Monday, May 26, 2014

Ken Fisher "The Ten Roads to Riches"

I gobbled the book in two days. It's not a bad book though 9 out of 10 roads are aimed at young people. It would be a great book to give to 15-25 year olds (or around that range).

Ken is annoying in some places due to his hatred of government, taxes, politicians - fully "Forbes"ian attitude - which is also why I don't read "Forbes". Apart from that it's a nice light read with some great suggestions and advice for the roads mentioned. As I said couple thumbs up for young adults. :)

There is smattering of useful info in first 9 roads for non-youngsters, but not much to be worthwhile the time.

Road/Chapter 10 is "The Road More Traveled" and is a nice 24 page summary of the "get a good job, be frugal, save and invest smartly" road. Not much new there, but he manages to pack tons of stuff - well, the whole life - into 20 pages. It's a good concise reminder material for people who travel that road, which should be pretty much everyone. It's not revolutionary: pick good job area, progress with job, be frugal, calculate what you need to save, save, invest in stocks-index funds, done. Well, I packed it into sentence, but he gives a bit more info. :)

So overall: For young adults: two thumbs up; For older readers: read first nine chapters for gossip and fun mostly, read chapter 10 to remind of the road we should be traveling and maybe get one-two insights on it.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Portfolio overview - May 2014

My top (>2%) positions in no particular order: MGDDY, JPM, MHNC, GLW, DRAGF, BKLN, LMCA, CF, BRKB, WDC.
In:
Out:

Fixed income: ~18%
Cash: ~16%

New positions:
Positions increased: LMCA, LBTYK, TPRE, MKL, GS, VRSN, STRZA
Positions reduced: PFHO, HY,
Positions eliminated: CAM.L, INTC, TSCDY
Flip-flop:

Not a very exciting month.

I sold CAM.L position. The stock is cheap on P/B basis, but I am not sure they can monetize their B.
Sold INTC. Stock is not cheap based on latest results and I am not sure they will show better results in the future.
Sold TSCDY. I am not sure about their future success either.

Reduced positions in PFHO and HY. Both stocks are highly valued.

I continued to buy Malone companies (LMCA, LBTYK and STRZA). Not cheap. I'll post some thoughts separately.
Bought some TPRE, MKL. Insurance and reinsurance companies seem to be heading into tough times. I am pretty confident that MKL will do OK even if they have couple rough quarters or years. With TPRE and GLRE, I am not so sure. Reading Buffett's biography, it seems that even "good" insurance companies periodically get killed.

Bought some GS. Another one which seems cheap based on current book and results, but might have issues if we go into recession or market downdraft.

VRSN. Not very cheap, but I think it might be a good buy here. It seems that they should continue doing OKish, although I can't say I know all the ins and outs of their business.