Easy Cloud's Personal Finance Blog

Cash & Savings: $97.529 (5.66%)
Foreign Currency: $29,573 (-0.17%)
US Brokerage: $87,136 (2.98%)
Overseas Brokerage: $44,379 (2.07%)
401(k): $40,460 (2.84%)
IRA: $70,950 (0.50%)
Roth IRA: $17,839 (1.25%)
Total Assets: $387,596 (2.72%)

The strong start of October faded away at the end of the month. I haven't seen such a big drop in emerging markets in such magnitude for a long time in the last week of October.

The latest report says the US economy showed a gain of more than 3% and as a result more talkes about whether this is a V-shaped, U-shaped, or W-shaped recovery have mushroomed all over the media. It's hard to say, but so far the recovery doesn't seem to have legs, just an inventory rebound.

Cash & Savings: $92.049 (0.30%)
Foreign Currency: $29,623 (0.06%)
US Brokerage: $84,616 (4.17%)
Overseas Brokerage: $43,749 (9.13%)
401(k): $39,342 (5.64%)
IRA: $70,594 (3.48%)
Roth IRA: $17,618 (1.39%)
Total Assets: $377,591 (3.30%)

In October emerging market rised again wit significant gains and domestic market also improved a bit before dropping more in the first two days of October.

Cash & Savings: $91,774 (-0.32%)
Foreign Currency: $29,605 (0.18%)
US Brokerage: $81,229 (-5.83%)
Overseas Brokerage: $40,089 (1.76%)
401(k): $37,242 (3.45%)
IRA: $68,220 (0.92%)
Roth IRA: $17,377 (-4.10%)
Total Assets: $365,536 (-0.94%)

August turned out to be pretty ugly for domestic stock market and going into September it looks like emerging markets especially will be pretty bad as well.

In the next few months I expect to make some major purchases that wil reduce my cash level significantly. The goods news is that my 5/1 ARM just adjusted the second time and my new rate is only 3.625% due to the low interest rate environment in the UK. My rate readjust each year by 1-year LIBOR + 2.25%. This helps reduce my monthly mortgage greatly percentage wise but amount wise it's not that significant since my principle isn't that large to begin with.

Cash & Savings: $92,067 (9.03%)
Foreign Currency: $29,551 (-0.15%)
US Brokerage: $86,261 (10.24%)
Overseas Brokerage: $39,397 (8.99%)
401(k): $36,001 (8.18%)
IRA: $67,596 (6.30%)
Roth IRA: $18,119 (2.19%)
Total Assets: $368,992 (7.57%)

The stock market has been kind in the usually slow month of July and a loan returned to me also increased my cash position significantly. Now I have to figure out ow to invest this new found asset. It won't be easy.

Cash & Savings: $84,442 (5.01%)
Foreign Currency: $29,596 (-0.06%)
US Brokerage: $78,251 (1.58%)
Overseas Brokerage: $36,148 (3.89%)
401(k): $33,279 (4.66%)
IRA: $63,592 (0.09%)
Roth IRA: $17,731 (-3.54%)
Total Assets: $343,039 (2.23%)

The rise of equity has slowed down this month due to the fall of the stock market. Will it continue? I think yes.

Cash & Savings: $80,414 (-0.76%)
Foreign Currency: $29,615 (-0.13%)
US Brokerage: $77,037 (12.02%)
Overseas Brokerage: $34,795 (16.93%)
401(k): $31,797 (7.97%)
IRA: $63,533 (6.21%)
Roth IRA: $18,381 (7.24%)
Total Assets: $335,572 (6.32%)

In May again the best performance comes from emerging markets. Stock market also had a significant run in the US but not as large as overseas.

I'm waiting for the pull back to get back into the stock market only looking for companies with strong cash flow and high yield.

Cash & Savings: $81,026 (4.14%)
Foreign Currency: $29,653 (0.25%)
US Brokerage: $68,770 (7.85%)
Overseas Brokerage: $29,758 (18.94%)
401(k): $29,449 (9.73%)
IRA: $59,816 (11.19%)
Roth IRA: $17,140 (26.99%)
Total Assets: $315.612 (8.72%)

In April the best performance comes from my overseas brokerage that focuses on emerging markets. Within the US the stock market is also doing quite well, but the old saying of sell in May then go away can still be very true.

Cash & Savings: $77,805 (26.36%)
Foreign Currency: $29,580 (0.04%)
US Brokerage: $63,767 (6.03%)
Overseas Brokerage: $25,020 (10.75%)
401(k): $26,838 (7.17%)
IRA: $53,797 (8.77%)
Roth IRA: $13,947 (8.28%)
Total Assets: $290,754 (11.29%)

Thanks to the tax refund from the Federal and State government my cash level has increased significantly this month.

Despite the huge rally my protfolio didn't experience the 20% gain advertised on the news wave. It could be that the rally has retreated a little by the time I write this entry. Regardless, I see this is a bear market rally and eventually will retreat and maybe with an even faster pace.

Although nationally the housing prices continue to decline at least in the great Atlanta area where I live I do see a bottom being formed as builders price units 30 to 40% below peak price. Many of my friends are enticed to get in the market, including myself.

The G20 maybe another reason for the bear rally to recede quickly as world leaders gather and disband without providing any concrete answers - all just my humble predictions.

Two days ago I posted an entry with my February 2009 review and commented about the buzz about "The Lost Decade". Well, guess what? Dow just dropped to level not since 1997.

If this is truely the excess built since the early 90s as I mentioned in the last entry, then today's closing point is nothing since we still have five more years to go.

Other than trimming the fat the market also tends to overshoot itself, whether on its way up or on its way down. With that in mind, Dow was about 3200 points and S&P was 410 points by end of 92. That means roughly another 55% and 40% to drop from today's level.

Interestingly, on Kudlow's show today someone said the opposite. He believes in a few days S&P will hit its lowest point of the year. I sure hope he's right.

Cash & Savings: $61,574 (5.25%)
Foreign Currency: $29,569 (0.48%)
US Brokerage: $60,138 (-9.64%)
Overseas Brokerage: $22,592 (-11.60%)
401(k): $25,042 (-1.92%)
IRA: $49,459 (-9.38%)
Roth IRA: $12,880 (-7.65%)
Total Assets: $261,254 (-4.68%)

Recently people start to talk about the "lost decade" as Dow and other major indexes retreated to level not seen (inflation adjusted) since 97 or 96 when Greenspan made his famous "irrational excuberence" speech.

I also read today that a Japanese academic who is known for predicting future trends claiming that the US is making the same mistake as the Japanese did about 20 years ago, which led Japan into not just a lost decade but a lost 15 years. He thinks the US will experience the same prolonged flat economical growth in the next 10 to 20 years.

I can't predict the future but what I do know is that even with the lost 15 years at Japane the country remains as the world's second largest economy the whole time and Germany never came close to capturing that spot. Japanese people are still relatively weathly compare to most countries and continue to live in a safe socity with quality public service.

So let's say if what the Japanese scholar said is correct then the question becomes - can people in the US maintain a similar life style after 15 years of stallmate?

Cash & Savings: $58,500(10.36%)
Foreign Currency: $29,427 (-0.39%)
US Brokerage: $66,551 (-2.49%)
Overseas Brokerage: $25,556 (11.84%)
401(k): $25,532 (-3.57%)
IRA: $54,576 (-6.72%)
Roth IRA: $13,947 (7.36%)
Total Assets: $274,089 (0.91%)

January proved that whatever happened in December is just a little blurp over a long period of decline that history will
confirm.

What can we as an average Joe/Jane do to survive this multi-year long recession? Hold cash as close to your chest as possible? Find a second job or do something else that can generate a second income? Keep contributing to your retirement plan as usual and hope that one day everything will work out some how?

Cash & Savings: $53,009(2.54%)
Foreign Currency: $29,543 (0.22%)
US Brokerage: $68,250 (2.12%)
Overseas Brokerage: $22,850 (9.82%)
401(k): $26,478 (20.63%)
IRA: $58,510 (6.35%)
Roth IRA: $12,991 (8.86%)
Total Assets: $271,631 (5.68%)

Suprisingly December ended up with a positive note. Could this be the end of the long decline? I don't think so.

Coming into the new year and a new administration there is a slight hope that things will get better but the damage done by the Bush administration is too deep to recover in a few years, we need a generation to fix the problems we have today.

Cash & Savings: $51,660(-3.25%)
Foreign Currency: $29,479 (-7.16%)
US Brokerage: $66,805 (-9.96%)
Overseas Brokerage: $20,605 (0.82%)
401(k): $21,015 (16.72%)
IRA: $54,794 (1.15%)
Roth IRA: $11,840 (-14.43%)
Total Assets: $256,198 (-3.61%)

The losses in November is thankfully smaller than in October but there is not much to be joyful as my total assets including other personal property such as house and car, etc has dropped to Q3 2006 level, meaning I didn't save a dime in the last two years.

It's almost funny to see all the talking heads on CNBC talking about forming a bottom since summer and still talking about it now. We are not even close to forming one at this point.

Cash & Savings: $53,398(-22.10%)
Foreign Currency: $31,751 (1.10%)
US Brokerage: $74,195 (-15.75%)
Overseas Brokerage: $20,437 (-18.08%)
401(k): $18,004 (6.09%)
IRA: $54,172 (-27.01%)
Roth IRA: $13,836 (-17.53%)
Total Assets: $265,793 (-17.18%)

It turned out my September cash level was artificially high due to expense reimbursement from work. Had I exclude that from the calculation then my cash level wouldn't swing that much.

Coming to the end of October there seems to be a sense of clam slipping into the market but the worse is yet to come. Massive layoffs is not just news on the TV but also live events happening in the neighborhood. There are predictions of unemployment rate going to 7.5 or 8.5% by end of 2009. I'm not an economist nor have the tools and data to calcualte that figure, but just by seeing what is happening I can tell this recession will be longer and harsher than the last one.

I'm no Dr. Doom but seeing people around you got laid off across all sectors isn't fun - construction, architecture, accounting, head hunting, IT, etc. Everyone better tighten up a bit, I know I'm ready to live below my means for the next two years.

Cash & Savings: $68,545(21.73%)
Foreign Currency: $31,406 (6.88%)
US Brokerage: $88,066 (-10.64%)
Overseas Brokerage: $24,949 (-13.55%)
401(k): $16,970 (-3.13%)
IRA: $74,219 (-12.53%)
Roth IRA: $16,778 (-0.40%)
Total Assets: $320,933 (-3.43%)

Just like everyone else September has been a very difficult month to my stock protfolio. Looking at your accounts dropping double digits certainly is not fun. I just can't imagine what is going through the minds of people who have already retired or approaching retirement.

Just like the tech bubble that bursted seven years ago, this financial tsunami is teaching me another important lesson of preserving health.

My new strategy is this: 1) resume maxing out my Roth IRA account; 2) resume maxing out my 401(k) and only contributing to cash and bonds mutual funds; 3) deposit into high yield online CDs in multiple time periods so in case of emergency I always have cash on hand; 4) take advantage of my traveling job nature to spend very little.

Cash & Savings: $56,307(32.90%)
Foreign Currency: $29,385 (-46.22%)
US Brokerage: $98,555 (0.24%)
Overseas Brokerage: $28,859 (-4.66%)
401(k): $17,519 (-0.82%)
IRA: $84,852 (-0.32%)
Roth IRA: $16,846 (-3.57%)
Total Assets: $332,323 (-3.54%)

Due to a large payment I have to made in August half of my foreign currency has to be converted back into USD. The timing is right when the USD starts to rise so short term it is ok. I'm also on target to lower my future mortgage payment to my target level.

The US equity market has some what stabelized in August but the world equity market hasn't. Regardless we are still in the middle of a global recession if not the beginning of it.

The main reason my cash level can maintain at this level is due to the large amount of tax refund I received from uncle Sam in August. I am also able to resume contributing to my 401(k) starting next month and hopefully by end of year I can even fund my Roth IRA for 2008.

Cash & Savings: $42,368 (+24.97%)
Foreign Currency: $54,636 (-5.95%)
US Brokerage: $98,322 (-1.55%)
Overseas Brokerage: $30,268 (1.40%)
401(k): $17,664 (-2.07%)
IRA: $84,121 (-3.78%)
Roth IRA: $17,468 (0.80%)
Total Assets: $344,847 (0.10%)

In July I started to pay down the principle on my mortgage so I can lower my monthly payment by the time my ARM re-adjust in October. I'm sure I'm on the same boat just like everyone else where selling the house really isn't an option unless I'm willing to take the hit.

Cash & Savings: $33,902 (+24.58%)
Foreign Currency: $58,094 (-0.73%)
US Brokerage: $99,871 (-7.38%)
Overseas Brokerage: $29,849 (-8.57%)
401(k): $18,037 (-7.57%)
IRA: $87.427 (-5.95%)
Roth IRA: $17,330 (-6.07%)
Total Assets: $344,510 (-3.53%)

This is getting closer to the amount I lost back in the Tech Buble and we are not even in summer yet.

Recently I started to change the way I drive by capping it at 65 MPH and carpool as much as possible. I spent $153 on gas in June but then my electricity jumped 3 folds to more than $200 and that really hurts.

Cash & Savings: $27,213 (-0.1%)
Foreign Currency: $58,522 (-0.8%)
US Brokerage: $107,829
Overseas Brokerage: $32,648
401(k): $19,515 (+1.88%)
IRA: $92,955 (+3.07%)
Roth IRA: $18,449 (+5.90%)
Total Assets: $357,131 (11.31%)

My total assets has dropped a lot from last month as predicted. However, I didn't expect such a whopping drop of $22,162. I have no idea why it dropped that much after reviewing my transactions.

Cash & Savings: $27,243 (+45.79%)
Foreign Currency: $59,004 (-0.31%)
Brokerage: $107,823 (-17.44%)
401(k): $19,154 (+5.05%)
IRA: $90,189 (+6.14%)
Roth IRA: $17,421 (+11.96%)
Total Assets: $320,834 (+9.87%)

In April I merged my shares from stock options into my borkerage account therefore it is no longer listed individually. The drop in brokerage value is because I've been selling stocks to meet an upcoming payment so come May my total assets will drop by a big percentage.

The other major change I did in April is to re-direct my funds contribution in one of my retirement account to diversify it further from 5 funds to 10. I also sold my biggest loser GAM Japan as there is no hope of a recovery any time soon in Japan.

Cash & Savings: $18,687 (+5.98%)
Foreign Currency: $59,189 (+8.5%)
Brokerage: $113,308 (-15.42%)
401(k): $18,324 (+2.65%)
IRA: $84,969 (-2.25%)
Roth IRA: $15,560 (-1.88%)
Stock Option: $17,293 (+3.92%)
Total Assets: $292,006 (-12.12%)

March definitely reflects the lousy performance of Q1 on stocks. Despite the rise in cash and foreign currency it is insufficient to offset the losses in the stock market. This is really the time for me to look into bond funds and adjust my 401k portfolio. I wish I can add a new bond fund under my IRA in Q2 of 2008.

Cash & Savings: $17,632 (-38.81%)
Foreign Currency: $54,551 (+27.27%)
Brokerage: $139,478 (-3.23%)
401(k): $17851 (no information available for a while)
IRA: $86,921 (-2.38%)
Roth IRA: $15,858 (+6.80%)
Stock Option: $16,6411 (-12.71%)
Total Assets: $332,291 (-6.81%)

Roth IRA goes up because the Baltic Shipping Index has gone back up again.

The stock market is a little bit better than January and then the appreciation of Chinese Yuan increases my the value of my Other Assets in dollars terms. But that's about it. In reality I am facing food inflation where the price has gone up all over the place. Also my proprty tax has gone up by more than $40 just when the housing market slump goes into its second year. That's like $480 per year! How can I get it down?

Cash is king! That's all I can say after watching my protfolio continues its decline for months.

Cash & Savings: $28,815 (+4.59%)
Foreign Currency: $42,861 (+21.62%)
Brokerage: $144,137 (+6.38%)
401(k): $17,853 (-9.08%)
IRA: $88,992 (-5.64%)
Roth IRA: $14,849 (-4.46%)
Stock Option: $19,063 (-4.04%)
Total Assets: $356,570 (+2.69%)

Cash & Savings: $27,550 (+11.71%)
Foreign Currency: $34,831 (-2.13%)
Brokerage: $135,492 (+3.39%)
401(k): $19,635 (-0.04%)
IRA: $94,311 (-0.02%)
Roth IRA: $15,542 (-12.26%)
Stock Option: $19,866 (-2.82%)
Total Assets: $347,227 (+8.14%)

I can't believe my total actually went up in the month of December, however, I know this is only temporary, by the end of January it's going to be pretty ugly.

Cash & Savings: $24,663 (-27.44%)
Foreign Currency: $35,590
Brokerage: $131,043 (-1.57%)
401(k): $19,723 (-2.61%)
IRA: $94,115 (-3.86%)
Roth IRA: $17,714 (-14.01%)
Stock Option: $20,443 (-7.34%)
Total Assets: $321,091 (-2.08%)

Just like October, November is another bad month for the global stock market. The devaluation of USD also hurts me overseas as I have to spend a tremdous amount of time in HK and China.

At both places I can feel the inflation on every day items, most notably food. Either the portion gets smaller or the price has gone up.

In China the USD is dropping like a rock. I tried to get as much Chinese Yuan out as possible to stop the bleeding. But there is a limit on how much you can withdraw in a given month so I've been hurt by that. Because of this, I also added a new item to reflect the amount of foreign currency I hold because it is a pretty big portion of my Cash & Savings category and it will only get larger over time.

This month marks the first time that my total assets dropped since I started the blog, mainly thanks to the ~$7,000 loss in the stock market.

Because I expect US dollars to continue its slide for strategy for the next two months is to convert as much cash to Chinese Yuan as possible. People expect the Yuan to rise to 7.0 against the dollar vs. 7.4 as it is now. That's a 5% rise from the current level. Quite significant!

Cash & Savings: $33,988 (+79.26%)
Brokerage: $133,127 (+2.23%)
401(k): $20,252 (+18.37%)
IRA: $97,891 (+7.13%)
Roth IRA: $20,601 (+25.04%)
Stock Option: $22,063 (+7.53%)
Total Assets: $327,922 (+11.09%)

October turns out to be another ugly month as I continue to make some bad investments. It seems like every week I just pick the worst performers from Barron's. Is my luck running out?

However, thanks to the Fed my protfolio still looks much much better than the last update, although I don't expect the party to last forever. Next time I will talk about how the falling USD is hurting me and my response to that.

I spoke about how I plan to find a high-yield MMA or CD last month. Interestingly, after doing some research after I returned from Malaysia, one of the highest yielding CD I found on BankRate.com is actually the Internet bank I have been using for years with a 5.43% APY. I used to have a savings account with them but closed it after ING Direct came out. That was before the mainstream banks like Citibank and HSBC introduced their online MMA offerings.

I opened the CD right before the Fed lowered their overnight lending rate by 50 basis points. However, I am surprised to learn that this move, however, doesn't make the bank lower their CD yield, at least not yet.

If I can stash away a little more I will put them into another 12-month CD as my emergency fund (instead of randomly invest it here and there).

I should have done the update more than 2 weeks ago but work has absolutel caught up on me after spending a week in Sabah, Malaysia for vacation.

Cash & Savings: $18,960.38 (+8.48%)
Brokerage: $130,217.05 (+4.34%)
401(k): $17,109.45 (+17.34%)
IRA: $91,379.13 (-2.01%)
Roth IRA: $16,475.24 (-12.88%)
Stock Option: $20,518.05 (-4.00%)
Total Assets: $295,195.40 (+1.52%)

Needless to say, if I had done it two weeks ago this report will look much gloomier than now.

The overall result is not awful but in the next entry I'll discuss why I have floundered and what actions I plan to take to improve my return.

The day has come...one of my stocks just lost slightly over 80% today due to the sub prime woe (Alt-A to be more specific). Some other stocks are being hit very hard lately but no one gets close to this one.

Last week the market reminded me of the post-911 market but back then I have a much smaller portfolio so to me materially this market correction, to put it conservatively, pounds my portfolio much harder than 911 plus and the dot com crash combined.

This is going to be a long summer to bear...

I started to use Internet bank back in 2000 to enjoy the higher yield. Then ING Direct came along so I jumped to them right away. Later on Citibank came up with a 5% online savings account that just beat every one else's yeild so I moved again.

Unfortuantely, a few days ago I realized Citi had lowered the yield to 4.25%, much lower than what other institutions are offering.

After some research on Bankrate.com I found GMAC with a 4-star rating that offers a yield of 5.3% APY. That sounds pretty good to me, but I'd like to know if any one on this board has any experience with GMAC before I dump Citi. Please share your experience with me.