Timezoneone Blog

 There is a difference between investing and speculating, but the difference is not always obvious and investors can get into trouble by speculating when they think they’re investing.
In 1934, legendary investor Benjamin Graham explained the difference between the two concepts as: “An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis, promises safety of principal and an adequate return. Operations not meeting these requirements are speculative”.

The critical part of this definition is the phrase “upon thorough analysis”. There is a big difference between buying a stock after thoroughly researching it and buying a stock because you’ve heard it’s good buying.

Analysing an investment can be time-consuming and challenging, and I can understand the appeal of following somebody else’s advice or copying an idea rather than doing your own analysis. However, if you don’t know and understand why you have made an investment, how will you know when it is time to sell or to buy more?

A few weeks ago, a friend asked me to have a look at his portfolio. As we considered each of his shareholdings, I asked him to explain why he had bought them. He was able to tell me what price he had paid for each, but he couldn’t tell me what he liked about each company. Knowing his average cost price did not help him in his investment decision making.

A good investor needs to understand why they have bought shares in a company, what they expect of that company, and what needs to happen to continue holding it. Researching an investment can tilt the odds in your favour making it more of an investment and less of a gamble.

Imagine being offered shares in a company at 40 cents each, the lowest level for 18 months. If you knew that the share price used to be 80 cents, you could be tempted to buy. But then what? Would you sell if the price lifted to 50 cents? Would you buy more if the share price fell to 30 cents? Without additional information, it is impossible to decide an investment strategy. Instead, you have to follow your hunch as to which way the share price will go next.

Now imagine that you received some information about the company. You learned that the company was profitable for many years, but had surprised the market by making a loss last year, resulting in the share price fall. This little bit of information is still not enough to make an investment decision, but it puts you in a better position than when you just knew the share price history.
Just one more piece of information could make all the difference. Imagine you then asked the company why it made a loss, and the company said a major client was late in paying for their order, but had now done so and profitability was back on track. When you bought more shares at 40 cents you would be doing so as an investor rather than a speculator.

From Fisher Funds

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A supplier to the fashion house Chanel has taken them to court for copying crochet pattern she designed. The woman claimed it was design by her tailors, and not those of Chanel, which is of course disputed by Chanel. The case has taken four and a half years to get to court, and is seen as a test case by industry insiders. It looks like another case of big companies with lots of money bullying little ones. Here’s hoping it’s a win for the little guy.

You can read the full story here.

Rose

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After yesterday’s twitter rant, I discovered this. The Wi-Fi Body Scale from Withings. The first bathroom scale with the ability to send your your weight directly to your Web page, iPhone and Twitter account. Further confirming my fears about a future with the twitter generation in charge.

Click here to purchase it for about $200.

Source: Los Angeles Times

David

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I have a facebook page, I get my RSS on with a few blogs, but I’m not really an active social networker, I have never tweeted, I’m a little bit old school, I leave that for the birds.

I don’t believe that Tweeting and following twitters has any substance, it’s hardly revolutionary in my view, it’s called conversation, we’ve been doing it for a long time now. Of course, everyone’s interested in the marketing potential, Twitter is apparently worth a billion dollars despite not having turned over a single cent. I’ve always thought that my generation are a bit self obsessed and see Twitter as a way to talk about themselves even when there’s nobody else around, so it doesn’t surprise me that the most Tweeted topic is Twitter itself, iPhone is high on the list too. I imagine there are a lot of tweets along the lines of “just using twitter on my iPhone lol”.

Below is a list of brands mentioned over a 24 hour period on Twitter, it’s kind of a boring list, mostly computer/internet related stuff – mostly, it seems, people are getting on there computers and mobile devices to talk about their computers and mobile devices. I don’t really know what to make of it, there’s no mention of whether or not the Tweeters (Twits?) are saying nice things about these brands or not.

If you’re a tweet follower, someone sent me this a while back, it worth following, if you follow such things.

And now I’m going to get my old school on, with some old school goodness that you can’t find on your MyFace and SpaceBook pages…

This is still the most on-target advertising I have ever seen:

This is excellent old school exaggeration in advertising from Atari:

Cover Art…

Actual game play…

And here’s an ad for a 15MB Hard Drive for only $2495:

Moonwalk, electric boogie, head spin and top rock to that.

David

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…or otherwise known as Parkour (PK), is a physical discipline of French origin in which participants attempt to get from Point A to Point B using the human body and objects in the environment around you.

It didn’t take long for PK to become a global craze and move from the urban setting of 13 boulevard du Temple, Paris to mainstream America…

Richard

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The start of my NHRA career?…(this is my staunch look…certainly ain’t no Blue Steel)

Hamish McDonald

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Tony Schumacher

I have met Tony several times as TZO continues to create the US Army NHRA collateral.  Tony is a great guy and loves a good joke (and tequila shots)

Tony Schumacher is an American drag racer, currently competing in the NHRA Top Fuel class, of which he is a six-time champion winning the last five years consecutively (2004-2008). In 1999 he was the first driver to exceed 330 mph in competition.  He also has the world record for fastest 1/4 mile top fuel run: 337.58 mph, earned in 2005 at Brainerd, Minnesota. On September 14, 2008 at the inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Charlotte, N.C., Tony surpassed Joe Amato as the winningest driver in NHRA Top Fuel history with his 53rd career victory.

Schumacher has been sponsored for several years by the U.S. Army and his intense personality and buzz cut hairstyle has earned him the nickname “Sarge.”

He enjoys playing guitar. He also co-owns and operates a home brewing and winemaking supply business called Perfect Brewing Supply. He is a distant relative of the 7 time Formula One world Champion Michael Schumacher.

Hamish McDonald

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Adrian Peterson

I met Adrian Peterson on the set of the Army All America Bowl photo shoot TZO undertook.  He was the consummate professional but I will remember him most for his CRUSHING hand shake - even when you are expecting it he still manages to bring tears to your eyes…

Adrian is a professional football running back for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League. Peterson was selected by the Vikings with the seventh overall pick in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Oklahoma.

At Oklahoma, Peterson set the NCAA freshman rushing record with 1,925 yards as a true freshman. As a First-Team All-American, he also set a freshman record by finishing as the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy balloting. Peterson finished as the school’s third all-time leading rusher.

Following his stellar first pro season, Peterson was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. In the 2008 NFL Pro Bowl, Peterson rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns, achieving the second highest rushing total in Pro Bowl history. Peterson was awarded the MVP award for his performance in the Pro Bowl, which led to a 42-30 victory over the AFC. Peterson is only the fifth player in NFL history to have more than 3,000 plus yards through their first two seasons.

He is currently regarded as the best running back in the NFL - and this season his team (with Brett Favre) are undefeated at 6-0.

Hamish McDonald

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Celebrity endorsements…an effective way to promote your product.  I get to meet several celebrities during the course of a year here at TZO.  More often than not - these are stars of the sporting arena.

Over the course of the next 3 blog posts I am going to introduce you to 3 of the biggest stars in their respective sports.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco

Cuauhtemoc Blanco is a spokesman for Safeway Auto Insurance.

Blanco is a Mexican professional soccer player who currently plays for Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer of US.

Blanco is the only Mexican football player with an award in a major international FIFA competition, as he won the Silver Ball and the Golden Shoe awards in the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup. He has been awarded the MVP of the Mexican First League Division five times.

Although Blanco plays mostly as an attacking midfielder, he is tied with Ronaldinho as the leading Confederations Cup goal scorer. Blanco is the second leading goal scorer for the Mexican national football team and his debut team Club América; he is also Mexico’s second top scorer in both the FIFA World Cup and the Copa Libertadores tournament.

Blanco is currently the second highest paid player in the US Major League (behind David Beckham).  He is THE star of the Mexican national team and will be at the World Cup in South Africa.

Blanco remains remembered for the Cuautemiña or Blanco Trick, which he performed notably at the 1998 World Cup. In the trick, Blanco traps the moving football between his feet and jumps over an opposition player’s attempted tackle, landing with the ball under control. The trick is difficult to perform but is eye-catching and has been incorporated as a special skill into the FIFA series of football games. 

Blanco is currently on the cover of FIFA 2010.

I did not get to chat to Blanco too much as he does not speak much Englsh.  He did a great job recording new spots for Safeway Auto Insurance which will be on air here in the US next month.

Hamish McDonald

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Folksey

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