Sunday, April 5, 2020

101 Years Global Pandemic Cycles


Do you guys believe in cyles? Examples of cycles include the 10 years bear market cycles, Kondratieff 50–60 year cycles of boom and bust. How about a 101 years Global Pandemic cycles? I think I just discover a new cycles, a sad and deadly cycle, the 101 years Global Pandemic cycles.

A older history of global pandemic is difficult to find due to the lack of medical record. People tend to record in detail about all the various battles that happened during the course of history than deadly or infectious disease. Detail record about how is happen and what lead to the outbreak is not available. But lets not look too far in history and look at the most recent one.

In 1817-1824, the first cholera pandemic began near the city of Calcutta and spread throughout Southeast Asia to the Middle East, eastern Africa and the Mediterranean coast. While cholera had spread across India many times previously, this outbreak went further; it reached as far as China and the Mediterranean Sea before subsiding. Hundreds of thousands of people died as a result of this pandemic, including many British soldiers, which attracted European attention. This was the first of several cholera pandemics to sweep through Asia and Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries. This first pandemic spread over an unprecedented range of territory, affecting almost every country in Asia. [excerpt from Wikipedia]

After 101 years, in 1918 the Spanish flu (known as the 1918 flu pandemic) a deadly influenza pandemic started. Lasting from January 1918 to December 1920, it infected 500 million people – about a quarter of the world's population at the time. The death toll is estimated to have been anywhere from 17 million to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in human history. [excerpt from Wikipedia]

Again after 101 years, in 2019, the Covid-19 , a highly infectious disease outbreak started in Wuhan, China. From there it spread to the rest of the world. Until now, the world is still struggling to contain the virus from spreading. With the recent Covid-19 pandemic situation that is becoming serious with 1.2 millions confirmed cases as of time of writing this article, there are a lots of news and prediction about the end of the world. Religion people going mad and coming up with lots of theory and prediction. Well, as you can see, it is not. It is just going through another cycle - Global Pandemic Cycle as I called it. The world will survive the crisis just like any other previous crisis.

The similarity of the ending of the 1817 cholera pandemic and Spanish flu is also something to ponder as it is mysterious. [Excerpt from Wikipedia below]
For cholera: In 1824, transmission of the disease ended. Some researchers believe that may have been due to the cold winter of 1823–1824, which would have killed the bacteria in the water supplies.
For Spanish flu: After the lethal second wave struck in late 1918, new cases dropped abruptly –
almost to nothing after the peak in the second wave. One explanation for the rapid decline in the lethality of the disease is that doctors became more effective in prevention and treatment of the pneumonia that developed after the victims had contracted the virus.Another theory holds that the 1918 virus mutated extremely rapidly to a less lethal strain. This is a common occurrence with influenza viruses: there is a tendency for pathogenic viruses to become less lethal with time, as the hosts of more dangerous strains tend to die out.

If you notice, both the ending of the pandemic is mysterious.


Well, if you are aware, you should know that there is a  popular snapshot of a book "End of Days" that is being circulated online about the prediction of Covid-19 by Sylvia Browne. Interestingly the prediction stated that the end of the pandemic is also mysterious. I am not sure how the ending will unfold but I really hope this pandemic will end soon.

The Global Pandemic cycles is so long apart that one person can only experience 1 of the pandemic. Even if the person with more than 101 age, he/she can only have experience of 1 pandemic because he/she is probably still an infant with no memory of the first pandemic. That is probably why no one have any real life experience of the previous pandemic. People do not aware of the severity of the pandemic. Some people even go on vacations when the government announced lockdown on the states or city. Only after the pandemic grow serious did people realize about their stupid action and mistakes. So it can be said that this is a once in a lifetime crisis.

What does that mean for Covid-19? The Cholera pandemic lasted 7 years while the Spanish Flu lasted 3 years. If history is used as a guidance, then we can definitely expect the virus to last for years - at least one year. A pessimistic view will range the  pandemic duration between 3-7 years as history shows. However, a more optimistic view will consider a 7/3 year reduction factor of 2.333. If the 2.333 reduction factor is taken in consideration, then the Covid-19 will last 1.28 years or 1 years and 3-4 months. With the outbreak stated in Jan 2020, the end of the Covid-19 will be Apr-May 2021. Well, at least that is the prediction.

The effect of the last pandemic (Spanish flu) on the economy is largely unknown. There are very fews records of economy data related to the pandemic. This also because at that time of the outbreak, the world is near the end of the World War I. The lack of previous economic data means we are unable to expect what will happen next or after the Covid-19 pandemic.

With that being said, the next global pandemic will be in 2120. So there you have it, the 101 years Global Pandemic Cycles.






Thursday, March 17, 2011

G7 agrees to joint currency intervention to help Japan

(Reuters) - The Group of Seven industrial nations agreed on Friday to jointly intervene in the currency market to stem a sharp yen rise that complicates Japan's battle with the devastation caused by last week's violent earthquake and an unfolding nuclear crisis.

"Given yen moves after the tragic events that hit Japan, the United States, Britain, Canada and the European Central Bank have agreed with Japan to jointly intervene in the currency market," Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda told reporters.

Japanese authorities will buy dollar/yen in the market from 9 a.m. (12:00 a.m. GMT). Other central banks will act when their markets open, Noda said. He declined to comment on the size of Tokyo's intervention. Click to read more.

Yen surges to all-time high in chaotic trade

(Reuters) - The yen soared to a record high against the dollar on Thursday in chaotic trading as a break of the previous peak triggered a host of stop-loss and option-related selling, which in turn caused a cascade of algorithmic sales.

While the escalating nuclear crisis and subsequent rush for safety was the initial spur for the move, this latest lunge higher in the yen was more about positioning.

All sorts of exotic option and structured products were being stopped-out, while many Japanese margin traders were forced to bail from leveraged trades funded in yen.

Dealers said the market was increasingly disorderly with liquidity evaporating and bids pulled, leaving huge gaps in the charts. Many were actively hoping the Japanese authorities would intervene to provide some liquidity and restore order. Click to read more.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Comparison of My First Home Scheme and Subprime


There are a new "My First Home Scheme" launched recently. Analysts were mixed on whether the first-home ownership scheme would risk creating sub-prime conditions. 

Well, I just created a comparison table for the both and you be the judge! Click on the picture to enlarge. The general description should give you all some ideas. For better understanding, more in-depth research is encouraged.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Beware of cheater asking for bank account information!


 Well, I am sure all of you are very familiar with the newspaper everyday showing cases of people that had been cheated. I would like to share with you all some tactics used by the cheater due to the seriousness of the situation.

Today I received an e-mail informing me that my account had been locked. This is not the first time I receive such e-mail. I had deleted many such e-mails. The last one claimed it was from Maybank! The e-mail was sent to my spam mail box. The cheater was hoping that I would respond to the email. I am not sure what happened if I click the link. 

One thing I know is the e-mail is trying to get information about my bank account. However, just a glance at the e-mail tell me that this e-mail is sent by cheater!

First, the e-mail is sent using some stupid aezz@aol.com mail address. What stupid company will use such stupid e-mail. The cheater think he is very smart and even put up the Public Bank logo. However, he FORGOT to change the word "Maybank" to "Public Bank" at numerous places in the content.

 So BEWARE if you receive this kind of e-mail. Please double check with the bank first before clicking any link. With careful observation you may even know that the e-mail is FAKE! In fact ALMOST all of such e-mail is FAKE! Banks seldom use e-mail to communicate to customer. 

However, I am worry about some insider job regarding the e-mail. I had no idea where the link will direct me but I am very afraid if just giving even the slightest information will put my whole account at risk. Insider at banker combine with some info of your bank account will cost you your whole life saving money! 

Well, I don't know how to stop this kind of thing from keep coming to my mail box. In fact, I got no idea how the cheater got my e-mail in the first place. That is what worry me the most. Well, after all we are in a place where anything can happen!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Euro Rallies Most in Six Weeks on Prospects for ECB Rate Boost

March 5 (Bloomberg) -- The euro climbed the most versus the dollar in six weeks as the European Central Bank said it may raise interest rates next month, while Federal Reserve officials signaled the U.S. economy still needs stimulus.

The Swiss franc rose to a record against the U.S. currency as turmoil pushed oil to a 29-month high. The greenback fell versus most major peers on speculation a payrolls gain wasn’t enough to spur the Fed to raise rates soon. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke wouldn’t rule out more Treasury buys to support growth. U.S. retail sales rose last month, data next week may show.

“The takeaway from a very busy week is still a clear tightening signal from the ECB, relatively dovish comments from Bernanke and a U.S. jobs report that’s positive, but not positive enough to alter U.S. rate expectations,” said Vassili Serebriakov, a currency strategist at Wells Fargo & Co. in New York. “There’s scope for some further near-term dollar weakness or euro strength.”

Read more at http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a.Gh4czpXG2Q&pos=7

Banking salary set to rise!!!





This is the table put out on the Star online newspaper with the title 'Professionals and top execs set for huge increments' on 28 Feb 2011 at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2011%2F2%2F28%2Fnation%2F8151490&sec=nation

So how do one react to this article? This mean the Banking and IT sector will have some big growth this year. After all, why are they willing to hired. 

The weird thing about this is after just 1 day, there are some respond to the article with a contradict finding. Below are a part of the news taken from The Star Online at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/3/1/nation/8158478&sec=nation

"A group of business application consultants from an international firm said they were surprised that their professional wages ranged from RM100,000 to RM150,000 in the survey.

The consultants, with three to five years of work experience, said their salary only ranged from RM65,000 to RM110,000 for 2010.

“There is a huge gap between the actual and surveyed figures,” said one of them who wished to be known only as Sue."


Are the salary really that high? Of course it is high! After all, it is done by Robert Walters. A quick search at the Google review the website at http://www.robertwalters.com/default.do. The website show that Robert Walters have a lot of office spanning 20 countries. This mean that it is some big international company with good reputation doing some big research.

So how come there are still some employees with low income? The answer is because they are being underpaid by the company. For the group of business consultants, I hope that they are now starting to look for a better job at another company. If not, they are just being ignorant of the market movement nowadays and lose out the big amount of money that they are supposed to be paid.