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21 September 2019 (Saturday)

It was a typical Saturday morning for Chris. He would rest in the morning and get ready for a baseball match in the evening. He took a shower and brushed his teeth. While he was changing, a thought came to his mind. “What if I changed the day without planning to do so the night before? Like...change it right now. It’s always the same for Saturdays. Breakfast at home. The routine’s getting stale. Screw it. I am gonna eat out now. Maybe something serendipitous could happen.”

“Morning.” Chris’s housemate Paul said to him as he grabbed the keys and left the house.

Chris took a stroll down the slope to the nearest cafe, “Chill Coffee”. He doesn’t come here often. It is probably 2-3 times within the past year. He ordered the same food and a flat white as he had done so in the past. A copy of Sicara Daily was on his table. He started flipping through it. On one of the pages, the headline read: “70-year-old Grandpa won the Sicara Powerball Grand prize for 2019.” This septuagenarian won 7 million last night. The power draw took place at 9 pm on 20 September. The winning numbers were 35, 26, 11, 9, 2, 24, 31. He took the picture of the winning numbers and stared at the papers.

“Tomorrow will the 20th. If I bought the winning ticket, how do I claim it? I can’t do that on the 19. It is only from the 21st onwards.”

“Hold on...what is the time period to claim the prize?”

Chris googled for the answer on the validity of the lottery prize. The claims period for the Sicara Powerball is 90 days.

“90 days... That should be somewhere in December. The watch would bring me back to 23 November. This can be done and shall be done. If only...I bought the lottery on 22 November. The wait would be shorter...ahh...”

“Hmmm...no, the prize money would be different. It will be less. 20 September is the biggest prize for the year. Besides, the wait is actually longer. I have to complete this journey for a year before I am back on 23 November. Isn’t that right? Wrong? Right.”

“Ok, this time, there is absolutely no regret.” Chris looked out the window and all pleased with himself as he sipped his flat white.

He finished his meal and walked home. During his walk, he was thinking about the 7 million prize money.

“1 million to buy a new house for Mum. Half a mill to buy the current 2 bedder. Kick Paul out of the apartment...haha. Nah, collect rent from him as a landlord. 5 million to invest in companies that pay a 5% dividend per annum. The rest of the money after paying taxes for the prize will be in a fixed deposit account. Wow, life is awesome!”

Upon reaching home, Chris turned on the computer and started keying in numbers. At a 5% dividend per annum, that will be a dividend income of $250,000 a year. He would not have to work for money again.

“This is really easy. I don’t get it. Why are so many lottery winners poorer than their pre-winning days? Couldn’t they just invest? Perhaps it’s laziness, ill-discipline, a decadent lifestyle, drugs, gambling...None of my business anyway. I have a plan now.”

He began his frantic research on the stock market for companies that pay a 5% or more dividend per annum consistently. The search yielded about 12 companies. He narrowed it to 5 and tabulated the information of these companies onto an excel sheet and saved it.

“Let’s take a look at my savings. Since this 7 million offered me a comfy cushion, I can speculate for some gain with my inside knowledge of the past.”

He googled the best stocks of 2019. The lists were brokers’ take or predictions by some so-called experts of the stock market.

“Yeah, it’s not the end of the year yet. Hmm...no one will know who’s the best performer of the year. 0 hindsight for now. Maybe I should just look at price changes from 1 Jan to 20 Sep.”

Chris created the parameters for the price changes of his selected time period. The best performing counter is Zelda Resorts Ltd. It recorded a price gain of 30.85%. The lowest price was $9.40 on 12 February and the highest was $12.30 on 9 September.

“Interesting. Zelda...They are in the casino business. I’m investing in a gambling company? No, I am gambling in a gambling company. It’s good. I am doing good with the money anyway. Besides, this is legal. No one can stop me.”

“I wouldn’t have 7 million in February.” Chris laughed.

“Got to take a look at my accounts for Jan and Feb.”

He looked at his bank statements for February. He had $32,089.50 on 11 February.

“I should keep some for emergencies. If say, I used 20 grand to speculate... a 30% gain is about 6,000. Take away the commission for the trades, I should gain about a little more than 5.9 grand. Ha, that’s peanuts. Just treat it as part of a ‘Wedding Fund’.”

Chris wrapped up his stock market research work and prepared for his baseball match.

20 September 2019 (Friday)

He got up from bed with more zest about life than ever.

“I can’t wait to buy my winning ticket!” This thought was running in his head over and over again while he was on the train to work.

Lunchtime came and Chris walked briskly to the news agency about 50 meters from his office. He bought the ticket with the numbers 35, 26, 11, 9, 2, 24, 31.

“This was the best lunch ever.” He thought and he tried to hide his emotion during the walk back to the office after lunch.

At his desk, he was fantasizing about a new life with the new wealth.

“Travel the world for a year, get a girlfriend, buy a girlfriend...hehe..no buy some girlfriends, 1 for each month. Get a car, buy mum a new house, become a landlord, threatened to increase Paul’s rent...Quit this job, return to Pomona and start farming...oh maybe not, too taxing. Just enjoy life. You Only Live Once.”

12 February is still a long time away. Life is certainly changing for Chris and it will continue to change much more in the past and the future.