Wednesday, December 31, 2008

2009 - Happy New Year from ME

2008 has been a rather memorable and at the same time turbulent one. The biggest story of the year was the announcement of Microsoft's intent to acquire Yahoo. It would had been a great deal for Yahoo's shareholders but instead the offer was turned down with Yahoo deciding to go on their own. 

It didnt take too long before the Yahoo guys realised that they had rejected a deal that they will kick themselves forever. The financial crisis that had started in the mid of 2008 had almost turned any potential deals down the drain. Lehman's sudden demise had sent the global financial market into total chaos with Iceland, Belarus and Ukraine crawling to IMF for financial support. 

More than 19 US banks had collapsed since the beginning of the financial crisis with the US government having to step in to save AIG and recently approved an astronomical $700 billion to bail out troubled financial institutions so as to prevent further meltdown. Even the top 3 largest auto manufacturers in the US are forced to seek financial support from the government with the initial request being turned down at the House of Senate. 

2009 will surely be a difficult year as we now have to face the effect of the aftermath. None of us could predict the outcome of 2009 but one thing for sure, we will definitely head into 2009 with lots of optimism and just like in any bad times, they are going to be alot of losers among us and at the same time, they are going to be winners too. The trick is not to stay sideline and wait for recovery but to continue looking for what works regardless of whether its good or bad times. 

Happy New Year to all of us and may your coming year be nothing short of great. I wish you all the best and I would like to end the year with a special new year video clip below from Apple below. 

1 comment:

Robert Foo said...

Hi son,

Happy New Year. Groomy or not, dad just turned 35 today at heart. As long as our mind are strong, nothing is going to pull us down. For every weakness, there is always an opportunity. Look for them and make the best out of this 2009. Best of luck son.