Algo-trading

Comsec, along with ETrade are Australia's leading consumer-based ASX-trading portals. From what I can see both of these web sites provide homogenous services: up-to-date prices, market depth, market aggregatges, company information, trading (at lower cost to the institutional banks like Goldman Sachs JBWere where I work), and research.

Throughout the investment banks, increasingly, the trades that are conducted on the market are driven automatically through algorithms (e.g. algo-trading). Algo-trading is extremely efficient and methodical - business / trading rules (algorithms) are defined and executed whenever satisfied - all emotion / psychology is removed. So, I was thinking today - why can't the ASX day-trader define and execute algorithmic trading?

What would this entail? well, market events need to be accessed at real time, and based on these events (and the rules that have been defined), orders executed accordingly. The aim - speed of decision, and limited risk. With such a service, day trading could indeed be automated (i.e. through the execution of algorithmic trading rules). Unfortunately, both Comsec and ETrade both don't seem to offer access to market events real time (base versions). I will conduct a mini-investigation over the weekend at the advanced versions and review.

Maybe a good business idea?

North Melbourne

As promised, here are photos of the townhouse, I (with the bank) are now a home owner of.

North Melbourne Townhouse

No surprise, I am a HUGE fan of North Melbourne and my townhouse. Some little facts:

• 187 Abbotsford Street, is in fact the storage shed of one of Melbourne's last tramhouses (the façade at the entrance is the only remaining part of the structure). Tramhouses provided the power for Melbourne's cable tram system at the turn of the 20th century.

• The median price of a house in North Melbourne is 545000; the population is just over 9000 people, 42% are aged between 18-35

• Only 10% of people living in North Melbourne are owner-occupiers (so a very transient population), 40% are professionals, and the top 10% of income earners are above the national average

• And as an aside, it also has an above average crime rate - 337 incidents per 1000 people, so I guess I have a 1-in-3 chance of being robbed!

It is an interesting little suburb, somewhere between the grunge popularity of Richmond and the industrial inner-city, but expensive South Melbourne. And Errol Street, North Melbourne is fantastic - it appears every week a new cafe is opening - to cater for the inner city urbanite. Anyway, I have only lived here now for 5 months, so I will report back once I have been here for a little longer.

Kate moved in!

Yes, a BIG day - but my better half? today moved into my little townhouse - hopefully a whole new adventure awaits!

I am a home owner!

Well life has a way of sometimes becoming v.busy and once again after an Internet hiatus I am online again at home - what this time?

Well, I finally have taken the plunge and bought into the Australian dream buying a little townhouse in North Melbourne, Melbourne (photos to follow)!

And now online!

I have finally moved into a new townhouse in North Melbourne, Melbourne. I now have Internet access again at home (after a 3-month hiatus) so should be able to write an odd post or two again now!

In Melbourne again

Well, it has now been a week back in Melbourne, Australia. What can I say?

Firstly, flying international business class (Austrian Airlines) was phenomenal! worth every cent, something I would definitely recommend to do. The food was restaurant-worthy, the air hostess service exemplary, and the little touches (e.g. chair that massages) made the difference. Never felt so good coming off a 24 hour flight in my life.

Ok, I digress, back to Melbourne. Well it feels like I have never left! Firstly, it is summer, so I have revelled in the 30+ degree days (especially, since I have been on holiday); I have been slowly catching up with friends and have just been blown away by the food - unbelievably cheap and good; and can't comprehend how there are so many people in the city (I think I am a little overwhelmed after being in little Zurich for the last year).

Anyway, I am going out today with my camera so hopefully I will take some nice photos and put them on the Internet.

Bye, bye Switzerland ... for now

Well the 7-month journey is over.

Zurichsee; from Munsterbrucke (just outside where I lived)
tourist's view; uploaded by Dreamer7112.

I will miss:

• church bells on Saturday / Sunday; quite loud, mildly annoying (when hung over), and bizarrely, cheerful (or, at the very least ironically pleasing)
• cycling for 5 minutes and being outside Zurich and in the hills / alps of Switzerland; want a thrill? - ride 70km/hour down a Swiss mountain - big fun!
  
• smell of farms; my Mum was brought up on a Swiss farm - and when I visited Switzerland when I was a child I often visited both my grandparents and eldest Aunt's farms
• travelling; especially on trains to most of Europe!
  
• Swiss chocolate (stereotype - I know; but it really is good)
  
• the friends I have made here; in particular Josh, Ivan, Adrian, Nabs (from work); Yan Yan (my only Aussie mate); Jo, Dan (poms from Zurich); and Sibs, Martijn (my housemates!)
  
• the Swiss family; in particular Aunty Hedy and my cousin Marco; while I am a single child - Marco is the closest thing to a brother I have - the favour will be repaid if they ever make it to Australia!
  

I will not miss:

• ambiguity of pedestrian crossings; typical behaviour is for vehicles to accelerate whenever pedestrian is seen; this 'playing chicken' I prefer not to face when I am ambulating through Switzerland's cities
• UBS, Opfikon cafeteria food; while not awful - there were definitely some 'lowlights'; very similar to college food at University of Melbourne, except now you had to pay for it (and it is not cheap)
  
• all beef being ridiculously expensive and in general, Swiss food is pretty average (when compared to Australia)
  

And the question will I ever live OS again? definitely!

Last day at UBS

Yes, I complete my 6-month stint at UBS today. I am extremely appreciative of the opportunity that UBS provided me to move to Zurich, Switzerland and to work in the HR GCB department. I have learnt a lot. In particular, I have come across some of the core challenges being experienced by the IT departments of large organisations, such as:

• engendering a particular culture
• incorporating design, development, and architectural standards
• maintaining (and enhancing) legacy applications
• onshore / offshore consulting
• organisation hierarchies

A very rewarding experience, hopefully I will stay in contact with some of the fellow work mates I have met at UBS (and the progress they make!!).

PS: I must admit though, I will look forward to using a US keyboard again; the non-alphabetic characters, at times, are difficult to find on the ol' Swiss keyboard :)

World Cup close out

Triggered by an article in the SMH today, it lists two of Australia's World Cup games as the greatest (Australian) sporting moments of 2006.

So, I just thought I would wrap up my own thoughts of the World Cup that I attended earlier this year. Well, as a 2-week holiday, one couldn't ask for more - travelled very happily with my good mate Simon, I was able to see a lot of Germany (with highlights being Berlin / Leipzig), have never felt so Australian before than when we qualified, and post group games - got to spend 1 week holiday in Switzerland, just sitting around and watching soccer each day with my cousin Marco (bringing back childhood memories of 1982).

In terms of the games - Germany's run was fascinating (how do they do it every World Cup!!?), it was good to see Brazil beaten, and despite the last result, France was the team of the tournament in my eyes (the victory against Spain in particular was probably the best game of the tournament as they came from 1-0 down). Of course, it is history now that Italy won in controversial fashion, but well, the key to soccer as a spectator sport is that it is dramatic!

And just for posterity, the entire 14 day journey is here :)

No longer nerdy?

Yes, today I found out that Time magazine's 'Person of the Year' is all of us (basically anyone who has an Internet profile). A truly interesting article:

Time: Person of the Year

Time: Power to the People

All v.interesting, and now I am off to create a YouTube video :)

Working in Switzerland during the Christmas period ...

Well, a definite perk; each day I turn up for work, there is another collection of chocolates at my desk. A great mid-morning snack :)

Why Apple computers are better ...

This is a great innovative story of a software product for Macbooks:

http://www.orbicule.com/undercover/recovery.html

Internet ~ Big Brother

Going somewhere? tools for travel research ...

I recently have had some thought into planning my next holiday ... after all it has been 2 months! I was thinking that I may visit India. In doing some research on the Intrepid site (the best travel company in the world and based in Melbourne) I observed that there was a number of trips around India, but which direction to head (assuming only a 2-week hiatus). So interestingly, I asked a number of my work colleagues (who are from India) - straight away there were 2 key words: Rajasthan (the area) and Jaisalmer (the city), but how to find out more?

Well, these immediately were the resources I used:

Intrepid; for trip reviews, trip types, and maps of the general area
FlickR; for photos of the area; what other tourists are seeing; and a general snapshot of the scenery; here are some photos, it looks awesome
Wikipedia; to find out some demographics of the area; climate, economy, etc.

Now I just need to schedule some leave and find a travel buddy ;)

Corporate blogging

It has been described by a number of analysts that this would happen and this is the first corporate blog that I have come across in Australia - from pureprofile. Pureprofile is an Internet subsidiary of the Australia Post which essentially acts as a distributed market research tool. I enrolled a number of years ago. It works on a model where an individual defines a profile and then companies interested in market research will target questionnaires, web sites, promotional material etc. to the individual. For this, I receive a nominal financial reward. So why am I enrolled in this? well it provides an Internet based sms-based service. In answering a questionnaire every now and then I am able to get free Internet (and therefore I can type) sms'. V.handy from work.

I digress. The pureprofile blog is advertised on its homepage and is quite interesting; somewhat conversational (talking about the book Freakonomics atm), it also has insight into the development and marketing process of the pureprofile product (as it should being representative of the company). While I am probably interested from seeing it as an Internet business-model (I wonder if it will ever split from Australia Post), I must admit I am quite impressed, and from reading it I definitely feel some brand loyalty to the company. And I really like how proud they are of the what they have created. The first corporate blog I have read from Australia and a good one too :)

Its the lead-up to Christmas!

Rennweg - Decorated for Christmas
Originally uploaded by markyjones.

I walked the streets of Zurich this afternoon - looking for some roasted chestnuts (of which, I am totally addicted to) and was caught up in the Christmas spirit - whoa! Traditional old European towns really go all out at Christmas, and Zurich is no different - lights everywhere; lots of Christmas trees, and the chocolate stores doing a roaring trade.

Cool.

See the world, find an old-fashioned girl

Funny title, I know! just one of the songs from the album - Gomez 'How We Operate' that I have been listening to.

It rocks! hard to categorise, the sound is mature, diverse and the closest music I can liken it to is Live, but much better ;) see the plethora of 5/5 star reviews on iTunes Australia, and check out its review it is in-depth!

Opportunities for Australia?

The issue of the environment / global warming is starting to re-assert itself on the Australia political radar. I have some interest in this, and tonight, I read the summary of the report on nuclear energy.

The key points were:

• Australia currently is known to have 38% of Uranium reserves; the largest deposit being the Olympic Dam site, currently owned by BHP;
• Nuclear energy is a 'safe' energy source, as can be seen by its implementation in a number of countries, notably, France, Sweden, Hungary, etc. which nuclear energy for more than 33% of energy requirements;
• Australia is an ideal continent (little or no seismic activity) for both nuclear power plants and nuclear waste disposal (e.g. Simpson desert!);
• Greenhouse gases could be reduced by 15-20% with the broad-based implementation of nuclear energy

The Australian government, next year, will reap its third 15+ billion dollar surplus; I contend that this is an ideal opportunity to commission the construction of nuclear energy plants to, provide for both current and future generations. What it requires is just some foresight, vision, and drive. There is a precedent - this occurred in 1949 when Ben Chifley commissioned the Snowy Mountains hydro scheme (Australia's largest renewable energy source) and we all aware of the obvious advantages this brought to Australia (skilled workers, multiculturalism, 3.5% of Australia's energy requirements, etc.). It is a time for change!

And lastly, I read that in France they are going to commission a Nuclear Fusion energy plant - wow, this could be the first wonders of the world in the 21st century!

Time to get online

Ok, I just thought I would say - if you have a land line (telephone) and broadband at home - then you are losing money (no wonder Telstra - T3 listed on the ASX at a premium). Telephony has advanced; moved on.

I recently started using Skype and it is fantastic! With my Macbook Pro (with its in-built video camera), I can have a video conversation (for free) with anyone in the world. Just try it - it truly is an upgrade over voice-voice conversation that one has to pay for over a land line. Indeed, if anyone is contemplating traveling OS and wants to keep in contact with family, friends, etc. set them up with a Skype id.

So, I am lamenting the fact that while Internet communication is the staple here in 'old Europe', in Australia, the uptake of broadband is still poor (in terms of relative population using it, and bandwidth offered). Some of my friends still do not have Internet at home (and indeed only have a work email address - surely this can't be good for productivity!), or are on the lowest bandwidth plans. Seriously, I would not consider anything less than ADSL2, or cable for an Internet connection.

So everybody - get online! and if you get skype - give me a call 'markyjones'. And, it is interesting that if you are truly online all the time (especially with video conversation) then the ol' tracksuit pants and beanie may never get a guernsey ever again!

Quote of the year

I read this recently.

'In 10 years time you'll be the same person you are now, except for the people you meet and the books you read'

I couldn't of said it better myself.

Do I need a car?

I recently read an article from a new blog source I have: the 'Barefoot Investor' who specialises on providing financial advice for those not from the 'grey brigade'. The article was justifying why one would not own a car. I shared similar concerns when I sold my car earlier on this year and actually posted the costs associated with owning a car.

I have not owned a car for the last 6 months, although does it count if you are living in Europe? So what if I was living in Melbourne again? well - this is a thought I have tossed around recently.

It is true, the advantages of owning a car are predominantly subjective: (i) it can be enjoyable to drive (well I enjoyed driving my WRX); (ii) it is convenient (for shopping, etc.); (iii) it can be a part of your identity (status?). But, and this is a BIG but - a car is v.expensive! it does not make sense as an investment - by its nature it depreciates rapidly in the first few years of ownership; there are annual registration and insurance costs, and petrol is so variable - all these costs add up. Moreover, a car is not necessary - you can enjoy other aspects of traveling (e.g. reading in public transport), you can shop frequently (in small amounts) to avoid the need for a car, and even for weekend-getaways you can hire a car! There are also short-term hire car services available in the inner city suburbs of Melbourne - and your carbon footprint is significantly reduced.

So - I have decided - I am going to try not to own a car in the short / medium term. Like it is mentioned in the article - I am going to 'tread my own path' and bugger off status / perception.

Now all I need is that my girlfriend and all my mates to live near me ;)