bleached 'mind' .. 'cleaner' post

have bleached my 'mind' ... so can get a cleaner post, me hope :)

Average 5.8%
... that's how much salary increase likely to be in Malaysia in 2006
quote : The Sun, Mercer Human Resource Consulting
self talk : and how's that supposed to be enough for us (me in particular)
.. no need to eat & yam cha ah? no need to put petrol ah? no need to buy clothes, shoes & 'ban leng leng' ah? no need pay bills meh? no need to ....
consider yourself lucky if you get more than that :)
however, if you are in the following industries, you may get a higher average
power sector : 6.9%
pharmaceutical sector : 6.3%
consumer goods secotr : 5.7% (this one lower abit)

6.25%
the BLR (Base Lending Rate) w.e.f 4/12/2005
previously it was at 6%.
rise in BLR will translate to higher cost of borrowings for consumers with housing & car loans as well as for business. Commercial banks are likely to raise their BLR after BNM's (Bank Negara Malaysia) announcement of hike in OPR (overnight policy rate)
don't ask me what is OPR ... yet to check what's that yet :p
However, deposits with the bank (savings/fixed deposits/any form of deposits) may earn you higher interest rates :)
self talk : had not been saving, so shall make 'saving' one of my resolution for 2006 :p
now me know, one man's meat could be another man's poison..

T+7
.. the new time frame for settlement of share purchases (soon to be implemented, decided 23/12/2005)
previously it was T+3 (meaning transaction date plus 3 trading days)
source : The Sun 24/12/2005
brokers can finance their clients for the period between T+4 and T+7.
It was believed that this will eventually lead to
... higher volume of shares traded when market sentiments improves by wooing retailers back to stock market
... benefitting momentum trader or speculators more
... more contra trading (where traders doesn't pay full cost of shares, just paying for loss or receiving from profit of the trafe)
... better trading volumes

1 second
the time delay for new year day 2006
Source : The Sun 29/12/2005 - Reuters -
23:59 on 31/12/2005 .. we will enjoy a minute with 61 seconds :)
scientist are delaying the start of 2006 by the first "leap second' in 7 years, a timing tweak meant to make up for changes in the Earth's rotation.
how? you ask
By sticking an extra second into atomic clocks worldwide at the stroke of midnight Coordinated Universal Time, the widely adopted international standard (US National Institute of Standards and Technology)
self talk : me try not to blink my eyes. doesn't want to miss this 1 second.