Making Contact…Staying in The Game…Keeping it Simple
- Posted by Howard
- on September 3rd, 2008
If a broker with a Russian Accent , calls you from a Swiss Bank, In Manhattan….don’t buy auction rate securities disguised as AAA securities . At what point in that pitch would you NOT become alarmed. Sure these brokers are liars and thieves, but the Yutz’s that are managing corporate cash just can’t be this dumb. In fact they are not. They are f@#$king negligent as well. So is the CEO that hired them to manage hard to earn profits and cash.
There is no substitute for cash, in fact….with your cash chase LOWER yields for MORE guarantees.
If it ain’t IN CASH, consider it an investment and a dollar amount you COULD lose. If it ain’t IN CASH, you are swinging for the fences, there is no in between. It’s a lie, wrapped up in a trending bull market theme of the day.
Don’t be weak and pathetic people…think. Don’t chase returns, respect the difficulty of investing.
I like neat packages. When I was a kid, I would always be arranging my closets and desk and neatening things up as my mom would tell you in a first encounter.
I am the same way with my portfolio. I think I have survived and grown my investing business so far because I am constantly fidgeting and tinkering around the edges. IF you keep pruning, an Apple, Baidu, Chipotles or Crox shows up and if you are consistently IN the market…they all come at once and you get some outperformance years. Those looking for the linear returns are lying to themselves and their investors.
Fred had a recent post that was interesting and encouraging and correct all at once :
Some will read this and suggest that our business is all about swinging for the fences. But I don’t think so. There are hitters in baseball, the best hitters in fact, that hit balls out of the park when they are just trying to make good contact. That’s how you have to do it in the venture business. You try to make 20 great investments and you work with them closely in hopes that four years in you have six or seven that have home run potential, and after ten years, you maybe hit one or two out of the park. If you try to hit every one out of the park day one, you’ll strike out way too much and the fund won’t work out very well.
Investing is such an awesome FREEDOM, often abused, almost always misinterpreted (scam, short-term, noise) and most of the time a neglected option that every American has.
There are now ZERO barriers to entry with discount brokers and commoditized information. We all are able to see the prices at the same time. That’s what this blog has been hammering home for years.
What a shame most people don’t do it at all or make the same mistakes over and over.
The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.
blog comments powered by Disqus-
Born in Toronto, lived in Phoenix for 20 years and now in Coronado, CA with a loyal wife (15 years, 14.2 Canadian years), two awesome kids and a dachshund. My current start-up is called Stocktwits and I am a co-founder and CEO. More »
-
Recent Posts
- The Ambien and iPad Miracles …People are Good and Karma exists!
- The Signal in ‘Small Data’ – StockTwits Adds Two New Social Signals: Stocks and People
- Momentum Monday…Down Goes Facebook….Down Goes Facebook…
- The Facebook ‘Share’ Tax ….No Free Lunch
- Quick CNBC Appearance Talking Facebook and Niche Social Networks Like Witstream
- Information is Food… Which Makes Investment Banks Saturated Fat
- Italy, Greece and Spain…The Pavarotti, Tapas and Tzatziki Crash of 2012
- Facebook and Wall Street …SHARE IT is the new HOARD IT!
- Momentum Monday…The Facebook IPO…What a Market Top Looks Like Part 3
- Yahoo and $2.1 Billion of Cash….Party Time Ross!
-
Archives
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- March 2007
-