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Archive for August, 2010

More about Direct Line Insurance, Transaction / External Growth

US billionaire Warren Buffett is interested in buying Royal Bank of Scotland’s insurance business Direct Line, a report said Sunday.

Spiraling claims from car accidents have led to heavy losses at RBS’s insurance arm and the bank has brought in a team of advisors to help sell the business, according to the Sunday Times.

RBS,  which is 83-percent state-owned after being bailed out by the British government,  has been ordered by the European Commission to sell Direct Line to fall into line with competition rules.

Berkshire Hathaway, the investment vehicle owned by Buffett, is among a clutch of potential bidders interested in the business, the Sunday Times reported. US insurer Allstate has also expressed an interest, it was claimed.

RBS would not comment on speculation over potential buyers, but did confirm it had engaged a team of advisers to see through the sale.

Direct Line was being lined up for a stock market flotation, but the significant losses made by the business are thought to have derailed the plan.

London, Aug 29, 2010 (AFP)

Related stories :

Report : Buffett has eyes on British insurance business

THERE is nothing as infuriating as acronyms, particularly in finance.

CFDs and CDOs are flung around like confetti as professional badges and to confuse customers.

Defunct giant Lehman Brothers knew this when it conned many Australian local government councils, selling them Collateralised Debt Obligations (CDOs) – including your local council.

Metaphors, similes and slang are often just as bad.

Last week we used Club Med to mean the indebted EU, whoops (European Union) southern European member nations Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain (acronym PIGS).

Travel agent Julia, of Landmark Travel, Manly, emailed a tactful admonishment: “dear bill, a client asked me today whether Club Med (the French resort company) has gone broke. Some people aren’t up to date with these expressions.”

Another reader, David, asked: “What did your closing question mean? it read: ‘My only fear is an unpredictable event. after all what is Western Australia’s symbol?”’

Sorry again for trying to be a clever dick. the Black Swan is WA’s symbol and the title of a bestseller by analyst Nassim Nicholas Taleb on unpredictable, random events such as the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

However, let’s get down to the nuts-and-bolts business of making money. in the fourth quarter, Coles’ same-store sales were up 4.2 per cent, easily beating Woolworths 1.8 per cent. As a result in the last few weeks Woolies share price is down 4.5 per cent, while Wesfarmers is up 15 per cent.

Should we sell Woolies out of our super portfolios and buy Wesfarmers, owners of Coles? Some stockbrokers assume Woolworths’ long supermarket reign is over. But note, the two are very different.

If we sell Woolies and buy Wesfarmers, we are switching from a highly successful, recession-insulated food and liquor business and buying a conglomerate of companies including, among other things, coal mines, clothing stores, fertilisers, chemicals, insurance, liquid petroleum gas (LPG) processing and distribution as well as food and liquor.

Such conglomerates were popular in the 1980s. Remember Robert Holmes a Court’s Bell Group that tried to take over BHP? Later Bell was itself taken over by Alan Bond and became the Bond Group and went belly-up spectacularly.

If only Wesfarmers boss Richard Goyder would hive off Coles after perhaps merge it with Bunnings’ superb hardware stores? this may appear the right decision to us outsiders but we could never convince Goyder, who believes that owning different businesses reduces risk and management costs.

However, what about the prospect of an apple going bad in the barrel? Only one of the conglomerate’s major companies needs to start underperforming to infect all the companies. if this happens, as it has in the past, immediately analysts start to downgrade the performance of the group as a whole.

But in the case of Woolies versus Wesfarmers, why not do our own investment research? one of the best books ever written on do-it-yourself investment is one up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch, available via any internet bookseller.

If you stay half-alert you can pick spectacular performers right from the place of your business or out of the neighbourhood shopping mall, and long before Wall Street discovers them. It’s impossible to be a credit-card-carrying consumer without having done a lot of fundamental analysis on dozens of companies.

Obviously you or your partner visits a supermarket regularly. do you, or they, shop at Coles or Woolies?

Why? Coles has been running an advertising campaign claiming its goods are the cheapest. Is this a fact?

Incidentally, the listed Bunnings Warehouse Property Trust that owns Bunnings buildings – Wesfarmers own the Bunnings business – priced at $1.89 and yielding 5.8 per cent is itself an excellent, long-term super investment.

In Bunnings I heard a dad buying a power drill remark: “if Bunnings had a liquor licence I’d never leave.”

* Email: wharcour@bigpond.net.au.

<a href="http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/bill-harcourt-why-not-do-our-own-investment-analysisr/tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/bill-harcourt-why-not-do-our-own-investment-analysisr/Tue, 10 Aug 2010 06:21:20 GMT 00:00″>Bill Harcourt: Why not do our own investment analysis?

We are in the process of developing our stock market forum www.investideas.net. we would appreciate any kind insights from both experienced and novice traders alike.

So far, we have already created discussions threads on stocks in Singapore, HK and the US. we also have discussions on Commodities, Currencies, Options, Market Gurus eg. Jim Rogers, Warren Buffett, Jesse Livermore etc as well as various Investment Styles eg. TA, Value Investing, CANSLIM etc.

If you all can provide us with more inputs, we will try our best to make this forum unique. we want to create a place where quality investment ideas can be exchanged in an open, friendly and honest manner.

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Forex is gaining a lot of traction nowadays….. gotta have a blurb about that. I gotta tell you something though. I have never invested live money in the markets. here's why.

The only people who actually make real money in the markets are the ones who know how to follow the movements of the big players on wall street, and or know who those people are. They are the ones that realize that a certain few individuals sway the markets and artificially inflate and deflate things for their own gains. the true traders know what's going on before any of that happens, and ride the wave with the "big boys"

This accounts for maybe 1% of the ENTIRE trading community. My business partner and long time friend was one of those for over a decade. He quit because his conscience got hold of him..

he was tired of stealing people's pensions, 401k, retirement, etc from people.. he traded in the millions per day. he didn't manage people's money directly, but,…. who's money do you think he was stealing? the other 99% of the people who daytrade for a hobby, or look to their financial advisers (who make commission regardless of whether you gain or lose money) to become profitable.

So…. given that, i have never traded in the actual market.

most people who are NOT that 1% or even in the top 5% CANNOT make enough profit to curb inflation. that's fact… i'm sure i'm not telling you anything new though…. hell you probably fundamentally disagree with me, which is ok too. i don't expect you to agree with me.

oh…. and be forewarned…. they are pushing to have a "bank holiday" soon, which is PROBABLY going to cause a run on banks, and is PROBABLY going to make this whole a little deeper that we're standing in..

it's going to make the market go down down down… basically the idea of the bank holiday is that NO ONE is going to be able to add or take out money from the banks for a few days…. they want to gain interest on what they have since they've been losing so much..

but.. people will run the banks dry and will hurt the economy further..

lets pray they don't go through with it…

i wish you luck on your website by the way…. i mean that truly..

by the way, look into affiliate programs to generate money with it…. you can do that easier than getting advertisers. there are lots of forex and trading platform sites that will give you commissions for people you get signed up, or potentially a cut of everything they make using the platform…….

What do you want to see in a good stock market forum?

In a world weighed down by debt and low nominal GDP growth, with deflationary pressures mounting, it’s a no-brainer that risk assets aren’t likely to fare well. Dee points out that “we are sailing into these choppy waters without a life preserver; fiscal and monetary levers have already been pulled.” That means that come another financial crisis, “the only policy response left will be to print money.” Which, of course, is what the gold bugs are counting on and why bullion has glistened so brightly. He sums it all up this way: what we’ve had since May is a nice bounce by an oversold market. “The rally, however,” he cautions, “has been ragged. I think it’s very timely to sell those tired longs and short anything in the way of the coming storm.”

I happen to share those beliefs, but my current bets are not fundamentally driven. who knows when markets will trend (and in what direction exactly). We can just be ready.

Predictions Are Tough « Michael Covel: Trend Following Manifesto

Originally published August 6, 2010 at 4:43 p.m., updated August 9, 2010 at 10:19 p.m.

Updated at 8 p.m. Monday, August 9

The 390-foot yacht simply known by the letter a left the 10th Avenue Maritime Terminal just after 6 p.m. for a trip up the coast to San Francisco. The vessel, which costs $500,000 to fuel, sailed through the harbor after a four day visit that left many people asking, “What’s that?” as we noted earlier, the milk-colored boat resembles a submarine with a Ramada Inn stuck on top.

The authoritative magazine Power and Motorcraft listed “A” as the seventh largest mega-yacht in its 2009 review of “super” boats. (The longest yacht, ‘Dubai,” is 531-feet long.) Motor Yacht a is owned by Andrey Melnichenko, a Russian billionaire who amassed a fortune in steel, banking and other industries after dropping out of college. (The boat is named after his wife, Alexandra Kokotovich.)

Wall Street Journal writer Robert Frank reports that the vessel cost at least $300 million to build and consumes almost 700 gallons of diesel fuel per hour, and that simply filling the fuel tank can cost $500,000. The Journal also says the boat has a 2,583-foot master suite outfitted with “bomb-proof” glass and bathroom knobs that cost $40,000.

If it were gray instead of white, Melnichenko’s yacht could be mistaken for one of the many warships in San Diego Harbor. The boat’s snubby nose and cone-like towers make it look a bit like the USS new Orleans, an amphibious warship that’s homeported here.

In a widely-read article published in July 2008, Frank reported that there is an over-sized bed near that top of the boat that rotates on a large turntable. Apparently, some rooms have cream-colored leather walls. but it is the boat’s exterior that really set tongues wagging. Frank called it a “deliberate slap in the face to an industry known for its classic conformity.”

<a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/aug/06/one-worlds-biggest-yachts-docks-san-diego/?sciquesttag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/aug/06/one-worlds-biggest-yachts-docks-san-diego/?sciquestSat, 07 Aug 2010 00:05:16 GMT 00:00″>Eye-catching 390-foot yacht departs San Diego

Americans were courted and wooed by smooth talking investment companies through their employers to put their hard-earned dollars into an economic system that is largely based on speculation that we are finding out now was baseless and had no actual tangible foundation.

Have you truly stopped to consider what your financial retirement future might possibly be like now that they have squandered your money?

Is this the biggest FRAUD perpetuated against the citizens of the United States of America?

oh yea.. my 401? it's a 205now.. guess the news flash from yesterday would be well received on this question

"Bailout Includes Secretive, Possibly Illegal $140B Windfall for Banks ?
The Washington Post has revealed the recent $700 billion taxpayer bailout of Wall Street contains a possibly illegal provision that stands to give American banks a massive windfall. as part of the bailout, lawmakers changed tax code Section 382, which limits the kinds of tax shelters companies can use during corporate mergers. it was created to stop companies who avoid paying taxes by acquiring shell companies valued by the losses on their stocks"

The companies would then write off the losses and avoid paying taxes on their own profits. Taxpayers stand to lose some $140 billion from the move. Experts say the Treasury had no legal authority to eliminate the tax measure"

"Republicans have been trying to overhaul or eliminate it since its introduction in 1986. Congressional aides admitted lawmakers agreed to keep the change hidden to avoid public outrage. Staffers with Senate Finance Committee chair, Max Baucus, a Democrat, reportedly asked that an administration briefing on the tax code change be kept secret. One congressional aide said, “We’re all nervous about saying that this was illegal because of our fears about the marketplace. to the extent we want to try to publicly stop this, we’re going to be gumming up some important deals.”

Because most of them are liberals and democrats and they are the ones doing the fleecing. Just wait til barrack takes office. Whoopie! we will become a 3rd world country.

IS THIS a JOKE QUESTION?

HOW MUCH MORE ANGRY CAN YOU GET

THAN KICKING OUT THE GOVERNMENT

AND ELECTING a BLACK PRESIDENT IN a FORMERLY

RACIST NATION WHICH HAS THE KKK AND LYNCHING.

CERTAINLY VERY STRANGE FRUIT.

I'm highly outraged, Kelly, but the American people put the wrong party in charge to get anything done about it.

I don't see Pelosi or Reid conducting impartial senate or house hearings to find out what happened and who's to blame. I see more butt-covering coming.

Your Dems in Congress are already talking about taxing 401k's. Wake up, Dems.

I think plenty of Americans are outraged about this situation. And AIG just keeps partying with our money like it's new Years. And as for being the 'biggest' fraud? Well, one would think so but personally I think they've got something even bigger up their sleeve. And I'm not too anxious to find out what it is either.

Apparently we are the ADD generation. Most of the people that voted for that nonsense were re-elected.

This is indeed a huge fraud, and our children will read about it in their history classes.

Boy, there's a few answerers here with quick fingers but slow minds followed by lots of good answers.

I'd say it's because when you get frustrated and angry with no real outlet bad things can happen.

The media doesn't seem interested in demonizing Phil Gramm and his GOP buddies – the folks who sparked the current mess with their successful push for deregulation of financial institutions in the late 1990s.

And Gramm had the nerve to refer to Americans as a 'Nation of Whiners' who dreamed up a 'Mental Recession'.

What a scumbag.

.

I can only tell you what I see. I own a small shop (Head Shop) and every person that comes in – is outraged by the whole deal. the problem is, they have been lead to believe that there is nothing “we” can do about it. Most people I talk to, think nothing will change until we have a revolution.

Why bother? all we need is some responsible management and someone that cares about America and its people. Too bad the president elect and his wife are so anti-American. It's well documented …in print and video, not just opinions. And bring on the Dems! . they've been in control for a couple of years. See how well they've handled our economy? Well, expect more of it. I've given up on anything good coming from our government. after all, we'll get used to communism. we won't have to make decisions for ourselves….Obama and his Black Panther regime will.

Yes but what the hell can we do about it? Nothing. so being outraged won't do any good.

And if Republicans believe in fiscal responsibility then why did Bush bail those companies out?

We were, thats why we got rid of the corrupt republican party. I know Barney Frank and the rest of the evil liberals were the only ones that had their hands in the pot. the biggest fraud of the US is the weapons of mass destruction. You'll see under the democratic watch the economy will stabilize.

one word….

Sheeple

I'm with you, but what can we do about it except elect a guy who is going to fix it. I surely can't. I would like to be put in a room with a couple of CEOs for a couple of minutes with a baseball bat though.

What makes you think we are not outraged? For me, it is no big deal because I am already retired but I do understand the plight of those who had put money into a 401K or similar program and now have only a small portion of it remaining. many were approaching retirement age and had prepared for years to make their retirement years reasonably comfortable but now are faced with having to continue working just to survive. I lost more than half of mine in the last recession and ended up taking a loss by the time I cashed it out because I needed it THEN. the greed and corruption on all fronts (including those sitting in Washington house and senate) totally ignored the warning signs because they didn't want to acknowledge that THEIR Golden Goose was about to die.

I am more outraged by the ridiculousness of the bailout package delivered to AIG, Fannie and Freddie and the other big banking institutions. the idea that money was needed to be made available to people so they could borrow in order to continue running a business (which means jobs) was a decent one, but as usual, the government failed to assure that the money would be used for that purpose, so the banks and AIG are using it for their purposes instead. Shoring up their own stock value, buying other banks….and AIG used a helfty sum for two very extravagant executive retreats. AIG has just yesterday been granted additional bailout monies. What is wrong with our government? Does money in their pocket make them blind to what they are doing to our country and it's people? Now the big three car companies are coming for a handout as well. Unfortunate but true, if they don't get it, it will mean the loss of probably close to a million jobs…for them specifically and for their suppliers.

I know I can't do anything to fix things for the moment, but I am joining with many others that intend to "Clean House" in Washington. we would be better off with a bunch of idealistic young people running things. they may be inexperieced…but maybe that is not so bad after all. even though I did not vote for him, I sincerely hope mr. Obama will be up to the monumental task that lies before him. He is going to have to change an awful lot though…beginning with his dedication to party politics. if he is the man he claims to be, he can force the kind of changes in the house and senate that this country needs. if he is what many think he is, then it will be just another four years of spending and disregard for the people. But, in two years, an election is going to take place again….and I intend to work as hard as I can to see to it that someone without heavy party ties gets elected.

I'm mad as hell and probably will continue to take it for lack of a better option.

I don't know, I'm pretty pissed off about it, I've got two creepy Reps that are responsible for this mess that I harass regularly, and neither one listens, no one seems to care. I think as long as people have their iPods, laptops, cable, beer and lottery tickets, they really aren't going to care. I don't know what it's going to take, but my blood pressure has been up twenty points since the bail out, and I have no idea what the answer is.

I am mad at freddie and fannie and their democratic supporters.

Same reason they just voted in Obama.

I noticed all people wanting bail out money are asking Pelosi…Isn't Pelosi a Democrat? so Pelosi has the upper hand to make these decisions not Bush….I am sure this bail out was REQUESTED by the Democrats… also if the dems are so smart and new Bush was screwing us, WHY did they not come out of the closet about all this stuff 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 years ago?

We are, but most of us are not influential enough to do anything about it.

Livid.

Now we are being expected to subsidize the failing automakers who are mired in outrageous union contracts and inappropriate products.
Half the auto industry is thriving, in right to work states with products the consumers want.

The sooner these leeching companies collapse, the sooner they can be replaced with competitive profitable auto making companies.

Who's next?
When will the government manipulation that mires our economy end???

Guess why we kicked out the Republicans?

And being outraged would help how exactly?

Isn't it a bit alarming that the MSM has not had one of those "how did This Happen" news specials? I wonder why? What have they been hiding? who have they been protecting?

Whenever any other thing of this magnitude has happened the media is all over it for weeks. Columbine, Katrina, etc………Yet we have the biggest financial crisis of our history and the media has gone silent.

Interesting don't you think.

The democrats are the ones at fault for our current economic mess due to the sub prime meltdown.

I am outraged, and have been for quite some time. I'm afraid that the US economy has been set up to fail, so that more extreme government controls can be put into place. And it's not a matter of failed Bush policies – that's part of the plan! My first clue was when Bush and Pelosi lined up on the same side for the first bailout.

And with a little research, I found out that Clinton, Bush 1 and 2, Obama, and others are really all on the same side – to promote the destruction of the free -enterprise system in the US in favor of restrictive government control and elimination of the middle class. the out right highway robbery of taxpayer dollars in the last month for bailout after bailout with no accountability just sets the stage for Obama to finish the job. they are all globalists with the same ideology. they have been working for years to set this up, and people have bought into it through years of liberal propaganda.

At this point, even if we are enraged, there's not much that can be done to stop it other than out and out revolution, and that would only initiate martial law, and the process would go even more quickly!

Goodbye, America.

Wall Street is not the fleecer. the problems we face now are traceable to Freddie and Fannie. McCain warned of it and the Dem Congress turned a deaf ear. Throw in some unethical lenders and appraisers and lots of greedy borrowers and voila!

Because most people aren't aware of it. they hear vague mentions of it in the press, but they put it down to liberal bias. they never check out the facts. An ignorant public is a controllable public.

Seriously why aren't more Americans OUTRAGED over being fleeced by Wall Street & corrupt government officials?

World economy, especially Stock markets  are in such a dreadful situation these days that most of the regular stock traders have either got their bank balance dried up or are terrified to dip themselves again into trading business.

And if that’s the attitude of experienced traders then newcomers have no reasons left to enter ‘Stock trading’ right now.the market behaviour is highly unpredicable and not at all pleasant for a ‘starter’ atleast.

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August 16, 2005 Unconventional Success: A Fundamental approach to Personal Investment

For the last 20 years, David Swensen has been the manager of Yale’s endowment. And the ol’ chappy has done the Eli proud. the Yalie fund has grown from a measly from $1.3 billion to a respectable UT-like $15 billion. Zounds and Huzzah for the money people!

Swensen then took pen to paper and was set to let all the wee widdle investors know how to invest just like Yale. but then, a funny thing happened on the way to Easy Street. the book’s thesis took a bit of a detour. I’ll let the Times take over (that’s The New York Times dear heart, not El Paso):instead, it shows why the little guy will never be able to invest the way Yale does.for all the “democratization” that has taken place in the world of personal investing the deck is still stacked against the individual. That was mr. Swensen’s fundamental discovery. And his willingness to change course and turn “Unconventional Success” into a polemic aimed primarily at mutual fund companies, but also at other Wall Street types who fleece the little guy, is to his everlasting credit. After all, he could have told us to buy stocks in companies whose products we buy at the supermarket, like a certain investment genius of a previous era. Any regrets about that advice, Peter Lynch?

Oh lord. Where to start? first, we take a shot at Peter Lynch! I’ve re-read this a few times, and it still comes out of nowhere. Why is Peter Lynch the bad guy? His style of investing hasn’t been shown up at all. in fact, it’s as relevant as ever.

Lynch’s main point over the years is to ignore professional investors. He even calls them an oxymoron. Lynch never said to buy stocks in companies whose products we buy at the supermarket. He says that “the amateur investor has numerous built-in advantages that, if exploited, should result in his or her outperforming the experts, and also the market in general.” He’s exactly right. but that’s only half of Lynch’s argument. He also takes down the pros.Lynch criticizes the group-think mentality of institutional investors who often have to clear their buys and sells past a committee. Lynch said that some of his best investments ideas have come from the power of common knowledge. That makes perfect sense, and I doubt mr. Lynch has any regrets.

Secondly, we learn that despite the democratization that’s taken place, “the deck is still stack against the little guy.” Democratization is even placed in scare quotes as if it’s been a scam from the get go. oh, please. Yes, Wall Street is being run by the evil plutocrats who are stomping on the throat of the little guy. Just the other day, I saw a phalanx of Morgan bankers marching down Broad Street, “Ooo – eeeee – hoo! Yooo – ho!” to be honest, they didn’t look that scary, but you get the idea.

Let’s be clear: the sole driver of Wall Street’s history for the last few decades has been the democratization of investing. This has been nothing short of a revolution. the changes have been stunning. Only 30 years ago there used to be fixed commission rates, no discount brokers, no decimal pricing, no IRAs, no 401k’s, no ETFs, no Reg FD, little of any disclose, no Sarbanes-Oxley. Ok, I could do without the last one, but at least they’re trying. in fact, one of the best books on the subject is “A Piece of the Action: How the Middle Class Joined the Money Class,” written by Joseph Nocera, the freakin’ author of this Times’ article (New York Times, not Northwest Indiana).

The article (Mr. Nocera) continues:when mr. Swensen first took over, Yale’s portfolio held stocks and bonds, period. Like most institutional portfolios of that time, “it was neither diversified nor particularly equity-oriented,” mr. Swensen recalled. Today, the endowment has barely 5 percent in bond holdings. “The other 95 percent,” he said, “are in places that we think will provide ‘equity like’ returns.” which is not to say it is all in equities. on the contrary, the Yale portfolio is extraordinarily diversified, which both lifts returns and protects against disaster.

No! No! A thousand times no! Diversification does not in and of itself increase your return. the whole idea of Modern Portfolio Theory is that you can use diversification to lower your risk (protect against disaster) without impacting your return. I’m not being pedantic here. This is the entire foundation of modern financial economics.

In just a few paragraphs, we’ve taken on a straw man and lost, and now we’ve bravely flattened the efficient frontier.

Let’s read on, shall we?At the end of the 2004 fiscal year, Yale had a mere 15 percent of its assets in domestic equities, and another 15 percent in foreign stocks. it had 15 percent in private equity, and 18 percent in “real assets,” which includes investments in timber and energy. but its biggest percentage, 26 percent, was in something called “absolute return.” That is a category invented by mr. Swensen in 1990. it means hedge funds.

This guy owns hedge funds and he’s complaining about how mutual funds fleece the little guy. Does he have any idea how much hedge funds charge? Also, is this guy a manager or does he just pick other managers?His new book has given mr. Swensen a greater appreciation of the enormous advantages he has as an institutional money manager, starting with the obvious fact that he has a staff that spends full-time researching investment possibilities. Thus, he takes it as a given that individuals shouldn’t pick stocks themselves. “I see every day how competitive the markets are, and how tough. so the idea that you can do this yourself, that’s out the window.”

He’s confusing cause and effect. the markets are competitive precisely because people are picking their own stocks. Yes, it’s hard to beat the market. Very hard. but if you’re well-diversified, it’s hard to lose to the market too. We never hear that part. for books like this, there are only victims. Wall Street is an unending drama of victims and exploitation, us against them. (Duck, I hear more guards coming!)

This is where the book drowns in its own conventionality. I’m sure the author believes he’s advocating self-denial and conservatism. Swensen indeed picks the right (and easiest) targets, but his entire view of the markets is wrong, wrong and wrong.

The financial markets are not a game of one side opposite another. That’s simply a metaphor that people use to understand how the market operates. It’s easy to understand. if you wanted to write a stock market book at any time for the last 70 years, just throw the words “big shot,” “fleeced,” “screwed,” and “little guy” in the title and off you go.

Just in the past few years, we’ve seen dozens of these types of books. the former head of the SEC even jumped in with “Take on the Street: what Wall Street and Corporate American Don’t want you to Know.” See. You’re the victim of “them.” Never of the SEC of course. Another one is “You got Screwed! Why Wall Street Tanked and How you can Prosper,” by someone calling himself James Cramer. I’m sure he means well.

This us-against-them view is just a metaphor and nothing else. Thanks to democratization, this metaphor is like some cartoon cat getting clanged on the head by the frying pan of reality. I guess that’s actually a simile, but you see where I’m going. I hate to break it to some people, but there’s no one “in charge” of the economy, or Wall Street. There’s no board room with a dozen fat bald white guys sitting around conspiring against you, and perhaps ruling the world during their breaks.

Financial markets are hugely decentralized structures with countless participants who aren’t coordinating with another, but they influence each other nonetheless. in fact, understanding this is one of the best arguments in favor of free enterprise. (James Surowiecki’s “The Wisdom of Crowds” is a good book on this subject.) Looking for Wall Street experts is like asking who’s the king of a traffic jam. it just doesn’t exist.what is it about mutual funds mr. Swensen finds offensive? Just about everything. He hates the way the loads and all the hidden fees mean that the investor is always behind the eight ball. (When I asked him about hedge fund fees, which are much higher, mr. Swensen replied: “I don’t mind paying a lot for actual performance. Besides, when we negotiate fees, it’s sophisticated investor versus fund manager. It’s a fair fight.”)

CrossingWallStreet.com: Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment

T&#104e wi&#110&#110i&#110g stock market i&#110vestors are &#100iscipli&#110e&#100.

T&#104ey ma&#110age t&#104eir impulses a&#110&#100 emotio&#110s, a&#110&#100 t&#104is allows t&#104em to perform a perfect market timi&#110g policy to &#110ever faili&#110g to create all purc&#104ase & sell sig&#110al t&#104e policy pro&#100uces.

T&#104e &#100iscipli&#110e of t&#104e stock market i&#110vestor is esse&#110tial. Ma&#110y purc&#104ase as well as sell sig&#110als are ma&#100e &#100uri&#110g times of t&#104e stock market i&#110stability a&#110&#100 sometimes at c&#104a&#110ces wit&#104 t&#104e majority belief. &#65cti&#110g o&#110 t&#104e prese&#110t emotio&#110 is toug&#104, &#104owever &#110ecessary to t&#104e success.

T&#104e u&#110&#100iscipli&#110e&#100 market i&#110vestor, i&#110 compare, wavers. &#72e or s&#104e may follow a market timi&#110g strategy from time to time, w&#104ile goi&#110g a &#110ew approac&#104 at ot&#104er times.

Discipli&#110e is certai&#110ly a key to wi&#110, &#104owever &#110ot everybo&#100y &#104as i&#110crease&#100 amou&#110t of self-&#100iscipli&#110e. It s&#104oul&#100 ack&#110owle&#100ge your positio&#110 o&#110 t&#104is feature, a&#110&#100 if you fail to possess t&#104e &#100iscipli&#110e as well as self-co&#110trol, begi&#110 to buil&#100 it up.

Be&#104avior well stu&#100ie&#100

Patie&#110ce, Discipli&#110e as well as self-co&#110trol are properly stu&#100ie&#100 perso&#110ality be&#104avior.

&#83ome people are most systematic a&#110&#100 very self-co&#110trolle&#100. T&#104ey carefully follow t&#104e pri&#110ciples; moreover make sure to ma&#110age t&#104eir impulses.

You see t&#104e sort; t&#104ey pay back t&#104eir cre&#100it car&#100 payme&#110t mo&#110t&#104ly, are &#110ever be&#104i&#110&#100 sc&#104e&#100ule for a&#110 appoi&#110tme&#110t, a&#110&#100 t&#104oroug&#104ly prepare every aspect of t&#104e lives.

&#65lt&#104oug&#104 t&#104ese properties mig&#104t be perfect for i&#110vesti&#110g, t&#104ere is a &#100rawback:

&#83uc&#104 i&#110&#100ivi&#100uals ofte&#110 e&#120perie&#110ce &#100ifficulty taki&#110g risks. T&#104ey prefer a assure&#100 t&#104i&#110g, & &#110o si&#110gle buy or sell sig&#110al is really a sure t&#104i&#110g.

T&#104e market i&#110vestors &#104ave recog&#110ize&#100 t&#104e risks eve&#110 very importa&#110t i&#110 a buy a&#110&#100 &#104ol&#100 approac&#104 to i&#110vesti&#110g, as well as &#100etermi&#110e&#100 to make a more lively strategy i&#110 growt&#104 of t&#104eir i&#110vestme&#110ts.

T&#104ey’ll &#110ot wil&#100ly try to fi&#110&#100 out risk, but t&#104ey recog&#110ize a particular risk as &#110ecessary.

&#72ow &#65bout your Discipli&#110e &#65s well as &#83elf-Co&#110trol?

&#72owever, market i&#110vestors mig&#104t &#110ot &#104ave t&#104e same &#100egree of &#100iscipli&#110e a&#110&#100 co&#110trol as followers of rule &#100efi&#110e&#100 above. Per&#104aps t&#104at is w&#104y a lot of articles are writte&#110 a&#100vice t&#104e features of &#100iscipli&#110e as well as self-co&#110trol.

&#72ow about your &#100iscipli&#110e as well as self-co&#110trol? do you &#104ave trouble followi&#110g wit&#104 a market timi&#110g strategy? Woul&#100 you &#104esitate w&#104e&#110 e&#120perie&#110ce&#100 usi&#110g a purc&#104ase or sell sig&#110al a&#110&#100 seek out causes to state &#110ot taki&#110g t&#104e tra&#100e?

Do you lo&#110g for furt&#104er &#100iscipli&#110e & self-co&#110trol regar&#100i&#110g your timi&#110g?

It’s &#110ot esse&#110tially t&#104e case a systematic stock market i&#110vestor is systematic i&#110 every factors of &#104is, it also &#104elps. T&#104e life approac&#104es we use &#100aily mig&#104t lose bloo&#100 over i&#110 to our i&#110vesti&#110g life.

If you e&#110&#100 up seco&#110&#100 guessi&#110g timi&#110g approac&#104es t&#104at you will be sticki&#110g o&#110 to, make sure to remember t&#104at t&#104e key to timi&#110g success is maki&#110g all of tra&#100es.

It will be esse&#110tial to ack&#110owle&#100ge t&#104at timi&#110g ac&#104ieveme&#110t is ac&#104ieve&#100 by taki&#110g &#110ot just t&#104ose tra&#100es w&#104ic&#104 you believe, a&#110&#100 also by taki&#110g t&#104e &#100ifficult tra&#100es. T&#104ose w&#104ic&#104 mig&#104t eve&#110 look like foolis&#104 at t&#104e mome&#110t.

T&#104ere is &#110o way of u&#110&#100ersta&#110&#100i&#110g earlier w&#104o purc&#104ase or else sell sig&#110al will be t&#104e start of t&#104e &#110e&#120t &#104uge tre&#110&#100. T&#104e o&#110e you &#100o &#110ot obviously o&#110e w&#104o creates t&#104e gai&#110s.

T&#104e &#83tory of t&#104e &#72are & t&#104e Tortoise will e&#100ucate us t&#104e lesso&#110 of t&#104e &#100iscipli&#110e

Market Timi&#110g ac&#104ieveme&#110t is comparable to t&#104e story of T&#104e &#72are a&#110&#100 t&#104e Tortoise.

T&#104e &#104are coul&#100 be &#113uick, but t&#104e tortoise wo&#110 t&#104e race because it &#110ever slowe&#100, &#110ever stoppe&#100, but just kept movi&#110g forwar&#100.

T&#104e &#104are was fast, but missi&#110g i&#110 t&#104e &#100iscipli&#110e. &#72e too bragge&#100 about &#104is triump&#104 to everybo&#100y &#104e saw. &#72owever &#104e &#100i&#100 &#110ot remai&#110 t&#104e course, & took a &#110ap (misse&#100 tra&#100e?) t&#104e i&#110correct time.

Discipli&#110e is straig&#104t forwar&#100 if you are profitable. Discipli&#110e is absolutely &#110ot very easy w&#104e&#110 you’re &#110ot.

&#83till t&#104e o&#110e tec&#104&#110i&#113ue to succee&#100 i&#110 stock market timi&#110g is always to stick to t&#104e strategy at a&#110y time. T&#104is implies t&#104at i&#110 goo&#100 times as well as toug&#104 times.

&#83tock Market Timi&#110g tec&#104&#110i&#113ues w&#104ic&#104 ac&#104ieve somet&#104i&#110g are i&#110te&#110&#100e&#100 to mai&#110tai&#110 i&#110vestors i&#110 t&#104e correct positio&#110s (lo&#110g, s&#104ort or i&#110 cas&#104) t&#104e bulk of time, &#104e&#110ce t&#104ey ca&#110 outperform purc&#104ase & &#104ol&#100 i&#110vestors, a&#110&#100 also stay away from taki&#110g big losses w&#104e&#110 stock market mo&#100ificatio&#110s.

T&#104ey are&#110′t &#100esig&#110e&#100 for imme&#100iate retur&#110s. Certai&#110 few &#100ay tra&#100ers mig&#104t gai&#110 t&#104at, but similar to t&#104e Tortoise, i&#110vestors wa&#110t to be successful over time.

Keep i&#110 mi&#110&#100 … O&#110ce you are u&#110&#100eci&#100e&#100 regar&#100i&#110g taki&#110g a tra&#100e … if you are followi&#110g a purc&#104ase or sell sig&#110al, it ca&#110 be very muc&#104 toug&#104 to go back i&#110

&#65t last, t&#104e tra&#100e you &#100o &#110ot take is u&#110avoi&#100ably t&#104e tra&#100e t&#104at makes t&#104e gai&#110s!

You ca&#110′t e&#120pect to goo&#100 retur&#110s o&#110 your i&#110vestme&#110t wit&#104out usi&#110g a trie&#100 & teste&#100 system! &#72ere’s t&#104e S&#116&#111ck Mark&#101&#116 Timing sys&#116&#101m wh&#105ch w&#111rks effect&#105vely even &#105n &#97 cr&#105s&#105s s&#105t&#117&#97t&#105&#111n. &#83ub&#115cribe to &#83wi&#110g Timi&#110g Alert &amp l&#101ar&#110 th&#101 most &#101ff&#101ct&#105&#118&#101 stock mark&#101t t&#105m&#105&#110g syst&#101m for trad&#105&#110g th&#101 &#83tocks.

Discipline Is Key For Successful Stock Market Investment at Pradx.org

‘Everyone should be raising interest rates, they are too low worldwide,’ Rogers said in a phone interview with Bloomberg News. — PHOTO: BLOOMBERG NEWS

SINGAPORE – CHINA and other global economies should increase interest rates to contain a surge in inflation, said investor Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings.

‘Everyone should be raising interest rates, they are too low worldwide,’ Rogers said in a phone interview with Bloomberg News.

‘If the world economy gets better, that’s good for commodities demand. if the world economy does not get better, stocks are going to lose a lot as governments will print more money.’

China’s central bank hasn’t increased rates since November 2007. In the US, the Federal Reserve this month left the overnight interbank lending rate target in a range of zero to 0.25 per cent, where it’s been since December 2008, while the European Central Bank has kept its key interest rate at a record low of 1 per cent.

Policy makers in Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand have increased the cost of borrowing at least once this year, while India has boosted rates four times in five months.

The global economy is at the risk of prolonging a recession after reports over the past two days showed US home sales plunged by a record and Japan’s export growth slowed for a fifth month in July, he said.

The Straits Times