Popiah and the Psychology of Paper Profit

There was a gathering coming up and it was decided we were all going to DIY and make popiah (chinese spring roll).

As 5 out of 6 people in the group were retired or in between jobs, given the social atmosphere of austerity and belt tightening, we had a budget drawn up. I was tasked with the enviable responsibility of getting the popiah skin.

With a price cap of $10 in mind (actually also in reality), I went about the co-op supermarket on my CSI popiah skin hunt. There were a few familiar brands and one popular (popiahlar?) one was going for just under the budget at 9.50. Thinking it was just 5 minutes into the hunt, surely I need to do more due diligence. Plus I would look even better in front of my jobless banker and auditor friends if I hit a  lower price.

After a few more encounters exceeding budget, I walked over to the next supermarket few blocks away. A ha! Same brand and cheaper by 50 cents! But... Seems like the expiry date was near. So I sheepishly went back to the co-op for the 9.50 branded one. Then I thought again, hey, we are having the gathering three days away, and it would most certainly still be within the month of expiry. Gloating with my realization, I trekked over back to the 9.00 skin supermarket just...

To realise the last pack had already been bought. Darn! Could have...would have...should have... Yet I still felt sore that I simply couldn't bear to pay 50 cents more.

Taken from Investorglossary.com:

"A paper profit is a unrealized gain on a security or asset. For example, suppose 10 shares of Acme stock are bought at $8 and two months later the stock is selling at $12. The paper profit is (10X12)-(10X8), or $40. If the stock was sold, the paper profit would become a realized profit. A paper profit is just that - a profit on paper only - and should never be confused with a tangible gain. First, a paper profit is usually reduced significantly by both taxes and transaction costs upon realization. Moreover, a paper profit can become an important psychological obstacle to successful investing. Suppose Acme falls back to $10 and part of the paper profit disappears. Some investors will find it hard to sell the shares until they climb back to $12 and the full paper profit re-emerges. In this way, an historical paper profit can make an investor hold a stock too long and forego better investment opportunities."

Indeed, the same can be said of property.

Well, I guess I had nothing much to shout about to my popiah friends then.

Passe is the new Posse

The steamboat is a traditional old fashioned 'must have' for every Chinese New Year reunion dinner. Piping hot broth cooked to perfection with pork bones (and MSG if you are having it outside). You then dump raw veges and yam in it while cooking your own servings of meat, fish, quail eggs or whatever you fancy in a netted ladle dipping it in to the bubbling soup.

That was the classic way, and rarely eaten outside of reunion gatherings. There then was a period in time when fish head steamboat became popular. This was where fish head and sliced fish formed the main dish to be cooked in the steamboat. Recent years have seen a resurgence of the steamboat. I am not sure if our candid and friendly migrant workers from China had anything to do with it - since they were the main patrons of steamboat eateries sprouting up along Geylang and Chinatown - but the young and happening don't call today's versions 'steamboat'anymore. They go by import sounding names like Shabu Shabu and Korean hotpot. Many even offer a choice of soup in 'yuan yang' (yin yang?) settings, where a pot is split into halves, each having different broths. So now those allergic to seafood or intolerant of spicy tom yam (like me) can enjoy the meal with other so called more normal friends.

Balestier has always been known as a diverse and culturally rich, yet poorer cousin of Novena. Light shops, seedy budget hotels and good food abound, with a splattering of beautiful conservation shophouses and terraces here and there. With the new Zhong Shan Park and branded business class hotels under construction, interest has been returning to this vicinity the past year. Both pure residential and mixed commercial projects proved to be hot cakes. One Dusun was sold out in a mere 2 days (http://sg-realestate-sg.blogspot.sg/2012/08/another-successful-launch-one-dusun.html). And shoeboxes have even been pushing 2000psf lately. We are going to see a gradual rejuvenation of the entire stretch with new projects topping out along nicely. Finally, the old dame has awoken with a whole new dress, and we might not even be seeing her full potential just yet.