Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Raising cash levels

The recent big May hurdle depicted in this year's Yi annual chart was perhaps too high a bar for many to jump across. Some individuals in China had committed suicide because of huge share trading losses. Global stock markets had also fallen last week. A cyclone devastated parts of Myanmar possibly killing up to a hundred thousand of her people.

This was quickly followed by a major disaster in the form of a 7.9 Richter scale earthquake in South West China yesterday. The death toll in this part of China is now 12,000 and counting with several thousands of people still pinned under the rubble of collapsed homes and buildings waiting for rescue parties to reach them.

In Malaysia, inflation has already reared its ugly head with rising food and rice prices. Some rice prices have jumped by 50 to 60% from recent weeks hitting the pockets of the poor and the middle class.

If we read the newspapers and reliable blogs, while keeping our ears to the ground, talks of BN members of parliament crossing over to the opposition has been getting louder gathering momentum and credence as the days go by.

Under this uncertain scenario, I have decided to raise cash levels by selling stocks last week. No point allowing more 'troops' to die unnecessarily if KLSE investors, because of some surprise or bad news, decide to turn jittery and panicked.

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