JANUARY – MAY:

For my friends who know a little something about the Big 4 firms, in which I work for one of the four largest international accountancy and professional services firms, I was immersed into the lovely time of year called “busy season”.  A time of 60-70 hour work weeks, late nights, and a keen addiction to caffeine.

JUNE-AUGUST:

In June, I continued to study for my last CPA exam, Regulation.  I took my exam in July and found out I passed my exam in August!  Now I am in the midst of doing all the paperwork to get my CPA license.  Also during this time, I continued to work on a variety of audit clients ranging from technology to consumer products.  In addition, in June, I participated in my frm’s internationally recognized Impact Day–to make an impact on the communities where they work and live.  This year the people of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu firms around the world shut off their computers, email, and phones to provide skills-based volunteering and a helping hand to hundreds of not-for-profit organizations as part of IMPACT Day. Deloitte member firm professionals use this day to support not-for-profits in activities where they share their knowledge and expertise such as strategic business planning and helping teachers in schools, as well as painting buildings and beautifying parks and gardens. About 50,000 Deloitte people across 60 countries contributed their time and skills throughout the year to serve their communities.  This year, I helped paint a mural at a local elementary school and helped setup computers in the school’s newly donated computer lab. It was fun having paint brush sword fights with the kids. 

SEPTEMBER:

On September 9th, I celebrated my 23rd birthday.  My girlfriend took me out for a nice birthday dinner at a sushi restaurant. Yum!  Even my colleagues and boss celebrated my birthday by bringing in cookies, cake, and taking me out to lunch which was extremely nice.  Also, on September 15th, I celebrated my one year anniversary with my company, Deloitte & Touche LLP.  I am now a second year. Woot!  Looking back, I have learned more than I could ever imagine and have been given so many opportunities and unique experiences, as well as made some great friends.  There is definitely a huge gap in what I know today compared to the day I graduated college.

OCTOBER-NOVEMBER:

Starting in October, I was given the opportunity to work on a new life sciences client in which I put in some fairly long hours through December.  It was quite an experience in which I learned a great deal about the industry and really enjoyed working with everyone.  

DECEMBER:

In an effort to not repeat my last year shopping experience, I began my holiday shopping much earlier in the month rather than the week of, or a few days before Christmas day.  I finished all my shopping by December 22nd–a new record!  Now I have a few days off to relax and enjoy life.  It is definitely my favorite time of the year and the perfect opportunity to wind down and catch up with friends and family.  I also went ice skating for the first time in my life at the Irvine Spectrum.  It was pretty hilarious hearing the sound of kids falling hard on their tookus.

Anyways, that about wraps up my year.  December is nearly at an end and as we prepare for the Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, and New Years, I would like to wish a Happy Holidays from my family to yours.

Here’s looking forward to Twenty-Ten!

I’ll get straight to the point.  A summary of five major reasons I believe a sell off is in the works for the end of August and September:

1. Simple profit taking – What goes up must come down; can you imagine the market if profits were never taken?

2. Analyst revisions - Just as analysts upgrade stocks when they are undervalued, it is also their job to downgrade stocks when they are overvalued… I imagine you have formed some opinions of some overvalued stocks.

3. Earnings season is coming to an end – Right now there seems to be an overwhelming amount of good news flooding the market. But I believe it is only a matter of time before the bad news outweighs the good news (or better than expected) once again, and a correction will occur. What reason would the market rally with overwhelming bad news?

4. China downturn -  Others cite trouble in China, which had been looked to by many as the nation to lead the world out of recession. The hopes were that China’s consumers would begin to demand products from other countries, a trend that in turn would spur growth for multinational companies. But the Chinese markets have been pounded over the past couple of weeks, with stocks there dropping about 18 percent.

5. Inside Dope -  Closer to home, those looking for a correction also are watching selling by traders inside companies. Insiders have been selling at a rate 28 times more than they have purchased in the last month

I don’t think the market will sink by more than 20%, but a correction of 5 to 15% over the next couple months isn’t out of the question in my opinion.  Although I am not anticipating the market to continue rallying, I will also note that the rally easily could, as money continues to pour into the market from the sidelines.

Synopsis:
The film was set up as an original tale for the character Wolverine. It tells us about the story of Wolverines’s epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed (that later became Sabertooth), and the ominous Weapon X program. Along the movie Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe.”

Director:      Gavin Hood
Writer:          David Benioff
Cast:
Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine
Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed / Sabretooth
Danny Huston as William Stryker
Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool
Dominic Monaghan as Barnell
Lynn Collins as  Kayla Silver Fox
Taylor Kitsch as Remy LeBeau/Gambit
Will.i.am as John Wraith
Daniel Henney as Agent Zero

I watched the movie yesterday at Edwards Cinema and the showing wasn’t as full as I originally thought for an opening weekend movie. But then again, there were showings every 20-40 minutes. Although I am sure the evening crowd would have been much larger as I went during the afternoon.

If you are a die-hard X-men fan, or used to watch the X-men cartoons in the past, or watched the X-men Trilogy this movie will give answers to some questions you have in mind about how the character came to be.

Of course this movie focuses on Wolverine’s past and so the focus of the story is him. Gambit, Cyclopes and Dr. Charles was introduced in the movie. The introduction of the three X-men main character paved the way for the following X-Men Origins series and since the three were shown here I won’t be surprised if Gambit, Dr. Charles or Cyclopes will be the next in line.

I would give this movie a 72 out of 100 and I would recommend it to all the X-men fans. I am not too sure why RottenTomatoes.com or other movie review sites gave this movie such a low rating, but for the average viewer, family, and teenagers, this movie will not let you down.

The reason for my average rating is that the story line or plot was not that thrilling as the hype was made up to be. With a big character like Wolverine, one has to go all out. But many of the special effects were nice as well as many of the fight scenes. Although there was one particular scene I found cheesy…when Wolverine is walking away from an exploding helicopter and the frame shows him with a close-up shot of him as he walks towards the camera and the flames rise up behind him.

All in all, it was an enjoyable movie that was action packed as well as had many comical scenes that will sure make you smile and laugh.

If you do plan to go see the film, be sure to stay till the very end after the credits to catch the additional bonus scene!