Saturday, May 26, 2007

our little vacation

My father and i attended a meeting with some bankers and a director of a securities firm because my dad is finally interested in putting money in the market(after years of convincing him). Hehehe when they found out that i was investing in the market, i was asked what was inside my portfolio and i told them, they were impressed. My dad was just listening all this time and didnt say a word but i could see that he was impressed and surprised on what ive accomplished in investing(but i do know that i still have a long way to go). I was just happy to see that my dad was surprised that im doing okay because he was really against my going into investing in stocks when i started but now im slowly starting to change his mind. :)
the next day, My siblings and i for a change took klm for our flight to europe. :) and i can say that i was impressed! :) the service was very good and there was a lot of food served. :) hehehe and believe you me the food was good too! That is coming from someone who doesnt like airplane food. :) our flight was from manila to amsterdam for a quick stopover and then from there to vienna.
Vienna is beautiful old city and very scenic. :) you can just see how rich their culture is and i hope that the philippines have something like this to offer to tourists. You can see how rich their culture is in their palaces, castles and museums. They have preserved their culture very well. Old buildings are not demolished but they maintain the facade and then just remodel the interior of the building. The philippines should also do something like this. We should do something to preserve our culture. An example that o would like to point out were the jewels of mrs imelda marcos. I believe we shouldnt have sold them. We shouldve kept all of them and then we couldve displayed all of those in a museum and literally and figuratively it could have been a jewel of our nation.
We took a 4hour bus ride to go to budapest(pronounced budapesht) in hungary. And my oh my were we surprised the place is just beautiful. The city is very laid back , picturesque and the architecture is just marvelous. More than 70% of the structures after world war II were destroyed but after the war they decided to rebuild the city the same way it was before the war. I really didnt expect that budapest was this wonderful considering that before it was a communist country. Im somewhat reminded of the philippines when our guide explained to us the history of hungary with many foreign invaders and then staying in the country and stuff like that but one big difference that i see here that we filipinos should also have is the love of country and culture. A nation with a rich culture just shows that the country is really rich and educated and i do hope some day the philippines will also have that love for the arts, music and culture. :) their parliament here is just beautiful and i cant find the right words to describe it. But when it comes to churches the philippines can be at par with them here. :) we should do something to uplift our culture and everybody has to do their part. :) just some trivia to you investors: anonymus was really a writer/poet during the 12th century who never signed his pieces ir works. :) and of course that explains where the word anonymous comes from. I had my picture taken in his statue holding his pen because they say its for good luck. :) another bit of information for everyone: one of the greatest people to come from hungary is the man who bet $10billion against the british pound and then got $1billion in profit! Phew! The guy is george soros. :)
to stockmaster thank you so much for the comment it is things like those that inspire me and make me strive to do even better in investing. Investing is all about the numbers and people. :) if the company is run by very good people and you buy the company at a fair price only good things can happen. :)
bratislava in slovakia is also a nice small and beautiful city. :) how can such a small place be so rich in history. :) they have a lovely old town square and can you imagine in a 200 square meter radius a lot of the great composers have in one time or the other have played or taught there. The question is that what did that little city have that brought a lot of the great composers there??? what did they have?? why dont we have that in the philippines? That is the question in my mind right now. Were on the bus driving to prague, czech republic now and ill more to this when we leave prague.
Prague is beautful and that is an understatement! Its really a small town with a lot of history and a lot of beautiful architecture! :) the city reminds of a universal studios back lot but with well preserved historic buildings in it. We also visited the church of our lady of victories where the miraculous sto. Nino can be found and i got some souvenirs for my friends. :) i also met a good friend from college, glenn, who is currently there studying. He accompanied us around the city then crossing the charles bridge, explaining the culture and customs and the people. Its been a long while since we got to talk. We went out for a beer, which czech beer is really good, and then talked. And we came to the topic of life and i told him and quoting my father “what is the difference with interest and dedication? Interest is something you do when you have the time but dedication is something that you even if you dont feel like doing it.” or i'll put in other words what are you willing to give up to get what you want? In economics that is what you call opportunity cost. :) Just shows that were really starting to age we talked about our love life and i tried to convince him to get into the stock market. :) they say that prague is the 4th most visited city in europe after london, rome and paris. :)
were now back in vienna and tomorrow will be the last day of our trip and its back to work. :) its always nice to get a break from work sometimes it makes you think and appreciate all the hardwork and sacrifices that youve made. :) im just here in the hotel room having a glass of jack daniels-coke relaxing and thinking of all the things that has to be done when i get back home and of course to catch up on work. I really didnt regret getting a digicam before leaving for our vacation i really enjoyed using it. :) im really happy with it. :)
the market is really doing well now. I hope its going to reach the 3,800 before the end of the year. :) but if it doesnt its really okay i will still hold on to my stocks. :) im still looking for bargains as for the moment. :) after ive found some maybe ill write about it here. :) til here ill see you again next week. :) good luck and take care. :)

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

market high

The elections are just over and guess what happens??? the market hits a new ten year high. I can see all the tsupiteros shouting and dancing for joy. Technically i can see the market hitting 3,800 in the near future but of course dont take my word for it for the market is irrational and anything can happen. :) so what has happened in the last two weeks? My dad is finally interested in stocks(but he is too proud to admit it for he was really against my going into stocks hehehe) because i think he has finally realized that you could invest conservatively in the market and that risk can be managed. Its all about the price that you buy the stock. :) thats what ive been telling him all along and now i think he's beginning to understand it. Look at the upside and the downside. Buy it high and as they say “the higher you are the harder the fall.” but buy it cheap then the chances of a loss is very minimal but of course as i mentioned to you investors before that wouldnt be possible if your not patient enough. And i believe that is the hardest part in investing because no book or person can teach you to be patient, it has to come from yourself. It is all about bargains or as warren buffett said the three most important words in investing is MARGIN OF SAFETY. :) one has to be able to find the real value of the company or its intrinsic value or implied value. And there is no holy grail in finding value and it is really an art that is why im still learning because value can be found in a lot of things the companys brand, undervalued assets, growth, manpower and a lot more. That is why research is so important in investing.

I was invited to join another forum and it was okay but i believe that a lot could still be done and that there should be originality in it but thank you to the founders for inviting me. :) wish you all the best guys. :) i really thought that the psei will go down because of the elections but look at what it did!!! a new ten year high. There has been an upsurge in price lately in some of my favorite stocks smdc, kpm and ephi with its coming merger with kpp and of course im also thankful for the dividends from smdc and urc. Keep up the good work guys and keep it coming. :) with the new developments in san miguel corporation it has brought the psei to a new level and for the index to keep on moving up smc should keep on going up too. I like san miguel but i still have to understand the company better. Does it really have room to still grow? Did it invest in the right industries??? :) we will see in a few weeks time. :)

and another company i like is V with an eps of P1.05 but its basic eps is 0.12. but i dont think that it really matters if its earnings were flat this year because it has now a bigger cash hoard and we all know what cold cash an do!!! hehehehe :) i watched spiderman3 on opening day and i really like it and i hope you guys did too. :) thank you for those who sent private messages and emails about my recommendation on kpm. As ive said there were people who helped me out in my research and they deserve the credit also. :) i will be leaving for eastern europe on friday and will be back after a few weeks. :) i will still keep track of the market every once in awhile and hope our market will continue to do good. :) god bless :) “sometimes a winner is just a dreamer who never gives up” :)

Thursday, May 03, 2007

anonymous long term portfolio

here is what's inside of the portfolio of one of the great long term investors who is a frequent visitor of financemanila. i would like to post his name but he has asked that he remain anonymous. :)

Total Portfolio (as of 25 April 07) 100 %


Peso Savings 5.30 %

UITF/Money Market 17.94 %

Dollars 1.47 %

Equities 75.3 %

CHIB 12.71 % (of total portfolio)

PERC 5.01 %

IPVG 4.49 %

JFC 3.02 %

ALI 3.78 %

FPH 3.62 %

EDC 3.43 %

JGS 3.19%

ASIA 3.08 %

MHI 2.90%

Others 22.12 %

Cash for Stock Purchase 7.03 %


Notes:

1. latest sale entire PX position (about 10% of total portfolio)

a percentage of ANS ( about 7% of total portfolio)

2. as much as possible, no equity position should be more than 5 percent of total portfolio; historically, the largest single positions were FPH, PERC and ANS (more than 20% of total portfolio)

3. everything is for sale

4. conditions for purchase:

a. fundamentals

b. growth potential

c. possible plays

5. oldest positions presently held (more than 5 years)

AEV

ALI

ANS

EPHI

FPH

JFC