Kevin Kwak’s Blog

Hello everyone, hope the weather is nice and sunny on the first day of spring.

While the undergrads are finishing up the final exams and thinking of their spring break plans, I too am studying into the wee hours preparing for a line of exams that I’ve planned out over the course of months. I am putting great effort trying to distinguish myself from competitors by taking several exams to become certified in the field I am in. Despite the reduced bedtime, I look forward in this endeavor because of a simple realization–the energy and time I invest studying and learning the materials will output reaps of long term benefit. Diligence, persistence, I have what it takes.

The downside to this is finding the time to get to the gym. Bummer.

Both the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Government are really pushing the economic-stimulus package to full throttle. You should now know that the IRS will be issuing economic-stimulus payment checks in an amount of $600 ($1,200 for married couples) if you meet a few of the requirements. Then there is the Federal Housing Administration raising the mortgage limits on certain counties of California. Another probably interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve according to the Federal Chairman. And several new programs to alleviate increasing home foreclosures.

2008 will be a busy year: the US Presidential Election, 2008 Summer Olympics, and the fluctuation of the US economy (can you say recession?). 2008 marks a new beginning with the new presidential inauguration of Lee Myung-bak. I believe that the country will go through a growth phase during his term that will generate new businesses in many parts of the country, especially outside the urban cities. President Lee’s vision for his country will significantly impact the livelihood of the citizens because of his vision to advance and succeed in the global market.

Now let’s go back to the “Economic-Stimulus Rebate” that millions of Americans are anxiously waiting for. The so called rebates is not really a generous rebate that the US Government decided to give to all taxpayers. The consequence of this generosity to increase economic boost short term is the further deficit of the nation by borrowing debt that our children will need to be responsible of. Meaning the $600/$1200 rebates are loans from our children to us in 2008.

Interesting video clip you might want to check out (six minutes long). At a glance, you’ll learn how globalization is playing its course faster than ever before.

http://glumbert.com/media/shift

Hello there,

My partners and I will soon be venturing into our very own franchise restaurant sometime next year if the schedule flows according. We are in the planning stage and financial analysis and the due diligence aspect is requiring many hours. As we have no actual experience in this field, we are putting a lot of brain power due to the level of risk and the amount of capital the project commands.

I’m very appreciative to even take part of this business venture. My partner is an expert in opportunity recognition. He is truly an entrepreneur and I am thankful to have him as my role model and to learn in his footsteps. I’ve personally told him that I will surpass his success fourfold and he respected my determination.

I don’t want to provide any details yet on the project but I will surely blog more about it as it progresses. Thank goodness for the half-point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

Hello everyone,

1) For the web publishers out there, have you heard about the Business.com domain sales. In 1999, Jake Winebaum and Sky Dayton purchased the domain for a whooping $7.2 million which was the highest price paid for a domain name. Soon enough, they were mocked for paying a ridiculous price.

The laugh was actually the other way around. The same domain has been sold to a telephone-directory company R.H. Donnelley Corp. for $340-360 Million dollars! Talk about an extremely high ROI; 4622~4900% gain on their investment (before tax).
2) I use to work at a property management firm right out of college. The firm managed and invested primarily in Class-A office buildings in the Los Angeles central business district. The company does an excellent job managing and acquiring profitable buildings for long-term investments.

A fascinating thing that has been happening with trophy prized office buildings are the increased number of exchanges and the market price of the property. The cheap debt available from the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) allowed private and institutional investors to acquire properties at a highly leveraged debt. Thus investors were bidding and bidding on the Class-A offices (hottest property type this year), which resulted in incredibly high purchase price and very low yield expectations. Yet the cycle continued and certain properties were being exchanged within a short months at a higher price than the last transactions even when the building had not gone through a value-added work.