Are You The Active Investor?

You have decided the investment option in the stock market. The shares are risky but more rewarding when the tide goes up as compared to conventional investing.   

So; whether you’re in financials, derivatives, futures or equities, that’s great!

What isn't great, arguably, is the level of participation and involvement you place yourself in your own portfolio. It’s a decision to be arrived at soberly because it’s all about your wealth plan, and for that matter your wealth-creation plan is in your own hands.

Appointing your portfolio manager or investment broker is a good thing to do. You leverage yourself with the expertise of the professional. Staying out of the nitty-gritty’s and leaving virtually everything in the hands of the service provider is one step I want to caution you about.

Your investment is your life. It’s a mission towards your vision. It’s your sole and not a shared vision. You need to be hands-on 24/7. You have to give directions and call the shots. You have to engage fully with every progress report from your broker. You need to follow closely the path travelled by the institution and sector where your investment is. You have to go the extra mile. You need to be more actively and deeply involved in your investment than your broker.

And it’s not difficult to do that. When you get invites for shareholder meetings, do honour them. In fact, avail yourself for all your investment-related activities. Be on the look-out for any apps and gadgets that are designed to enhance your understanding and knowledge of the investment. Look out for online lessons relating to your investment; there’s plenty of them around. I purchased a programme called ChampPro which has empowered me greatly on analysing the market.  Be the first to lay your hands on journals and publications on your investment. Go through the annual report and seek clarity where necessary.

Shadow-box your way to the market. This means that when you wish to invest on a particular sector or tool, do your own practice and compare it with what your portfolio manager recommends and advices.

In no time you will be confident enough to do about everything on your own. Because, after all, it’s your wealth.

Our new economic complexion from ... T-O-D-A-Y onwards

Hi, there!

In the past, as you must be aware, much emphasis in recent discussions has been put on bodily, spiritual and mental health; plus a host other issues meantto keep you - the visitor - going.

From today onwards we begin to place more stress on financial health. In particular, we’ll be looking at investing on the stock market.

Consequently, we'll dedicate a portion of this blog to economy talk, or econotalk.

Nobody - including me - knows everything about anything. And investing matters are no exception. It’s because of this understanding that your contributions are welcome.

Cheers.

And enjoy!

 

A merry CHRISTMAS you have!!

Christmas is surely time to take a moment of silence in remembrance of Lord Jesus. Whether this forms part of your itenerary or not, allow me to wish you a merry CHRISTMAS and a very prosperous NEW YEAR!!

Thank you for winning...

More than a decade ago I had a collection of James Hadley Chase thrillers. I bought the first one (Knock, knock, Who's There?) with money that was supposedly for buying my boarding school needs.
They were not political or how-to, but you could be absorbed throughout the night...

My first thick volume, political this time, was From Union to Apartheid written by Margareth Ballinger. It took you from the time when all people in the Cape enjoyed voting rights, through the period when the Black people in South Africa were scaled thin of their few civil rights, up to the 1948 National Party victory where apartheid nuts and bolts began to be screwed tight.
My other volume, Monsoon by Wilbur Smith, is an account of adventures of sea-bound travellers which also gives a close-up of what it feels like to come face to face with pirates.

I've read Papillon, and I've read Alex Haley's Roots - an epic account of how Africans were caught and thrown into the cruel den of slavery in Europe and America. I think one African Writers Series title, America, their America, is a sentimental reference to the role played by American slave traders and masters in subjugating the being of the African soul.

There's Jack Higgin's Touch the Devil; Alan Paton's Cry the Beloved Country and Ngugi wa Th'iongo's Weep Not, Child.

In Lulli Callinicos' Beyond the Engeli Mountains I learn the illustrious times of comrade Oliver Tambo, highly regarded as the unifying leader of the ANC during the turbulent times under the nooze of white rule. On the day the NP won the polls in 1948, a white man spat a mouthful of saliva and sputum on Tambo's face, which he silently wiped with his handkerchief. When he passed on, the handkerchief was still kept as memorabilia, and I hope during one of our Human Rights celebrations, this handkerchief should be displayed for public viewing (it's a political treasure!).

As I sit on my desk now, I can boast having gone through Monetize Your Passion by Rich German, Talane Miedaner's Secret Laws of Attraction, and now it's Negotiation by Roy .J. Lewicki and Joseph .A. Litterer.

Thank you for reading, because a reading nation is a winning nation. Heh? A reading you and I is a winning you and I. Heh? A reading you is a winning you!

Next we meet, I'll come with practical suggestions how you and I can lay our hands on a vast array of books.

Till then, cheeerioooo!

I'm fired up, you too can be!

Whether you believe in horoscopic predictions or not is another matter. I’m holding you ransom to the fact that this astrology-oriented practice is as old as the world itself. At the risk of sounding ridiculous (remember Che’ Guevara’s famous statement?*) let me indicate here and now that on their way to Lord Jesus’ birth place, the wise men from the East themselves were guided by stars.

I am a Sagittarian, although my current ID book proclaims me as Aries. That in itself is another long discussion of the history of deliberate errors in the Home Affairs echelons; and for that I look forward to suing DoHA big bucks one day should I stumble across a good lawyer.

Back to track. The Valley Messenger newspaper of 03 – 09 June 2011 tells me “This is a great day for you, Dennis. Unexpected reunions are possible, thanks to the lighthearted aura you radiate. You don’t need to work very hard to bring everything your way. Your sunny personality attracts the fun and good fortune that you most certainly deserve. People are extremely lucky to be in your glowing presence on a day like this”.

Who wouldn’t feel great to be told they radiate an air or aura that puts everyone around at ease? When last were you made to feel important? Guess what; I’ve never applied for positions like I’ve done since groping across this revelation.

Bona Magazine of June 2011 advices me this as a recipe for success and prosperity:

ü  A happy attitude will make me quite lucky.

ü  At work, I must act quickly in seeking advice and support.

ü  Money-wise, I must direct my thoughts into new earning channels.

ü  I must be generally good-natured.

ü  14^th and 15^th are my lucky days, and my lucky numbers are 6, 12, 22, 26, 27 and 46.

Now, let me give you a send-off with this one from Sowetan, June 1^st 2011.

“Seek out top-ranking people and make a good impression on them. You can attract attention by pushing well to the fore in business and socially. You may manage to break in on a major project – could get a chance to boost your reputation”. Music, music, music on my ears…

If tomorrow you see me as CEO of Cyril Ramaphosa’s I-AM-LOVING-MACDONALDS, know at first instinct that such a feat is now within grasp for me the way I’m so fired up! I mean South Africa is abounding with possibilities for me in my present state of self-inspiredness, horoscopic motivatedness and self-confidence. I’m on all fours astrologically and astronomically! I’m stalking high-rankers in our society and seeking to impress them, and deep in my heart I know what I stand to benefit.

I seek my inspiration this way, looking for star signs. I pray and believe in God the Almighty. No contradiction. Why? He created stars and everything else, and bestowed us the wisdom and freedom to mutually coexist with all creation. That’s why the wise men of the East looked up the skies for guidance in their way to Bethlehem.

If this is a tall order, follow your heart. Do what works best for you and yet lets you live with the conscience that is in comfort and at ease. So long as you make peace with yourself, with the person next to you, and you be bound for success and greatness.

Till tomorrow, cheeeeeriooo!

                                          _________________________________

* Footnotes: "At the risk of sounding ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by feelings of love"    -    Che' Guevara

Conversations with my little daughter

Every morning before I wake up and prepare for work, I have conversations with my three-year old daughter (if she is awake by the time I go up, that is). Her name is Vun’we Latiffah Salane.

I always resist the urge to rush out of the bedroom (in fact she sleeps between her mom and I) and catch with the fast-as-lightning morning time because after our discussions I always have this feeling of fulfilment and joy. Perhaps what happens between the two of us is what is civilizedly referred to as quality time. (Just to rewind memories, her sister Kati when still very young used to sing us up in the early hours of the morning and insisted that we chorus her fabricated songs; and their elder brother Hlulani when a toddler used to jump up and down on the pillows and shouted “Wake up, wake up, you lazy two!”).

But Vun’we is more of a conversationist. The day before yesterday she woke up with the news: “Jacob Zuma was living on the pole in the street, now he’s here in our garage, but he’s also living on the pole in the other street”. This she was referring to the posters of ANC President Jacob Zuma that have been hanging on the poles for municipal elections. The Zuma in our garage is the one poster that I have personally taken possession of after May 18 elections.

To conclude the beautiful news, she tells me: “The other Zuma left on the pole is not really Jacob Zuma, and he is also uglier”. This referring to the poster of the ACDP candidate in our ward.

Till tomorrow, cheeeeeriooo!

Aim higher!

  "The Danger with most of us is not that our 
   aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is
                too low and we reach it".


                                  Michelangelo