Nicholas M Ong

It just won't stop going up. In the past weeks, Wall Street had a couple of days where the dollar strengthened and traders saw gains on the major indices. On such days, oil prices dipped but only to return higher on the next day. At US$126 per barrel, crude oil is once again at it's record highest till date. As a result of other economic factors, I ...

I've been meaning to ask this question on "how has the increasing price of oil impact your daily lives?" for weeks now. Just this week, crude oil breached the USD120 per barrel mark. Some of you will recall that I anticipated this to happen; but in October 2008 and not 5 months earlier. Now, some of you will also recall my losses in mutual funds and equities largely ...

The past weekend once again demonstrated the volatility of stocks and blue chips trading. Though the dollar did strengthen pushing all the major indices upwards for 2 days at least, the steam isn't keeping up with the record rise in hedging on commodities. It was only last weekend that the precious yellow metal lost $25 (2%) in loses. It was on $912 per ounce. It was only late last ...

At new record highs, oil looks ready to break the USD110 barrier. My prediction of oil reaching USD120 by October '08 seems to still be very real. In other news, the DJIA moves upwards to what economist claim to be the highest single day climb since '02 after the latest news from the federal reserve and central banks to increase liquidity. Amidst the slump since November '07, this ...

Who would have expect this 12 months ago? At USD38 per barrel in 1980, oil prices gradually increased to about USD50 per barrel. In the last 12 months, oil prices continued to soar and breach the USD100 benchmark. As the economic gloom in the U.S. continues to bring the value of the greenback down with rising inflation, I don't think we have seen the last of oil prices ...

No where near the USD146 billion stimulus approved in the U.S. recently, the Singapore government is not to be outdone. If you where watching Channel News Asia (CNA) last evening, you would have notice the 'Special Budget Report". Broadly, depending on their income scale and type of housing, Singaporeans will get between SGD100 to SGD600 from the package. Unfortunately, for me, there where some gray areas. It's either ...

Well, I'm one of those folks who have to head into the office on Chinese New Year Eve. Travelling time today for me was cut down to 45 minutes instead of the usual 75 minutes. I'm sure many of my mates are probably just crawling out of bed after a long night out. The fact that getting to work today was a breeze kind of made up for ...

The U.S. Congress approved a USD146 billion aid package in a bid to lift the troubled U.S. economy due to the subprime mortgage crisis since last summer. This is by far the largest cash injection by the U.S. government till date to prevent the economy ...

What would it do for you if you could turn USD 10.00 into USD 466.10? Will you buy me a beer at least to thank me? :D You would? First, tell me what is the price of gold right now? Analyst are expecting gold to breach the USD 1,000 per oz mark soon. So how did I managed to turn USD 10.00 into USD 466.10? All thanks to the rising ...

With reference to my earlier post, this is what I meant. Perhaps the first piece of news with warning signs on the Singapore economy released. Hopefully, things aren't as bad as suggested. I guess one of the craziest things in the world today is how hearsay and rumours can make something real. With the international institutions 'predicting' that the U.S. is likely to go into a recession, what's there ...