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October 31-2006 -
Things still hectic on the SmartKnowledgeU™ front with time for writing more blog posts at a premium. But on tap is a discussion of the record Dow that isn’t, the record FTSE 100 that isn’t. If you don’t know what I mean, you’ll find out soon enough.
Add comment October 31st, 2006
October 30, 2006 - With the new politically manipulated and artificially created highs in the U.S. stock markets, which in turn has spurred optimism in other global markets, there has been much accompanying speculation about oil retreating to $40 a barrel oil and even to $20 a barrel (which I think will never happen).
Personally, I think we’ll see a continued rebound in the oil and natural gas sectors in the short term. But long term, I think the much better way to play these markets is not with the major players such as Exxon, British Petroleum and the like, but either with junior companies that have more room to grow both in market share and in price appreciation, and with those companies that will benefit from the inevitable capex spending that big oil will now engage in to sustain future revenues. Read more …
3 comments October 30th, 2006
October 30, 2006 - “The United States is a damned country that deserves only to be cursed. It declares its own occupation of our lands legitimate, but brands our resistance as terrorist”- Ahmed Ibrahim, Libyan parliament deputy speaker, April 2006.
I opened this blog with that comment to illustrate that money and greed will many times take precedence over issues of national security or the democratic desires of people. This is a concept that is extremely difficult for many people to grasp, especially those that have fallen victim to the mass media’s snow job (no pun intended in regards to U.S. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow). Read more …
Add comment October 30th, 2006
Q: If You Engage in Any On-Line Trading, What is Essential?
Recently, E-Trade reported that Internet fraud perpetrated in client accounts cost the company $18 million in the third quarter while Ameritrade reported losses of $4 million so far this quarter due to similar events. The basic moral of this story is NEVER access your online account unless you employ firewalls with a Norton or Symantec internet security suite. Normally I set my internet security to tight. Occasionally I check the firewall statistics to check if anyone is trying to hack into my computers to steal information, passwords, etc. and there are literally hundreds of attacks on my computers daily from the U.S., Africa, the Phillipines - you name it.
Also, don’t make the mistake of accessing your online accounts while traveling on vacation in public intenet cafes and/or through unsecure wifi access. Many times, spyware installed on computers in public internet cafes will capture keystrokes and enable someone to steal usernames and passwords from financial accounts. If you must access your accounts while traveling, bring a laptop or wifi enabled mobile phone with you and ensure that your wifi network is secure. To read the full article regarding fraud on online trading accounts, click here.
Add comment October 29th, 2006
October 25, 2006 -
To continue my tradition of light-hearted Friday entries, I am providing a list of quotes by ex-U.S. Presidents and advisors to ex and current U.S. Presidents.
When I discuss with people the information I uncover by digging down the rabbit hole, sometimes the word “conspiracy” arises. I don’t particularly believe in conspiracies, but I do believe in collusion. I think everyone out there with any understanding of how the political machine works understands that great collusion exists between powerful politicians and powerful businessmen (for an academic perspective of this topic, refer to my Down the Rabbit Hole Reader’s List).
Oh by the way, for those of you wondering who that man in the photo above is, that’s former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.
I have always loved conspiracy theories. Even though I don’t believe the vast majority of them as many seem to be conjured up out of thin air, they are still fun to discuss. If you are at all curious about the ones that surround the world of finance and investing, then I think you’ll enjoy this blog a lot. Read more …
Add comment October 26th, 2006
October 26, 2006 -
Many times people say to me “Oh, you’re contrarian right?” and though I subtitle my blog as “Contrarian investment news you won’t find in the mainstream media”, a much more accurate self-description of my style would be as a “rabbit-hole investor”. Rabbit hole investing is much more than just buying assets when they are hated and selling them when mania surrounds them, as is the behavior people tend to associate with contrarian investors. In addition to implementing that aforementioned strategy when reality bears out a good risk-reward setup, I also seek out investment opportunities that no one is even considering, which wouldn’t fit into the “contrarian box” at all. Rabbit hole investing has more similarities to playing chess than it does to contrarian investing. The only reason I use the word “contrarian” is because nobody would ever understand what I meant by rabbit hole investing. It is said that child chess prodigy Bobby Fisher would think at least seven steps ahead when playing a game of chess before committing to a move. To be really successful in investing, one must do the same.
In light of today’s booming stock markets in India and the U.S., recall my statement from last August 8th in my Newsletter Issue #014: These were my exact words back then:
“With mid-term elections coming up in the U.S. on November 7, you
can be sure Read more …
1 comment October 26th, 2006
October 24, 2006 -
Some people have asked me, the Dow just keeps going higher and higher, people seem not to have a worry in the world about the U.S. markets, the VIX levels are extremely low, expert analysts are predicting 16,000 marks for the Dow and $20 a barrel oil, so why are you still worried? Well for one, great financial analysts are few and far between. Most are like bad weathermen. They tell you it’s sunny today, but you could have discovered that yourself by simply gazing outside your window. And then if it starts raining, only then do they change the forecast from sunny to rainy. Read more …
Add comment October 24th, 2006
October 23, 3006 - Last week I wrote that I wouldn’t touch China’s banks with a ten foot pole as in investment vehicle no matter how big Chinese bank IPO’s are splashed all over major newspaper’s headlines. However, India’s banks are a different manner. When it comes to financial institutions I do like the leaders. In India, this would mean ICICI bank and HDFC bank, both of which trade on the New York Stock Exchange as well. Read more …
2 comments October 23rd, 2006
October 22, 2006 -
The economic G8 is the group of countries that regularly meet to discuss global economic concerns, includes the U.S., France, Germany, Russia, Japan, Italy, the UK, and Canada. However there is a different Stock Market G8 grouping that has dominated developed stock markets for the past 20 years. For the past twenty years, Japan, the UK, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Read more …
Add comment October 22nd, 2006
October 22, 2006 -
Recently, a friend of mine sent me an email about a spam email advising about a great stock opportunity. I’ve had no time to reply to him as of yet so thought I ‘d just blog about it today. In fact I haven’t even had time to look at the attachment as my friend wanted my opinion on it. I didn’t even need to open it and look at it though to know it was junk.
Studies have shown that enough naïve people exist out there that actually act upon Spam emails they receive, dreams of tripling their money overnight floating through their minds when they buy the “recommended” stock. And studies actually have proven, that because spammers always send emails about “fantastic stocks poised to skyrocket this week!” to literally hundreds of thousands of people, if they get just a small percentage of the spammed population to act upon their “can’t miss” opportunity, Read more …
Add comment October 22nd, 2006
October 20, 2006 -
The above question was posed to me by a reader about a week ago. I personally replied to him that I have been looking but haven’t yet identified any African companies that have a compelling enough risk/ reward setup for me. However,another way to gain exposure to emerging nations while limiting your downside risk is to invest in companies in developed countries that are investing in Africa. So I do hold several of these types of companies. I’ll be discussing one of them here on my blog next week.
Oh, I forgot it’s still Friday and that I promised all light-hearted entries every Friday, so click here to watch a fairly amusing YouTube video of “Free Hugs in Corea”, or click on the photo to the right to watch it (keep an eye out for the girl who walk towards the “free hug” guy in front of the Haagen Dazs ice cream store, only to be pulled away by her jealous boyfriend. It’s priceless.) Have a great weekend everyone.
2 comments October 20th, 2006
Q: How Do I Know that My Blog Entries are On Point?
I am keeping with my new tradition of keeping my Friday entries light and/or humorous. Last Friday, I blogged about Chris Gardner. This week, I really wasn’t sure what to write about until God gave me the idea. I wanted to respond to a very, succinct comment today about my Tuesday blog entry titled “How Will the Changing Global Economy Affect the Evolution of Your Blog?”. One comment sent to me about that particular blog entry was a mere three words:” You’re an idiot”. Now I learned when I was about five years old not to let words hurt my feelings. You know, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” Last week, Will Smith taught me that there will always be verbal haters out there. He stated, “People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you, you can’t do it. Don’t ever let someone tell you you can’t do something.” Now dems some Godly words, Mr. Smith!
So yes, I realize that there will always be people that disagree with me. I’m okay with that. After all, I’m not, you know, God, so I don’t expect to be right all of the time. As long as I’m right far more than I’m wrong, then this blog will continue to be useful to most people. But then I looked at who sent me the comment, and that’s when my world started to crumble. The comment of “You’re an idiot” came from, Oh my…GOD!!! I kid you not. The guy who sent me the comment signed his name as “God”. And his email address domain was heaven.com, the associated URL was http://www-dot-church-dot-com (this stuff is way too good for me just to be making it up!), and even the number of words he used were just so… Read more …
Add comment October 19th, 2006
October 18, 2006 -
In recent months, two prominent analysts have been fired (well one resigned, but it’s easy to read between the lines there). According to biotechnology analyst Matt Murray of the American investment bank Rodman & Renshaw, he was fired after wanting to lower the rating of client Halozyme Therapeutics despite the objections of the firm (Source: the New York Post, October, 2006). In Hong Kong, Morgan Stanley’s chief economist and star analyst Andy Xie, was allegedly fired because of an internal memo that he scripted that was leaked to the public, in which he upset the firm with his critcism of Singapore officials. Read more …
Add comment October 18th, 2006
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