So, it is the Eve before the 2009 year, and I thought I would reflect on my 5 predictions that I made on December 27, 2007.
My predictions for 2008 were:
$100+ oil = TRUE
Stocks to rise in 2008 = FALSE (Simply due to the economic climate/recession)
Economic Slow Down / Recession = TRUE
Political Predictions = FALSE Although Hilary was selected as Secretary of State.. so half right. haha)
YouTube Advertising Integration in Videos =TRUE
Three out of five isn’t so bad. I shall continue this tradition in predicting what to look for in the new year of 2009, so look out for my entry soon.
It has been quite a while since I posted a blog entry. I have been meaning to keep on top of it, but I’ve been incredibly busy between work and studying for my CPA exam. But alas, here is my blog entry! I’ve moved to Orange County a few months ago to start my career at one of the Big 4 accounting firms and things are going well so far. There is a lot to learn and a lot to do–which is good. It has been a huge adjustment moving and working in a big city. Although it’s not easy, I enjoy the work, traveling and meeting new people as well as the constant learning. It keeps things lively and not too mundane.
The economy pretty much sucks right now as you might as well know regardless of where you are in the world. I’ve been following this whole financial crisis since the start back in 2007 and it’s getting pretty ugly. Regardless of what Obama proposes as the new president-elect, or what McCain would have proposed if he would of won the election, I don’t think there is an immediate cure to the whole situation. As the old cliche goes, “time is the best medicine”. Many years down the road, these past year or two is just gonna appear as a little blip in the economy (not to underestimate its severity in today’s perspective). My prediction is that the economy will pick up during the fall/winter of 2009, if not by mid-2010. One thing that I must point out is that the economy is self-corrects itself automatically. The stimulus that we throw in only attempts to speed the process up, so when it comes 2009 or 2010, you know the media is going to over exaggerate and portray Obama as the mastermind who got the U.S. out of this financial crisis when it fact it was just a matter of time. If you want to speed the process up, get rid of the uncertainty that arises in the markets. Merge Ford, GM and Chrysler which will get rid of the uncertainty in the automaker industry. And as for financials, haven’t we done what we can with the $700 billion package? Now we just got to wait for it to kick in and take effect.
Speaking of the economy and politics, I can’t believe California passed Proposition 1A which is for a high speed train in California. This is not the time to be spending $81 billion for a train when nearly everyone has their own vehicle. Although it’s a nice idea, I doubt the usefulness of it. First of, nearly everyone has a vehicle of their own, there are airports everywhere, and what about Amtrak? Sure Amtrak is slower compared to this high speed train, but it gets you there nonetheless and it’s not like you’ll be using Amtrak everyday or the high speed train for that matter. One thing that I have yet to figure out is the cost of a ticket for that so-called high speed train. Is the cost of building the train going to bring that much more benefit to us?
I recently joined the Orange County Hiking and Backpacking club / group to get me out of the work mindset and to keep me sane! It’s a big stress reliever. So here are some photos of my hike today at Turtle Rock overlooking Orange County.
