Books 01 (May 08 - Oct 08)

Re: Books

Postby kennynah » Thu Sep 04, 2008 12:59 pm

so have i just started reading this morning....on marvel's latest edition of "batman, why you so bad".... but eh...dont think you will wana know the details... :mrgreen:

mm : pls kindly write a post-review of el-erian's book... thanks.
Options Strategies & Discussions .(Trading Discipline : The Science of Constantly Acting on Knowledge Consistently - kennynah).Investment Strategies & Ideas

Image..................................................................<A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control-Proverbs 29:11>.................................................................Image
User avatar
kennynah
Lord of the Lew Lian
 
Posts: 16005
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 2:00 am
Location: everywhere.. and nowhere..

Re: Books

Postby helios » Thu Sep 04, 2008 1:08 pm

millionairemind wrote:3. BaZi by Joey Yap


八字?

扑挂?

算命?

霹雳趴啦?

;)
helios
Permanent Loafer
 
Posts: 3608
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 8:30 am

Re: Books

Postby millionairemind » Thu Sep 04, 2008 1:13 pm

San,

The full title is BaZi - The Destiny Code by Joey Yap. Bazi as in å…«å­—.

My friend Learn2Win went to a Bazi course and said it was interesting (more so than our lousy market ;) ). I being the cheapo, borrowed the book instead. :lol:

Cheers,
mm
"If a speculator is correct half of the time, he is hitting a good average. Even being right 3 or 4 times out of 10 should yield a person a fortune if he has the sense to cut his losses quickly on the ventures where he has been wrong" - Bernard Baruch

Disclaimer - The author may at times own some of the stocks mentioned in this forum. All discussions are NOT to be construed as buy/sell recommendations. Readers are advised to do their own research and analysis.
User avatar
millionairemind
Big Boss
 
Posts: 8183
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 8:50 am
Location: The Matrix

Re: Books

Postby la papillion » Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:13 am

It's been quite a while since I did a book review. Having finished a big portion of what I wanted to read as I began my journey in fundamental analysis, I found that there are less and less things worthy of writing down. Most are pretty much the same, perhaps only the tone and the examples used are different. Once a while, I'll come across a gem worth blogging about and it is this book - Benjamin Graham on Value Investing - by Janet Lowe that I am pleased to review here.


Image


My gf told me a very interesting insight. I asked her if she had heard of Warren Buffett, which she replied yes. Then she told me that she will be more interested in reading how his family raised him as a child to make him who he is today, rather than read about all his techniques or methods of investing (all written by others, by the way - he had yet to write a book on investment himself, save his annual berkshire hathaway reports and shareholders's letters). I think the same can be applied here on this book about the Dean of wallstreet - Benhamin Graham.

This book chronicles the life of Ben, including his encounters and various relationships with women. I find his life extremely interesting - though a bit unlucky and unfortunate. While I will not elaborate parts of his life in this review, suffice to say, Ben is a very smart and practical investor, who also had the clarity of thought and eloquence to write in the most convincing and simple way. He is also very generous, to the point of being easily taken advantage of (though he do not seem to mind). This book came with some pictures of the "superinvestors of grahamsville and doddsville", referring to the class that Warren Buffett is part of, in which Ben taught in Columbia Business school.

Having read his autobiography in this book, I was tempted to re-read The Intelligent Investor the second time, and Security Analysis the first time. I'll do Security Analysis (1951 edition) first, of course. I find that I can relate to Ben better, having understood why he did certain things. Musicwhiz is right. He mentioned, having read my analysis, that I am more graham and less buffett. Now, I agree totally with him. Perhaps my inherently shy nature makes it hard for me to ask anything during AGM (I confess I still haven't attended one!). It helps that I'm very comfortable with numbers too.

Perhaps in such a market time, we all need to remind ourselves of the teachings of Ben. Below are but 10 simple steps to select undervalued stocks:

1. A earnings yield (reverse of PE) that is dobule the triple A bond yield - if the triple A bond yield is 6%, then the earnings yield will have to be 12% (giving a PE of 8.3x too)

2. A PE ratio that is four-tenths of the highest PE achieved by the stock in the most recent five year
s - PE is defined as average stock price for a given year divided by earnings for that year

3. A dividend yield of two-thirds the triple A bond yield - stocks that do not pay dividend or with no current profits to pay dividends are excluded

4. A stock price of two-thirds the tangible book value per share - TBV is defined as all assets excluding intangibles like goodwill, patents etc, subtracting all liabilites and debts, then divided by total number of shares

5. A stock price that is two-thirds of the net current asset value or the net quick liquidation value - the net quick liquidation value is current assets less total debts then divided by total number of shares

6. Total debt is less than tangible book value

7. Current ratio of 2 or more - current ratio is current assets over current liabilites. This is an indicatioin of the company's liquidity, or its ability to pay its debt from its income

8. Total debt at or less than the net quick liquidation value

9. Earnings that have doubled in the most recent ten years

10. No more than two declines in earnings of 5% or more in the past ten years

Criteria 1 - 5 measures risk; 6 and 7 define financial soundness; 8 - 10 show a history of stable earnings. Not all companies will have all 10 criteria. I found that this is a good guide to screen stocks, though take note that the usual graham holdings is no less than 10 stocks and is widely diversified (30 or more stocks in portfolio is ok).
Last edited by la papillion on Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis promises safety of principal and an adequate return - Benjamin Graham
User avatar
la papillion
Boss' Left Hand Person
 
Posts: 599
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 2:10 pm

Re: Books

Postby winston » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:01 am

Have not read it but it looks interesting..

Elite China: Luxury Consumer Behavior in China—BOOK REVIEW.
Posted on September 6th, 2008 by david

Pierre Xiao Lu’s look into the luxury market in China is probably the best book on the topic you can buy.

But even if you are not trying to break into the Chinese luxury market there is great value in this book—as a tool for understanding urban culture, background of employees, partners, significant others, suppliers, customers and friends. For just about anyone working in China today, Pierre’s analysis of the Chinese consumer by age, economic status and location is an invaluable tool.

His age classifications are:

The New Generation; born before ‘45. Witnessed a half-century of incredible change; well educated, in important sociopolitical positions, parents of Transitional generation, about to retire.

The Lost Generation; born before ’60. Victims of CCP social upheaval, lost educational opportunities in the 70’s and jobs in SOE’s in the 80’s and 90’s, first/most affect by one child policy too. Parents to the One Child Generation.

The Suffering Generation; born before ’70. First generation to really “see” the world and work with it, also saw the events in T!ananmen Square, conservative, well educated, current source of most of China’s “elite” class and much industry upper management.

The Transitional Generation; born before ’80. Grew up in stability, reform, opening up, money. They are optimistic, well educated, confident and pushing the “New China” forward.

The One Child Generation; born before ’90. In or just out of university, internationally oriented but very nationalistic, affluent, trendy, morally relativistic, aspiring professionals.

Socio-economic classifications are (adopted from non-Chinese models–After read this, I thought there could be more work done to differentiate Chinese social levels here, but they may be too new and too varying at this point, I don’t know.):

The Country Club Establishment; small number of established families, accustomed to wealth, work as heads of banks or major firms, are prominent physicians or lawyers and trusties for hospitals and universities.

New Wealth; wealthy but not “established” families, successful business executives, conspicuous users of wealth.
Achieving Professionals; Yuppies, career oriented, college educated, home is the symbol of achievement, child oriented, conspicuous consumption.

Faithful Followers; white collar workers, working for “respectability,” typically avoid faddish or high-style

Geographic classifications are:
The North, typified by Beijing.
The East, typified by Shanghai.
The West, typified by Chengdu.
And The South, typified by Guangzhou (Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao included here).

Of less value is his discussion on values. While the list of values is extensive it is exactly this variety that lessens the effectiveness of the specific values as marketing/business tools. This is unfortunate as more analysis into the motivations for individual consumers in the luxury (and other) market(s) would be a valuable upgrade.

Far too often the “values” are presented as either historical left-overs with little to no urban contextual analysis or are modern constructs with positive characteristics attributed to the current government and negative characteristics attributed to western culture (the good/bad domestic/western dichotomy is, unfortunately, used through out the entire book). The list is valuable, if it can be applied to specific demographics in specific situations. Alone it creates an overly broad template, often contradictory, that could be used for many countries, not just China.

Peirre also falls victim to the very common faux pas of talking about (blaming) the mythical “west” as the source of a specific set of values and historical mistreatment of China. If China, with 90 plus percent of its population being Han Chinese, can be divided into specific geographical market segments, shouldn’t at least the same amount of division (respect, research) be given to all of the countries/cultures/peoples west of Israel since 1000BC?

Two other criticisms that I have are what’s included and what’s not. First, the islands of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao were specifically not included in the discussion of Chinese cultural values. But opinions from citizens of these areas were included in the results. Either these inclusions skewed the results or the same exclusions skewed the discussion on values. Since the citizens of these islands have, in general, higher levels of exposure to luxury brands, higher education and higher incomes it strikes me as disingenuous to include them in the results.

But since these peoples have also been exposed to very different and often competing values over the last 100 years, including them in the values discussion would have probably been problematic as well. Taiwan, it should be noted, is listed as “part of, but not administered by, the Mainland” according to Pierre. I’m not arguing this now, just pointing out a bias the comes out in more than one area. Which brings me to the second point.

Pierre, like many Chinese authors, is either afraid or unwilling to be critical of the current government in Mainland China and their deleterious affect on market activity. For example: he talks about the unwillingness in the recent past to be ostentatious as resulting exclusively from traditional values rather than giving even the slightest reference to the political climate that persecuted conspicuous consumption and the climate of fear that limited consumption by anyone with money (or even rich ancestors).

In another section of the book he attributes the growing consumption by overseas Chinese travelers to their new self confidence in the mainland (as it goes into space, hosts the 0lympics, etc.) but never mentions the fact that less than 30 years ago there were NO Chinese traveling abroad from Mainland and until this decade there were not significant numbers with any money to speak of. The attribution of spending patterns on feelings of nationalism when overseas is almost laughable. National confidence or merely opportunity that almost no Chinese have ever had before?

In a similar vein, he notes that the names on the lists of the richest Chinese change every year and attributes that to the large turn over of wealth now in China (which may or may not be true). But he conveniently forgets the (well publicized) fact that Chinese actively try to get their names OFF these lists for fear of extortion, taxes and other threats to family and wealth. Further, the discreet purchasing of large luxury items is attributed to a sense of Chinese social humility (buying a Bently is more humble than buying a Rolls, he claims) and has nothing to do with (political) self-preservation, taste, availability or any other variable.

Don’t get me wrong, It’s a great book—one that I will refer to and read again for the insight into market segments in China. In addition to it’s great value in marketing, I see this book as being very helpful to foreign team leaders or HR managers or owners/bosses that have a (relatively) diverse group of Chinese employees that they’d like to compensate and gift appropriately. It also explains much to the lay foreigner that is trying to make sense of the conspicuous consumption on the streets of Chinese cities today. I read it with specific suppliers and employees in mind and found the research very helpful in understanding motivations and ways to reward/cooporate in the future.

http://silkroadintl.net/blog/2008/09/06 ... ok-review/
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"
User avatar
winston
Billionaire Boss
 
Posts: 118535
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 9:28 am

Re: Books

Postby la papillion » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:17 am

I've browsed thru it before Winston, I find it a very good read :) Insightful, shall I say.
An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis promises safety of principal and an adequate return - Benjamin Graham
User avatar
la papillion
Boss' Left Hand Person
 
Posts: 599
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 2:10 pm

Re: Books

Postby LenaHuat » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:55 am

Hi LaP and Winston

Excellent reviews and recommendations. :) :D I'm gonna try to borrow them from NLB.
Please be forewarned that you are reading a post by an otiose housewife. ImageImage**Image**Image@@ImageImageImage
User avatar
LenaHuat
Big Boss
 
Posts: 3229
Joined: Thu May 08, 2008 9:35 am

Re: Books

Postby winston » Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:11 pm

The book below is the only one that I have read, about averaging down....

=======================================

"Invest to Last: 10 Timeless Principles by Tony Measor."

About Tony Measor

With over 50 years of global investment experience in Hong Kong, London and Asia, Tony Measor has been a member of the committee of the stock exchanges of Malaysia and Singapore, a stockbroker, a journalist and a successful fund manager in Hong Kong.

Tony Measor has made his name in bear markets, including during the 1970s, 1987, 1997 and the TMT boom in 2000. The fund under his management outperformed its competitors and the market in 1987 and the investment portfolio he published in the popular Hong Kong weekly publication, Next Magazine, has grown by 480% since 1999.

As one of the founders of Quamnet and previously its chief editor, in Tony's Daily, Tony Measor shares his unique insights and prognostications on Hong Kong stocks and investment opportunities in local and regional markets.

Tony Measor has published several popular books on investing. Most recently in 2006, he published the best-seller, "Invest to Last: 10 Timeless Principles by Tony Measor."
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"
User avatar
winston
Billionaire Boss
 
Posts: 118535
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 9:28 am

Re: Books

Postby la papillion » Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:10 am

Tony Measor...i read his other book on Successful Value Investing in Asia. Quite a good read. He is situated in HK and most of his portfolio is on H-shares too. I remembered he mentioned that he is very bullish on HSBC, which he is invested in.
An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis promises safety of principal and an adequate return - Benjamin Graham
User avatar
la papillion
Boss' Left Hand Person
 
Posts: 599
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 2:10 pm

Re: Books

Postby sidney » Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:25 am

Hi la papillion, for your benjamin G. book, can the triple A bond yield be reflected as SgBonds in our context?
Tempered.
User avatar
sidney
Foreman
 
Posts: 484
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 10:24 pm

PreviousNext

Return to Archives

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 20 guests