Month: August 2002

  • Dividend paid 3 cps

    ALZ held up at 1.40 when it went ex-dividend on 9 August. Very strange I expected it to drop 0.03 to match the dividend. I’m holding for the dividend payment, but have a sell in at 1.44 just in case (that’s just shy of my 3% trading target). [Update] The dividend cheque arrived on Wednesday…

  • Beginners win while others get burned

    Surprisingly often, beginners do good first deals in real estate, the financial markets and business. Why? Answer by clicking comments, but I’ll lead off with a fairly analytical approach. My theory is successful newbies are cautious and actually begin. What do I mean by this? Character traits of the cautious: Have an inbuilt drive to…

  • NCP Market Commentary

    I’ve been travelling on business. As it turns out I didn’t have a usable internet link. I’m back today as the market closes on NCP at 9.95. Makes me wish I’d sold all the holding at 10.85 last week. I’m still bearish on the longer term and maybe I should be trading Puts instead. I…

  • A Metaphor for Mastery

    I used this metaphor back when I ran courses. So here’s a freebie. Remember when you learned to drive? As a child you were Unconsciously Incompetent. You didn’t know how to drive and didn’t realise it. Consciously Incompetent – your first time behind the wheel. You didn’t know how to drive and hooboy do you…

  • Sell 920 NCP @ 10.85

    NCP opened at 10.90 (up 0.32) and slid down to 10.79 at midday. The entire portfolio is in profit. But I don’t think things have bottomed yet. So I decided to sell half the NCP holding at a close to high price of 10.85 at 3:00pm. I am overweight NCP and that exceeds the 3%…

  • Nobody knows anything – William Goldman

    William Goldman opened his best-selling book Adventures in the Screen Trade with “Nobody knows anything”. Goldman writes movies. Good ones. His filmography to date according to the Internet Movie Database: Hearts in Atlantis (2001) (screenplay) General’s Daughter, The (1999) (screenplay) Absolute Power (1997) (screenplay) Fierce Creatures (1997) (uncredited) Ghost and the Darkness, The (1996) (written…

  • NCP Market Commentary

    NCP ran up to 10.62 in the first 40 minutes of trade. 10.77 is the price target for the parcel I bought on 25 June. Can it hit it? Maybe. An hour later it’s dipped and come back up to 10.64. Looking good until it stops dead and trades in a 10.58 to 10.60 range…

  • 12 Life Insurance Rules of Thumb

    12 Life Insurance Rules of Thumb

    American Express called this week. They’re selling a life insurance policy. So here are a dozen Life Insurance Rules of Thumb. 1. For the Term of his natural life?, or Jargon Busters Term Life Insurance is a straight-up insurance policy. You die (or some other defined incident) and the insurer pays money. Whole of Life…

  • NCP Market Commentary

    NCP open $10.05, close $10.12, high $10.26, low $10.01 Another roller coaster. By 1:30pm it was on its highs. Sell target is $10.46 or $10,000 worth around $10.17 tomorrow if it doesn’t do much (that’s not likely). That will give me the 3% return. Hmmm time to rethink, maybe I should sell after a down…

  • Buy 5745 ALZ @ 1.40

    ALZ is Australand. They are property developers. At a Freestyler Network meeting in late July, I was told ALZ paid a 3c fully franked quarterly dividend (ex-div 9-Aug) and the stock was around $1.40. Downside analysis should it become a long term hold: An annualised 8.57% yield before franking credits. My overall portfolio is underweight…