I WAS among the one hundred-odd people who got to watch the Singapore premiere of the documentary which featured late singer Michael Jackson’s London comeback shows last night.
The film left viewers musing over what they had missed had Mr Jackson been alive to perform the show — the 3D imagery, pyrotechnics and elaborate stage sets — not to mention the incredible precision of his performance.
His various rehearsals were inter-weaved in the film and they flowed smoothly into the one performance reflecting what he proudly labelled as his "This is it" performance — the gold-plated standard which other performers will have to live up to.
But the strenuous rehearsals — the precisions in the choreography demanded by Mr Jackson of himself and his dancers – not to mention the marathon singing practices — would have exhausted a man half Mr Jackson’s age.
The effort in putting on the show was probably the major cause behind the death of the 50-year old singer, come to think of it.
Still, reflecting on the theme of his London come-back shows reminds me of the uncertain state of the stock market.
Is it "This is it" time for the Dow Jones after it breached the 10,000 level, the benchmark Straits Times Index crossed the 2,700 mark and the Hang Seng swung above the 22,000 level — all at about the same time?
At their respective current levels, the major stock indexes are half-way between their March lows and all-time highs — reached incidentally in late October 2007.
It is not surprising that after the recent losses on the Dow Jones, stock pundits believe that a 7 to 10 per cent correction in share prices is at hand. "This is it", they say. The indexes have reached their targets and bulls are looking tired. Time for the market to take a break and fall lower.
The jury is still out whether this is a correction before markets test fresh high levels next year, or a gentle descent back to lower levels to reflect the awful state of the "real" economy in developed countries such as United States and Europe where unemployment is still growing and consumption remains tepid.
The only parallel with current trading patterns is October 2007, when a massive dose of liquidity injected by the US central bank with an interest rate cut — plus a plan by China, now shelved, to allow its investors to buy shares directly from overseas — caused share prices to surge to record high levels.
Of course, this time around, the swing up has been much higher, since the Fed not only cut interest rates to almost zero in March, but also printed around US$3 trillion to provide a cushion of support for the global financial markets.
China has been helpful too, giving out a US$500 billion economic stimulus package and getting its banks to lend generously.
But getting the Fed to print even more money may be tough — with the Europeans and Japanese complaining loudly about the systematic devaluation of the US dollar and the implicit threat by China to swap out of its large US dollar hoard.
As for China, both the stock market and the real economy look like over-heating from the economic stimulus measures and the fear is that it might have to tighten up, just as the Fed is forced to stop its printing presses.
Regional bourses like Hong Kong and Singapore are caught in a pincer between Wall Street and Shanghai. So it is no wonder that they have tumbled on the sudden barrage of bad news that suddenly seem to become the norm once again.
No wonder, there are cynics who believe that investment bankers on Wall Street and in London are stubbornly clinging on to the eye-popping bonuses due to them, despite the big storm of protests this has generated in the Western media.
Given all the fresh uncertainties, there might not be any huge bonuses to collect any more next year. After all, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush; and paraphrasing Mr Jackson, they might say "This is it."