Finanical Crisis..

It looks like the financial crisis has finally overflowed into the economy. Althought there was wide spread talk of the crisis, it was contained to mostly financial firms for the past few months. Right now, in what is a sure sign of the spillover, the "Big Three" carmakers in the US are appealing for government bailout.

It seems this financial crisis is going to overshadow the Asian economic crisis in 1998. And it's exactly 10 years on. Talk about financial cycles. Job cuts have been creeping into the news lately too. DBS have started slashing 900 jobs, Citigroup is cutting a near-record 50,000 jobs worldwide. It is predicted that this will get worse going into 2009. I'm still a student but I can feel the fear in the air. This crisis is bringing back memories of 1998. Things were really bad then and I can't imagine it is going to be worse next year.

Already, the STI has free-falled to 1,665 points, that's more than half it's value slashed from early last year. I remember reading in the papers then that analysts were saying it would breach the 4,000 mark by this year. In just one year, things have changed so drastically.

But admist all the gloom and doom, there is always good news. Especially for the uninvested. Now is a good time to start picking up stocks. Of course, do the due calculations first and pick up the discounts. There is always some people who would say that the stocks will continue to fall. But if you are already buying at a (huge) discount, what's there to fuss about? The stock market is awash with prizes now. Certainly wished I had the capital to pick some up. Well, anybody out there wants to invest in my mutual fund?