Monthly Archives: November 2009

Never buy the Warranty: Repair it yourself

Posted on November 11, 2009 by

This is the second in a series on Warranties – the first was Never buy the Warranty – Repairing is cheap So now let’s look at the option of self-repair. These days most people have never learned how to take … Continue reading →

Posted in NZ Business | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Never buy the warranty: Repairing is cheap

Posted on November 9, 2009 by

Well done Magnum Mac Wellington My MacBook Pro 17 died on Friday. It failed to restart after running the software upgrade for the magic mouse. I tried the usual tricks (Apple has a good knowledgebase) and then twittered the failure … Continue reading →

Posted in NZ Business | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

Be good and be different – but do it the right way

Posted on November 8, 2009 by

I’m reading Zag – a little book with the thesis that to succeed you not only need to be good – but you need to be different from everyone else that is good. It’s a nice way to look at … Continue reading →

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A lesson in volatility

Posted on November 7, 2009 by

This year to date my US-based stock portfolio is up 44%, well above the benchmark S&P500: Yippee! Actually – not so fast. Last year my highly levered (lots of options) portfolio went down a stunning 66%. I got caught out … Continue reading →

Posted in NZ Business | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Goodbye Trade and Exchange

Posted on November 6, 2009 by

Michael Carney picks up that Trade and Exchange has finally given up on publishing in print. They ceased to be relevant a number of years ago, and will not be missed today. However Trade and Exchange were the Trade Me … Continue reading →

Posted in auctions, fairfax, Trade Me | Tagged | 4 Comments