G’day all

Well, its Friday again, and marks the end of what has been a tragic week for mankind…

I must say, this past couple of weeks, I have been ashamed of humanity, disgusted by the actions of not only the few, but of the many, not only in the U.S. but here in Australia too. 

What happened in the U.S. to George Floyd was a tragedy no doubt.  The fact that there had to be protests before the officers involved where brought to justice was just dumbfounding.

That this is just another event in a string of cases in the U.S and STILL people are not seeing the evil in this, is again, mind blowing… Almost surreal.

And then, I get the protests across the country, but the looting, stealing, vandalism?  Burning down businesses that have been barely surviving during this crisis anyway?  What the…

How does smashing shop windows to steal televisions help George Floyd’s family or any other individual that could suffer the same at the hand of police brutality?

And then, after all that, there is the Joker card – Trump.  Wow.  Just wow…

At a time of national upheaval in America, Trumps answer, rather than try to unite the country, is to threaten to bring in the U.S. Military…  The single force that was put in place and designed to PROTECT the United States from foreign adversity and uphold a constitution that explicitly protects the rights of citizens to peacefully protest.

Even the former Defence Secretary, Jim Mattis has had to finally break his silence and denounce the militarisation of the U.S. response to the unrest by saying “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime that does not try to unite the American people – does not even pretend to try.” 

He even drew a comparison to the U.S. war against Nazi Germany saying that the U.S. troops at the time where reminded before the Normandy invasion that “the Nazi slogan for destroying us was Divide and Conquer”

Is this really what Trump is thinking?  Divide and conquer the American people?  This just cannot be happening…  I cannot help but think he is an alien put here to begin some form of takeover by turning us against ourselves…

And yet, even here in Melbourne, there is planned a protest for the Black Lives Matter cause, which of course they do… as do ALL lives.  But really, after Australia having done so well to stop the spread of COVID-19 in this country, they are predicting some 30,000 people think it is a safe and sound idea to break all social distancing rules and laws?

In a year where we even had to give up our own ANZAC day marches and services due to the virus; we had to find other ways of show support for the thousands of men and women in this country that fought in wars to give us the freedom we have now – we cannot seem to think it maybe pertinent to also find a safer way right now to show support for the Black Lives Matter cause?

We are facing one of the most significant economic downturns in our lifetime, and just as we look to be possibly able to move past it, around 30,000 Victorians are going to gather on the steps of parliament and walk down Bourke street…

If even a couple of hundred people contract Coronavirus from this, it could set our state and possibly our country back months…

Months that many small, medium and even large businesses in the country do not have.

I am certainly not down playing the cause, I completely understand that support is needed right now, but if even 1 person dies from COVID-19 due to this rally; if even 1 business owner goes bankrupt due to increased lockdown rules and takes his/her own life after this rally… is that acceptable?

In an age where I really believed we were moving into the era of intuition, where more and more of humanity were becoming increasingly aware and conscious of the world around us, we look to set ourselves back decades in just a few short weeks.

Ah, but as the sun streams in my window, and I look across the marina at a beautiful Melbourne winters day, not a cloud in the sky, I am reminded there is always hope for humanity.  Hope is what keeps us moving forward, even in the darkest of hours…

Hope and faith – knowing that this too will pass, and better days are coming.

I am, though, going to keep my eye to the sky for any sign of UFO activity, because that is what must be next this year… right?

You got this!

Happy Investing all and have a great weekend!!

G’day all

Happy Friday everyone! With some beautiful May days here in Melbourne over the past week or so, there has never been a better time to be alive!

And I mean it…

We have certainly had our share of challenges this year already, not trying to play that down, but as I mentioned last week, diamonds are not born out of comfort…they are created from pressure!

This is giving us the opportunity to grow, to develop.  I have seen so much more patience from the impatient, courtesy from the in-courteous, consideration from the inconsiderate that ever before…

We are supporting each other, helping each other, have more time for each other, yet isolated and distancing.  Amazing how life sometimes needs to give us a shove for us to learn…

Even now, more challenges are coming, and China is mad at us…

And i get why, no one likes having people go through their closet…

They are slapping tariffs on our barley exports and wanting a ban on beef exports. And that’s just getting started.

This could simply be because of the call to an inquiry into the COVID pandemic, or something deeper, our push back against Huawei and the 5G roll out…

But in reality, it is simply because Australia had to take sides and we have sided with China’s bully…

The relationship between the US and China inevitably reached a place where it was destined – rivalry. The Chinese and American political models are simply incompatible with each other. As China’s economic and political power grew, it was inevitable that they would start butting heads with America eventually.  And, the Trump administration is certainly not backing down now from the plate…

And now that we have all stopped pretending that we’re not involved and have our head in the sand, it’s time for us to pick sides.

For many years, Australia has tried to have its cake and eat it too.  We have wanted access to China’s markets, while turning a blind eye to the CCP’s authoritarian nature.

But we cannot continue to do that, it’s time to pick a side.

And maybe our pride stings at that – that we can’t stand on our own two feet and choose our own friends.  We are a tiny nation with a tiny military, we don’t get that luxury.  We live on the graces of one empire or another.  

In the past it was England and so it looks like now we’re siding with the American empire.

I’m cool with that. And not because I think the US is any more noble or righteous than China – far from it – but our values simply align with American political values – as flawed as their democracy and capitalism is – more than they do with China’s.

But of course, after having made our intentions clear, now China is testing our resolve.

But that’s cool too.  Again, I think it is a relationship we needed to test…  We have been far too reliant in this country on China and need a reason to stand on our own two feet again (even if leaning on Big Brother America)

We are a commodity exporter and trade is fluid.  Even if China starts buying barley from someone else, we will simply sell ours to whomever that someone else was selling to…

Global demand doesn’t change, all you get is ‘trade substitution’.

And in that sense, even though we have let our economy become crazily dependent on China in recent years, China needs us more than we need them.

So, I’m cool.  We have picked sides, and I think we made the appropriate choice.

More retaliation is coming, but we’ll be fine, and we will learn and grow.  I’m confident in this.  Let’s enjoy this time and sunshine while we have it 🙂

And in the meantime, let’s buy Australian!

You got this!

Happy Investing all and have a great weekend!!

G’day all

May is moving like a steam train!  I don’t know if it is just me, or is everyone feeling the weeks are flying by, even though we are still mostly cooped up inside? 

Our recent foray into “relaxed restrictions’ appears to be not much more than comfort for some, allowing a small ‘backyard barbie’ but generally doing nothing for the economy…

Anyway, I digress…

I do however, want to chat about a very important topic today – Leadership.

“Leaders aren’t voted upon in the barracks. They emerge in the battlefield.”

I have heard that line a few times, no idea who said it, but it really resonated with me and the current crisis is really showing up the leadership, or lack thereof, not only of our countries, but throughout the world.

What is stunning in this crisis is the lack of leadership in general.  Even the W.H.O, who you would expect to take the global lead on dealing with pandemics, appears to be a farcical organization, a glorified Chinese propaganda body.

From a US standpoint, Trump has said at the start of his presidency that the US would not be anymore the world police. This crisis shows what it meant. There is no co-ordination at inter-government level. Trump thinks only about the US and openly refutes almost unrefusable facts. 

Europe is fighting within itself. The EU is in complete disarray. There is distrust and even pure venom between members.  This is a classic example of the ‘nation state’ arising, with each country essential fighting on its own, almost to the detriment of others, for survival.  Really the EU needs to reform or risk dying altogether.

What is most surprising is that even Chinese President Xi has disappeared. Apart from token help to other countries and threats to Australia if we do not give up our investigation into the virus, he seems to be just in hiding.  For the country that unleashed the virus on the world, this seems extremely poor form. 

The only distinguished leader we have seen step up to the plate is New Zealand PM, Jacinta Ardern, with a unique combination of empathy and science.

With the pandemic end in sight, there are already signs of diplomatic rifts between US & China, Europe & China and even Australia is walking a fine line, for now.

Here in Oz, ScoMo has done a reasonable job recently, but has, this past 3-4 months, shown a lack of leadership ability, throughout Australia’s series of crisis (Fires, floods and now disease)

Our stimulus package, unlike the US & most other countries from China to New Zealand and even European nations, are stimulating the economy and bailing out industries in crisis.  Meanwhile ours was little more than a thin lifeline to SME’s, essentially being told to “stick it out” until the end of the COVID crisis.  Issue here is that essentially this has forced our non-subsidized industries to try and compete with subsidized industry at a global level.

The Government has allowed Virgin to go into administration, while New Zealand, USA, China are bailing out their airlines.  There has been little support to the individual (apart seniors) and some sort of support for medium to small business.  Homeowners can have a reprieve to loan repayments (but interest rates are still applicable).

And as I mentioned in previous blog, the latest foray for the AUS Government is to develop a ‘big brother’ tracking app, which I feel is unnecessary unless we are going to track Influenza as well this winter?

It is during crisis that true leadership is born, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.  Chaos, uncertainty, pain, and trial – those are the breeding grounds for leaders to step forth into the sun and lead their team to victory.  With very few examples, I do not believe we are seeing this at a global level.

So, I feel it is up to us.  We need to take the reins and at least lead from our level.  Whilst we may not be able to influence governments or economies (individually at least) we can ensure to grow and make the most we can from opportunity.

We can sit around complaining about the economy falling apart, or that we just lost our job; Or that the government isn’t putting enough free money in our bank account…

OR – we could become the leader. The leader that deep down you knew you were born to be.  This is a massive opportunity for you to transform. I mean, think about it…

Coal isn’t turned into a diamond by curling up with a blanket & Netflix.  It needs tremendous pressure.

 So, ask yourself every single day: Am I becoming the kind of leader that my team, my family, my co-workers, my employees, my supervisor, my spouse, my kids, need?

And if the answer is no, it’s time to step up. This is your moment. It’s time to prepare for battle.

Ten years from now, you’re either going to look back and say, “Wow, I wasted that recession playing the victim.” Or you’re going to look back and say, “Thank God, for that opportunity. I’m glad I stepped up.”

You got this!

Happy Investing all and have a great weekend!!

G’day all!

As another month slides away, here in Australia, our Anzac Day has come and gone, and an ‘unusual affair’ this year… No dawn services could be attended, no march to the memorials.  The Last Post playing through people’s radio’s and telly’s at 6:00am as some of us stood in our driveways or back yards…

I am confident that this will not be the last curve ball thrown at us this year due to the pandemic, but we are a resilient lot, rolling with the punches in general.

With some light at the end of the tunnel here in Australia, some states are starting to plan release of restrictions, with Australia and New Zealand as a whole, showing very low infection and mortality rates compared to a number of other countries.

The US however, are seeing very high rates, but still are looking to also release some restrictions in some states.  Generally, their political landscape is different, very state based, so as much as Donald would like to control it, the Governors of each state will do what they like anyway

Without being a conspiracy theorist though, I also believe that the ‘Big Oil’ companies will be lobbying HARD to congress to have the lockdown released so as to increase the demand for oil again.  These huge companies will be losing Billions of dollars a day with the oil price plummeting due to no demand. And volume levels are quickly exceeding storage capacities.

There is a real dichotomy within the US markets currently, with unemployment numbers at almost Great Depression levels, markets are still rising.  This could be due primarily to the size of the stimulus that the US is getting…

Examples are that most on unemployment are now receiving benefits exceeding their normal pay… Airlines have been given free grants and have been saved.

One major concern is that when the Coronavirus ends, the US will begin search for a culprit (in fact this has started already) and it has already the guilty actor, China.

The current pandemic to date, has costed the US more lives than Pearl Harbour and 9/11 put together. We all know how the other two ended; Pearl Harbor was the justification for the US entry into WWII; the events of 9/11 provoked the Iraq war, mayhaps on false pretences (weapon of mass destruction) – so a case could be built on correct premises – a virus lab in Wuhan. China may soon be named the new empire of evil, like USSR back in the 80’s under Reagan…

I feel Trump will also be doing everything in his power to get re-elected and his “China Bashing” will worsen.  Australia will be lucky if we do not get caught up in the fallout of this, being so heavily trade centric with China, and we would do well to use this opportunity to being unravelling this dependence. 

Freydenberg has already received pressure from China to “abandon” the investigation into the pandemic, interested to see how this plays out

Meantime, the AU government has release its tracking App this week.  Once again, I think that Mr Morrison needs to look at his advisors – using the terms ‘government’, ‘tracking’, and ‘app’ in the same sentence is always fraught with danger.

I am nervous though, as our government does not have a great track record on data security either, but I am curious to see how it goes.

In any case, these are strange times indeed.  I’m off to get another bowl of popcorn and watch all this unfold…

You got this!

Happy Investing all and have a great weekend!!

G’day all

Happy Friday and I hope you are all coping in this unsettling times.  Looks like things here in AU are starting to settle which is great to see, and maybe, just maybe, the media will be FORCED to start giving us some good news for a change… 

Here’s to hoping… Maybe can start to visit our cousins across the ‘ditch’ at least hey ☺

But today, I would like to revisit a theme I started last week, kinda unintentionally…

Now, I probably am also dating myself here and possibly a lot of my readers might not even have a clue what I am on about… but here we go…

Remember the old 90’s movie The Matrix?  One of my fav’s I will admit!  Movie will be 21 years old this year…happy birthday to you… but I digress…

Written and directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski (aka The Wachowski Brothers) and produced by Joel Silver, the film was released on March 31, 1999, grossing over $460 million worldwide. It won 4 Academy Awards (as well as others) and is a staple on any sci-fi ‘greatest hits list.’

Now, while the special effects were impressive at the time, what really stands out about the film, even after 21 years, is the lingering suspicion that we’re being controlled by a force…whether a ‘Big Brother’ or HAL or robots… 

And, perhaps more frightening, that most of us would prefer to live in blissful ignorance rather than face the truth of living in a harsh world where we struggle to survive…

Hopefully you remember the plot: Thomas Anderson, a computer programmer by day and hacker called Neo by night, is recruited to join the “real world” by Morpheus, leader of the human resistance against their AI overlords. 

He gives Neo the choice to take a red pill and become part of the resistance or take the blue pill and forget he ever knew there was a real world out there so he can re-join the rest of humanity in serving as an organic power source for the machines.

Neither choice is all that great, especially when the real world involves living on a bedraggled ship, eating gruel, and being chased by “agents” who are out to obliterate the resistance before it can free more minds from the Matrix. 

Neo, of course, takes the red pill and (spoiler alert) becomes the hero.

In general, I believe the film was designed to make us think about free will, fate, the depths of oppression, and the power (and pain) of knowledge.

But this got me to thinking…

What is an authentic life?

Now, we might not have some massive AI all holding us hostage and feeding off our brainwaves (right?  We don’t right…?), BUT, are we holding ourselves hostage?

Is the ‘Big Brother” really ourselves?

Right now in these unsettling times, there are 1001 conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic – some quite amusing to read.  But I guess these sort of crisis’ can get us to thinking “Is there more to this?”

What if it is our own mind, our own limitations that we put on ourselves holding us prisoner?  The lies we tell ourselves, the stories or ‘movie’ we show ourselves again, and again, as to what we are actually capable of…

What if the truth was actually something very different…so much more?

Are we settling for a life because it is comfortable, never trying to attempt anything ‘outside the box’ because we tell ourselves it’s not possible? Or more importantly, society & the media telling us we are not worthy…

Constantly (often unconsciously) taking that blue pill and going back to our blissful ‘norm’ coma…

Like Cypher in the movie, some of us may even try a red pill, fight for a number of days/weeks/months, even years to see what’s possible, fail and reach back for that blue pill driven solace – settling back to what’s comfortable, what’s easy…

How many have actually taken the red pill, fought for their independence, their freedom whether it be financial, emotional, spiritual or physical?

Who wants to be the Neo’s of the world and fight to win their right to choose, their right for freedom?

Or more importantly, the Morpheus’ who help others wake up to what’s possible, and provide the red pill and the help & support to win…

Our world needs more Neo’s and Morpheus’ so why no choose team red?  

Rise up with me and let’s see what difference we can make.

You got this!

Happy Investing all and have a great weekend!!