Books 01 (May 08 - Oct 08)

[kennynah]

Juz a trivia on Law 1:

LAW ONE:
Always make your future bigger than your past.

In my study room, I have a row of fotos (10inches by 8 inches) of myself, each taken when I was around 1, 10, 20, 30, 40 and now 50 (going to the foto studio b4 year-end). Each day when I work at my desk, I look at them to see if my present is bigger than my past. To see if I have grown horns. To see if I've got the face I deserve at 50.

Maybe a little vanity here ...........but it works.

talking about vanity....you are way to modest in this sense...

my version of vanity...i have pictures of me at stages...and the age peaked at 30....thereafter, the looks reverses backwards and stays at 25 perpetually... now, i see myself in the mirror and ask myself constantly...how can i sustain this? (wink)

i've past that stage of wanting to be older than i am in reality...now, i wana be younger with every passing day... now...that's vanity....hahaha...

[helios]

Just finished up an easy to read book called The Laws of Lifetime Growth by Dan Sullivan. It is only about 100pages thick and you can probably finish it in 2hrs. ss

A pretty easy read where each law has a story attached to it. Here is a summary of the 10 laws.

Trying to finish up Simple-Ology (interesting) and start on The Economic Naturalist - In Search of explanations for every day enigmas.

LAW ONE:
Always make your future bigger than your past.

LAW TWO:
Always make your learning greater than your experience.

LAW THREE:
Always make your contribution bigger than your reward.

LAW FOUR:
Always make your performance greater than your applause.

LAW FIVE:
Always make your gratitude greater than your success.

LAW SIX:
Always make your enjoyment greater than your effort.
LAW SEVEN:
Always make your cooperation greater than your status.[/b]

LAW EIGHT:
Always make your confidence greater than your comfort.

LAW NINE:
Always make your purpose greater than your money.

LAW TEN:
Always make your questions bigger than your answers.

Questions are essential for lifetime growth. As children, when we’re all growing at a rapid rate, we ask lots of questions. As we get older, we gradually begin to think we have a lot of the answers. For some people, their entire sense of security and self-image depends on having all the answers – on never being wrong. As a result, these people try to understand everything in terms of what they know. But all growth lies in the territory of the unknown. What we already know is in the past. What we have yet to discover is the future. Always make your questions bigger than your answers, and you’ll keep drawing yourself into a bigger future with new possibilities.

yo MM,

late last night, i'd a short discussion w Sidney on your notes; we felt that Law #10 is e central feature (as of an unsolved question).

Thank you for e pointers. Quite juicy, keep them coming.

[millionairemind]

Just finished reading a book called Simple-ology. Interesting book.

I especially liked the first 3 chapters where it talked about the deficiency in our thinking process and how society attempts to manipulate our thinking to suit their needs.

Only in the last chapter (last 30pages of a 230page book) does it talk about the "laws of simple.ology" which are
1. The law of straight lines
2. The law of clear vision
3. The law of focused attention
4. The law of focused energy
5. The Inescapability of Action/Reaction

The first chapter touches on The Asylum, actually mental asylum that traps us in our faulty thinking.

Chapter 2 touches on what it calls The Invisible walls.. where our models of the world, beliefs, Influence, Language, faulty thinking, Disinfomation are all challenged.

Chapt 3 touches on the Disposable Reality and the flexibility of new mode of thinking.

It is an interesting read though I would not quantify this as in the league of Tony Robbins or Napolean Hill kind of books or Freakonomics. For interesting brain books, you might like books by Tony Buzan. Read it while I was a teenager and I really enjoyed them.

Simple.ology is available from the library.

I will give it 3.5 out of 5 stars (3.5 for the first 2 chapters )

Just started on The Economic Naturalist. Will let you know what I find out.

[millionairemind]

Just finished this book The Economic Naturalist - In seach of explanations for everyday enigmas by Robert H. Frank.

Bob is a Professor of Economics at Cornell University.

The book is an OK read. 50% of the book contains short essays by his economic students. Using economics, they attempt to solve everyday questions like - Why are milk cartons rectangular in shape whereas soda cans are cyclindrical?

Hint - It has got to do with psychological perception of height as well as shelf space constraints and cost of refrigeration in supermarket aisles.

I don't agree with a couple of the conclusions like why DVDs are coded differently in the USA than other regions. The conclusion was that it has got to do with different release dates of movies by several months throughout the world. This I did not agree cos' I believe that it has got to do with price protection since most major movies are released almost at the same time. An original DVD costs $2 in China whereas it will go for around $15USD in USA.

There is even a short essay on Y there is a higher %tage of luxury cars on Singapore roads versus US roads..

If I give Freakconomics 5 out of 5, this book would deserve 3 stars. There is no lightning bolt moment like "WAH, why didn't I think of that?" like I did when I was reading Freakconomics.

The Logic of Life as well as The Undercover Economists by Tim Hartford would each get 4 stars from me..

I am a SUPER DUPER UNqualified book critic. I just love to read, that is all...

If you like to read about how your brain is screwing with your head , try Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert, a Professor of Psychology at Harvard U.

[helios]

an excerpt on e Stock Market Wizards book, it's written in an interview style ...

Q: i see that you're here completely on your own, which is amazing for a hedge fund managing $150Mil. Don't u have any help?

A: I've a secretary who comes in every other day.

Q: That's it? Don't you need any additional assistance?

A: i hired someone last year - a great guy who's now off on his own - but i knew immediately that it wasn't for me.

Q: Why is that?

I found that having another opinion in e office was v destabilising. My prob is that i'm v impressionable. If i've someone working for me everyday, he may as well be running e money because i'm no longer making my own decisions.

I like quiet. I talk all day on e phone, and that's enough for me. I don't need committees, group meetings, and hand-holding to rationalise why a stock is going down. I even like e fact that my assistant only comes in every other day, so that every alternate day i'm completely on my own and can sit there and germinate. (yes, let's GERMINATE!)

Q: i understand that completely, because i work in a home office. I find that when u work on your own, you can get completely engrossed in what u r doing.

A: Exactly. That's e main reason i like to be on my own. People come in here and ask me, "How could u manage this much of money on your own? Don't u want to become a bigger firm?

Q: What do u tell them?

A: Well it's worked for me so far. The only thing that matters is how well i do, not e amount of zeros i'm managing.

[millionairemind]

San Mei,

If you enjoyed Market Wizards, you might also like The New Market Wizards. Both are available from the library.

You can see that they have all very contradictory styles and they all make money in the market. There is one written by Mike Covel called Trend Following which is also pretty decent. TF is also available from the library.

Cheers,
mm

[helios]

yes! Got them both!!

slowing digesting.

[Apong]

My Investment Books -- one page summary

Putting these in the cyberspace -- so that I can read them anywhere with internet access...

The winning habits of Warren Buffett and George Soros – Mark Tier

[The book talks about 23 habits, I combine some, and rearrange them.]

1. Preservation of capital is always priority #1. Passionately avoid risk.

2. Develop your own unique investment philosophy. Develop your own, personal system for selecting, buying and selling investments.
3. Do your own research.
4. Only invest in what you understand.
5. Refuse to make investment that does not meet your criteria.
6. Follow your system religiously.

7. Diversification is for the birds.
8. Put your net worth on the line.

9. Focus on net return i.e. after expenses.

10. Have infinite patience.
11. Act fast.
12. Hold a winning investment until there’s a reason to sell.

13. Pay your dues – learn.
14. Admit your mistakes and correct them immediately. Turn mistakes into learning experiences.
15. Live and breathe investing 24 hours a day.
16. It’s not about the money. Love what you do, not what you own.

17. Never talk about what you’re doing.

18. Know how to delegate.

19. Live far below your means.

[Apong]

Mr. Market { in WB's essays... }

Ben Graham, my friend and teacher, long ago described the mental attitude toward market fluctuations that I believe to be most conducive to investment success. He said that you should imagine market quotations as coming from a remarkably accommodating fellow named Mr. Market who is your partner in a private business. Without fail, Mr. Market appears daily and names a price at which he will either buy your interest or sell you his.

Even though the business that the two of you own may have economic characteristics that are stable, Mr. Market’s quotations will be anything but. For, sad to say, the poor fellow has incurable emotional problems. At times he falls euphoric and can see only the favourable factors affecting the business. When in that mood, he names a very high buy-sell price because he fears that you will snap up his interest and rob him of imminent gains. At other times he is depressed and can see nothing but trouble ahead for both the business and the world. On these occasions he will name a very low price, since he is terrified that you will unload your interest to him.

Mr. Market has another endearing characteristic: He doesn’t mind being ignored. If his quotation is uninteresting to you today, he will be back with a new one tomorrow. Transactions are strictly at your option. Under these conditions, the more manic-depressive his behaviour, the better it is for you.

But, like Cinderella at the ball, you must heed one warning or everything will turn into pumpkins and mice: Mr. Market is there to serve you, not to guide you. It is his pocketbook not his wisdom, that you will find useful. If he shows up someday in a particularly foolish mood, you are free to either ignore him or to take advantage of him, but it will be disastrous if you fall under his influence. Indeed, if you aren’t certain that you understand and can value your business far better than Mr. Market you don’t belong in the game. As they say in poker, “if you’ve been in the game 30 minutes and you don’t know who the patsy is, you’re the patsy.”

[Apong]

Zurich Axioms – by Max Gunther


Axiom #01 on Risk – worry is not a sickness but a sign of health. If you are not worried, you are not risking enough.

01a – always play for meaningful stakes.
01b – resist the allure of diversification.


Axiom #02 on Greed – always take your profit too soon.

02a – decide in advance what gain you want from a venture, and when you get it, get out.


Axiom #03 on Hope – when the ship starts to sink, don’t pray. Jump.

03a – accept small losses cheerfully as a fact of life. Expect to experience several while awaiting a large gain.


Axiom #04 on Forecasts – human behaviour cannot be predicted. Distrust anyone who claims to know the future, however dimly.


Axiom #05 on Patterns – chaos is not dangerous until it begins to look orderly.

05a – beware the historian’s trap.
05b – beware the chartist’s illusion.
05c – beware the correlation and causality delusions.
05d – beware the gambler’s fallacy.


Axiom #06 on Mobility – avoid putting down roots. They impede motion.

06a – do not become trapped in a souring venture because of sentiments like loyalty and nostalgia.
06b – never hesitate to abandon a venture if something more attractive comes into view.


Axiom #07 on Intuition – a hunch can be trusted if it can be explained.

07a – never confuse a hunch with a hope.


Axiom #08 on Religion and the Occult – it is unlikely that God’s plan for the universe includes making you rich.

08a – if astrology worked, all astrologers would be rich.
08b – a superstition need not be exorcised. It can be enjoyed, provided it is kept in its place.


Axiom #09 on Optimism and Pessimism – optimism means expecting the best, but confidence means knowing how you will handle the worst. Never make a move if you are merely optimistic.


Axiom #10 on Consensus – disregard the majority opinion. It is probably wrong.

10a – never follow speculative fads. Often, the best time to buy something is when nobody else wants it.


Axiom #11 on Stubbornness – if it doesn’t pay off the first time, forget it.

11a – never try to save a bad investment by “averaging down”.


Axiom #12 on Planning – long range plans engender the dangerous belief that the future is under control. It is important never to take your own long-range plans, or other people’s, seriously.

12a – shun long-term investments.