100+ hrs /week for 5 years

Network

Most people won’t do anything with a good idea / bias for action

While I wasn’t planning to buy anything on the stock market, because I think Nov 30th, will be a massive bloodletting on the street (why) I am really surprised by today’s trend. Dow is under 8000!, which means we broke 8000. does this mean, people are figuring out a way to take out their money ahead of the why?

The Why?

Redemptions from hedge fund is on a quarterly basis, and come November big institutions will want to take cash out of the market. And selling for a loss is more palatable, because those losses amount to tax savings which can then be carried over several years. It enables folks to wipe the slate clean and start again.

Individuals with retirement accounts can not do this is as much, because there are no tax write-off in tax deferred accounts anyways, which is what most 401K are.

I have since learnt that redemption times varies and that while this might still come true, it may not be as massive as everyone heading for the exit at once.

Here is my current refrain, culled from whom but Buffet - “Put all your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket very carefully”

I have had all kinds of experiences at work, however today is the first time that a colleague has prepared a gourmet meal and serve it to everyone on the team.

PaulP on my team prepares Boeuf Bourguignon en Croute And Roasted Pear and Stilton Salad with Walnuts. I do not have the recipe (PaulP might decide to share later). But I want to share his instructions, which were fabulous as well as a picture.

This is all interesting because of the story this weekend on NPR (National Public Radio) on underground restaurants.

All of the fixings are at my desk. You can pick your lunch between now and 1:00.

Beverages are on your own.

If I’m not at my desk when you want to eat, please follow these instructions…

Prepare Your BOEUF BOURGUIGNON

1. 1. Remove one of the ramekins from the cooler.
2. 2. Remove the lid.
3. 3. Put a circle of pastry on top of the stew. (Don’t put the lid back on.)*
4. Take your ramekin to a microwave, put it on a plate and cover it with a paper towel.
5. Heat it on full power for 2½ minutes.
6. Bring your very hot ramekin back to my desk and let it cool for at least 5 minutes while you prepare your salad.

Prepare your Salad

1. Place a few salad greens on your plate.
2. Distribute a few walnuts over the salad (optional).
3. Drizzle a little of the dressing on your salad.
4. Place one of the pear halves on top of the salad.

Put a bit of Dijon mustard on your stew, if desired.

Take a roll and some butter.

Enjoy.

As I said in my earlier blog, I think this could be investing opportunity of a lifetime and I intend to take part in it.

To that end, I think it is time to consider the financial basics. The first thing to do when you are thinking of putting your war chest into use is a portfolio analysis.  First, identify your risk tolerance – I think I have a high to moderate risk tolerance (at least this is where I will like to be). Second, pick the asset allocation that suits your risk tolerance. (see table). Third is portfolio allocation by capitalization and geography. Finally, it is time to consider sectors. And this is where I got stumped… there are so many sector classification, which one will I use? For now, for lack of a way to judge, I think I will use my brokers allocation, 1) because I know they also break this down into industry 2) I will be able to use their research tools.

ASSET ALLOCATION

DIVERSIFIED GROWTH PORTFOLIO

Dow Jones U.S. Sectors

(this is the sector allocation I prefer but can’t use)

Oil & Gas (Energy)

Basic Materials

Industrials

Consumer Goods

Health Care

Consumer Services

Telecommunications

Utilities

Financials

Technology

The US equities market are almost back to that magical point where I think it is time to buy. (8200 on the Dow). And yes, I know the market is going down some more, but I think these are historic times and the issue to frame it in  cliché terms is, which one of these saying do you believe:

1. When everyone is greedy, you should be afraid and when everyone is afraid you should be greedy
2. The market can keep going down for longer than you can stay solvent
3. In the long run, the market reverts to the mean
4. In the long run, we are all dead.

Happy Investing!

Some folks that knows me thinks I am a dramatic person. No, they are wrong and maybe they are right.  Ha-ha.. therein lies the conundrum, I think life in essence is a search for balance. A mix of good and evil, negative and positive, greed and fear. Most things are not always or all good or all bad.

In the end life is a tragi-comedy. According to Merriam Webster tragi-comedy is a drama or a situation blending tragic and comic elements.

If it is not tragic or comedic it is boring.

I just realize that in between changing machines and changing jobs, I somehow manage to loose 1) All my pictures and 2) All the websites, that I have ever worked on up till now. This is an immense loss, because several hours of work not to talk of cherished memories went into these things. Lesson’s learned. In these days when everything is digital, this is not a mistake I can afford to make again.

1. Have a consistent backup plan. What I intend to create is external hard drive for my personal machines and the external HDD needs to be backed up in the cloud somehow.

Any suggestion on a cloud based backup solution?