Recently, two days ago, I joined the EIC. It is an investment club with a unique name. It is because the word "entrepreneurial" and "investment" are two words with meanings at each opposite end. Entrepreneurial is related to the more risky, quick and ventures related to business whereas investing is more safe, more guaranteed and the opposite of gambling.
The decision to turn up for EIC's meeting was a fabulous one. I managed to meet a whole bunch of new people who love the same as thing as me, investing. Nowadays, it is hard to find peers who are actually really interested in investing on a same level. The meeting was great as we got to know each other, and the president and vice president introduced the club to us. They started the club two years ago.
The EIC offers both fun and education relating to investments and we got the opportunity to update ourselves on what we know and how far we have gone in learning. The great thing about EIC is that it does not only focus on investing, they also have meeting ups with key people in the industry, they run fund-raising initiatives. They also have outings together and basically we just enjoy ourselves as a club. Looking forward to join the club, I don't only want to receive from them, I want to contribute my skills. I really want to be an active member, not just a receiver.
With this in thought, I look forward to a great time at EIC in the coming years, with investing as my main hobby and interest. Anybody who wishes to run the marathon with me, you can have a look at EIC and decide if you want to join at http://www.einvestclub.com . We look forward to your company.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
A new semester
Week 1 has finally passed and I feel much more belonged to university again. This whole new semester showcases a few new subjects for me. For the first time ever, I will be learning Finance in the classroom! I chuckled when I see the professor trying to explain to everybody else who feels so new towards finance what is the role of a bank or the meaning of shares. Personally, I feel it helps to learn it via the classroom, but real learning can only come through practical experience out there in the open.
The other subjects I will be learning are Accounting Transactions and Analysis, Business Process Analysis and Introductory Macroeconomics. For BPA, it is together a whole new subject for me, and I really look forward to discover what they have in store for me. So far I have learnt that, every business needs an Informations System. The reason is to be able to store data, convey data, and intepret data in an easy way through that system. It helps to keep your data in many many files, but an easier way, and it gives less headaches, is to store it in an informations system.
Macroeconomics, the subject I feel most privileged to learn because I am finally understanding what exactly is inflation, and also the meaning of the all-famous term GDP, which stands for Gross Domestic Product by the way. I look forward to 4 months of macroeconomics, it will be a fresh start to a new area of study.
But by far the most useful and my favourite, is Accounting. No other subject can really help me in my investing other than Accounting. It is so practical and actually relates to financial reports. This relevance is what I search for and I know is something that I can definitely take away after my time at university.
I have a feeling second semester will be much better(and less boring) for me and alot others out there. If my co-eds are reading this, wish you all a happy and fun 2nd semester.
The other subjects I will be learning are Accounting Transactions and Analysis, Business Process Analysis and Introductory Macroeconomics. For BPA, it is together a whole new subject for me, and I really look forward to discover what they have in store for me. So far I have learnt that, every business needs an Informations System. The reason is to be able to store data, convey data, and intepret data in an easy way through that system. It helps to keep your data in many many files, but an easier way, and it gives less headaches, is to store it in an informations system.
Macroeconomics, the subject I feel most privileged to learn because I am finally understanding what exactly is inflation, and also the meaning of the all-famous term GDP, which stands for Gross Domestic Product by the way. I look forward to 4 months of macroeconomics, it will be a fresh start to a new area of study.
But by far the most useful and my favourite, is Accounting. No other subject can really help me in my investing other than Accounting. It is so practical and actually relates to financial reports. This relevance is what I search for and I know is something that I can definitely take away after my time at university.
I have a feeling second semester will be much better(and less boring) for me and alot others out there. If my co-eds are reading this, wish you all a happy and fun 2nd semester.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Busyness of life
Its been a while since I've last blogged. If you were wondering what has happened, I've just started university second semester and hence I've suddenly got a whole load of tasks on my hands to complete at the moment. Not much has changed, the stock market is still hovering at the moment, and I am still searching for my next investment to make.
Life has got alot of obstacles in my path right now. It is the hardships of life, included together with troubles daily and occasional. Yet, I persevere. I somehow am very stubborn at what I do, what I choose to do. Till the very end, I know that I will be proven right, alot of times I actually do. I've learned to realise that no matter how much the odds are against you, it is not yet the end.
Turnarounds seldom occur but they do occur. If you believe something is right, then by all means, pursue it. Don't be afraid. Trust God, trust you in carrying out your plans. Take risks, because if not, then you will not be going anywhere. If you fail, it is alright. Stand up again, and keep on trying. Time is, after all, not worth much if you do not do anything. And even if you do no succeed at first, the time spent is worth more than any other time.
If thee understands me, thy will know what i am speaking about.
Life has got alot of obstacles in my path right now. It is the hardships of life, included together with troubles daily and occasional. Yet, I persevere. I somehow am very stubborn at what I do, what I choose to do. Till the very end, I know that I will be proven right, alot of times I actually do. I've learned to realise that no matter how much the odds are against you, it is not yet the end.
Turnarounds seldom occur but they do occur. If you believe something is right, then by all means, pursue it. Don't be afraid. Trust God, trust you in carrying out your plans. Take risks, because if not, then you will not be going anywhere. If you fail, it is alright. Stand up again, and keep on trying. Time is, after all, not worth much if you do not do anything. And even if you do no succeed at first, the time spent is worth more than any other time.
If thee understands me, thy will know what i am speaking about.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
The way Warren Buffett does it
Finally, back to my favourite topic, investing! It's been awhile since I've blogged about investing since my camp. And I'm quite excited to present to you this post this morning. I've just fi'nished reading a book about Berkshire Hathaway(Warren Buffett's company) and the companies in which it consists of. The main theme of the book was to explore the different personas of the managers in which Warren Buffett had bought the different companies from.
When Warren Buffett(WB) buys a company, he doesn't replace the management within. He often jokes that because he only has 9 and a 1/2 employees(one works from mond - thurs) he has no one to send over to the acquired company. That being so, he often buys the company with management in place. There are many great companies out there available at fair prices at which WB won't buy because of lack of the proper management. He looks for owner-managers where the owners are passionate about their businesses. They are all financially-independent but they still work because of the love of it. None of them has to work nor have a contract with WB obliging them to stay on but their whole arrangement is just based on trust and love for the work they do.
WB buys companies that are usually market leaders in their field. They are usually the top of some measurement for their industry in their field. The company might be a jeweller business who sells the most jewelleries per square foot retail space or it might be cheapest and giving the most value to customers among all its other competitors. Those businesses also tend to be private businesses. They are sold to WB because the owners are/were thinking about succession of the business and worried that the business will fail after they're gone. Among the list of buyers, the best one almost all the time would have to be Berkshire Hathaway under the directorship of WB.
The unique feature about Berkshire is that they buy and hold companies for great amounts of time. WB considers those companies he bought "partners for life". He will not sell them but treats it like a wholly-owned business in which there is no way he could sell it. When WB looks at a potential company, he just browses through a few years of financial statements. He doesn't usually visits the headquarters of the company because being so experienced in his field for about 50 years, he knows what he is looking for and doesn't need to do anything further. He would then meet up with the owners and ask them questions about their competitive advantage, their positioning and a little about the history of the company. He pays no regard to the financial statements at that time.
He would then ask them to give him some time whilst he comes up with a worth of what the company is to him at which he regards it as a fair price for the company. He then sends them the price figure and if they agree to it, the transaction takes place. It was just that simple. There were third parties interfering, no investment bankers, no lawyers of that sort. Almost everything was based on trust. WB often was able to get his worth within a few minutes. That amount of confidence in his own ability must have come from God and his many years of experience as an investor.
The whole book went through some of the famous companies WB bought such as HH Brown Shoe, See's Candies, Borsheim's Fine Jewelry, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Justin Industries, Executive Jet, GEICO Insurance, General Reinsurance and The Buffalo News. Berkshire Hathaway can be seen as a parent company which has a long line of fine businesses all hand-picked by WB himself. Berkshire Hathaway's stock is the most expensive stock in the world, listed in the US. If ever you are considering an investment and wealthy enough, a great choice would of course be Berkshire Hathaway.
When Warren Buffett(WB) buys a company, he doesn't replace the management within. He often jokes that because he only has 9 and a 1/2 employees(one works from mond - thurs) he has no one to send over to the acquired company. That being so, he often buys the company with management in place. There are many great companies out there available at fair prices at which WB won't buy because of lack of the proper management. He looks for owner-managers where the owners are passionate about their businesses. They are all financially-independent but they still work because of the love of it. None of them has to work nor have a contract with WB obliging them to stay on but their whole arrangement is just based on trust and love for the work they do.
WB buys companies that are usually market leaders in their field. They are usually the top of some measurement for their industry in their field. The company might be a jeweller business who sells the most jewelleries per square foot retail space or it might be cheapest and giving the most value to customers among all its other competitors. Those businesses also tend to be private businesses. They are sold to WB because the owners are/were thinking about succession of the business and worried that the business will fail after they're gone. Among the list of buyers, the best one almost all the time would have to be Berkshire Hathaway under the directorship of WB.
The unique feature about Berkshire is that they buy and hold companies for great amounts of time. WB considers those companies he bought "partners for life". He will not sell them but treats it like a wholly-owned business in which there is no way he could sell it. When WB looks at a potential company, he just browses through a few years of financial statements. He doesn't usually visits the headquarters of the company because being so experienced in his field for about 50 years, he knows what he is looking for and doesn't need to do anything further. He would then meet up with the owners and ask them questions about their competitive advantage, their positioning and a little about the history of the company. He pays no regard to the financial statements at that time.
He would then ask them to give him some time whilst he comes up with a worth of what the company is to him at which he regards it as a fair price for the company. He then sends them the price figure and if they agree to it, the transaction takes place. It was just that simple. There were third parties interfering, no investment bankers, no lawyers of that sort. Almost everything was based on trust. WB often was able to get his worth within a few minutes. That amount of confidence in his own ability must have come from God and his many years of experience as an investor.
The whole book went through some of the famous companies WB bought such as HH Brown Shoe, See's Candies, Borsheim's Fine Jewelry, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Justin Industries, Executive Jet, GEICO Insurance, General Reinsurance and The Buffalo News. Berkshire Hathaway can be seen as a parent company which has a long line of fine businesses all hand-picked by WB himself. Berkshire Hathaway's stock is the most expensive stock in the world, listed in the US. If ever you are considering an investment and wealthy enough, a great choice would of course be Berkshire Hathaway.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Avalanche Camp Review part III
Hi all friends,
This will be the third and final review of the amazing Avalanche camp I've recently attended.
Friday&Saturday, 13-14th July 2007
Friday morning was a really sleepy morning. We woke up feeling tired but yet excited for the day's events. Our team, team Armada was already coming in 2nd in the games. I was excited that we might win the games event. We had to go through one more day's worth of games to see the overall winner. We had another round of meaningful devotion in the morning and it was off to breakfast.
Thank God the breakfast was nice again. I didn't really had much to eat the last night because of all the hype and I actually forgot to eat. But the breakfast was filling and so I was ready for the day. After a few announcements at the breakfast hall, it was Session 5. Pastor Scott spoke about avalanches in our lives and how we can be and avalanche. He focussed alot on the basics as he stressed that it was the most important part of all. Each of us had to mold a character inside of us that was essential to start an avalanche. We were all like baby snowflakes. Session 6 followed.
We then had an exciting evening of games. Amongst the games were that we were suppose to fit as many team members as possible into a smallish square. It was really fun as we all got to hug each other and small Kimmy was on me, as we tried to fit into the square. There were other games too such as throwing paper aeroplanes into another small square, a tongue twister game, picking the odd sandwich out and also line soccer. I reckon it wasn't the games that counted but the time we spent with our team members that were most meaningful and fun.
After alot of sweating and tiredness, we then had to practice our skit that we were given. The topic was "The Greatest Gift of All". Adora Goh, our team leader, was really supportive as she welcomed everyone's ideas and we all got going to the practising pretty fast. I learnt alot about being a team player in these circumstances. The ability to welcome ideas, tolerate opinions and work together with others is most pleasant when learnt in these conditions.
It was time for dinner but we only had the skit in our heads. Having a fast dinner we all rushed back to the practising as we perfected our skit. Some parts were really funny and with a good example by JP "Rudolf", we got the idea of how we were supposed to act. It was the last minutes before presentation and all of us were not nervous at all. We just continued laughing, and didn't care how well we'd perform as long as we'd have fun.
Presentation time came and we enjoyed all the other groups performances. Ones that stood out were the Snowflake's journey by Team Blizzard and the Nine Fruits of the Spirit by Team Billabong. Our own team's presentation was awesome too, in my opinion. We made the audience laugh alot and our acting looked so real! We ended that night with the last session preceded by awesome worship and praise.
The next morning I was one of the few to wake up first as I had breakfast duty. It was a good morning, but with only 5 hours of sleep. So throughout the day I was basically a living zombie. Nevertheless, it was really worth it as we concluded the camp with testimonies and a group photo. I actually braved myself to go up and give a testimony I felt God was calling me to do.
The bus ride back was little short of amazing. I was sleeping, talking, chatting and having a great time, even though I felt most of my friends were on the other bus. A few of us like Daniel, Thean, Ming Fung, Jenny, Rebekah and her boyfriend cracked up some really interesting conversation and it lasted almost half the trip. Amazing what a few friends I'm totally strangers with can do in a bus. The whole bus was practically celebrating with us in the front.
Overall, this camp was really refreshing and there are some values I would personally like to bring back with me from the camp. I felt my life's direction has changed and I will live meaningfully int he future. I want to put my life in a direction I would follow for the rest of my life. And I felt camp helped me in that in alot of ways.
This will be the third and final review of the amazing Avalanche camp I've recently attended.
Friday&Saturday, 13-14th July 2007
Friday morning was a really sleepy morning. We woke up feeling tired but yet excited for the day's events. Our team, team Armada was already coming in 2nd in the games. I was excited that we might win the games event. We had to go through one more day's worth of games to see the overall winner. We had another round of meaningful devotion in the morning and it was off to breakfast.
Thank God the breakfast was nice again. I didn't really had much to eat the last night because of all the hype and I actually forgot to eat. But the breakfast was filling and so I was ready for the day. After a few announcements at the breakfast hall, it was Session 5. Pastor Scott spoke about avalanches in our lives and how we can be and avalanche. He focussed alot on the basics as he stressed that it was the most important part of all. Each of us had to mold a character inside of us that was essential to start an avalanche. We were all like baby snowflakes. Session 6 followed.
We then had an exciting evening of games. Amongst the games were that we were suppose to fit as many team members as possible into a smallish square. It was really fun as we all got to hug each other and small Kimmy was on me, as we tried to fit into the square. There were other games too such as throwing paper aeroplanes into another small square, a tongue twister game, picking the odd sandwich out and also line soccer. I reckon it wasn't the games that counted but the time we spent with our team members that were most meaningful and fun.
After alot of sweating and tiredness, we then had to practice our skit that we were given. The topic was "The Greatest Gift of All". Adora Goh, our team leader, was really supportive as she welcomed everyone's ideas and we all got going to the practising pretty fast. I learnt alot about being a team player in these circumstances. The ability to welcome ideas, tolerate opinions and work together with others is most pleasant when learnt in these conditions.
It was time for dinner but we only had the skit in our heads. Having a fast dinner we all rushed back to the practising as we perfected our skit. Some parts were really funny and with a good example by JP "Rudolf", we got the idea of how we were supposed to act. It was the last minutes before presentation and all of us were not nervous at all. We just continued laughing, and didn't care how well we'd perform as long as we'd have fun.
Presentation time came and we enjoyed all the other groups performances. Ones that stood out were the Snowflake's journey by Team Blizzard and the Nine Fruits of the Spirit by Team Billabong. Our own team's presentation was awesome too, in my opinion. We made the audience laugh alot and our acting looked so real! We ended that night with the last session preceded by awesome worship and praise.
The next morning I was one of the few to wake up first as I had breakfast duty. It was a good morning, but with only 5 hours of sleep. So throughout the day I was basically a living zombie. Nevertheless, it was really worth it as we concluded the camp with testimonies and a group photo. I actually braved myself to go up and give a testimony I felt God was calling me to do.
The bus ride back was little short of amazing. I was sleeping, talking, chatting and having a great time, even though I felt most of my friends were on the other bus. A few of us like Daniel, Thean, Ming Fung, Jenny, Rebekah and her boyfriend cracked up some really interesting conversation and it lasted almost half the trip. Amazing what a few friends I'm totally strangers with can do in a bus. The whole bus was practically celebrating with us in the front.
Overall, this camp was really refreshing and there are some values I would personally like to bring back with me from the camp. I felt my life's direction has changed and I will live meaningfully int he future. I want to put my life in a direction I would follow for the rest of my life. And I felt camp helped me in that in alot of ways.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Avalanche Camp Review part II
This is the second part of the camp review series I am currently doing.
Day 2, July 12th 2007
All of us woke up really, really early by my standards, namely 7.30am, and feeling really sleepy we proceeded to clean up ourselves, shower, and get ourselves ready for the day. My dormmates were all cooperative as the 8 of us had to share a single bathroom. Some had already showered last night, so it made it easier for us. We started the beautiful morning with devotion to God. Devotion is a quiet time where reading is conducted as we bath ourselves in the presence of God and learn how to tackle issues about everyday life and relationships. It was my favourite time of the day.
We then had breakfast down in the dining-hall. Amazingly, breakfast food was the best food of all because they had the least chance to screw up in breakfast. Who can make a bad breakfast? They gave us really nice cereal, eggs, bread, warm chocolate and nata de coco jellies. Best meal of the day. We were all talking about the coming games later in the day and what kind of games would be presented to us. I got the chance to get closer to my very, very good friend Nicole Kee during this time.
We then proceeded to Session 2. We had invited a preacher from Careforce church, Scott Hawkins to come and speak. He is an excellent youth pastor and has planted churches all around in Australia. He's been to hundreds of youth camps and spoken to so many people. His church is most well known because of Guy Sebastian who goes there. His message was just... easy-to-understand and very insightful. In a Bible story, he could be the person in the story and tell it as if he was that person himself. Session 3 followed. We got alot from this two sessions alone.
It was games time. We were excited. I was in Team Armada. My team members were Chara, Adora, Tony, Jonno, cute Kimmy, Daniel, John Paul, and some others I had forgotten their names. I'm so sorry! The first game we had to do was to go in a circle, then each member had to join left hands to right hands of another member until all hands in our group were joined. And then, we had to untangle ourselves without breaking up the lines. Challenging huh. In the end, we cheated and broke the line, quickly unentangle ourselves and sat down to get like 4th place. Other games were eating the cheesels game, annihilation-netball, and the line-of-doom which I would rather call hen and chicks game. We did quite well in the games and turned out second overall.
We were told we had a concert that night and so we had to prepare for it. Our theme was the greatest gift. Our group was so creative, but it turned out to be too-creative-for-our-own-good. Everyone kept chipping in ideas and our poor leader Adora Goh had to try to combine everyone's ideas into one. They were all good but so random to each other. The best line that evening was "I'm the greatest gift to women". Hands down best line.
That night, we had a theme dinner. Everyone had to dress in their best Christmas costume. I bought a Santa Hat for $5 bucks, and so it was my Christmas costume. Jenny Ling had dressed like a fairy, Bryan Seow had dressed like a big chicken bird, and Andrew Lin was Santa Claus' bodyguard look-a-like. In my opinion, those were the best costumes of the day. We had this game where everyone was given a bell and they were not allowed to say the word "white" or "christmas". If not, their bells would be stolen from them to the other person who makes them say the words. Sadly, I got tricked by Adora Goh. She kept going on and on about how she wanted to go travelling in the US and then suddenly she asked me what colour were her nails. I stupidly answered white. I can't believe I fell for it!
During the theme dinner, I had also noticed Nicole Kee missing. So I asked her brother where she was. Her brother didn't know. I told her brother that I might have told her dinner was at 7 when it was actually at 6. So after abit of looking around hoping for Nic to appear, we both went to her dorm and found her there. She was preparing for the theme dinner and she told us she knew she was late. But she was already 40 minutes late! At least we found her in her dorm.
That night we had another awesome session of worship and God's word. The praise and worship was just wonderful. And followed by a great message by Pastor Scott again.He was talking something about avalanches and how we must start small to end big. Nobody started big. Everyone started small.
Supper time had us all fellowship-ing again with one another. I got to know some others well as a good start. They are Rebekah Lee, Jonno Lee, Cathy and Ron. They were always in my uni cell but I didn't know them as well. We went back to our dorms having had a long day and everyone was tired out. But it was a really fun-filled day. Life couldn't be lived to any more to the full. Lights out at 11.30pm but we slept at 1.00am. Day two satisfied.
--End of Review Part II--
Day 2, July 12th 2007
All of us woke up really, really early by my standards, namely 7.30am, and feeling really sleepy we proceeded to clean up ourselves, shower, and get ourselves ready for the day. My dormmates were all cooperative as the 8 of us had to share a single bathroom. Some had already showered last night, so it made it easier for us. We started the beautiful morning with devotion to God. Devotion is a quiet time where reading is conducted as we bath ourselves in the presence of God and learn how to tackle issues about everyday life and relationships. It was my favourite time of the day.
We then had breakfast down in the dining-hall. Amazingly, breakfast food was the best food of all because they had the least chance to screw up in breakfast. Who can make a bad breakfast? They gave us really nice cereal, eggs, bread, warm chocolate and nata de coco jellies. Best meal of the day. We were all talking about the coming games later in the day and what kind of games would be presented to us. I got the chance to get closer to my very, very good friend Nicole Kee during this time.
We then proceeded to Session 2. We had invited a preacher from Careforce church, Scott Hawkins to come and speak. He is an excellent youth pastor and has planted churches all around in Australia. He's been to hundreds of youth camps and spoken to so many people. His church is most well known because of Guy Sebastian who goes there. His message was just... easy-to-understand and very insightful. In a Bible story, he could be the person in the story and tell it as if he was that person himself. Session 3 followed. We got alot from this two sessions alone.
It was games time. We were excited. I was in Team Armada. My team members were Chara, Adora, Tony, Jonno, cute Kimmy, Daniel, John Paul, and some others I had forgotten their names. I'm so sorry! The first game we had to do was to go in a circle, then each member had to join left hands to right hands of another member until all hands in our group were joined. And then, we had to untangle ourselves without breaking up the lines. Challenging huh. In the end, we cheated and broke the line, quickly unentangle ourselves and sat down to get like 4th place. Other games were eating the cheesels game, annihilation-netball, and the line-of-doom which I would rather call hen and chicks game. We did quite well in the games and turned out second overall.
We were told we had a concert that night and so we had to prepare for it. Our theme was the greatest gift. Our group was so creative, but it turned out to be too-creative-for-our-own-good. Everyone kept chipping in ideas and our poor leader Adora Goh had to try to combine everyone's ideas into one. They were all good but so random to each other. The best line that evening was "I'm the greatest gift to women". Hands down best line.
That night, we had a theme dinner. Everyone had to dress in their best Christmas costume. I bought a Santa Hat for $5 bucks, and so it was my Christmas costume. Jenny Ling had dressed like a fairy, Bryan Seow had dressed like a big chicken bird, and Andrew Lin was Santa Claus' bodyguard look-a-like. In my opinion, those were the best costumes of the day. We had this game where everyone was given a bell and they were not allowed to say the word "white" or "christmas". If not, their bells would be stolen from them to the other person who makes them say the words. Sadly, I got tricked by Adora Goh. She kept going on and on about how she wanted to go travelling in the US and then suddenly she asked me what colour were her nails. I stupidly answered white. I can't believe I fell for it!
During the theme dinner, I had also noticed Nicole Kee missing. So I asked her brother where she was. Her brother didn't know. I told her brother that I might have told her dinner was at 7 when it was actually at 6. So after abit of looking around hoping for Nic to appear, we both went to her dorm and found her there. She was preparing for the theme dinner and she told us she knew she was late. But she was already 40 minutes late! At least we found her in her dorm.
That night we had another awesome session of worship and God's word. The praise and worship was just wonderful. And followed by a great message by Pastor Scott again.He was talking something about avalanches and how we must start small to end big. Nobody started big. Everyone started small.
Supper time had us all fellowship-ing again with one another. I got to know some others well as a good start. They are Rebekah Lee, Jonno Lee, Cathy and Ron. They were always in my uni cell but I didn't know them as well. We went back to our dorms having had a long day and everyone was tired out. But it was a really fun-filled day. Life couldn't be lived to any more to the full. Lights out at 11.30pm but we slept at 1.00am. Day two satisfied.
--End of Review Part II--
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Avalanche Camp Review part I
Dear Investors & Fellow Friends,
This is part I of a review of the recent Avalanche camp I have been to. There will be a total of 3 parts to this review. It was an amazing 4 days and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I made new friendships, gained new experience and most of all experienced God intimately.
Day 1, Wednesday 11th of April 2007
At 11.30am, all avalanchers were already gathered around the church site, with bags and all, ready to depart for the long awaited camp. We were all pretty excited and non-stop talking pursued as we got to see for the first time our fellow campers as well as get to exchange opinions about the expectations of each member towards the camp. Each of us quickly got a partner to sit on the bus with and I ended up sitting next to Ming Fung, my good friend.
The bus trip was fun and we chatted alot. Soon our chat attracted Chris Wang, a fellow final year medical student friend, and the topic went towards medical businesses as we discusssed the merits/problems related to medical fields. At one point, we even chatted about the newly gossiped vegenics, the future of vegetable manufacturing.
Upon arrival at the camp, we got our first glimpse of the campsite. It was laid in a beautiful landscape, with mountain ranges in the background, coupled with beautiful forests and plenty of grassland. The camp was in the middle of a field. We got out first briefing of the camp, by a camp instructor whom we didn't remember his name, and he told us about the campsite, including his two apparently-fierce-but-friendly dogs that were around in the campsite.
We got time to settle into our dorms, and I chose the bunker above Thean Teh's, my youth leader and very good friend. The dorm was user-friendly with nice beds, just abit dusty, and a nice washroom. Even though there was 8 of us in a small dorm, it was a nice experience, we got to experience intimacy and supported each other throughout the camp.
Our first session during the night was just amazing. Pastor Chris Ong, our church's ex youth pastor, set the tone for the camp. He taught us about the 10 most important things to a snowflake in starting an avalanche. The 10 things are the fruit of his research on avalanches which took up hours after hours. And then he taught us how to apply those 10 things to our lives as Christians and how we can impact the world like an avalanche.
Praise and worship was really good too. Led by Stanley Ong and Brian Seow, with a talented back-up team, they brought the singing to a new level. The night ended at somewhere around 11.30pm, and we went for a late night supper. We chatted about the most random stuff as we got closer with each other at each passing moment.
Back in our dormies, after lights out, we were still playing cards and just fellowship-ing with one another. The 6-8 of us would just sit back, enjoy and laugh at each other's jokes throughout the night. It was really peaceful at that time. Day one ended satisfied.
--End of review Part I--
This is part I of a review of the recent Avalanche camp I have been to. There will be a total of 3 parts to this review. It was an amazing 4 days and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I made new friendships, gained new experience and most of all experienced God intimately.
Day 1, Wednesday 11th of April 2007
At 11.30am, all avalanchers were already gathered around the church site, with bags and all, ready to depart for the long awaited camp. We were all pretty excited and non-stop talking pursued as we got to see for the first time our fellow campers as well as get to exchange opinions about the expectations of each member towards the camp. Each of us quickly got a partner to sit on the bus with and I ended up sitting next to Ming Fung, my good friend.
The bus trip was fun and we chatted alot. Soon our chat attracted Chris Wang, a fellow final year medical student friend, and the topic went towards medical businesses as we discusssed the merits/problems related to medical fields. At one point, we even chatted about the newly gossiped vegenics, the future of vegetable manufacturing.
Upon arrival at the camp, we got our first glimpse of the campsite. It was laid in a beautiful landscape, with mountain ranges in the background, coupled with beautiful forests and plenty of grassland. The camp was in the middle of a field. We got out first briefing of the camp, by a camp instructor whom we didn't remember his name, and he told us about the campsite, including his two apparently-fierce-but-friendly dogs that were around in the campsite.
We got time to settle into our dorms, and I chose the bunker above Thean Teh's, my youth leader and very good friend. The dorm was user-friendly with nice beds, just abit dusty, and a nice washroom. Even though there was 8 of us in a small dorm, it was a nice experience, we got to experience intimacy and supported each other throughout the camp.
Our first session during the night was just amazing. Pastor Chris Ong, our church's ex youth pastor, set the tone for the camp. He taught us about the 10 most important things to a snowflake in starting an avalanche. The 10 things are the fruit of his research on avalanches which took up hours after hours. And then he taught us how to apply those 10 things to our lives as Christians and how we can impact the world like an avalanche.
Praise and worship was really good too. Led by Stanley Ong and Brian Seow, with a talented back-up team, they brought the singing to a new level. The night ended at somewhere around 11.30pm, and we went for a late night supper. We chatted about the most random stuff as we got closer with each other at each passing moment.
Back in our dormies, after lights out, we were still playing cards and just fellowship-ing with one another. The 6-8 of us would just sit back, enjoy and laugh at each other's jokes throughout the night. It was really peaceful at that time. Day one ended satisfied.
--End of review Part I--
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The last day in a warm place
As I write this message for the last day, I am about to embark on a camp which defies all warmness in the place and have brought along with me, blankets, sweaters, jumpers, and many many other warm clothing. I am going for a winter camp!
The place I am going to has no line, no connections whatsoever. That means no sharemarket for 4 days. I believe when I get back from the camp, two things will change. The first is the person I am and the second the sharemarket. If the market crashes in this heightened bull market we're in right now while I am in the camp, at least looking back in the future I will be able to say that I had no worries whatsoever whatever Mr.Market was doing while I was at my camp!
To NYC Pty Ltd avid readers out there, wish me a safe journey to and fro the camp! I shall be back with a camp review, a hugely awaited market update and more rants about the financial world, and still stress on the fact that we need to spend more time educating ourselves in investing than we spend time buying a refrigerator.
The place I am going to has no line, no connections whatsoever. That means no sharemarket for 4 days. I believe when I get back from the camp, two things will change. The first is the person I am and the second the sharemarket. If the market crashes in this heightened bull market we're in right now while I am in the camp, at least looking back in the future I will be able to say that I had no worries whatsoever whatever Mr.Market was doing while I was at my camp!
To NYC Pty Ltd avid readers out there, wish me a safe journey to and fro the camp! I shall be back with a camp review, a hugely awaited market update and more rants about the financial world, and still stress on the fact that we need to spend more time educating ourselves in investing than we spend time buying a refrigerator.
Monday, July 9, 2007
The Industrials
There's all this talk about one should invest in their area of expertise and not divert away from
it. It is because in their area of expertise is the area in which the investor stands the highest chance of success. But now and then you see the doctor investing in shoe companies and the shoe-makers investing in medical research related fields. This is a reason why most investors complain they never do well in investing.
As for myself, I haven't yet found my own niche. But lately, I have come to the realisation that since young I was always interested in the industrials. I have a feeling that in the future I might be more involved in contruction of buildings and running of factories. However, I understand that this is a field with large capital expenditure in contrast with the advice given that one should invest in a field with low capital expenditure.
I was always fascinated when I see a building under contruction. My first thought is what an amazing structure and what large amounts of revenue it would bring when the construction is completed. I find that human achievement of being able to build such a large building is extraordinary and something that is tangible, being able to be seen and appreciated by all. This includes factories, where the human brain is able to conduct all the complex sophisticated procedures involved in each specialisation of the manufacturing process, I am just fascinated.
But in reality, I have little if not no experience in the industrials. On the other hand, my field with most experience at the moment is actually the personal services industry. As a tutor, I have ample experience with that arrangement and it might be a field I might venture into in the future. Trust is very important in the personal services industry. As for which will be my niche, perhaps even a few fields, I leave it to God to direct me.
it. It is because in their area of expertise is the area in which the investor stands the highest chance of success. But now and then you see the doctor investing in shoe companies and the shoe-makers investing in medical research related fields. This is a reason why most investors complain they never do well in investing.
As for myself, I haven't yet found my own niche. But lately, I have come to the realisation that since young I was always interested in the industrials. I have a feeling that in the future I might be more involved in contruction of buildings and running of factories. However, I understand that this is a field with large capital expenditure in contrast with the advice given that one should invest in a field with low capital expenditure.
I was always fascinated when I see a building under contruction. My first thought is what an amazing structure and what large amounts of revenue it would bring when the construction is completed. I find that human achievement of being able to build such a large building is extraordinary and something that is tangible, being able to be seen and appreciated by all. This includes factories, where the human brain is able to conduct all the complex sophisticated procedures involved in each specialisation of the manufacturing process, I am just fascinated.
But in reality, I have little if not no experience in the industrials. On the other hand, my field with most experience at the moment is actually the personal services industry. As a tutor, I have ample experience with that arrangement and it might be a field I might venture into in the future. Trust is very important in the personal services industry. As for which will be my niche, perhaps even a few fields, I leave it to God to direct me.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Some important financial ratios
Finally, after much blabbering about financial issues, I have come to the point to introduce some key financial ratios to my avid readers. Amongst the most common are:-
The P/E Ratio = Price/Earnings per share
This ratio I have mentioned before and its importance is undoubted. It is by far most common amongst the financial savvy crowd and can be used comparably against the rate at which a company grows.
The D/E Ratio = Debt to Equity Ratio
This is a measure of how much debt and equity the company employs. A high ratio might signify too much debt whereas a low ratio might mean this company is a good investment. Personally, I look for low D/E ratios as I am debt averse.
Current Ratio = Current assets/Current liabilities
This ratio measures the amount of current assets the company has to pay off its current liabilities. A ratio of 2 tells me that for every dollar of current liabilities the company has, it has 2 dollars of current assets that it can readily use to pay off its current liabilities. Current means within the coming 12 months.
Dividend yield = Dividends/Share price
This measures the amount the company pays out as dividends, based on its share price. An elderly couple might want to look at a company with a high dividend yield, showing that the company pays out large proportions of its earnings as dividends. A yield of 5% is already a high yield.
Return on Equity = Net profit after tax/Equity
This simple measure calculates the return on shares based on net profit after tax. However, not all net profit is paid out as cash and some of them might be retained in the company for investment/growth purposes. Hence, this equation is useful only in measuring the amount earned based on the amount of equity capital employed by the company.
By learning these 5 simple ratios, you have already mastered the beginning of financial analysis. Go through it a few times and you will realise it is actually quite easy to become a financial analyst.
The P/E Ratio = Price/Earnings per share
This ratio I have mentioned before and its importance is undoubted. It is by far most common amongst the financial savvy crowd and can be used comparably against the rate at which a company grows.
The D/E Ratio = Debt to Equity Ratio
This is a measure of how much debt and equity the company employs. A high ratio might signify too much debt whereas a low ratio might mean this company is a good investment. Personally, I look for low D/E ratios as I am debt averse.
Current Ratio = Current assets/Current liabilities
This ratio measures the amount of current assets the company has to pay off its current liabilities. A ratio of 2 tells me that for every dollar of current liabilities the company has, it has 2 dollars of current assets that it can readily use to pay off its current liabilities. Current means within the coming 12 months.
Dividend yield = Dividends/Share price
This measures the amount the company pays out as dividends, based on its share price. An elderly couple might want to look at a company with a high dividend yield, showing that the company pays out large proportions of its earnings as dividends. A yield of 5% is already a high yield.
Return on Equity = Net profit after tax/Equity
This simple measure calculates the return on shares based on net profit after tax. However, not all net profit is paid out as cash and some of them might be retained in the company for investment/growth purposes. Hence, this equation is useful only in measuring the amount earned based on the amount of equity capital employed by the company.
By learning these 5 simple ratios, you have already mastered the beginning of financial analysis. Go through it a few times and you will realise it is actually quite easy to become a financial analyst.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Issuing shares or buying back shares
The true owners of a company are the shareholders. When a company issue shares, the effect on the shareholders is a diluting in ownership and hence a lower percentage ownership in the company. What the shareholder is giving up, it should be compensated by means of greater growth in earnings. However, this decision is left to the management to decide the fate of the company and hence the value of the company. Management does not always act in the best interests of the shareholders.
A company should only issue shares when the company is getting more than it is giving out. If the share price is $20 and the issue of shares brings the new price to $19 as marked by the market, the funds raised by the issue of new shares should bring the company an extra net present value of more than 1 dollar per share in order to compensate for the share price drop. This can be reflected in the share price over time not instantaneously.
On the other hand, buying back shares is pretty much nothing less than awesome. If the company does not know what to do with extra cash, the best is always to buy back shares of its own company. After all, the company is run to maximize shareholder value, not to continue expanding, moving overseas or diversifiying.
I also prefer manager-owner type of companies. That way the interests of shareholders and managers are aligned. Thus one can expect the company to perform well for the shareholders over time with capable management. I am also starting to believe that management is very important to a company's success. I shall investigate this theme further in coming posts.
A company should only issue shares when the company is getting more than it is giving out. If the share price is $20 and the issue of shares brings the new price to $19 as marked by the market, the funds raised by the issue of new shares should bring the company an extra net present value of more than 1 dollar per share in order to compensate for the share price drop. This can be reflected in the share price over time not instantaneously.
On the other hand, buying back shares is pretty much nothing less than awesome. If the company does not know what to do with extra cash, the best is always to buy back shares of its own company. After all, the company is run to maximize shareholder value, not to continue expanding, moving overseas or diversifiying.
I also prefer manager-owner type of companies. That way the interests of shareholders and managers are aligned. Thus one can expect the company to perform well for the shareholders over time with capable management. I am also starting to believe that management is very important to a company's success. I shall investigate this theme further in coming posts.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Taking a stock tip from a friend
Once in a while, showing your interests in stocks to friends arround you, close or not close, you will get stock tips from them. Usually, the stocks they recommend have some sort of connection with them, either their uncle, dad, nephew, brother-in-law, grandfather or auntie has bought them. But when you start asking them the question have they bought them, what comes back is usually a disappointing answer.
Stock tips from friends are not necessarily bad, but it's those speculative or high-priced ones that you have to be wary about. I've read alot from people's experiences that these kind of stock tips never turn out good. Try to imagine how the 'stock tip' came all the way to your friend, regardless of their intention. It probably originated from a broker or a company's representative trying to get people to buy their stock. And from one person to another, the stock is sent along until it reaches you, you probably being the 10th person down the line to receive it.
You hear all these amazing stories about the stock. Like how they are going to profit handsomely in the near future, how its going to be the next Microsoft, or how your friends(most of the time their friends) have profitted from the stock. However, it is for these reasons alone that when you hear them they should already be in your 'no' zone. Never, ever buy a stock with hope of getting an amazing return that has only blue sky to guarantee it. Those stocks are purely speculative and most people lose out in speculative situations. On the other hand, if someone else has already profitted from the stock, what does that mean? It probably means the friend has sold when the stock has sky-rocketed and you are there about to buy at the mountain top.
Be very, very wary. Sometimes it could be great ideas too. But great ideas usually come in the form of a related experience, where they bought the goods and had a great time. They rarely come in the form of a inclination to get you to buy a stock.
Putting all these behind, it is good to remember that if you do your homework, you don't have to worry about whether it is a good stock or bad stock.
Stock tips from friends are not necessarily bad, but it's those speculative or high-priced ones that you have to be wary about. I've read alot from people's experiences that these kind of stock tips never turn out good. Try to imagine how the 'stock tip' came all the way to your friend, regardless of their intention. It probably originated from a broker or a company's representative trying to get people to buy their stock. And from one person to another, the stock is sent along until it reaches you, you probably being the 10th person down the line to receive it.
You hear all these amazing stories about the stock. Like how they are going to profit handsomely in the near future, how its going to be the next Microsoft, or how your friends(most of the time their friends) have profitted from the stock. However, it is for these reasons alone that when you hear them they should already be in your 'no' zone. Never, ever buy a stock with hope of getting an amazing return that has only blue sky to guarantee it. Those stocks are purely speculative and most people lose out in speculative situations. On the other hand, if someone else has already profitted from the stock, what does that mean? It probably means the friend has sold when the stock has sky-rocketed and you are there about to buy at the mountain top.
Be very, very wary. Sometimes it could be great ideas too. But great ideas usually come in the form of a related experience, where they bought the goods and had a great time. They rarely come in the form of a inclination to get you to buy a stock.
Putting all these behind, it is good to remember that if you do your homework, you don't have to worry about whether it is a good stock or bad stock.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Does this toad need a princess kiss?
Yesterday I was just browsing through some companies when I stumbled upon a particularly special one that caught my interest. Here is some background on the company...
It has accumulated losses currently since it was listed on the ASX in 1999. However, now it has become profitable and earning about 4.5 cents per share currently. Its share price is less than 50 cents, and its paying dividends of about 5 cents per share. That represents a dividend yield of more than 10% and it is paying more dividends than it is currently earning. Its share price is nothing enviable as it has been going down from 2 dollars to its current share price over a span of about 4 years. It's biggest challenge seems to be growing revenue, sales, earnings as I believe it is competing in a pretty competitive industry full of other major players. It is currently a very unfavourable stock. The market has driven it to very, very low prices signifying a PE of only about 7.
And here I was just giving up on the company the more I looked at it. However, last night I thought alot about the company. It has very, very little debt and it is actually profitable now despite all its accumulated losses. Maybe in 1, 2 years time those losses will be retained earnings. I also see the company paying out too much dividends, if only it would stop paying its dividends, and use the money instead for growth, that will be excellent. Maybe that is the reason why it cannot grow. Amidst all their 'troubles', the company still has time to buy back shares, showing that management really knows how to increase intrinsic value by a per-share basis for the real owners of the company. Management compensation is reasonable, and the company's financial statements is audited by Ernst&Young in case of any fraud.
Furthermore, the market has driven the company to low, low prices...
Would it be a good investment?
It has accumulated losses currently since it was listed on the ASX in 1999. However, now it has become profitable and earning about 4.5 cents per share currently. Its share price is less than 50 cents, and its paying dividends of about 5 cents per share. That represents a dividend yield of more than 10% and it is paying more dividends than it is currently earning. Its share price is nothing enviable as it has been going down from 2 dollars to its current share price over a span of about 4 years. It's biggest challenge seems to be growing revenue, sales, earnings as I believe it is competing in a pretty competitive industry full of other major players. It is currently a very unfavourable stock. The market has driven it to very, very low prices signifying a PE of only about 7.
And here I was just giving up on the company the more I looked at it. However, last night I thought alot about the company. It has very, very little debt and it is actually profitable now despite all its accumulated losses. Maybe in 1, 2 years time those losses will be retained earnings. I also see the company paying out too much dividends, if only it would stop paying its dividends, and use the money instead for growth, that will be excellent. Maybe that is the reason why it cannot grow. Amidst all their 'troubles', the company still has time to buy back shares, showing that management really knows how to increase intrinsic value by a per-share basis for the real owners of the company. Management compensation is reasonable, and the company's financial statements is audited by Ernst&Young in case of any fraud.
Furthermore, the market has driven the company to low, low prices...
Would it be a good investment?
Monday, July 2, 2007
Market depth
To start off this day's post, many people think that we can buy shares by just... buying shares. They cannot explain how it works unless one actually does buy shares oneself. Buying shares are like standing in a queue, depending on your price, you may cut queues. If you're the buyer, the higher your price, the more you are able to cut queue and move to the front. If you're a seller, the lower your price, the more you are able to cut queue and move to the front.
Market depth is really just a life of buyers and sellers on either side of the screen for a particular stock. Hence, when one buys a share, one should not look at the share price, which actually tells you the value of the share last traded on the open market, but one should look first and foremost at market depth. Usually the share price last traded, and the recently new formed market line-up will be pretty different in terms of a few cents.
Market depth is accesible through your broker's website. If you're a full-time online buyer of shares, you can go to your broker's website and under your account, look for the heading Market depth. I was fortunate to have a friend explain to me the term 'market depth' before I started trading shares. If you're following a phone broker, there is no need to know Market depth because your broker, assuming he is acting with due care on your behalf, would buy shares at the lowest price possible for that particular share.
So, when you are all excited about buying shares, and have the money ready in your broker's account, first don't forget to check market depth. You've done well preparing until the last stage, so don't screw up the last stage by buying shares based on last trade, which might be a few cents above market price. It matters when you're buying huge volumes, such as something like a million shares. Few cents translate into tens of thousands of dollars. Of course assuming if you're buying such a huge number of shares for the first time, you are already aware of this thing called Market depth! Sometimes we got to learn it the hard way...
Market depth is really just a life of buyers and sellers on either side of the screen for a particular stock. Hence, when one buys a share, one should not look at the share price, which actually tells you the value of the share last traded on the open market, but one should look first and foremost at market depth. Usually the share price last traded, and the recently new formed market line-up will be pretty different in terms of a few cents.
Market depth is accesible through your broker's website. If you're a full-time online buyer of shares, you can go to your broker's website and under your account, look for the heading Market depth. I was fortunate to have a friend explain to me the term 'market depth' before I started trading shares. If you're following a phone broker, there is no need to know Market depth because your broker, assuming he is acting with due care on your behalf, would buy shares at the lowest price possible for that particular share.
So, when you are all excited about buying shares, and have the money ready in your broker's account, first don't forget to check market depth. You've done well preparing until the last stage, so don't screw up the last stage by buying shares based on last trade, which might be a few cents above market price. It matters when you're buying huge volumes, such as something like a million shares. Few cents translate into tens of thousands of dollars. Of course assuming if you're buying such a huge number of shares for the first time, you are already aware of this thing called Market depth! Sometimes we got to learn it the hard way...
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Food for Fund-raising
Today at church, two other friends, Ming Fung and Nicole, and me were a team trying to sell food to members of the church in an effort to raise some funds for the coming Avalanche camp. The event was highly successful and we passed our target by a 100 dollars! That is quite a big margin, considering our target was the humble AUD$75. We thank God that He led us to such a successful event.
The fund-raising activity reminded me alot of business. Trying to sell food to people is like trying to conduct a business and making profit. People have to be convinced that they are paying their money's worth before buying the food. We have our competitive advantages, such as, lowest cost provider(all the food served is the donation of our fund-raising team so zero cost), no overhead cost(everyone is a volunteer), excellent food(prepared by malaysians for malaysians) and a duopoly position in our 'market'.
When our competitor closed their shop for a break, in effect we are running a monopoly at that time. We could raise our prices and still get sales without fear of a drop in unit volume. However, because of ethics we did not do that, instead we passed on our low cost structure to customers in the form of low prices and at the same time provide extraodinary profits for ourselves.
Our pricing structure was excellent, instead of limiting people to pay a certain amount for our food, we said to them, "pay whatever you want". This strategy is excellent. Firstly, if we set a price, and some younger people might have a willingness to pay which is less than the price, we end up not having any sale. And if people are willing to pay more, we would miss some of the economic surplus by charging them too little. Hence, pay whatever you want or pay whatever you think the food is worth is the best stratey yet.
Nonetheless, we should not forget that this event is a fund-raiser. Even though the elements of a basic business do work in progress here, we should not forget that this event is being led by God. And that we can't think everything into our hands and should let Him guide the event. I give God the glory for that.
Overall, this week's fund-raising was excellent! Next week is my turn to prepare the food. Wish me good luck as I am going to make the most fabulous tastilicious egg-sandwiches!
The fund-raising activity reminded me alot of business. Trying to sell food to people is like trying to conduct a business and making profit. People have to be convinced that they are paying their money's worth before buying the food. We have our competitive advantages, such as, lowest cost provider(all the food served is the donation of our fund-raising team so zero cost), no overhead cost(everyone is a volunteer), excellent food(prepared by malaysians for malaysians) and a duopoly position in our 'market'.
When our competitor closed their shop for a break, in effect we are running a monopoly at that time. We could raise our prices and still get sales without fear of a drop in unit volume. However, because of ethics we did not do that, instead we passed on our low cost structure to customers in the form of low prices and at the same time provide extraodinary profits for ourselves.
Our pricing structure was excellent, instead of limiting people to pay a certain amount for our food, we said to them, "pay whatever you want". This strategy is excellent. Firstly, if we set a price, and some younger people might have a willingness to pay which is less than the price, we end up not having any sale. And if people are willing to pay more, we would miss some of the economic surplus by charging them too little. Hence, pay whatever you want or pay whatever you think the food is worth is the best stratey yet.
Nonetheless, we should not forget that this event is a fund-raiser. Even though the elements of a basic business do work in progress here, we should not forget that this event is being led by God. And that we can't think everything into our hands and should let Him guide the event. I give God the glory for that.
Overall, this week's fund-raising was excellent! Next week is my turn to prepare the food. Wish me good luck as I am going to make the most fabulous tastilicious egg-sandwiches!
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