Attractive looking Stock Prices

Like Warren Buffett in a Sees Candy Store or perhaps a young man in a whorehouse looking for a Beyonce lookalike, I am starting to get weak and giddy at the wallet for all the bargains out there.

I know stock prices are going to go lower but I am sorely tempted nonetheless.

While watching the Share Investor Portfolio drop in value day to day I have to say, once again, I have mixed feelings.

On the one hand I loathe watching the value of the portfolio get hammered by things out of my control but on the other hand I look at share prices for some of the stocks in my portfolio and start to dribble at the thought of buying stocks for less than I originally paid for them and that is most of them-bar Sky City Entertainment [SKC.NZ] and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare [FPH.NZ] which are still holding their heads above the rising financial waters.

So what in the portfolio am I interested in adding to?

I really like Goodman Fielder [GFF.NZ] which touched NZ$1.25 today and is at near lows for no good reason other than irrational fears regarding debt levels.

ASB Bank Pref B Shares [ASBPB] are trading at 65c , 35c below IPO listing and currently paying a 14% gross dividend. This share is low due to bank fears and the possibility of a lower dividend.

Michael Hill International's [MHI.NZ] share price-51c today- has been getting a caning because of an all-round retail downturn but it still makes money and is a well managed company.

The Warehouse Group [WHS.NZ] is doing well in the current retail climate, the best of the New Zealand retailers but its share price today of $3.45 doesn't reflect that.

Its dividend is intact and its prospects good for the coming year.

Mainfreight Group [MFT.NZ] has been dealt a blow share price wise, all the way down to $3.52 from a high of around 8 bucks fifty, but profit for the last quarter was slightly up and in my not so humble opinion it is New Zealand's best run company.

I know I should just grow some bigger financial balls and take the plunge, because these shares are selling well below what I initially bought them for so that is what is making them look as attractive as a naked Beyonce covered in fudge but my better judgment is holding me back.

I know I am not alone in this.

Millions of investors still have money looking for a home, they wont invest in bank deposits because interest rates are too low and they wont yet invest in real estate because prices have some way to fall, so the stockmarket is looking a more are more attractive place to go(sorry Beyonce) but investors like me are thinking that sector is still looking a bit sick.

The financial case makes sense but the emotions are clouding good thinking sometimes. Fear is holding people back from reality.

Perhaps I should take the plunge again?

Recent Share Investor Reading

• Warren Buffett Week
• Warehouse 2009 Interim Profit a key economic indicator
• What is a Depression?
• Mainfreight vs KiwiRail: The sequel
• Reporting Season Wrap for Share Investor Portfolio
• Media not blameless in climate of "financial fear"

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The Four Filters Invention of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger by Bud Labitan
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c Share Investor 2009

Bloomberg Television

Watch Bloomberg Television at Share Investor Blog.

Bloomberg TV is one of the leading providers of financial and business news.

c Share Investor 2009 - 2017 & Bloomberg 2009 - 2017

Sacking of Bureaucrats makes good financial and Practical sense

The sacking of various State lackies  in completely unproductive positions by the new National Government may seem callous in this time of economic crises but it actually makes sound financial sense in addition to the practicalities of getting more knuckle daggers off the taxpayer tit.

These pen pushers and paper shufflers, most of who earn way above the average wage for doing nothing would save thousands of dollars per year per employee if sacked and returned to the dole queue,where they might hopefully gain employment in something that produces economic value.

It is a great way to save money during this recession. $200 per week on the dole vs a couple of grand of taxpayer money via wages is economic brilliance.

If you cant see the merits of this you are either a socialist loser, a Labour Party voter (or both) or simply have problems with maths.

Drop off 10000 State dependants and we are talking billions saved. 

c Political Animal 2009

Warren Buffett Week

It has been Warren Buffett tastic over the last week or so.

Just over a week back the veteran investor released the 2008 Berkshire Hathaway Letter, where he waxed lyrical about venereal disease and its comparisons to bankers investing in derivatives, mistakes that he made in getting in too quick last year to buy "cheap stocks" but nonetheless convinced "Americas best days lie ahead".

I agreed with him in a somewhat less that lyrical way when I wrote this wee piece.

Yesterday Buffett was giving a good grilling for 3 hours (less commercials) by the fox from CNBC Becky Quick, and investors who had sent in emails.

On Becky's Squawk Box show Buffett didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know, except to say when he called the economic crises it back in September 2008 he admits he didn't think it was going to as bad as it is right now.

Well, he was taking a big punt back then.

This email question got straight to the point:


BECKY: Which brings us to another question. A lot of people have been trying to figure out is this different from what we saw back in the Great Depression. I'm going to jump ahead to one from Dan from Shohola, Pennsylvania, who asks a question very pointedly about this. "How is the market better off today than when we were in the 1929 to 1933 period?"

BUFFETT: Well, we certainly--it's different. I mean, there's a lot of similarities between all recessions or in this case depressions or call them panics like they did back in the 19th century, and there's always differences. One key similarity is that there was a paralysis of confidence in banks and--which is silly now because of the FDIC. I mean, we--but if you went back, my dad, on August 15th, 1931, worked at a bank and he went there and it was closed and he had no job and he had his savings--small savings in there. I mean, if you don't trust where you have your money, the world stops. And they recognized that, but it was a little belatedly. They didn't put in deposit insurance until it was started in 1934 in the Glass-Steagall Act. We have a system that's far better organized to deal with that.

I was wondering out loud what depressions/recessions meant last week and the more I read the more I come to the conclusion that depressions/recessions are one in the same but depressions just last much longer and hurt more people. The fear/panic part that Buffett talks about is one common trait.

There are plenty of other pearls of wisdom from the Oracle of Omaha, from answering critics on his investment style and whether it will now change to how he sees President Obama's bailout plans and what negative effects they will have on the global economy.

If you are an investor of any kind(and most of us are one way or the other)it is well worth a look at the full interview to get an overall perspective of what he thinks about the current dire economic situation.

His 2008 Letter to Shareholders is also worth a read in conjunction with that, as is the Annual Report of Berkshire Hathaway.

They might help you put things in perspective.

Along with reading from other sources they do it for me.

Recent Share Investor Reading

• Warehouse 2009 Interim Profit a key economic indicator
• What is a Depression?
• Mainfreight vs KiwiRail: The sequel
• Reporting Season Wrap for Share Investor Portfolio...
• Media not blameless in climate of "financial fear"
• Buffett Wrote us a Letter

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The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Investors and Managers by Lawrence A. Cunningham
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c Share Investor 2009