Dear Hillary,
I don’t know how much more of my boyfriend’s hobby I can take! He is a Thai I am
from Australia. I do understand that our culture and upbringing are different, yet
there’s something I really cannot cope with. He’s obsessed with guns and
rifles... in short, everything I despise. We talk about getting married, but that would
mean living with these deadly weapons in my house. We’ve been together for one year
now and I don’t want to throw all that time out the window, but all my complaints to
get rid of those firearms are useless. He won’t compromise. Please help me with some
advice!
No Guns
Dear No Guns,
There’s a big difference between a hobby and an obsession. Hobbies occupy spare time
and energy. Obsessions suck up all a person’s time and energy, leaving little room
for anything else. And unless you share a partner’s obsession, living together is
practically impossible. On top of that, your boyfriend’s particular passion for
"deadly weapons" happens to be one that disgusts you. I highly doubt that you
can stay with a man who not only indulges in a dangerous pastime that you despise but who,
knowing how you feel, will not compromise by keeping his guns and ammo out of the house
you plan on sharing someday. My advice is for you to remember that it’s a lot easier
to throw one year out the window right now, than to throw out 10 years of a mistaken
marriage sometime down the road.
Dear Hillary,
My husband and I have been having a real bad time lately. He has been having affairs and I
had just hit my breaking point one night when a friend of his was over and I got yet
another phone call from one of his girlfriends. His friend was consoling me and one thing
led to another. First we did not make love but we sure did make out, for hours he held me
the way I had wanted my husband to do for so long. At the end we made love and I was ready
to end my marriage that night. What I did that night I did not do to hurt him, I was just
so sick of feeling alone and unwanted. His friend made me feel cared about and wanted
again. Anyway, my husband and I made up again after I confronted him about his newest
girlfriend. He promised to not do the things he was doing anymore and I agreed we would
give it one more try. So far, I haven’t heard from any new or old girlfriend and it
seems that he really stopped seeing them. Now the problem is that his friend is always
around, they work together and also do things together in the evenings. Now guilt is
starting to get to me and I am not sure what to do to get rid of it. Should I tell him
about what I did or should I just let it go and forget it ever happened?
Guilty
Dear Guilty,
First of all, decide if telling him would be better or worse for the effort of your making
things better? Why would you tell him, to clear your conscience or to give him a taste of
what you have been experiencing? If it’s simply a ‘good for the goose, good for
the gander’ reason, best to work through it on your own. Do you feel guilty for
feeling wanted again? You shouldn’t! If you are feeling guilt, you need to know where
the feeling is manifesting. Also, how close a friend is this of your husband? This will
also affect their relationship just as profoundly as it would yours. You can always speak
to this friend of his, also. He provided support to you before, he may be able to again
absence the physicality. In the end, the decision is yours and only you know how your
husband will react. Just take a good look at the big picture and determine where all the
pieces fit and will fit in each scenario. Good Luck to you.
Presented by Bangkok-Pattaya Hospital
by Dr. Iain Corness
Most people have heard of the condition we call Cirrhosis,
and like road accidents, it is a condition that occurs to everyone else, but not to them!
Unfortunately, the incidence of cirrhosis is increasing - so you could be next. Better
read on!
Cirrhosis is a disease process occurring in the liver. This
important organ lies in the upper right side of your tummy, under the lower ribs and is
involved with the removal of toxins from the blood. In this condition, the normal liver
tissue slowly becomes hard and fibrous. After this, the liver swells and stops elimination
of bile producing jaundice, fluid builds up in the legs and belly, bleeding from the bowel
becomes common, followed by a form of encephalitis ending up in death from one of many
diseases or infections. If you get the feeling reading all that lot that Cirrhosis aint
fun, then you’re right!
The commonest cause of Cirrhosis is our old friend C2H5OH,
the chemical symbol for Alcohol. Becoming other important factors in the production of
this liver disease are the persistent viruses Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C. After that
comes chemical toxins and drugs followed by a raft of metabolic disorders and vascular
conditions. But there, at the top of the list, is Alcohol.
Now don’t get me wrong, I like my beer, wine,
champagne and spirits as much as the next person, it is just a sobering thought (nice pun,
eh!) that the stuff can do so much damage.
The liver really is a fabulous organ. It is the only one
which can re-grow if there is an undamaged 20% of it left. Unfortunately, in Cirrhosis,
the fibrotic disease process affects all of the liver and there is not a good 20% left.
So what can we do? The first thing, in my opinion, is to
check your Hepatitis B and C status. If you’ve got these little blighters you can
kiss alcohol goodbye. You are on the wagon. End of story - or it will be then end of your
story! The liver cannot take the booze and the viruses.
If you’re free of Hep B & C, then it is a case of
"sensible" drinking. Medically, we are also recommending AFD’s for
everyone. That’s Alcohol Free Days! I can see some of you getting the shakes already.
What do I drink instead? Try soda water, or orange juice, or lemon squash. Anything other
than alcohol.
You see, by having an AFD you are giving the liver some
"breathing space". You are letting it catch up with its detoxification duties,
and letting it repair itself, while it still has the capacity to do so. Schedule at least
one AFD a week, and your chances of getting Cirrhosis are considerably less! Try it!
By Leslie Wright
What’s a fair price?
A rule of thumb which can be applied to get an approximate
idea of whether a particular stock is over- or under-priced is to add 10 to that
particular market’s prevailing inflation rate, and see how the resulting figure
compares to that stock’s price-to-earnings ratio, or ‘P/E ratio’ for short.
If the two figures are almost the same, it can be said that
the stock is trading at a reasonably fair price.
If significantly higher, the stock - or indeed, the whole
market - may be overheated. That is; too expensive, and perhaps due for a correction.
On the other hand, if the P/E ratio is significantly lower
than inflation +10, then the stock might be regarded as good value, and a potential buy.
Thus a stock which is trading at 16x earnings in the U.S.A.
could be regarded as over-priced and perhaps due for a correction, whilst a stock trading
at 16x in Hong Kong could well be undervalued, and a bargain.
Of course, there are other factors as well. A particular
stock may be undervalued, or it may be lousy value. Before buying any particular stock, a
bit of homework is required.
Spreading the risk
Large international investment houses employ legions of
economists and analysts who spend their whole time sifting through stocks and looking for
fundamental value.
When they find a stock that is undervalued but seems to be
a sound firm with good potential for gain, they will advise the traders or fund managers
to buy it.
It will then become part of an institutional fund’s
holdings, and investors into that particular fund will, in turn, have a small slice of the
underlying stocks.
Sometimes these stocks are quite obscure firms which most
investors would never have heard of - but will often produce a very handsome return for
the fund.
So-called ‘Blue Chips’ are regarded by many as
the "best" stocks to have in an equity portfolio.
Stocks like IBM and Coca-Cola keep chugging away nicely,
making profits and paying dividends year after year, and even having the occasional
stock-split (which can double your holdings overnight.)
They are seen as non-volatile, steady performers.
‘Blue Chips’ are relatively unexciting, however,
for the get-rich-quick speculators.
While it is true that over the long term, stocks outperform
bonds, which outperform cash, a portfolio comprising a few ‘Blue Chips’ in one
or two markets will still be affected by the overall movements of those particular markets
in the short term.
You run the risk of losing money (even if only on paper,
and maybe only for the short term) if that market takes a downturn because of fundamental
economic changes.
After all, the index of a particular market will be made up
of the major players in that market - which are usually the ‘Blue Chip’ stocks!
Direct versus indirect investment
Spreading the risks inherent in stock market trading
requires spreading your investment through more than just a few well-known stocks and in
more than one or two major markets.
Most investors have insufficient capital to do this.
A few thousand dollars would buy just a few shares of just
a few stocks. This is hardly "diversification"!
For most investors, the only way to achieve this is by
pooling their resources with thousands of other investors. This means using collective
investment instruments offered by large financial institutions.
Examples of this method of investing are unit trusts,
mutual funds, and unit-linked insurance policies.
Because of the economy of scale these substantial
institutions can bring to bear on the markets, trading costs normally involved with the
buying & selling of shares are substantially reduced.
The resources behind institutional funds enable
"average" investors to access stocks and the pick of the world’s stock
markets relatively inexpensively and without having to spend the time, effort and money
attempting to research the markets and chasing after fundamental value by themselves.
In addition, using a number of institutional funds allows
individuals to build a more widely diversified portfolio - with therefore less risk - than
if they invested directly into one or even several stock markets.
They can build a highly flexible, globally-diversified
portfolio that suits their needs, wants - and sometimes prejudices - from amongst the
thousands of institutional funds that are available nowadays, and in a cost-effective
manner.
It would take far more capital than most investors have
available to construct a diversified, strategic balance of equity holdings such as can be
acquired with a relatively small investment into a number of institutional funds.
Most investors don’t have the time or access to the
relevant information needed to monitor and manage their portfolios, even if they have the
interest or expertise to do so.
Institutional funds are constantly monitored and actively
managed by experienced professionals who do nothing else. Also, as these people are quite
often the moving forces behind sudden market movements, it makes eminent sense to ride on
their coat-tails.
This reduces your risk of the markets taking a sudden dive
and you being caught unawares until it’s too late. The fund manager will (hopefully!)
already have divested himself of his fund’s holdings in that market, and found good
value elsewhere.
The problem then becomes knowing which funds to select to
access a particular market - but that’s another story.
If you have any comments or queries on this article, or
about other topics concerning investment matters, write to Leslie Wright, c/o Family
Money, Pattaya Mail, or fax him directly on (038) 232522 or e-mail him at [email protected]. Further details and back
articles can be accessed on his firm’s website on www.westminsterthailand.com.
Leslie Wright is Managing Director of Westminster
Portfolio Services (Thailand) Ltd., a firm of independent financial advisors providing
advice to expatriate residents of the Eastern Seaboard on personal financial planning and
international investments.