Category Archives: Investing

Showing Shorting Success – for now

Posted on May 29, 2008 by

Following on from the last post – I mentioned that my portfolio has been going pretty well recently: It is up 35% YT while the S&P500 is down 5.6% for the year. You can tell from the sudden drop in … Continue reading →

Posted in Investing, Life | 2 Comments

Making (more) money from the falling housing market

Posted on May 28, 2008 by

US housing prices fell 14% March 2008 on March 2007. 14% is larger than the downpayment component of many US mortgages. Would your mortgage be greater than your house value if the house fell by 14%? How about in your … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Global Macro Trends, Investing, Life | 7 Comments

US recession and Australian resurgence

Posted on May 28, 2008 by

A recession has a defined meaning, from the USA’s NBER, via Wikipedia A recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Investing, Life | 1 Comment

NZX.com relaunches

Posted on May 26, 2008 by

Up goes NZX.com – a collaboration between Fairfax Digital and NZX. This has been a while in the making, so it is great to see the result. Well done everybody. (still some work to do though – it’s super slow … Continue reading →

Posted in Internet Business, Investing, media, NZ Business | 2 Comments

Microsoft and Yahoo: bugger

Posted on May 4, 2008 by

Bugger – Microsoft has withdrawn from the Yahoo takeover offer. Microsoft upped the price to $33 per share (from $29 odd), which was a $5 billion increase. Yahoo said “no thanks – we want $37 per share” and so Mirosfot … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Internet Business, Investing | 1 Comment

A sweet deal – is Buffet going to Mars?

Posted on April 29, 2008 by

As Jim mentions, Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway is involved in a $23bn deal where Mars is buying Wrigley. Mars is $22bn and Wrigley $5bn in annual sales, so while big this isn’t a huge swallow for Mars, and both companies are … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Investing | Leave a comment

3 weeks

Posted on April 6, 2008 by

It’s pretty obvious that a better offer for Yahoo is not out there, as Microsoft has the wonderful combination of being cash-rich and desperate – and can outbid anyone else out there. But Yahoo directors do not want to lay … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Internet Business, Investing | Leave a comment

US Share Portfolio update – 12% up YTD

Posted on March 31, 2008 by

My US Share portfolio (green) in 2007 was up 63.5% versus the S&P500 index return of 3.53%. A great year, and I did sell down a bit around the peak, which hit 77%. Can I do it again? This year … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Macro Trends, Internet Business, Investing, Life | Leave a comment

Tracking your portfolio – Sharesight enters the market

Posted on March 28, 2008 by

Rod just pointed us to Sharesight – a downunder focused portfolio manager website. The website looks to be yummy goodness – simple to use and so forth. I was initially pretty skeptical though – what use is another portfolio manager … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Internet Business, Investing, NZ Business | 5 Comments

Vista – they knew

Posted on March 10, 2008 by

Stunning NYTimes article about Vista – it seems that Microsoft employees and board members knew that Vista was, well, not so good. There’s even a class action suit…. “Last month, Judge Marsha A. Pechman granted class-action status to the suit, … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Investing | Leave a comment

Real Estate is falling – what happens next?

Posted on March 7, 2008 by

The housing crash is cascading around the world, and the dire predictions are coming true. Here’s the latest chart from The Economist – check out Ireland on the bottom. That’s a crash, not a “balanced slump”. Meanwhile Trade Me just … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, fairfax, Global Macro Trends, Investing, Trade Me | 6 Comments

Why intervention is needed for Telecom and not for Auckland

Posted on March 6, 2008 by

Falafulu Fisi asks an excellent question to the previous post on Auckland Airport: “Aren’t both Auckland Airport & Telecom private companies? Why would you want to say that the government is an interventionist regarding the CPPIB attempt to buying shares … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadband, Business, Investing, Life, NZ Business, telecom | 11 Comments

Ham-fisted intervention in markets is dull thinking

Posted on March 4, 2008 by

Score one for protectionism, and minus several ranks of the economic freedom index for New Zealand, after the Government intervenes to prevent a Canadian fund from buying into Auckland airport. When the market drops by 2% after a new protectionist … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Travel, Global Macro Trends, Investing, NZ Business, Politics | 5 Comments

The sage of Omaha speaks

Posted on March 3, 2008 by

Warren Buffet’s yearly missive is out. Essential reading for anyone interested in investing. Here are some tasty snippets: “You only learn who has been swimming naked when the tide goes out – and what we are witnessing at some of … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Global Macro Trends, Investing | 2 Comments

The personal perils of Poison pills

Posted on February 26, 2008 by

The USA tends to allow more things in business than we do in New Zealand or Australia. For example, our laws on food are strict, and strictly enforced. Similarly the legislation and Commerce Commission hold companies to account for their … Continue reading →

Posted in Internet Business, Investing, media | Leave a comment