Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Whats up with Cryptocurrency?


Image result for cryptocurrency cartoons funny

Cryptocurrency?

What is it, is it legitimate as a tool or investment, can I lose money, can I make money, which one will eventually win the race? 


All good questions, that deserve answers.


I will try to answer some of yours.


Now I've been hearing about this form of currency for about a year now.


Principally it has been Bitcoin,Ethereum and Ripple that I've heard of but there are literally hundreds of different types of Cryptocurrencies - in fact just today I read somewhere about Kodak was getting in on it. 


So everyone is having a go but there can only be a handful of survivors.


The one i'm betting on is Bitcoin or Bitcoin cash principally since they are one of the first Cryptos off the block about 10 years ago.


But as I said hundreds of Cryptocurrencies are on the market and they are all jockeying for position. 


Basically you can trade these currencies at various online trading websites even one right here in NZ. They take various fees off you for services rendered or in some circumstances all of your money.


Some of them - like Bitcoin - are based on block-chain technology:



First, a traditional ledger needs to be kept secure, you don't want unauthorised people making changes. With a public blockchain, such as Bitcoin, anyone can download a copy of it. Moreover, copies are held by hundreds or even thousands of computers and are all updated automatically at the same time. ("Copies" is a little misleading as there is no master copy.)


Second, unlike a traditional ledger where someone can go back and make changes that were difficult, if not impossible, to detect, a blockchain is immutable and cannot be changed. If a change is required, for example to show that the ownership of 0.001 of a Bitcoin that was owned by X is now owned by Y, the transfer of ownership will be appended. That way of the owners of the 0.001 can be traced. Thus blockchains provide an immutable audit trail.
Third, before X can transfer the 0.001 to Y, the blockchain is checked to see whether X owns that Bitcoin. If more than half the copies say yes, then the Bitcoin will be transferred. This validation system means that a blockchain is safer than single databases which can be hacked and have money stolen from them.
Blockchain technology can do two things.
First, it can make existing processes more efficient.
Second, it can disrupt industries.
Take aid sent to third world countries. Currently not all aid payments get to the right people due to corruption. Blockchain can solve this by using radical transparency so that the money can be traced the entire way.
Alternatively, the actual charity can be done away with. People may want to donate to people affected by earthquakes. A smart contract (a self-executing computer programme) could be written that takes information from Google searches, Twitter and also reputable news providers, so that once an earthquake over a certain magnitude occurs payments are made automatically to all those living in the area.

This block-chain tech is one you should look out for. Legitimate sources on the subject like this one from Stuff.co.nz think this could be the one technology that we see emerge from the ether of the Cryptocurrency fallout.

Banks are scurrying for position right now. There scarred they may get cut out of the picture and Block-chain is probably the way they'll do it. Along with Bitcoin, Apple, Google, Amazon and a whole host of others to numerous to mention here.'
You can make money, if you know what your doing, although it looks like to me things are about to go tits up, you are more likely to lose money as unscrupulous people prey on you, if you have some spare cash. 

Even that man who must be 90 soon Warren Buffett recently said   "the cryptocurrency mania around the world isn't going to have a happy ending."
Remember if someone asks you to invest tell them about the tulip boom of the 16th century . 

Just one word is needed and is actually one of the first ones we learn as kids. 

NO.



Xero 2 : Interview with Rod Drury Coming - Reader Questions Submitted


Image result for rod drury

I'm going to do this again. Ill put this out there until January 31 2018 and I am going to do it with or without you - I would prefer it was with you.

I've secured an Interview with Rod Drury, from Xero Ltd. It will be in the form of questions put to Rod about his company via email. 

Where to from here and why. 

What I want from you dear reader is questions. Relevant ones, please. 

Put your questions down here and I will submit them.

Either email questions @ shareinvestornz@gmail.com or leave the at the bottom of this post.

Thanks,

Darren.




Share Investor Q  As
 

Convention Centre proposal interview with Sky City CEO Nigel Morrison


c Share Investor 2017




Monday, January 1, 2018

Brokers' Picks 2018: Hot stocks for the new year


Brokers have picked a diverse mix of stocks for 2018, in many cases opting for those that have underperformed in the last year or so.
It's always worth remembering that winning the Brokers' Picks competition requires different strategies to everyday investing. A single year is an arbitrary time frame – often not long enough for value investors but too long for traders.
It is interesting to see the way participants opt for different ends of that spectrum in an attempt to capture a market beating annual result.
Hamilton Hindin Greene has leaned most heavily towards value investing picking well established stocks that have been out of favour and could present a bargain.

The two most obvious examples in their selection are Fletcher Building and Comvita – both strong companies that were punished by investors in 2017.
"Fletcher Building aired plenty of dirty laundry in 2017," says Hamilton Hindin Greene's James Smalley
"Whilst the risk remains of more coming to light, we believe the risk of major surprises has been limited by the announcements to date, and the recent KPMG Audit."
When you strip out the downgrades associated with the Building & Interiors business unit, Fletcher Building actually had a reasonable year, Smalley and his team noted. "We expect continued strong performance from most divisions, and a return to more normal performance from the Building & Interiors business unit."
Comvita had a tough year, its share price falling 37 per cent at one point before almost recovering back almost to break even by December.
"The decline was the result of investors' concerns of a lower than usual honey harvest, the discovery of myrtle rust in the North Island, and a drop-off in grey channel sales," says Smalley.
"We see these headwinds as temporary, and see significant upside potential on the back of better climatic conditions, continuing natural health product market demand from China, and favourable societal trends."




Saturday, December 30, 2017

My Thoughts on 2017 and What 2018 May Bring

Related image


Well you know after 10 years of writing this blog one thing is common.

You just don't know with any certainty what is going to happen the next year, month, week and day and hour if you ask me.

But let me be specific - for once.

2017 has been a good year for Share Investors Portfolio. It has added around $175,000.00 excluding Divs and for the first time has been valued at way over $1 million dollars - when you include all the dividends returned thus far. 

My attempt at trading shares have been spectacular in various shapes and sizes.

My biggest regret also happens to be my biggest success. Fisher and Paykel Healthcare.

It rallied something like 60% this year and my regret is sadly not buying double what I actually bought at the beginning of 2012.

I havent lost one dollar, as opposed to other years in the past.

The market is at 8398 for the year and I have no dought it will test the 10000 mark next year as the tax cuts in America start to flow through in the 2019 calendar year.

It is looking spectacular on our market and especially European markets as they shake the last vestiges of the end of the GFC. 

It stands to reason that if inflation and interest rates stay low your going to find markets continuing to take a vast amount of the populations moola.

But you could start to see that change should there be a sharp upwards trend in either oil or interest rates.

Then there is debt - all sorts of debt but especially in this country where we recently passed the one Trillion dollar mark in residential housing values - a great percentage of that one Trillion is debt - and you have to eventually pay it back.

And that just little old NZ, a country with a whisker away from 5 million people!

There are manifold problems brewing in the private sector debt all over the world  - watch out.

And...happy trading and holding of course.


www.shareinvestorforum.com




 c Share Investor 2017