A Visit with My Hong Kong Banker

Re: A Visit with My Hong Kong Banker

Jason,

You are reading the right stuff, but as to advice on iinvestments, well, best
get that from a pro, I think we are all amateurs here.

I heard one pro say at least 10% in hard metal, no more than 30%... sounds about
right... but it seems to me the more important asset to own is your own
business. Get that going...

John,

This is definately a coming problem that I would like to be prepared
for. (falling dollar/ fiat money) Although I am just starting out, I
feel that I will have the tools to weather this.

My question is this... can you (or anyone else) please point me to
some articles and books that will help me get a better understanding
of what I can do to begin preparing for this?

Is holding gold or silver a good idea? Real Estate? Other currency
that is on a gold standard?

I guess I need tips and strategies that I can learn about.

I am currently reading the article by Rothbard "What has Government
Done to Our Money." http://www.mises.org/rothbard/rothmoney.pdf

Thanks for the tip by the way.

Jason

--- In spiers@yahoogroups.com, "John Spiers" wrote:
>
> Shall I share another wee story?
>
> I sit with my banker in Hong Kong, and yes, my account has an
investment module attached
> which allows trading in any foreign currency, allows me to hold
currency in any
> denomination, buy gold and store it in Hong Kong Shanghai Banking
Corporation (HSBC)
> vaults, and trade securities on the Hang Seng. Just like any self-
respectiing cab driver in
> Hong Kong would have.
>
> I am pleased to hear this.
>
> Except, she notes, as a US citizen, I may only hold hong kong
dollars, using the ATM and
> write checks. And I can use my atm card to withdraw RMBY out, but
it is RMBY after
> conversion from HK$, Well, heck, I can do that with my Bank of
America ATM in Hong Kong.
>
> It appears the price of having a banking license in USA, HSBC will
not allow US citizens to do
> what they let any other Hong Kong account holder do. I guess the
thinking is if Americans
> can get out of USA currency and invest easily through Hong Kong,
they will.
>
> (Question: is there any US citizen on the list, who is not a dual-
citizen, who has a non-HSBC
> bank account in hong Kong, who is allowed to do all the investment
goodies thru his
> account? I wonder if this is just HSBC policy.)
>
> I expressed consternation over this, and she seemed pleased.
>
> Yes, everyone knows at some point the dollar will get hammered. Of
course, if the Fed cuts
> interest rates later this year to get the republicans re-elected,
the real estate boom will take
> off again for a while, but the crack-up will be all the worse
afterwards. Anything can happen,
> so it's best to be positioned to deal with anything. Putin is
recommending Russian resources
> be sold in rubles, not dollars, so it seems everyone is positioning
themselves for a dollar
> crack-up eventually.
>
> Yet, even though we can see the truck coming down the sidewalk, we
are not allowed to step
> out of the way, as we see with HSBC policy.
>
> On the other hand, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank is allowed to be
the #1 Mortgage
> handler in USA. Extremely few people know this, because rankings
are expressed in
> originations. But whether it's a mortgage banker or mortgage
broker originating the loan,
> they all bundle up the loans and sell them off immediately. These
mind boggling sums are
> handled in the bankground, with HSBC as a major player, When the
dollar gets hammered, a
> foreign company will have quite a bit of control over what happens
to you and me.
>
> Well, gold crossed $720 today, and silver may cross $15.00 today so
those investments still
> seem to offer protection, but the problem is the govt has seized
that asset before, during the
> last big government-caused financial disaster. Sigh.
>
> If things do go bad, happily there will be enough of us to say, "
there is an alternative."
>
> John

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Sim Cards

Re: [spiers] Sim Cards

----- Original Message -----
From: "sourcesf"
To:
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 12:26 AM
Subject: RE: [spiers] Sim Cards


>. As many I'm sure know, cell phones (even or
> especially used phones) are more expensive over there than they are
> here due to the nature of the cost structure differences for phone and
> service. Because of the differences in price, you would be better off
> buying a used phone here in the US (in other words, you can find a good
> quality used phone very cheap here). The used phone I bought over
> there had problems and I didn't have much recourse with the vendor I
> purchased the phone from.
>
> Victor

Now THERE, is a possible import-export opportunity, finding used cell phones
in the US to sell to parts of the world. Many people in the US are now
throwing their old contract cell phones in the garbage. Using the model of
finding and reselling used Levi 501s from years past, this might be very
lucrative. We would need a network of buyers in the US educated on what
constitutes an appropriate phone, and outlets and/or distribution systems in
the appropriate countries. A high value, low weight product, you can get for
practically nothing due to the rip off practices of US cell companies, and
resell in countries eager for good phones at a lower price.

What are the trade obstacles? Is the price differential enough to make this
opportunity pencil?

Who wants to play? Is there an interest here in developing a network to
become the big player in this market. I would be interested in
finding/recruiting used cell phones in Idaho, eastern Washington, western
Montana. (John, I hope my question does not constitute an offer, just
interested in helping form a supply network).

Victor can you give examples of the price spread we may be looking at, in
order to make the business model work?

Malcolm

Besides the obvious distribution systems, internet and ebay possibility
exist, of course.

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Sim Cards

RE: [spiers] Sim Cards

Thank you, Dave. I think that explains why. I looked up online to find out what
bands the phone that I brought to China has. It turned out that it's only a
dual band phone (900/1800). But I've since updated my phone to a phone with
four bands (850/900/1800/1900 and EDGE). I don't understand the terminology,
but I hope this time my phone will work with a Chinese sim card when i travel
to China in a couple of days.
Lily

--- dave toland wrote:

> Yes, you do need the right GSM band phone for the
> country of use. Here is a listing of the bands used
> by different countries:
>
> http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/index.shtml
>
> Here is an explanation of band usage:
>
> http://www.thetravelinsider.com/roadwarriorcontent/quadbandphones.htm
>
>
> --- sourcesf wrote:
>
> > I have several friends who have unlocked their
> > phones and successfully
> > used them with new sim cards. The only bad
> > experience I had over there
> > was one time I tried to unlock an AT&T cell phone
> > (before they became
> > part of Cingular) and they said it was impossible to
> > truly unlock AT&T
> > carrier phones. Other than that, I've never heard
> > of any other issues
> > at all.
> >
> > If your phone doesn't work there, then the first
> > thing that comes to
> > mind that I would ask is whether the phone you used
> > is a tri-band phone
> > (supports 900/1800/1900 MHz bands). If the phone
> > doesn't support the
> > band of the country then it won't work regardless of
> > whether it's
> > unlocked.
> >
> >
> > So, hopefully there's a cell phone expert out there
> > in our group who
> > can give their definitive two cents on the matter.
> >
> > It's no fun to find out (when you're already in your
> > destination) that
> > something won't work. By the way, the time I
> > brought my AT&T phone to
> > China and couldn't get it unlocked I ended up buying
> > a second hand
> > phone for convenience. As many I'm sure know, cell
> > phones (even or
> > especially used phones) are more expensive over
> > there than they are
> > here due to the nature of the cost structure
> > differences for phone and
> > service. Because of the differences in price, you
> > would be better off
> > buying a used phone here in the US (in other words,
> > you can find a good
> > quality used phone very cheap here). The used phone
> > I bought over
> > there had problems and I didn't have much recourse
> > with the vendor I
> > purchased the phone from. All in all, it ended up
> > being more
> > troublesome than a convenience. Therefore, the next
> > time I just
> > brought a nice working phone with me from the US and
> > unlocked it when I
> > got there. Problem solved.
> >
> > Victor
> >
> >
> > --- Lily Yuan wrote:
> >
> > > I paid to unlock my phone, and then tried to use
> > the phone in China
> > > with a new
> > > sim card. NO, it didn't work. The sim card worked
> > in my Chinese
> > > friend's
> > > cellphone. I think the American wireless phone
> > companies must have
> > > put a
> > > special code in the phones so that you can't just
> > switch out a sim
> > > card to use
> > > the phone....
> > > Lily
> > >
> > > --- LINDA HALL wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hi,
> > > > I just returned from 3 weeks in China and tried
> > to get a new sim
> > > card to cut
> > > > phone expences while there. The store put one
> > in and it was locked
> > > and
> > > > needed a password to unlock it. So I couldnt do
> > it.
> > > > So checkout Skype, it works great, and sound it
> > great.
> > > >
> > > > Linda Hall
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Compete on Design!
> > > >
> > > > www.johnspiers.com

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Sim Cards

RE: [spiers] Sim Cards

Yes, you do need the right GSM band phone for the
country of use. Here is a listing of the bands used
by different countries:

http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/index.shtml

Here is an explanation of band usage:

http://www.thetravelinsider.com/roadwarriorcontent/quadbandphones.htm


--- sourcesf wrote:

> I have several friends who have unlocked their
> phones and successfully
> used them with new sim cards. The only bad
> experience I had over there
> was one time I tried to unlock an AT&T cell phone
> (before they became
> part of Cingular) and they said it was impossible to
> truly unlock AT&T
> carrier phones. Other than that, I've never heard
> of any other issues
> at all.
>
> If your phone doesn't work there, then the first
> thing that comes to
> mind that I would ask is whether the phone you used
> is a tri-band phone
> (supports 900/1800/1900 MHz bands). If the phone
> doesn't support the
> band of the country then it won't work regardless of
> whether it's
> unlocked.
>
>
> So, hopefully there's a cell phone expert out there
> in our group who
> can give their definitive two cents on the matter.
>
> It's no fun to find out (when you're already in your
> destination) that
> something won't work. By the way, the time I
> brought my AT&T phone to
> China and couldn't get it unlocked I ended up buying
> a second hand
> phone for convenience. As many I'm sure know, cell
> phones (even or
> especially used phones) are more expensive over
> there than they are
> here due to the nature of the cost structure
> differences for phone and
> service. Because of the differences in price, you
> would be better off
> buying a used phone here in the US (in other words,
> you can find a good
> quality used phone very cheap here). The used phone
> I bought over
> there had problems and I didn't have much recourse
> with the vendor I
> purchased the phone from. All in all, it ended up
> being more
> troublesome than a convenience. Therefore, the next
> time I just
> brought a nice working phone with me from the US and
> unlocked it when I
> got there. Problem solved.
>
> Victor
>
>
> --- Lily Yuan wrote:
>
> > I paid to unlock my phone, and then tried to use
> the phone in China
> > with a new
> > sim card. NO, it didn't work. The sim card worked
> in my Chinese
> > friend's
> > cellphone. I think the American wireless phone
> companies must have
> > put a
> > special code in the phones so that you can't just
> switch out a sim
> > card to use
> > the phone....
> > Lily
> >
> > --- LINDA HALL wrote:
> >
> > > Hi,
> > > I just returned from 3 weeks in China and tried
> to get a new sim
> > card to cut
> > > phone expences while there. The store put one
> in and it was locked
> > and
> > > needed a password to unlock it. So I couldnt do
> it.
> > > So checkout Skype, it works great, and sound it
> great.
> > >
> > > Linda Hall
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Compete on Design!
> > >
> > > www.johnspiers.com

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Sim Cards

RE: [spiers] Sim Cards

I have several friends who have unlocked their phones and successfully
used them with new sim cards. The only bad experience I had over there
was one time I tried to unlock an AT&T cell phone (before they became
part of Cingular) and they said it was impossible to truly unlock AT&T
carrier phones. Other than that, I've never heard of any other issues
at all.

If your phone doesn't work there, then the first thing that comes to
mind that I would ask is whether the phone you used is a tri-band phone
(supports 900/1800/1900 MHz bands). If the phone doesn't support the
band of the country then it won't work regardless of whether it's
unlocked.


So, hopefully there's a cell phone expert out there in our group who
can give their definitive two cents on the matter.

It's no fun to find out (when you're already in your destination) that
something won't work. By the way, the time I brought my AT&T phone to
China and couldn't get it unlocked I ended up buying a second hand
phone for convenience. As many I'm sure know, cell phones (even or
especially used phones) are more expensive over there than they are
here due to the nature of the cost structure differences for phone and
service. Because of the differences in price, you would be better off
buying a used phone here in the US (in other words, you can find a good
quality used phone very cheap here). The used phone I bought over
there had problems and I didn't have much recourse with the vendor I
purchased the phone from. All in all, it ended up being more
troublesome than a convenience. Therefore, the next time I just
brought a nice working phone with me from the US and unlocked it when I
got there. Problem solved.

Victor


--- Lily Yuan wrote:

> I paid to unlock my phone, and then tried to use the phone in China
> with a new
> sim card. NO, it didn't work. The sim card worked in my Chinese
> friend's
> cellphone. I think the American wireless phone companies must have
> put a
> special code in the phones so that you can't just switch out a sim
> card to use
> the phone....
> Lily
>
> --- LINDA HALL wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> > I just returned from 3 weeks in China and tried to get a new sim
> card to cut
> > phone expences while there. The store put one in and it was locked
> and
> > needed a password to unlock it. So I couldnt do it.
> > So checkout Skype, it works great, and sound it great.
> >
> > Linda Hall
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Compete on Design!
> >
> > www.johnspiers.com

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Sim Cards

Re: [spiers] Sim Cards

Go to ebay; search for "unlock cell phone". You will find vendors who will
unlock your phone for about $5. Pretty simple.


----- Original Message -----
From: Lily Yuan
To: spiers@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 1:19 PM
Subject: RE: [spiers] Sim Cards


I paid to unlock my phone, and then tried to use the phone in China with a new
sim card. NO, it didn't work. The sim card worked in my Chinese friend's
cellphone. I think the American wireless phone companies must have put a
special code in the phones so that you can't just switch out a sim card to use
the phone....
Lily

--- LINDA HALL wrote:

> Hi,
> I just returned from 3 weeks in China and tried to get a new sim card to cut
> phone expences while there. The store put one in and it was locked and
> needed a password to unlock it. So I couldnt do it.
> So checkout Skype, it works great, and sound it great.
>
> Linda Hall
>
>
>
>
> Compete on Design!
>
> www.johnspiers.com

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Sim Cards

RE: [spiers] Sim Cards

I paid to unlock my phone, and then tried to use the phone in China with a new
sim card. NO, it didn't work. The sim card worked in my Chinese friend's
cellphone. I think the American wireless phone companies must have put a
special code in the phones so that you can't just switch out a sim card to use
the phone....
Lily

--- LINDA HALL wrote:

> Hi,
> I just returned from 3 weeks in China and tried to get a new sim card to cut
> phone expences while there. The store put one in and it was locked and
> needed a password to unlock it. So I couldnt do it.
> So checkout Skype, it works great, and sound it great.
>
> Linda Hall
>
>
>
>
> Compete on Design!
>
> www.johnspiers.com

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Sim Cards

RE: [spiers] Sim Cards

Hi Linda,

I think the problem was your phone was locked, which is typical for our
phones here in the US. When I was there I had a shop unlock my phone.
Then I got a sim card. If you can I'd suggest to just get your phone
unlocked here before traveling over there (much easier).

But, the point I wanted to make is it is very convenient and cheap to
have a local sim card over there. I like the idea of having a local
number that people over there can use to reach me. Next time I go back,
I'll just pop in the sim card when I arrive and will be all set.

Unlocking my phone also had no impact on my service back here in the
US. I have Cingular, but I know of people with other carriers that
don't have problems using unlocked phones either.

I was wondering whether your recommendation of using Skype was just for
use from your computer or from a cell phone? I ask because I don't
know much about Skype and I think there is some fancy way to use Skype
from certain cell phones (and maybe you have good feedback on that).

Regards,
Victor

--- LINDA HALL wrote:

> Hi,
> I just returned from 3 weeks in China and tried to get a new sim card
> to cut
> phone expences while there. The store put one in and it was locked
> and
> needed a password to unlock it. So I couldnt do it.
> So checkout Skype, it works great, and sound it great.
>
> Linda Hall

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Sim Cards

RE: [spiers] Sim Cards

Hi,
I just returned from 3 weeks in China and tried to get a new sim card to cut
phone expences while there. The store put one in and it was locked and
needed a password to unlock it. So I couldnt do it.
So checkout Skype, it works great, and sound it great.

Linda Hall

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New Product Idea

Re: [spiers] Re: New Product Idea

I use T-Mobile because I am able to use the phones internationally.
I have a 3000 minute plan and pay an extra $10 a month for an extra line.

When friends and I were traversing El Camino por Santiago (Spain) it was
cheaper
to text message each other using my two phones. I did have to ask T-Mobile
to place me on "International Roaming" (no extra charge). I paid 15 cents to
send for each message, and .05 cents to recieve. This send/recieve rate is the
same whether I text to/from England, Spain, Canada, New Zealand or Malaysia.

This is using the same SIM card I recieved when I set up the plan.

To use my phone internationally using a different SIM card I was given an
"unlock code" (allowed only after 90 days of plan use) which then enables my
phone to use any SIM card. I purchase and use other SIM cards for Malaysia and
New Zealand.

In China I paid dearly using my original SIM card. Su, my Chinese friend
nagged me to buy a Chinese SIM card, and I foolishly said "No, how expensive
could it be?". My $2,200 T-Mobile bill ensures my next visit to China will
include an immediate purchase of a Chinese SIM card.

In Western Samoa no phones with SIM cards is usable. All handhelds are without
SIM cards and are very expensive due to the existing two companies having
ironclad exclusive agreements with the Western Samoan government. These
agreements were supposed to have ended this past July opening the way for
healthy competition, SIM cards and cheaper rates. I'll be returning next summer
2007 for the Pacific Island games, so I shall see.

These are the only countries I have visited this past year, I don't know about
other countries.

Nurlinda

BTW, I purchased a fancy little pink RZR, and I am not thrilled. I can't read
it outdoors on sunny days, which doesn't work for equatorial countries or any
sunny day here in our beautiful Northwest, the ring is too low to hear in Kuala
Lumpur's busy, noisy chaotic streets, and it is too wide to fit into my wrist
band.

Now there is an import idea...velcro wrist pockets to hold cell phones. My
flowy robes, skirts and kaftans make it impossible to wear a belt clip, and
carrying a large purse or backpack is not always feasible in some countries.

Could anyone else see the advantage to importing wrist pockets for cell
phones?










Malcolm Dell wrote:

> Just read this... does anyone know if phones are designed
> specifically for each network or if they are interchangeble via sim
> card?

FYI, many cell networks do not use sim cards, e.g. our Verizon Wireless does
not. I believe Sprint does. Not sure about Cingular.
Malcolm



Compete on Design!

www.johnspiers.com

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Sim Cards

Jason,

In the USA, each major wireless telephone company has the phones
specifically for their company. If you want a sim card approach in the
US, you have to buy an 'unlocked' phone. These are much more expensive
than the other phones you would buy for the particular provider. A Treo
at Verizon costs about $300 if you want a locked Treo and it's at the
end or beginning of a contract period. If you want a locked Treo at
other times, it's just over $500. If you want an unlocked Treo, buy it
someplace else because Verizon won't sell it to you. It will cost about
$600. I think Verizon doesn't even allow you to use a sim card with an
unlocked phone on their service. However, some providers do.

In Europe all the phones have sim cards and you can pick your provider.
That's why there are a lot of us in the USA who think that the wireless
providers are ripping us off.

If you travel to Europe often enough, you ask the question, is it worth
it to pay the expense of getting a phone with a sim card and using a
provider here who allows it or do you just get a cheap phone when you
get off the plane in Europe and use that. It's all relatively cheap in
Europe. You would still have to buy a new sim card in Europe when you
got off the phone there.

Linda

-----Original Message-----
From: spiers@yahoogroups.com [mailto:spiers@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Jason Carrion
Sent: Friday, September 01, 2006 1:35 AM
To: spiers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [spiers] Re: New Product Idea

Jason,

I think it requires a large up-front commitment to revolutionize how
people view their cell phones... is this you? Money is NEVER the
problem in business.

John
Just read this... does anyone know if phones are designed
specifically for each network or if they are enterchangeble via sim
card?

I also have a older nokia (not so much feature creap) and I like it
because its simple with out the dang flip cover.

John - do you think that this would require a large upfront cost for
design? I remember reading in your book something about have a basic
design and then allowing the manufacturer to work out the finer
details - since they would be the pros.

Jason




--- In spiers@yahoogroups.com, "John Spiers" wrote:
>
> Folks,
>
> Unhappy with my cell phone, my wife brought home a non-flip phone,
but it has the same
> problems... it does too much.
>
> First it is barely workable for me (I had my 12 year old program
it). The screen is unreadable,
> but pretty with 216 million colors... in bright sunshine I cannot
even see the color, let alone the
> print. Just when my eyes focus on the tiny screen, the light turns
off to save battery. I can do text
> messaging, IM, and all sorts of other wonderful things, features I
will never use. I could go on,
> but I'll get to the point.
>
> I went into the Cingular store with the current phone and the last
phone I was happy with ... a
> model from say 5 years ago. It showed date and time, sent and
received phone calls. And an
> alarm clock. It was readable in any light, since it was black and
white screen... and the battery
> lasted a long time.
>
> So, I asked the gal to move the sim card from the new phone to the
old, and she said, sorry, the
> old phones didn't have sim cards, it could not be done. So I ran
down my complaints, and asked
> her what she had that would work for me, and she said what I had
was the best they could offer.
>
> She also went on to say, she gets FOUR PEOPLE A DAY with my exact
same complaint... her
> uncle is an engineer at Nokia and she is thinking about tipping him
off.
>
> Well, does anyone have any aspiration to the phone biz? Seems to
me if so, there is a product
> here... an extremely simple cel phone, yes digital, with a sim
card, but plain vanilla phone with
> NONE of the time wasting features that entice 12 year olds. Dont
worry about nokia, they will
> never make such a phone.
>
> My daughter inherited a record collection and asked for a record
player for Christmas. Best Buy
> had one with a built in radio, etc. $80... which I expect is very
profitable. Real simple, updated
> cheap technology... made by a no-name company. narrow demand, but
profitable.
>
> Who is going to make a simple, useful cel phone? One that you can
just move the sim card into
> and then throw away the one Cingular made you buy? I'll be your
first customer.
>
> John

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New Product Idea

Re: [spiers] Re: New Product Idea


> Just read this... does anyone know if phones are designed
> specifically for each network or if they are interchangeble via sim
> card?

FYI, many cell networks do not use sim cards, e.g. our Verizon Wireless does
not. I believe Sprint does. Not sure about Cingular.
Malcolm

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