It has been 3+ months since my last blog. I have stopped posting regularly since starting full-time work late last year. It was also laziness as weekends became precious for me, to rest and do leisurely stuff to destress from work plus not having to think about a topic to blog about every week.
A new halftime turning point is about to begin for me in early 2025. Hence, it is time to kickstart my regular blogging journey again. The blogging process has been therapeutic for me since I started in 2016. It helped me crystallize my thoughts and improve my writing skills. Given that I will have more time on my hands soon, the adoption of this disciplined habit will help me stay mentally sharp.
The financial markets had been on a one-way upward trajectory since the US Presidential elections when Trump unexpectedly won. While the orange one was not someone I was rooting for, the win had provided my stock and crypto portfolio with a generous windfall.
Just before the elections, I had even taken on a punt via Polymarket. The betting odds for a Harris win were attractive. But alas, the hard lesson learnt that the market is always right has been reinforced in me again…
Whenever we discuss the US elections, I will tell my friends that we have no say in it because we cannot vote as non-citizens. The only consolation is that I believe that the Americans truly deserve whoever they have voted for. And they have elected for big changes and another 4 more years of chaos.
Trump has been busy announcing his nominees for various government roles. He seems to be more organized this time into his second term in office compared to 2016 which was a total mess. He seems to be adopting a shock-and-awe strategy now. To announce some of the most ridiculous candidates with zero or little experience into critical jobs, to reward the loyalists who were supporting him and the radicals who wanted to change the status quo. Whether they eventually succeed in getting appointed is irrelevant. If they fail to get nominated later, he could just say that he tried but the deep state stopped him. At the moment, he is doing a victory dance to reward his cult members.
Biden and Kamala’s biggest mistake was to ostracize Elon Musk and sway him to the other side. They constantly ignored and snubbed his Tesla and SpaceX accomplishments. Elon’s ego, which was as big as Trump’s, couldn’t help but be attracted to the GOP side after being rejected by the other side.
The richest man on earth now can give the Democrats the middle finger. Courting the tech and crypto bros while spending time on popular podcasts like Joe Rogan was also a masterful stroke that heavily swayed the male demographics to the Republican side. Old news media outlets are on the decline. A surprising report indicates that 54% now listen to podcasts weekly to get their news updates.
The bully tactics have also begun, with Ukraine and Canada getting the first shots of threats and arm twisting from Trump. His strategy is to make the other side succumb to his demands and blink first before the escalation gets out of hand. Remember Rocket Man and North Korea? But I am not too sure if this will work against China though. The Chinese have just decided to fire a warning shot on tariffs to Trump by banning the exports of some critical raw materials. Two can tango and play in the tit-for-tat tariff game…
We are in for interesting times immediately after the 20 Jan presidential handover. Elon and the Trump team, with so many egos onboard, will aim to break everything and try to rebuild from the ruins again. Hopefully, America will survive this massive onslaught to destroy the basic fabric of government institutions that have endured for years. The only thing I am in favour of is the new administration’s aim to dampen the woke culture of the left. In recent years, they have forced the beliefs of the minority down the throat of the conservative majority.
We are really in for a crazy 2025 and it will all start with a bang on 21 Jan. It is probably wise to take some investment profit into Q1 in case we end up with a shitshow. A comedy of missteps could take the American economy back to the stone age LOL.
The other interesting but sad thing that I experienced this week was on Monday when I visited my regular prata/teh tarik mama shop for breakfast. The hardworking staff member at the counter whom I had gotten to know for the past year had not been at work for a few weeks.
I was curious to know if something had happened to him and so I checked with another staff member. Initially, she just mentioned that he had gone back to India. I assumed that it was for a short holiday break and asked when he be back to work.
Her answer shocked me when she said “Never”. More details were then shared with me. He had been stealing and siphoning funds from the cash register. He was taking between $50-100 daily and the big boss finally confronted him with video evidence from the security cameras they had installed in the shop.
Looks are deceiving. I thought that he was an honest and hardworking person who always prepared my regular drink ahead of time the moment he saw me arriving. I did not expect that he had a dark side that could be fueled by personal debts and greed. Probably after stealing the first time, he thought that he found a fantastic financial loophole to exploit. It likely became a habitual addiction to easy money until he was caught red-handed with the video evidence.
Life continues to have many twists and turns. One just has to roll with it and control what one can manage while adapting to those events that one cannot. We have to make the best of every situation that confronts us.
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