Investorial

So I’m home for the holidays and the last thing I want to do is read or view any financial or investment related media. The markets can get by without my attention for a few days! In fact, I firmly believe in Warren Buffett’s assertion that you should buy a stock only if you can not worry about it for 10 years; even if the stock markets close for 10 years!

I love spending time with family and friends and inevitably my discussion will lead me to talk about investment related topics. My mother is a self-taught investor and we often discuss about little things that she wants to understand, for and from her trading experiences. One interesting topic came up: When should you hold onto a stock?

Now some people may not agree with me, and thank goodness for that! I’ll explain - its only rational for me to hold a stock if the stock can reward you for holding it. In other words, the stock should give you dividends while you own it! Let’s examine this closer!

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Right after this post, I’ll be driving about 8, 9 hours to go up to the cold north of Timmins, Ontario, Canada for the holidays! Timmins is the home of Shania Twain if you didn’t already know. I should have access to internet and looking to do some holiday posting over cups of hot chocolate!

To you and yours, Merry Christmas!

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I highly regard Sir John Templeton’s history as a value investor. Even at the age of 93, he’s still very actively investing and when he speaks, the invesment world listens! Here’s a list of 5 Steps to Financial Success from Sir John. Take calculated risks. Save, don’t spend. Shop for value investments. Take advantage of international free markets. Minimize your taxes.

The only one that doesn’t move me much is the idea of taking advantage of international free markets. It is a good idea, but one that consumes much more resources and attention than I can afford at the moment. I guess, if you got the will, you’ll find a way!

View the entire article, with detailed explanations, here [via TheStreet.com]

‘The Intelligent Investor‘ is a highly recommended book for any investor of any investing style; especially value investing. It is my personal favorite investment literature. When the second richest man in the world, Warren Buffett - the only one on that distinguished list who made his fortune through stock investments, recommends a book to you, aren’t you the least bit curious why he did so?

Warren Buffett: “I read the first edition of this book in 1950, when I was nineteen. I thought then that it was by far the best book about investing ever written. I still think it is.”

The latest edition of ‘The Intelligent Investor’ has been revised by senior Money magazine writer and guest columnist for Time Magazine and CNN.com, Jason Zweig. Zweig brings a very balanced updated approach to reading the book since the original author, the father of value investing - Benjamin Graham, originally published the book in 1949.

For most of us, if you don’t want to buy the book, you can take a trip to the local bookstore, sit down and enjoy a coffee while scanning the literature. Or you can read the first 3 chapters for free courtesy of JasonZwieg.com. I recommend that you buy a copy for your book collection, since from time to time we all need a refresher course! (Canadians can buy from Amazon.ca here!) [via Wealth Junkie]

Email has replaced many forms of communication media, and is unscrupulously used by scammers and con artists to extend their reach to a global arena. It’s not just about simple identity thefts anymore. Those phishing emails seem pale in comparison to the many other scams perpetrated by others on the internet. At least, when it comes to identity theft, you did not participate much except that you mistook a well-disgusied website as an authentic one and gave away your passwords and personal information.

The Nigerian email scams are not new. They’ve been steadily becoming a popular menace for consumers since 2000 and perhaps before that too. I myself, know of a few persons in my circle that have almost fallen victim to the scam. The fortunate ending was that no money were ever exchanged and their folly were caught in time! Being a savvy internet surfer since the internet gained popularity in the early 1990s, I was glad that I helped one of these individuals wake up to the sobering truth.

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