Food Economics: Rustic Pet Haven Food Hub

It is always exciting to discover new places that will create a different experience, especially if gives a laidback and nostalgic feel. We were looking for a place that is pet friendly for a relaxing weekend outing.

It brings us to Faber Drive which is in the Clementi vicinity with Nanhua Primary School as a good landmark that is nearby. The cafes and eateries are nestled in the middle of a private estate in a possibly 1980s building.

We went to the gelatolabo which is famed for its mochi waffle with ice cream. There were 2 more eateries, a pub and a cafe situated in this hub. The prices are generally reasonable and the waffle from gelatolabo is indeed unique as mochi was embedded inside the waffles.

There are seatings outside the eateries and cafes where pets are welcomed. It gives me a feeling of being transported back to the 1990s or 2000s when the pace is slower and brings our heartbeat down a notch.

You can choose to sip on a coffee and just idle your afternoon away while reading a nice book or you could take your dog for a stroll around the estate.

It is indeed a great find and would be back to try out the other eateries and cafes where the food looks great and prices are friendly to the wallet.

Have a great week ahead and Faber Drive could be a chill-out place for you to check out this weekend!

Would you wait for a deceased for 9 years?- Story of Hachi

In the midst of the current gloom and doom of the war coupled with the fear of economic armageddon- tech and innovation stocks have already felt the ripples, it is good to take a step back and reflect on what really matters.

Over the weekend, I have caught this 2009 movie, Hachi: A Dog's Tale, featuring Richard Gere. It is based on a true story in Tokyo during the 1920s of a Japanese college professor and his dog. The professor passed away in 1925 due to a brain haemorrhage. The dog continues his daily ritual of waiting for his owner at the train station for 9 years before passing away.

There is a statue erected in memory of Hachi at the Sibuya Station where he has waited for his owner.

It certainly brings many thoughts such as life could be really simple with a simple goal such as for Hachi; which is to see his owner once again. The devotion, dedication and determination are what every one of us could learn from.

So if we desire a simple lifestyle, we could gain financial freedom earlier and do what we love and desire instead of it being another job. With the ever-increasing expectations- a bigger home, a better car and an ideal lifestyle- that society is piling on us and with simple goals- owning a home- fleeting away due to it being out of reach, it has even inspired the "Lying Flat" movement in China.

The advent of technology and social media, it has led to their own set of problems such as cyberbullying, wastage of productive time, scams and misdemeanours. Nonetheless, from the productivity angle, it has really helped to boost up the economy and address workers shortage issues.

I would strongly recommend this show as it would evoke not only emotions but hopefully self-reflections in these challenging times. It will make us more appreciative given that there are many that are worse off than us- imagine those in the war zone now.

Hope everyone would enjoy the show as much as I do. 

Life could indeed be very simple and meaningful.

Here is the link to the actual Hachi story:

https://www.cesarsway.com/hachiko-story-hachi/

Is Meta a Buy Now?- Not at Maximum Pessimism

As chronicled by John Templeton's famous bet in the Great Depression, he put in $100 on all the stocks listed in the stock exchange, which was 104 stocks that cost him $10,000 dollars (Equivalent to $185,000 today).

His bet was on the basis that the market has reached maximum pessimism. His good foresight has proven prescient and it netted him close to a 5 times returns when he eventually liquidated all of his positions years later.

The point we are trying to highlight is that the market tends to overreact and therefore, we do not feel Meta have reached the optimal entry-level despite the huge decline in recent times. The bearish trend might just have started and it would need some time to play out.

Let's first revisit some main points that led to Meta's plunge:

1. The fall in Daily Average Users (DAUs) for Facebook- an important barometer of growth.
2. Apple Privacy Policy would cost Meta 10 Billion a Year
3. 10 Billion a year to be spent on research and development for MetaVerse
4. Credible Competitor in Douyin (TikTok)

 

Source: Meta Corporate Presentation

Click Here for the Full Article:

https://thebigfatwhale.com/is-meta-a-buy-now-not-at-maximum-pessimism/

Russia War with Ukraine- Brinkmanship or For Real?

Contributed by: The Big Fat Whale

With the latest developments looming around the Russian and Ukraine region, where there have been other players such as the US adding fuel by giving intelligence that Russia is going to wage war in a matter of days. 

So is Russia really bent on taking over Ukraine?

Source: BBC

What is Happening?

The threat is real with more than 150000 troops stationed near Ukraine borders. Adding some perspective, there was just close to 5000 troops deployed in 2014 when they seized Crimea from Ukraine.

Understandably, Crimea is much way smaller than the whole of Ukraine. The seizure could be a strategic move given the geographical location of Crimea as could be seen from the map.

Click Here for the Full Article:

https://thebigfatwhale.com/russia-war-with-ukraine-brinkmanship-or-for-real/

No Cash, No Bonds, Good Geographical Diversification for the New Norm- Ray Dalio

Chanced upon this latest interview by Ray Dalio that give advice on the current economic outlook and the geopolitical situation. It is worth your time to digest.

Just a little introduction on Ray Dalio:

Ray Dalio, founder and co-chief investment officer, Bridgewater Associates — the world's biggest hedge fund — manages $150 billion in assets. With over 50 years of experience in macro investing, 72-year-old Dalio has been successful in creating a practical investing template by analysing patterns in history and has helped Bridgewater’s flagship Alpha Fund clock net gains of $46.5 billion since inception in 1991. Dalio’s book, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order, examines the big cause-effect relationships of economic events that have shaped the world we live in.

In his latest interview with Fortune India, Ray Dalio discusses his macro-investing template. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

Dalio: I want a highly diversified portfolio of assets that are not cash and bonds.

I want geographic diversification as much as I want asset class diversification. Regarding my geographic diversification I want to favour countries that have three characteristics and are healthy in the ways we talked about:

First, they are financially strong, that is, their incomes are greater than their expenditures and their assets are greater than their liabilities.

Second, I want countries in which there is internal order rather than internal conflict so that then they can be productive.

Third, I don’t want to invest in countries where there are significant chances of external conflict.

I create two portfolios — first, a portfolio of assets that perform best in bad times and retain their value in the worst of times. And second, a diversified portfolio of the investments.

You can read the entire interview here:

https://www.fortuneindia.com/long-reads/the-conversation-ray-dalio/107064?fbclid=IwAR3SWyRBM-gycDOEivZEvDMFwGo_IEtj5Gi8jgVNgBgIX-LtH0_NFxmqDns