So far so good edition
Well, into week two of school closures and fingers crossed, it seems things aren’t as bad as they could be. Let’s hope it continues that way!
The weather has been pretty miserable though. Quite unusual for Sendai. I feel like I’m back in the UK.
This week’s links
- I am far too lazy to do this: How To Make Lots Of Money During The Next Downturn
- PSA for employees (and employers): What You Should Do When Your Employer Tells You “Don’t Come to Work” In Japan (because of the coronavirus)
- No need for that: Corona Panic
- Very interesting read: China’s cases of Covid-19 are finally declining. A WHO expert explains why
- Thought this was well written: The Impact of Coronavirus: People, Economy & Your Portfolio
- Clever: Death, Taxes, and Three Other Inevitable Things
- MMM on CV: Lessons in Fear and Wealth from the Coronavirus
- I am actually too scared to do this (but should): The Pantry Project
- Indeed. Seems much more serious: Why don’t we treat the climate crisis with the same urgency as coronavirus?
- This map made by a Korean student in Kyushu, is incredible: Coromap
- Hand-washing is Japan’s superpower: Advice Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated to Be Effective
- Nice read. Entrepreneurship and sensible investing for the win: The get rich portfolio
- Haven’t touched my investments, not planning to: No sweat
- I’ve glimpsed this but not experienced it: Secular monks
- I’m pretty much 100% in stocks: Can You Handle 100% of Your Money in Stocks During a Correction?
- Just realised this is what RetireJapan is: Social entrepreneurship
- Word. How to Get Wealthy (Over Time)
What do you think? Sorry there is so much coronacrap in this week’s edition. Next week’s Monday Read will have no corona articles, I promise 😉
Anything good in there?
This week’s books
- The Ride of a Lifetime, by Robert Iger. The Disney CEO managed to write a really readable book about his career and ideas about management. About two pages in I confirmed my suspicion that I want nothing to do with that kind of job, but it is a great and very interesting read.
- A Walk Through Hell, by Garth Ennis. The writer behind Preacher and The Boys brings us another very disturbing, extremly violent comic. It has very mixed reviews on Amazon, but it’s probably the best thing I’ve read from Ennis, and it made a deep impression. Don’t go near it unless you like this genre though.
I would take #2 with a rather large grain of salt. The author has based the article on an article published in Japanese (https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/konnoharuki/20200223-00164282/) and added very liberally to it.
For example, after correctly observing that companies are legally obliged to pay 60% of salaries if they shut, the author goes on to add that:
“You have the right to demand that your employer pay 100 percent of your missed salary since it was not your fault that you could not work. ”
If the company complies with its legal obligation to pay 60%, what is a complaint to the labor standards office expected to achieve?
Of course you have the right to demand 100 percent. Hell, you have the right to demand 200 percent and a parade down Midosuji. Doesn’t mean you’re going to get it though.
I’m with you regarding #13 and #17, haven’t changed a thing. As for #15, I’m not fully in stocks anymore, although I didn’t do anything during previous downturns. And I agree with you, #10 is truly impressive.
I’ve been more bonds then stocks for a bit now. Easy on my blood pressure I find and the returns have been decent. But now that we’re going to have low interest rates all over, I’m rethinking what the balance is. I think real estate (reits) could be very attractive and I have some on my buy list. Gold may become more valuable. Cash.
I have a fundamental issue that the central banks have depressed interest rates which has punished savers and encouraged them to put their money into the market. Investing is hard. And while the market generally goes up over time, people’s actual performance usually lags far behind the market as we buy and sell at the wrong time.
I can remember when I actually got 5% from my savings. I can’t imagine a time in the future where this happens again.
Hope everyone’s fairing well as can be both mentally and physically. This sell off is stunning.
I’m in a prefecture with a still small number of CV cases but since it’s been spreading so long I’m sure we’ll see a big jump at some point not too far in the future. I can’t imagine that the half-hearted testing and school closings are having a big effect on spread. My question is, what are people thinking in terms of when to start strict social distancing? I don’t have the option of working from home.
Since the end of Feb I’ve been basically at home, at work, or at a supermarket. Haven’t really done anything else. More handwashing, don’t go on public transport (cycle, walk, or drive everywhere), don’t eat out, cancelled all trips, work is disinfecting everything, good excuse not to visit the in-laws (who are in their 80s) 😉
Reckon that’s as much as I can do. Given that they aren’t testing people who aren’t emergencies, I doubt I’ll ever know if I had it or not, so not expecting to self-quarantine or anything similar.
The number of cases reported in Tokyo seem suspiciously low. With my daughter returning to Hosei from the states on Friday, how concerned should I be. Keep in mind, it seems that, at this point, we are worse off here in the states.
I would prefer to be in Japan than the US during the next couple of months.
Ben, That was kind of my thinking as well.