Las Vegas Doom

Las Vegas has been hit especially hard by the downturn, with visitation levels dropping and spending by those who do come sharply lower. And, amid a glut of new rooms, that has pressured rates and dragged down margins at all the major casino operators.


This might seem that doom is imminent for Las Vegas. But I feel that it's the other way round. Look at Singapore for instance. We had the audacity to open two Integrated Resorts and that we implemented a $100 entrance fee for locals. This just goes to show that we are relying alot on foreigners and most of the spendings in the casino will be mainly made by foreigners which I predict to be at least 80% of the total revenue made by the company.

Nonetheless, this also imply that the business for casinos is far from over. I believe that it will be a V-shape recovery because gambling is an addicition.


Thus, the demand is inelastic in nature. People do not care about the fees or whatsoever so long as they can continue to gamble. The resumption will begin very soon, perhaps even from the next quarter onwards.


The world might be still in a fragile state but a lot of citizens are recovering faster than you can possibly imagine and most of the firms are already picking up speed in their operations.


Soon, spendings will be back and people will go back to gambling and having fun. Of course, there are people who wants to make a killing in this economy because their pay is simply too low to sustain their profligate living style.

When it comes to gambling, it's all in the mind, it's about psychology. If you see people making merry inside the casinos with all the incandescent lightnings and colourful people and decorations. You will definitely be sucked in and enticed by the intense amount of joy people are having inside.


Even if you lose once, you will still go back in again the next time. When you based your decisions on your visceral feelings, your judgement will be skewed.


Now that people are eschewing from the casinos, naturally the world has the impression that it is best to stay away from gambling as it is bad and stuff.


However, when the time comes again, whereby the business start to pick up. The recovery will be faster than you can possibly imagine. Trust me, people will flock into the casinos in an exponential manner.


The key is then to know when will people revisit the casino once again? This will be up to the management of the casinos.


1. Create a huge hype surrounding the casinos with huge decorations and events.


2. Make new cheap offers to entice people to stay in the hotel, this way people will drop by their casinos when they are lazy to go shopping around.


In conclusion, gambling is part and parcel of life. You can easily draw people in if you have the right tools.


Credits -worldgamblerblog, -thetravelpeach

Burberry Prorsum 2010

Burberry

One of my latest craze but the prices of the goods are really exorbitant.

Definitely 4 figures for the coats.

The high 3 figures for the shirts.

The dresses are definitely the high 3 figures and above.

Maybe when I become rich next time, I will stock up on their goods.

The shirt seems very unique, especially at the bottom with the additional straps dangling.

Lots of weaving here and there.

Hell lot of a work load

To die for white jacket

I never really knew burberry can be so puffy.

I thought they were always brownish in colour

Milky trench coat. The cuttings are clean-straight!

Okay that's all.

Do go to their stores to check out more.

Well no harm looking, maybe there will really come a day where you can buy these?

Credits -youtube

Conundrum & Dilemma

Hey guys, good news !!!

I have finally gotten a job but I must say my life is overly-dramatic and that is just an understatement.

Here is why. . .

Day 1 :

Me and Fu Qi went to these 2 companies introduced by 2 different agents for interviews.

Agent A

Salary : $7 per hour
Location: Near my house
Working hours: Shift and OTs

Agent B

Salary: $8 per hour
Location: 30 minutes away from my house
Working hours: Shift and OTs

So, by the end of these 2 interviews, me and fu qi were pretty confident that we got the job at Company B in the bag already because we thought we performed oustandingly during the group interview.

But, I thought of a problem.

That is, what if Company A calls us before Company B tomorrow and demand that we have to sign the contract tomorrow? That will be a major conundrum for us because we want to wait for Company B's reply.


Obviously Company A will not let us do that right? They will push us and demand that we sign it now or it's counted as us giving up the job.

But our concern is that we want the job at Company B but if we reject the one at Company A impulsively, then what if the one at Company B rejects us too?

Won't we be left with all or nothing?

But, Fu Qi told me not to worry about it because such a scenario won't happen and even if it does, we will play by ear.

So, I agreed but deep inside my mind, I was already thinking of a contingency plan myself.

So let's move on to Day 2 which will be mentioned on my next post.















Just Kidding.


Day 2

If there's one word to describe Day 2, it's most apt to use the word "HELL"

Haha, I'm serious, it was seriously hell man.

As expected, what I thought came true.

Agent A called me.

Agent A: Hey Aaron, you got the job!

Me: Oh really? How about Fu Qi?

Agent A: Yeah, you both got it! I need you both to come down to my office now to sign the contract.

Me: Now? But, I'm attending my friend's 21st birthday party. Can it be tomorrow? (I was trying to temporize if you realize hehe)

Agent A: No. It is a must to sign it today, I'm sorry but you will have to come down today.

Me: Hmmmm... Okay I ask Fu Qi.

Hang up.

Calling Fu Qi . . .

Fu Qi: Hello.

Me: Hey, Agent A just called me and he said that we both got the job you know. But he refused to stall the job for us till tomorrow so we have to sign the contract today no matter what.

Fu Qi: Then how about the one with Agent B at $8 per hour?

Me: Still no reply. Never mind, I will call her now. I get back to you again.

Hang Up.

Calling Agent B. . .

Agent B: Hi

Me: Hey, Aaron here. May I know the results of the interview I went for yesterday?

Agent B: Oh, I didn't receive any results till now but the company told me that they will get back to me by today.

Me: Are you serious? But company A has already offered me the job!

Agent B: Oh really? Can you try to delay him for a while more?

Me: But how long do you need me to delay him for? He said that I have to sign the contract by today or the offer is called-off.

Agent B: I think he's just trying to cheat you. He probably can drag it till tomorrow.

Me: Really? How preposterous!

Agent B: Anyway, don't worry. I will go and chase the people now and I will get back to you ASAP okay?

Me: Okay.

Hang up

Calling Agent A. . .

Me: Hey, it's Aaron here, I'm sorry but I really cannot sign the contract by today. Hence, I have decided to pass up the job.

Agent A: Huh but it's just 5 minutes. You can sign and go. Or perhaps you have another job offer? (Wow, he's good)

Me: Haha, okay to be honest with you. I do and she said that she will get back to me by today.

Agent A: Really? But it's already 3pm. I think they already rejected you or something.

Me: (wth? they didn't please) Oh no no, she told me that the HR manager is not around so she can only get back to me later on.

Agent A: Oh but you sure you want to give it up? I mean $7 per hour for A level students is quite high you know?

Me: Yeah, I know but the $8 is far more attractive and I can't possibly ask you to hold it for me can I? It's very selfish. (Inside my mind, I'm thinking if I use this ruse to get him to delay the contract for me).

Agent A: Oh then it's okay, thanks and bye bye.

Me: Damn it why did he hang up.

5 minutes later,

Agent A: Hello, Aaron. I called the manager and told him about your scenario already. He told me that he can drag it for you guys till the end of today, which is around 6pm.

Me: (Haha, I win) Oh thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Thanks.

Hang up.

So, I was waiting and waiting and waiting.

To my dismay, it was already 5:30pm.

30 minutes from the dateline.

I was really apprehensive and panicky at this moment to be honest with you.

I was thinking, do I really have to capitulate and submit myself to the $7 per hour job without waiting for the $8 per hour job's reply?

So it's 5:45pm.

Ring Ring . . .

Agent B: Hello Aaron ? I got a bad news and good news for you.

Me: Oh shit!

Agent B: Haha, don't worry man. The good news is that you got the job. The bad news is that they can only approve Fu Qi this friday because the manager is not around. It's part of their procedures you see.

Me: Oh thank god! You called just in time man.

Agent B: Yes I know, thank god I made it.

Me: Phew!

Okay, end of story.

Dramatic right?

Leave your comments if you like

Sorry for the super long post without any pictures.

Thanks for reading anyway.

Technology Rebounds : Dell

The following day, his counterpart, Dell Chief Executive Michael Dell also spoke of "the beginnings of a refresh cycle," but also noted that it will likely take time and stretch "well into 2011."


As you can see from above, it is almost time to change your processors and PC units in the office. It is time for a whole new set of purchases with the offset of cloud computing and the development of even faster processors.


The correct term is actually retrofit.

With the rise of computer units, many other companies will benefit. An example would be that of Intel. They will be the sole provider of chips as they are the biggest manufacturers of chips in the world and they are also producing processors for the big computer manufacturers as well. So, it might be to time to get yourself packed with Intel stocks. But, the time is not ripe yet.


Why not, you might ask.


Well, the answer links back to the embattled economy we are right now. Most of the citizens are still floundering, trying their best to get a great job to sustain their livelihood. The majority are faced with a gamut of conundrum. They are worried about their utility bills, maintainence fees and the rising cost of consumer products as the economy is recovering.

However, the problem is that the citizens' income is not recovering as fast as the economy and thus, most of them will be left behind.


Hence, we should not be too impatient because alot of enterprises are still contemplating whether to refresh their systems this coming July. For now, most of them believe that they can easily put off another year before they renew their systems because they are still able to deal with the demand with their current systems and that there is no reason for them to incur more costs at this point in time.


Many are still playing on the safe side where they try to use minimal employees to achieve the best results, which is to say they are optimising the effectiveness of their operations with the least costs.

Having to spend an exorbitant amount on renewal would mean overwriting all their savings and earnings thus far. Well, you might say that it is for the long term goal but if no one is doing it right now, then I don't see many reasons to do so.


Furthermore, this might not be a prime time to invest in new units as they are still priced on the higher end. Perhaps, if they wait a while more, with the economies of scale and when the supply far exceeds the demand, they will be able to save a huge amount of money.


All in all, it is imperative that they must renew their systems in order to surpass their peers and to rise above all. This is perhaps a prerogative for the gargantuan corporations.



Credits -marketwatch, -digitalblueglobalfiles, -empiresafe, -istockphoto

WOM against HIV

Advertisements, how many have you seen?

Probably thousands, tens of thousands or even millions to date?

How many of them are actually great in your viewpoint?

Even if they are great, most of them are impertinent.

They merely entice the audience but at the end of the day, they know nothing about the company or what it's trying to promote.

That, however, is useless when it comes to building brand awareness but wouldn't it be better to kill two birds with one stone?

This is the latest advertisements against the malaise disease, HIV.

It is the one virus (insidious in nature) that seems to confound all the medical experts for decades and centuries.

Till today, there is no cure for HIV and millions are dying because of this disease.

As the aphorism goes, "Prevention is better than cure."

But how do you translate this message effective to all?

Well, this new advertisement has just checked out the boxes on the list.

1. Use a condom.

2. Intriguing to use tongue to portay the private part of guys.

3. Word of mouth.

Since the beginning of god knows when, word of mouth is touted as the unbeatable, world-best form of advertising.

Initially it starts with 1 person telling the other.

Then each of time tells 2 more person.

Now 6 people know about it.

And then each of the 6 tells another 3.

And the number just keeps going up exponentially and even it spreads like wildfire.

You can actually predict the number of people who will know within a number of days using the mathematical model known as "Malthusian Growth Model."

You can go read it up on it if you like.

Yeah, so there you have it.

The essence of advertisements lies in the fact that it has the power to spread the message across wildly using the most effective method with the least amount of money spent.

A round of applause for the HIV organisation please.

Impressive

Credits -flickr, -scrapetv

Cognitive Dissonance

That's the most apposite title I can possible find for this post.


Why? You are about to find out.


Let me put forward this situation to you.


Have you been so set on something, that you tell yourself that you are very confident in what you are about to do or what you are about to say?


But after some passing remarks, you realised that maybe I can't do it as I thought. Perhaps all those preparations are not enough!


I'm sure that three days before your presentation, you seem all well prepared. However, on the day itself, after someone labelled the presentation before you (which you thought was exciting) as being lackadaisical and inane, you suddenly become flabbergasted.

You feel really lost and that all the confidence which you once had had been completely obliterated by those remarks.


Well there's a psychological theory named cognitive dissonance.


Human in general feels uneasy where there's dissonance between them and the external environment. And so, to cancel out that uneasiness, they try to synchronize(or make peace) with that environment.

When someone oppose to our original belief, whether weak or strong, it will be weakened for sure. So how much will it be weakened by, that's the question we all want to know right?


Well, it solely depends on your own confidence level and of course your experience in the field. If you are completely sure of your faith, then there's no question that you will pull through it no matter what.


So how do you distinguish between strong and weak faith?


It's pretty flagrant if you ask me. Well you might tell yourself that I truly believe in this, but you can test it out easily.

1. Tell yourself that is it what you think and what you will do no matter what happens? Like really no matter what happens.


2. What evidence do you have to prove? Also, how sure are you that your evidence are concrete and authentic?


Well that's it for now. Test your faith and enjoy your stay here!


Do add your comments if you have your own personal experiences of insecurity to share.


Credits -blogspot, -videojug, -eslpod

Fear Trade

Typically, the prices of gold drop when the price of dollar rises.


They form an inverse relationship between one another.


However, recently, gold has been a rebel!


As we all know, the U.S. dollar is coming up strong recently due to the racheting recovery in the economy. But the problem is, as the U.S. dollar is rallying, the gold prices seem to follow it up at the same time.


This is obviously weird!


First and foremost, why does the price of gold drops when the price of the dollar rises?


Simple, it boils down to the topic of investment. When the price of the dollar rises, people start to invest in the dollar and sell away their gold. Conversely, when the price of the dollar drops, they start to place their bets on gold.


In this case, the price of gold is rising despite the price of the dollar rising is probably due to the fact that people are insecure and unsure about the strength and resillience of the U.S. dollar. There has been a lot of ambiguity in the various industries lately, i.e. housing, consumer products, and banking.

Meaning to say, even though the U.S. dollar is recovering, the investors are not sure how sustainable the recovery actually is. Many feel that it is safer to place their bets on gold because they trust that the U.S. dollar will plummet once again later on.


Why will it plummet you might ask. Well, simply because the financial crisis is not exactly over, the mortgage loans are still piling up and alot of the mortgage are considered to be "underwater" (which means that the value of the house is below that of the mortgage).

At the end of the day, there might be yet another housing crisis and then people will sink into depression again and the U.S. dollar will definitely plummet.


Also, we must realise that countries are openly devaluing their own currencies in an effort to support exports. This is probably one of the industr where they can get huge trade surplus to pay off their debts.


Also, people trust that it is way safer to invest in gold than to invest in the dollar because the Western countries are still incurring up a huge load of debts. If they are not able to clear it in time, they will just keep on accumulating and this is definitely going to hit the U.S. dollar hard.

Nonetheless, if the U.S. dollar continues to rise continuously, the prices of gold will definitely drop. They will eventually diverge for sure and that is a hardcore fact of economics.


But for now, gold is definitely tagging behind the U.S. dollar until the citizens trust that their investment in the U.S. dollar is actually safe.


Credits -hiiraan, -sunshine, -australianmine