Don’t be a prude. If you think it is a dirty word, you should not think/say/type in the first place.

For fuck sake, say it. Say it with fucking pride.

UBS $2 billion rogue trade suspect held in London

Adoboli — a director of exchange traded funds and “Delta 1″ working in the bank’s London office, according to his profile on networking site LinkedIn — was arrested on suspicion of fraud, sources told Reuters.

“I can confirm that an employee of the bank was arrested in London in connection with the statement,” a UBS spokesman said.

UBS said it might post a third-quarter loss after the rogue trades, a huge blow as it struggles to rebuild its credibility after years of crises.

The loss effectively cancels out the 2 billion-franc saving that the bank had hoped to make in a cost-cutting program announced last month in which it will axe 3,500 jobs.

It also threatens the future of UBS’s investment bank, which is being reviewed by chief executive Oswald Gruebel as part of a wide-ranging restructuring following heavy losses in the credit crisis and a damaging scandal over bankers helping rich U.S. clients dodge taxes.

UBS, which said no client positions were affected, is scheduled to hold an investor day on November 17 at which it was expected to announce major restructuring of the investment bank.

“The matter is still being investigated, but UBS’s current estimate of the loss on the trades is in the range of $2 billion,” the bank said in a statement.

UBS employed almost 18,000 people in its investment bank at the end of June, most of them outside Switzerland, particularly in London and the United States.

UBS shares were down 9.1 percent at 9.935 Swiss francs at 1320 GMT, while the European banking sector was up 4.78 percent.

“(This) is a staggering demonstration that all the clever systems that the banks now have, especially after the financial crisis, still cannot stop a determined individual getting round them if they want to,” said Chris Roebuck, Visiting Professor at Cass Business School in London.

“It will yet again confirm to the majority of shareholders who are Swiss that investment banking is not ‘proper’ banking, as private banking is.”

UBS had started to see client confidence return this year after it had to be rescued by the Swiss state in 2008 following massive losses on toxic assets held by its investment bank. The bank has had a history of major risk management glitches followed by repeated pledges to fix risk systems.

KERVIEL

Any losses in its investment bank risk scaring UBS’s rich clients and prompting a further flight from its huge private bank, the core of its business that used to be the world’s biggest wealth manager but has slipped to third place.

“This loss has the scope to have a material impact on the perception of UBS’s private bank, impacting its future operating trends,” Goldman Sachs analysts Jernei Omahen and Peter Skoog said in a note.

“Today’s announcement therefore adds to the long list of arguments (and pressure) for a substantially smaller investment bank.”

UBS’s news caused disbelief among market operators.

The last similar case was when Jerome Kerviel, then a trader at Societe Generale, racked up a $6.7 billion loss in unauthorized deals revealed in 2008. Kerviel was sentenced to three years in prison in October 2010.

Both Kerviel and Adoboli were the same age when the scandal broke and both worked with so-called Delta 1 products, derivatives which closely track the underlying securities and give the holder an easy way to gain exposure to several asset classes. Examples include equity swaps, forwards, futures and exchange-traded funds.

“It is amazing that this is still possible,” said ZKB trading analyst Claude Zehnder. “They obviously have a problem with risk management. Even when the amount isn’t so high, it is once more a loss of confidence that casts UBS in a poor light.”

“With this they are losing a lot of credit that they had regained with effort,” he added.

Switzerland’s financial markets regulator FINMA said it had been informed of the case and was in close contact with UBS.

HEADS TO ROLL?

The bank has in the past two years tried to rebuild the investment bank that nearly felled it during the financial crisis. It needed a state bailout after heavy losses on U.S. subprime mortgage-related securities.

Under Gruebel and investment bank boss Carsten Kengeter — themselves both once traders — it hired hundreds of traders in a bid to boost its bond business.

Several analysts said the incident made it more likely Kengeter would be in the firing line, while Gruebel could step down sooner rather than later.

“Gruebel saved the bank from destruction, so his main job is done. It is only a matter of time before he steps down. If it means he leaves a little sooner, it does not change a lot. But the investment bank is a bit of a disaster, and the knives will be out for Kengeter,” said Peter Thorne, analyst at Helvea.

Another analyst who declined to be named said: “Some important heads are going to have to roll, and some are saying that after a series of missteps with the IB, Kengeter himself will have to go.”

Former Bundesbank head Axel Weber is due to join the UBS board in May and take over as chairman in 2013.

The weak performance of the investment bank and tough capital rules in Switzerland had already attracted intense scrutiny over how UBS will cope, with analysts calling for a retrenchment of the investment bank.

The rogue trader scandal came as Swiss politicians were debating tough new capital rules designed to make sure big banks can weather future crises without having to be bailed out by the state.

“It shows that investment banking is a risky business and that it is important that systemically relevant functions are clearly separated from the rest of the banking business,” Caspar Baader, parliamentary leader of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, told Swiss television.

Although this was caused by an individual, but the main driver behind this and all other troubles caused by these financial institutes is greed. Look how they pay themselves before these crisis. Look how they pay themselves after the crisis.

The cheque is still fat. And for what, may i ask? For the upheaval they caused? What value did they create in the end? Except for the fortune they have in their pockets, they leave the world in a mess.

Hell yeah to that. That is the only great thing. The rest is kind of gloomy for me.

With chinese parents comes the rule that pregnant ladies should not go to the new house, involved in the renovation and the moving of house. So my wife’s has her pass to the new house revoked until the baby pops out or I alone has been done with the moving. This downgraded pass of hers has been further reinforced since she was warded a night in the hospital for observation.

Because of that, my wife and I have cancelled our Melbourne trip

The feng shui master whom my parents want to engage for our new house is pissing me off. Feng Shui is supposed to facilitate harmonious living. I did not really want to have a Feng Shui guy at all. I had a fight with my dad over this. In the end, to have peace, i allowed this.

Now all i feel is the tendency to rip out that fellow’s throat like Khal Drogo in HBO’s Game of Thrones.

First, i gave him the print out of the flat through my parents. He says no point doing any fucking thing. He needs to be there physically. I just want a rough indication of where things should not be.

Then the date that i want this fellow to come take a look physically at the house, he has to be away.

Not to mention the possibility of not having my way in terms of putting where i want things to be. I can visualize in my mind that fellow saying

“this cannot be placed here. You have to place the bed in this fucking direction” (ok i added the word “fucking”)

Seriously…i want to perform a fatality move.

I have never been exercising regularly, save for the average once fortnightly soccer session. I have stop running regularly.

What i noticed about my weight is that it has been hovering about 77Kg. This is great news for me, because it is stable without me doing much work.

I guess what is doing the trick is the attempt to eat lesser rice. This cuts down on sugar and carbohydrate. But this varies. If someone cooks a fantastic meal, how could you say no!

I think what has been a greater effect was the great reduction of sugary drinks like coca cola. I used to order one for lunch, one for dinner, maybe another one when i am thirsty.

What i have been doing for the last 2 months was not ordering such drinks whenever possible. I replace it with plain water if possible. If it is warm, then maybe a cold 100plus or canned oolong drinks, both or which are contains low or no sugar.

I save some money and some sugar from my body this way. Probably soft drinks, or cutting away soft drinks does the trick for maintaining my weight. I still have one occasionally and it does feel good! It is more of a treat for myself, rather than a drink that i should have during my meals.

After the check by the gynae to make sure things are ok, she was warded in the hospital just for observation.

Thankfully she is all right. But our Melbourne trip in 2 weeks time has to be called off since my wife is having a more complicated pregnancy. Hurts her to hear from the gynae that she has to stay home because she has been so looking forward to the trip.

I have been looking forward too. We have drawn up an itinerary for our 6 days there.

Oh well Better be in Singapore than else where if such a situation ever pops up. Dont want to be like a headless chicken running around in unfamiliar places like that.

So now I am trying to get a refund from the travel agency or travel insurance. Hopefully I get most of the money back (yes I am so concern about money too)

We discovered pregnancy. We also discovered a fibroid together. The discovery was a little too late. Normally such fibroid can be removed without much difficulty. But with her pregnancy, doctors have advised otherwise. And so we have 2 things growing inside her.

It is not so good for my wife now, as it has started to cause pain, which the gynae has said nothing could be done now except to take mild pain killers should it become unbearable.

One word of advise if you are planning kids. Have a check for both man and wife for stuff like this early on. Annual physical scans would be great. We did but too late.

And a cute dog with short legs stutters by…

Wife’s fast asleep as she is down with flu. Bad for her but I got some time for own. And since she is preggie and can’t exercise, I use this spare time for some sweat out.

I like this kind of time by myself. I rarely get this but I think I will have more of this, since wifey may be resting earlier from now on it seems.

I like idle time. I love doing nothing. But don’t get me wrong. I love to learn stuff. I love reading stuff at home too. But i feel the home is less conducive (as the time to get my own house draws near :p )

I would like to be sitting by the beach listening to the waves. It would be great if it’s sunny and breezy. Perfect.

But for now I will settle for the moonlight. It is ok.

I made my way down to east coast park from tanjong rhu. It was nice with lesser and easier traffic. It is a good night to just sweat a little.

I hit the cycling path at the ECP. It was very quiet. A rare runner or cyclist heading in the other direction. I set my target to turn back at the bedok jetty. Any further I might have difficulty getting home.

It was a very cool night with cool wind in my hair. I started grinning for no reason. I realized that after 5 seconds.

Was it a good night for cycling? Yes it was.

I feel kind of refreshed.

I also know that I have good things to look toward to.

Not that I do not want to finish up. I can’t seem to work without a proper workspace of my own. A proper workspace don’t even exist at home in the first place.

Living room is cluttered with a round dining table, Sis’s elective organ and the family ‘worship altar’ also known as the television.

Room is already small for me alone. I have to squeeze my wife in as well for the time being.

These spaces in modern condominiums are really quite small and unable to be functional at all. Only a wardrobe and a bed and leaving not much space for a decent work desk, never mind a full fledge workstation, in the bedroom.

Our stuff have been piling up too. Magazines, bills, correspondences haven’t got much place to go except to pile up on my barely there desk (more like a bar counter pushed right into a corner)

This clutter is in turn not allowing me to get into the mood for work.

More space is definitely needed.

Twice this year. They must be really rushing to finish the 7 high keys.

Although a break from work, but i don’t like it at all. Sure you meet some familiar faces again. Sure you get to still go home at the end of the day mostly. But to me it is just wasting time. Nowadays these ICTs are no gains seriously. Employees ladder get disruptions from their work and risk irking the bosses. Never mind the competition for his position in this open market.

There are not much incentives to attend but just a stick waving at you should you not attend.

Seriously I would rather give up that CPF monetary reward of $6500 (for me. $9000 for younger reservists) than to serve the 10 years/cycles. Is your 2-3 weeks a year serving the nation for 10 years worth this $9000?