Rob Cheng’s Blog

I am shocked at what is happening to our country right now. It is like an incredibly bad dream. I put together the following two charts (see below). The first chart is the history of the Dow Jones Industrial Average for the last 18 years. I drew a line (just a guess) of the normal sustainable rate of growth of the American economy. Independent on where you draw the line, it is easy to see 2 bubbles in the last 18 years. The first one is commonly referred to as the internet bubble or the dot com bust. And the second is the mess that we are experiencing. When looking at the magnitudes of the bubbles, they are similar in size. It is true that the DJ is not a surrogate for the market as a whole, but certainly if there is excess liquidity driving the mortgage market, then the DJ would at least have a residual bubble from the liquidity. More »

September 30th, 2008 | Category: Financial Crisis, Politics | Comments (8)

I just finished watching the first presidential debate, and one of the first questions was what are some of the lessons that can be learned from the war in Iraq. This should have been a softball question for Obama because in order to learn we have to admit our mistakes. McCain response was clear that he was not going to admit any mistakes. In fact, he just reveled in the wisdom of the surge. Worse yet, Obama did not seize the opportunity, basically said we should leave Iraq and shift to Afghanistan.

DAMNIT! Neither candidate can learn from the war in Iraq? That’s a scary thought. The reality is that there are numerous lessons to be learned, and it pains me to think of the state of our country that I, a humble citizen, needs to write these lessons for posterity. More »

September 27th, 2008 | Category: Politics | Comments (2)

Please find my campaign donation for $2300. I wish there was a way that I could legally donate more money, because I would do it in a heart beat.

First, a little bit about myself. I am 49 years old, married with one infant, and another one the way. I have been successful my entire adult life in both academics (Cornell and University of Texas) and business. I rose to the top ranks of Gateway Computer, and currently, I reside in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where I operate a small, successful and rapidly growing American software company, PC Pitstop. More »

September 19th, 2008 | Category: Politics | Comments (5)

Only recently have I come to the conclusion that I was an alcoholic. When I worked at Gateway, I drank a minimum of 5 beers every night. Then on the weekend, I would let loose, and get really pounded. I estimate that I was drinking about 50 beers a week. I was a totally functional alcoholic. I was at work every day at 8 o’clock sharp, and I worked late most nights, plus weekends. The alcoholism had little to no effect on my job at all. The only exception was that I would talk too much when I was drunk, and to this day, I still regret some of the stupid things I said while I was drunk. But that is minor. I think we all regret stupid things we say. More »

June 29th, 2008 | Category: Health, Politics | Comments (1)

I guess I am the last to know that my good friend, Earle Grueskin, is running for President of the United States in a grass roots campaign. After the grueling, Democratic primary, I am actually thinking of voting for Earle for President.

I really think that he would make a fine president. Heck, he was the mayor of Sioux City, and ran facilities worldwide for Gateway. That makes him more qualified than either John McCain or Barack Obama in my view. Here’s the news reel below. More »

June 22nd, 2008 | Category: Politics | Comments (1)

I really love ToonDoo. It seems to be a great outlet for my creative energy. I decided to make a political cartoon and go on record that I am an Obama supporter. To be honest, he is the only one of the candidates that does not insult my intelligence. So I decided to make fun of all the politicians, and then I threw a dark horse into the race for presidency. LOL. More »

May 27th, 2008 | Category: Cartoons, Politics | Comments (1)

The entire immigration debate in the United States is bordering on ridiculous. It is almost unbelievable that legislation has been passed to build a wall along a small portion of the border between Texas and Mexico. On top of this, the more strident Republican legislators feel that hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars should be spent to expel all the illegal immigrants from the country. A witch hunt of a magnitude unparalleled since the Spanish Inquisition.

All of this defies logic for one and simple reason – economics. Here in Myrtle Beach, there is a large and vibrant population of immigrants. Where ever I go, it is just as common to hear Spanish spoken than English. But that is my point. The immigrants are out doing the things that consumers do. They are at Walmart and Best Buy. One observation. Unlike me, immigrants almost always seem to pay cash. Walmart and Best Buy must love that. One day I went to the dentist, and I was the only English speaking patient in the whole place. My humble dentist is raking it in. More »

February 29th, 2008 | Category: Politics | Leave a comment

Before I start this blog, I want it to be known that I do not support the war in Iraq. I never have. I have always felt that there was a cheaper and more peaceful way to achieve the same objectives. Aside from the colossal waste of money, I am finding this war in Iraq annoying for another reason. Let’s face the fact that this war is dragging on endlessly because we are LOSING. This is what bothers me. Whether I agree with this war or not, we should not be losing.

We are a large country, right around 300 million people give or take a few illegal immigrants. And Iraq is a small country, latest census puts them a tad shy of 27 million. They are less than 1/10th the size of us. More »

October 13th, 2007 | Category: Politics | Leave a comment

I love Brazil in so many ways. It is an amazing country with an over abundance of natural resources. They have it all. Abundant forests, amazing fruits and vegetables. Plenty of rain. On top of all of this, Brazil has no natural disasters. No hurricanes, earthquakes or tornados. It covers a huge area in South America. 8.5 million square kms to be exact. In comparison, the United States marks the map at 9.6 millions square kms. Put it another way. Pull out Alaska, and Brazil is actually larger than the United States.

Then on top of all of this, Brazil has the best energy strategy. I just bought a new car in Brazil and it has a flex engine, which burns both alcohol and normal gas. On top of this, alcohol is dispensed at all gas stations in Rio de Janeiro. More »

October 7th, 2007 | Category: Brazil, Politics | Leave a comment