Google as a research tool

The power of search engines used for "research" can be
overrated without proper, old fashioned hands-on research
to back it up.



Just a throwaway post for what it is worth, but have you ever been so bored or curious that you Googled your own name?

On the Share Investor Blog almost everyone who has had a piece written about them has checked out that piece and their competition has also done similar.

The public relations departments of companies clearly have people who do this, should I be worried?!

I'm not about to tell you here who is Googling themselves(sorry about that, and it gives me an investing advantage) because these shy folk want to keep their anonymity, and that is fair enough, but there are also a number of brokers and serious heavyweight financial institutions who get their info from Google and that has got me wondering about the credibility of the information and expertise that they in turn pass on to their clients.

I would like to think that financial institutions or brokers making decisions with their clients money might like to actually visit the institutions they have been Googling from time to time to get the full picture, and I'm sure that most do but there is a tendency with human nature when a search engine is at your fingertips, to get lazy. I'm guilty of that as I'm sure some of my readers are.

So, you know important companies are listening and reading what we all say about them online so give them a chance to hear what you have to say and it might just make a difference somewhere along the line.

You can do that on the Share Investor Blog by either using the social network sites like Digg and Stumble Upon and spreading links from this site and others. Links for most of these sites are located at the bottom of each article or make a comment on this site itself where it says "comment", again at the bottom of each article. Its really easy.

For those of you who have commented, thanks, and for those of you who would like to, I would love to hear your feedback and suggestions, positive or negative.


Related reading from Share Investor

Google: Has it lived up to the hype?


C Share Investor 2008

Michael Hill Jeweller has a defined growth strategy

[MHI]  Michael Hill International Ltd the Queensland based jeweller, with around 200 stores at present is a growth company and has been doing so since Hill himself opened the first store in Whangerei, New Zealand, in 1979.



Michael Hill Jeweller Ltd share price, like most NZX listed
stocks, has taken a beating so far in 2008 but opportunities
are there to grab the stock when it is down.


It listed in 1987 when it had ten stores and also expanded into Queensland with one store in that year.

The expansion has been expertly crafted under Hill's steady lead and is aspirations to become a "global jeweller" with 1000 stores in the next 20 years, look to be well on track.

A small foothold in Canada has slowly improved since the companies entry there and there have been rumours of a push into the USA and the United Kingdom.

The focus on steady growth is the key to success here.

Michael Hill hasn't expanded in Starbuck style but growth has been targeted, measured researched and focused.

The jewellers brand has been a key to its success, most people who know about the company associate it with certain traits; good friendly service, frequent sales and advertising and catering to the middle of the road customer with a mass manufactured quality product.

Its brand has been changing over the years though and has moved from being a mass discounter to making more expensive rocks cheaper for the average customer.

Whether it be Michael Hill's customers becoming more sophisticated and or the company itself promoting higher priced and larger diamonds to them, the move towards higher margin more expensive product is only going to be good for the bottom line.

Like any company in expansion mode though there are obvious risks involved.

The company face competition from the huge James Pascoe Ltd in Australasia, with a range of branded stores and North American Jewellers will no doubt respond with intense competition when they see the presence of an upstart in their own market.

Recent gold price spikes also wont be good for margins short to medium term.

The company know their markets though.

Extensive research is done into local buying habits and these can vary from state to state and city to city and even unique tastes abound suburb to suburb.

With a long relationship with Westfield in New Zealand and Australia, coveted good positions in Westfield's USA malls maybe easier to get than without that relationship and location of a retailers store can often be a make or break situation.

Michael Hill has got where it has today by careful planning and the ability to use that planning to sell product to consumers that they want. As long as that careful planning continues the company's push to become a truly global jewellery player looks to be an attainable goal.



Disc: I own MHI shares in the Share Investor Portfolio


Michael Hill International @ Share Investor 

Share Investor's Total Returns: Michael Hill International Ltd
Michael Hill International: "Takeover" Undervalues the Company
Share Investor's 2011 Stock Picks
October 2010 Top Stock: Michael Hill International Ltd
Michael Hill International: Is Kim Kardashian the right fit?
Michael Hill International: Tall Tales & Rumours
Hill Family makes Claytons Takeover bid for Michael Hill International
Michael Hill International Ltd: 2010 Full Year Profit Analysis
Long Term View: Michael Hill International Ltd
Michael Hill International: 2010 half year profit commentary
Michael Hill Makeover kicks off
Michael Hill International: 2009 full year profit commentary
Toughen Up: What I have learned from the hard times
Stock of the Week: Michael Hill International
Michael Hill TV3 60 Minutes Interview
Long VS Short: Michael Hill International
Marketwatch: Michael Hill International
Michael Hill's profit shines
Michael Hill takes on the windy city
Why did you buy that stock? [Michael Hill International]
MHI has defined growth strategy
MHI profit sparkles

Discuss MHI @ Share Investor Forum
Download MHI Company Reports

c Share Investor 2008

Global Warning: Tax Iceberg Ahead

Originally posted at the Share Investor Blog in June 2007 the piece below is also strongly politically slanted so I reposted it here. As stockmarkets take a dive in 2008 and global economies look increasingly shaky, the carbon taxes that Labour will foist on us are going to bite.

This is on top of increasing mortgage rates and runaway inflation fed by out of control Government spending over the last 9 years.


Global Warning: Tax Iceberg Ahead

It is like sitting on the bow of the Titanic while watching it hit an iceberg. We know it is coming but we don't yet know how big the iceberg is. Let me help you out dear reader.

If one thought the budget was a killer to business and the economy and it clearly is: increased compliance costs, contributions to employees' savings and the two headed monster the inflationary petrol tax-the 3c cut to business tax still puts business behind- then you have got another thing coming.

The biggest thing missing from the 2007 budget was an indication of looming carbon taxes and costs associated with Labour's lunacy over Kyoto and the global warming myth.

It wasn't even given the once over lightly, in fact it wasn't mentioned at all.

In what will be New Zealand business' biggest challenge in generations, global warming taxes, Cullen is playing fast and lose with our kiwi companies simply because they cannot plan with certainty of the future.

These costs loom large in board rooms around the country, only the NZX board room is relaxed because they look likely to benefit from implementing so-called "carbon trading."

The costs to business and the economy cannot be overstated. Businesses, and eventually individuals who emit carbon will be taxed on those emissions. How much we don't know but what we do know is that these taxes will flow down to the consumer and put a bite on the economy with such force that we may never recover.

Like the 2007 budget, the only winners from carbon taxes will be Governments and an army of bureaucrats who will administer the taxes from yet another acre of new Wellington office space.

The two business sectors with the most to lose will be tourism and agriculture, incidentally the 2 biggest earners of foreign exchange for New Zealand Inc. According to those with a green tinge to their blood, including Sir Richard Branson, airline travel is one of the biggest contributors to Global Warming, with the shipping sector and distance traveled by those ships to get goods to market from this part of the world 2 targets for the highest taxes and red tape due to the perception of their "global carbon footprint."

Already New Zealand's agriculture industry has been given a wake-up call over "food miles" and Tesco in Britain discouraging buying of NZ produce because of the distance it has come. Commentators such as Rod Oram are foisted on their own Global Warming crusades, when they on the one hand advocate for GW and carbon taxes(Oram buys carbon credits to off-set his "carbon footprint")but on the other hand moan when the likes of Tesco actually use the argument he advocates against him.

The tourism industry clearly faces a bleak future if these new taxes take a strangle-hold. The further away a destination, the higher the taxes will be on airfares, airlines and a whole host of industry related business. New Zealand is as far away as one can get from the bulk of the worlds population and it doesn't take Einstein to figure out who the biggest loser will be.

We must not confuse the valid issue of polluting our neighbourhood and planet with the Myth of Global Warming. There has been a turning point in the belief of man-made GW from former believers in the scientific world and the focus should now be to get back to reality and impetus on the real issues around us.

GW associated taxes will kill our already shaky economy and the irony is that the worlds biggest and real polluters will be the beneficiary of our Government's stupidity.


C Share Investor 2007 & Political Animal 2008

Nandor Tanczos remembers where his bread is buttered

Tanczos ties a knot in his hair to remind
himself where his head is.


Forgive my cynicism, but today's news that the dread-locked drugged out loser MP Nandor Tanczos is leaving parliament after three terms isn't really a big surprise. After three terms MP's are entitled to 80% of their salaries for life!

Tanczos was voted out of Parliament in 2005 but sneaked in on a list seat.

I personally cant think of one positive thing Tanczos has achieved in his 9 long years as a member of the Green Party and his long telegraphed retirement is a huge relief to voters and Green supporters alike.

Indeed, when given a chance to speak on a radio piece today he said "...he had achieved allot..." followed by a list of the things he had achieved.

No entries were made on Tanczos own list(perhaps his memory had been affected by something).

The hot air coming from his marijuana use and hair brained outbursts on so-called global warming are his main claims to fame and it is clear that his debates in parliament were affected by the green stuff, with frequent lapses in speech and grasping for memory and words to use.

His support of bills such as the anti smacking legislation, removal of the Privy Council, The Electoral Finance Act, legalisation of prostitution and "gay marriage" and anti-smoking laws show how dangerous this collective has been in terms of the destruction of some the pillars of New Zealand Society when it comes to citizens freedoms, rights and moral structure.

Let us bid a fond farewell to master Tanczos and try to forget his time with the reigns of power.

It can be certain that he already has.



C Political Animal 2008