Can't help but feel jealous of everyone who doesn't have to go through the same crap again. But then again, the fact that it is a constant red flag of how badly I had screwed up just makes it all worse.
I wish the week is over.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
lagging
Been feeling really lazy today that I, once again, decided to procrastinate on my review. I just have this really bad case of dysmenorrhea and it's hard to concentrate, much less momorize a ton of State Securities Laws.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
The Long Legs of the Crash: 13 Unexpected Consequences of the Financial Crisis By Daniel W. Drezner
March/April 2009
Last year had more than its share of vertigo-inducing headlines: major banks suddenly disappearing, the Dow plunging day after day, and billion-dollar bailouts failing to make a dent in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.Already, the Wall Street way of life seems to have gone the way of the dodo.
An entire country—are you reading this, Iceland?—went belly up overnight. And good luck if your last job title was “mortgage-backed securities trader.” But if there are some predictable economic hardships we can expect from the current crisis, there are also some trickle-down effects that aren’t so foreseeable. Here, 13 surprising consequences of the crash:
1 Your government will get smarter... In a global recession, governments around the globe will be able to recruit a better class of bureaucrats. Just a few years ago, the U.S. government had serious recruitment problems in the Foreign Service because no world-savvy 25-year-olds wanted to work for the civil service when they could make serious cash on Wall Street. In a severe downturn, however, the stability and security of a government job look far more appealing.
2 ... and more corrupt. Politicians’ palms are about to get greasier. A global downturn shrinks the demand for goods and services worldwide. That means the security of a government contract will look pretty sweet to any businessperson struggling to stay afloat. A January report from Transparency International warned that corruption is bound to increase worldwide during the current crisis, as businesses prioritize survival over corporate integrity.
3 Gray skies are gonna clear up (at least a little). The central factor in projections about global warming is long-term extrapolations of current economic growth. Thing is, I doubt the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change expected Wall Street to tank as spectacularly as it has. The longer the global economy stays in recession, the less greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere. You still might not be able to breathe easy in Beijing, but your odds just got better.
4 The Internet is about to get a lot more #@%$ing annoying. Newspapers are looking to online advertising revenue to deliver them from bankruptcy court (and eventually, total eradication). So, expect more Web advertising on your news sources—pop-up ads, welcome screens, articles hacked into ever shorter segments to maximize clicks—that cannot be escaped easily. Or at least not without getting extremely frustrated.
5 Glory days for evangelicals. Bad times are boon times for evangelical churches. Economist David Beckworth of Texas State University has crunched U.S. church attendance numbers and found that congregation growth at evangelical churches jumped 50 percent during each recession between 1968 and 2004.
6 Your kids will be savers. Macroeconomic realities in your childhood have a profound effect on your financial choices later in life, regardless of how much money you make, according to a study by economists Ulrike Malmendier and Stefan Nagel of the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University, respectively. The generation that grew up during the Great Depression, for example, was more risk-averse than its parents and its children when it came to money. Your kids, in other words, won’t be addicted to E*Trade, but you’ll probably find their allowances stuffed under their mattresses.
7 Skirts will get longer. Here’s a piece of Wall Street folk wisdom: There is a rough correlation between bull markets and bare knees. During boom times, skirts get shorter. In these bearish times, prepare for hemlines to head south. Somewhat in relation, we’ll see something else go north: the age and weight of Playboycenterfolds. Evolutionary biology encourages people to seek “more mature” mates during times of economic insecurity, argue Terry F. Pettijohn and Brian J. Jungeberg in one of the more interesting studies published recently in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. To support their claim, the researchers showed that during recessions, centerfolds get older and, well, rounder. Similar studies have confirmed an identical trend in movie comedies—male and female leads get older during recessions.
8 Your military just got bigger. The age group that will be hit hardest by the current downturn? The world’s 18- to 24-year-olds. This group just so happens to be the prime recruiting age bracket for militaries, which can generally offer a steady paycheck and decent benefits. Indeed, the U.S. Army exceeded its recruitment goals in the last three months of 2008 for the first time in 5 years. And as the war in Iraq winds down, these new soldiers’ fears of being deployed in a hostile combat environment should wane. The few and the proud might grow into the many and the desperate.
9 State schools will be cool. A prolonged downturn will profoundly affect institutions of higher learning. For the past decade, private schools far outpaced state schools in terms of resources and expenditures as their endowments swelled from the long financial boom. Many elite universities followed Harvard’s lead and adopted need-blind admissions with generous financial-aid packages.That’s all about to change. Endowments in the United States have declined 10 to 30 percent during the past year, which will make need-blind admissions a thing of the past and financial-aid offers far less generous. The credit crunch will also make it more difficult for young people to secure reasonable student loans.
10 Boomers will refuse to leave the building. A whole tier of older employees who planned on retiring now or in a few years simply can’t—their 401(k) retirement accounts look way too scary. In 2008 alone, U.S. workers aged 55 to 64 who have had 401(k)s for at least 20 years saw their retirement balances drop an average of 20 percent. This means those who expected promotions when the boomers cleared out are going to have to stew in their own juices and gripe around the water cooler. Office politics just got a lot nastier.
11 The world is no longer flat—and fewer people will care. Global downturns often breed protectionism and other barriers to foreigners. Cross-border tourism is likely to plummet. Study-abroad programs will also be affected—the New York Times recently reported a dramatic decline in South Koreans studying overseas. News outlets are also likely to further scale back their foreign news bureaus to cut costs.
12 Nouriel Roubini’s frequent flyer miles will go through the roof. One business will be big this year: conferences on the crisis of capitalism. The Dr. Dooms and Cassandras of the most recent bubble era—economists such as Nouriel Roubini, Robert Shiller, Stephen Roach, and Joseph Stiglitz—will be doling out advice and “I told you sos” in convention halls and conference rooms around the globe. Indeed, in the month of January alone, Roubini traveled to Istanbul, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, London, Riyadh, Zurich, Davos, and Moscow. The likely difference now? Seats in coach.
13 Great Depression lit will be chic. Eras like to mine the cultural tropes of analogous eras from the past. So, expect books about the Great Depression to dominate Amazon rankings. Already, Hodding Carter IV has received a big advance to write A Year of Living Within Our Means, a book about his family living strictly within its budget by using cost-cutting measures from the 1930s. And somewhere, you just know Ken Burns is making a 25-part documentary on the Tom Joads of this world.
Guest columnist Daniel W. Drezner is professor of international politics at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He is the author of All Politics Is Global (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007) and blogs daily atdrezner.foreignpolicy.com.
Last year had more than its share of vertigo-inducing headlines: major banks suddenly disappearing, the Dow plunging day after day, and billion-dollar bailouts failing to make a dent in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.Already, the Wall Street way of life seems to have gone the way of the dodo.
An entire country—are you reading this, Iceland?—went belly up overnight. And good luck if your last job title was “mortgage-backed securities trader.” But if there are some predictable economic hardships we can expect from the current crisis, there are also some trickle-down effects that aren’t so foreseeable. Here, 13 surprising consequences of the crash:
1 Your government will get smarter... In a global recession, governments around the globe will be able to recruit a better class of bureaucrats. Just a few years ago, the U.S. government had serious recruitment problems in the Foreign Service because no world-savvy 25-year-olds wanted to work for the civil service when they could make serious cash on Wall Street. In a severe downturn, however, the stability and security of a government job look far more appealing.
2 ... and more corrupt. Politicians’ palms are about to get greasier. A global downturn shrinks the demand for goods and services worldwide. That means the security of a government contract will look pretty sweet to any businessperson struggling to stay afloat. A January report from Transparency International warned that corruption is bound to increase worldwide during the current crisis, as businesses prioritize survival over corporate integrity.
3 Gray skies are gonna clear up (at least a little). The central factor in projections about global warming is long-term extrapolations of current economic growth. Thing is, I doubt the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change expected Wall Street to tank as spectacularly as it has. The longer the global economy stays in recession, the less greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere. You still might not be able to breathe easy in Beijing, but your odds just got better.
4 The Internet is about to get a lot more #@%$ing annoying. Newspapers are looking to online advertising revenue to deliver them from bankruptcy court (and eventually, total eradication). So, expect more Web advertising on your news sources—pop-up ads, welcome screens, articles hacked into ever shorter segments to maximize clicks—that cannot be escaped easily. Or at least not without getting extremely frustrated.
5 Glory days for evangelicals. Bad times are boon times for evangelical churches. Economist David Beckworth of Texas State University has crunched U.S. church attendance numbers and found that congregation growth at evangelical churches jumped 50 percent during each recession between 1968 and 2004.
6 Your kids will be savers. Macroeconomic realities in your childhood have a profound effect on your financial choices later in life, regardless of how much money you make, according to a study by economists Ulrike Malmendier and Stefan Nagel of the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University, respectively. The generation that grew up during the Great Depression, for example, was more risk-averse than its parents and its children when it came to money. Your kids, in other words, won’t be addicted to E*Trade, but you’ll probably find their allowances stuffed under their mattresses.
7 Skirts will get longer. Here’s a piece of Wall Street folk wisdom: There is a rough correlation between bull markets and bare knees. During boom times, skirts get shorter. In these bearish times, prepare for hemlines to head south. Somewhat in relation, we’ll see something else go north: the age and weight of Playboycenterfolds. Evolutionary biology encourages people to seek “more mature” mates during times of economic insecurity, argue Terry F. Pettijohn and Brian J. Jungeberg in one of the more interesting studies published recently in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. To support their claim, the researchers showed that during recessions, centerfolds get older and, well, rounder. Similar studies have confirmed an identical trend in movie comedies—male and female leads get older during recessions.
8 Your military just got bigger. The age group that will be hit hardest by the current downturn? The world’s 18- to 24-year-olds. This group just so happens to be the prime recruiting age bracket for militaries, which can generally offer a steady paycheck and decent benefits. Indeed, the U.S. Army exceeded its recruitment goals in the last three months of 2008 for the first time in 5 years. And as the war in Iraq winds down, these new soldiers’ fears of being deployed in a hostile combat environment should wane. The few and the proud might grow into the many and the desperate.
9 State schools will be cool. A prolonged downturn will profoundly affect institutions of higher learning. For the past decade, private schools far outpaced state schools in terms of resources and expenditures as their endowments swelled from the long financial boom. Many elite universities followed Harvard’s lead and adopted need-blind admissions with generous financial-aid packages.That’s all about to change. Endowments in the United States have declined 10 to 30 percent during the past year, which will make need-blind admissions a thing of the past and financial-aid offers far less generous. The credit crunch will also make it more difficult for young people to secure reasonable student loans.
10 Boomers will refuse to leave the building. A whole tier of older employees who planned on retiring now or in a few years simply can’t—their 401(k) retirement accounts look way too scary. In 2008 alone, U.S. workers aged 55 to 64 who have had 401(k)s for at least 20 years saw their retirement balances drop an average of 20 percent. This means those who expected promotions when the boomers cleared out are going to have to stew in their own juices and gripe around the water cooler. Office politics just got a lot nastier.
11 The world is no longer flat—and fewer people will care. Global downturns often breed protectionism and other barriers to foreigners. Cross-border tourism is likely to plummet. Study-abroad programs will also be affected—the New York Times recently reported a dramatic decline in South Koreans studying overseas. News outlets are also likely to further scale back their foreign news bureaus to cut costs.
12 Nouriel Roubini’s frequent flyer miles will go through the roof. One business will be big this year: conferences on the crisis of capitalism. The Dr. Dooms and Cassandras of the most recent bubble era—economists such as Nouriel Roubini, Robert Shiller, Stephen Roach, and Joseph Stiglitz—will be doling out advice and “I told you sos” in convention halls and conference rooms around the globe. Indeed, in the month of January alone, Roubini traveled to Istanbul, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, London, Riyadh, Zurich, Davos, and Moscow. The likely difference now? Seats in coach.
13 Great Depression lit will be chic. Eras like to mine the cultural tropes of analogous eras from the past. So, expect books about the Great Depression to dominate Amazon rankings. Already, Hodding Carter IV has received a big advance to write A Year of Living Within Our Means, a book about his family living strictly within its budget by using cost-cutting measures from the 1930s. And somewhere, you just know Ken Burns is making a 25-part documentary on the Tom Joads of this world.
Guest columnist Daniel W. Drezner is professor of international politics at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He is the author of All Politics Is Global (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007) and blogs daily atdrezner.foreignpolicy.com.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
toxic friends
There are friends that I truly consider to be real friends that I may not talk to on a regular basis but I know that if I need them they're there and vice versa. Its a good idea to do a little spring cleaning every once in awhile and evaluate friendships that you've cultivated. If the friendship isn't mutually beneficial, or you spend most of your time tip-toeing around to not piss them off, then its not worth it. Just break up. :O) It's so much better that way. Less stress.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
15-minute post
I'll be off to work in a few hours and I feel that the long weekend just passed me by.. I had so many listed agenda (study for series63, clean my closet, clean my pc files, play with the dogs, cook pasta, etc) and yet I wasn't able to do any of them because I'm not feeling too well. It's like a flu is coming along but is disguised in plain colds + body aches - fever.
I know I've pretty much done a good job with my attitude towards work in the last half of this year but tonight I think I'll have to literally drag myself to go, just because I can't be absent, not really because I hate my job (like how I felt in the past).
It will be a tough two weeks ahead for me as I prepare for yet another exam -- 63. Oh yeah, I was able to sneak in a couple of topic test earlier while my mind had not absorbed 100% of the meds and I was at least 60% coherent. hehe.
15-minutes done. Off I go.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
25 random things
Disclaimer: Okay so this has been going around faceebook for a while. And I honestly missed tagging anyone back because; 1. I couldn't think of 25 random things in one sitting, 2. i lost my internet connection for 5 days thanks to globe and 3. i was really blank and needed to wait for my moment to be able to answer this as lucidly as i can. Anyways..
1. I never liked my first name -- marie.
2. I eat the weirdest combinations of food: oatmeal and tuna spread, banana and peanutbutter, french fries and sundaes
3. I wake up really early. It doesn't matter if I stayed up late, my body clock seems to set off as soon as the sun rises. It was very useful when I was still in school, but now that I work during night shift, it's just plain bummer.
4. I have a knack for collecting notebooks of all sizes. I don't particularly use them, I just like having them.
5. I love to read. I have a massive book collection from gradeschool (sweet valley, girl talk, fabulous five, nancy drew, hardy boys) to my ever-changing tastes in highschool (christopher pike, stephen king, SVH & SVU, classics0) and college up to present (history, bronte, alighieri, meyer, evans, patterson, de saint exupery, plath, garcia marquez, coelho, grisham, albom, brown, flaubert, allende)
6. I like the moffatts. I seriously was a fanatic some 10 years back and eventhough they're no longer together as a band, I still have an appreciation for their music and what they've become.
7. I'm glad i quit my old job and found a better and brighter career. Ü I became a FINRA Registered Representative in just 6 months.Ü
8. I'm a chronic hand washer. I don't do hand-sanitizers as i feel i'm just making my hands more filthy and basically rubbing the dirt/germs all over. ick.
9. I had birthday parties (with clowns, games, the works) until I was 9 years old.
10. I'm a closet singer. I sing lots and loudly in the the shower or in the car but when it's public, like in team buildings or videoke, nobody can make me hold the mic. I'm just shy that way. Although I remember Ms. J made me sing Gabrielle's Out Of Reach during Butch's wedding reception. And out of fear i did. haha!
11. I never had a curfew. My dad would even bring me to and from my gimmicks in highschool.. even in college when I had no ride anywhere. I was also allowed to go on slumber parties/overnights anytime, even on a school night. Guess I'm lucky.
12. I miss my youngest brother Andrew (Sept. 14, 1988 - April 18 1993). I believe he's my intercessor in heaven and I look forward to the day we see each other again.
13. I was suspended for 5 days when I was in my senior year in HS. Reason: bringing Heineken during our Tagaytay Retreat. (which btw, was confiscated right out of our bags during the bag check the moment we arrived. In short, we never got to consume them)
14. I think credit cards are the manifestation of the devil. Enough said. haha
15. I write fiction. I wish I had more time to devote on this but the last serious novel i worked on was (I think) back in college. The manuscript, btw got lost. =(
16. I believe in God but am not religious. I don't really want to go into debate with anyone about this so let's just leave it at that.
17. I find comfort in being with someone who's attuned with me.
18. I have 5 dalmatians who I love so much. They're just the best things to come home to after a long day at work.
19. I think the best friends I have are the ones I met in Highschool. And so I am looking forward to the St. Scho Batch '99 10-year reunion in May! Ü
20. I used to smoke in college but eventually quit. I've been clean for more than 7 years.
21. I love to cook. Hate the food prep though. But I'd like to believe I can cook mean dishes.
22. The out of town city I've been to most times is Baguio. I was still in mom's womb when I first went there and in my whole lifetime I'm guessing I've been there more than 20 times already.
23. The only chocolate cake I liked is the home-made one from Pueblo.
24. I forgive but I don't forget.
25. I may have gone through the most difficult times in the last 8 months but I know I am a changed person because of everything that I've experienced and am thankful that I am where I'm at.
week 1 and what-nots
I got past the first week of taking in LSA (Licensed Service Agreement) calls and I managed to get an escalation from a customer who filed a complaint with FINRA regarding the kind of service he was he was getting/not getting from the firm. Not that he was actually complaining about me personally, but he was mistakenly sent an affidavit of domicile instead of the dispute forms he desperately needed. (and why do i sound like i'm washing my hands?haha)
Anyway, on to things more of you can relate to.. My birthday's coming up next month and I don't have anything planned yet. More often that just works in my favor because most of the things i spend time planning about are the ones that get killed in the planning process alone. So I'll just chill and let whatever come my way.
I am off to a long weekend next week because it's President's Day and the stock market is closed for business. I'm not too sure if there are other affected offshore LOBs but people are heading to out of town (puerto, CWC, Baguio, etc) to get away from the daily-ness called corporate life. As for me, it's Series 63 modules that's probabl gonna keep me busy. I'm not delighted at the thought but I'm not craving to join the pack fleeting Manila that weekend as well. Guess I just feel a bit too lazy to go anywhere far.. just not in travel mode sorry.
Oh yeah, I had my hair cut last weekend. Well, so much for the grand planning and all that opinion-taking ordeal, the haircut I wanted wasn't followed by the stylist. It's not such a disaster. I just feel it could've been better. ANYWAY.. I don't have pics of myself to show everyone but my hair is shorter and I have long sided bangs but still far from the style I was going for.. oh well.. maybe in 2 months I'll have it re-done. Who knows how random I can get.
Well, guess that's it. Just wanted to let you know that I haven't been abducted by aliens.