Greed is good!

Nope I didn’t say that! He did! Stumbled upon an article about this quote, so I thought I just post something light about this.

Michael Douglas’s (left) fans may remember him and Charlie Sheen starring in ‘Wall Street’, a classic Oscar-winning 1987 hit, which is a show about corporate greed.

In the movie, Michael Douglas plays an uncompromising and unscrupulous corporate raider, Gordon Gekko.

During a memorable scene in the show, he spouts a famous speech that is now immortalized as one of the greatest movie rhetoric of all time. No prize for guessing the topic here – greed!

Here are the excerpts for your benefit.

“The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed — for lack of a better word — is good.

Greed is right.

Greed works.

Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

Greed, in all of its forms — greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge — has marked the upward surge of mankind.

And greed — you mark my words — will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.

Thank you very much.”

Upgraded to WordPress ver 2.1

I’ve have not been putting in any post for the past few days. The reason was that I was busy looking and scrutinizing through the upgrading documentation for WordPress.

For the uninitiated, WordPress is an open source blogging platform, and a great one at that (will be putting in a post on that soon)! And yes, I use WordPress to power the blog that you are reading now.

Back to the upgrading bit, I have to say I was a bit jittery at first. I’ve never done any prior upgrade of WordPress (not even those minor ones), and the change from my previous version to the new one (ver 2.1 Ella) seems to represent a big leap for me!

I had to be very meticulous of the backing up process, and made sure all the database and files were properly covered in case anything unexpected were to crop up.

All this while, while going through the upgrading process, I was really careful to make sure that the right files are not deleted.

So there I was, following the upgrading script faithfully, going through word by word.

Mistakes and pitfalls in investment you should AVOID!

I know I’ve said this before, but I guess I shall just repeat again because I cannot stress enough how often people, even experienced investors, make such mistakes.

Before you enter investing, you must ask yourself, can you fulfill these 3 basic requirements?

1. Are you knowledgeable enough?

Do you know a lot about the company you are investing in? Do you know its fundamentals and growth prospect? Would you like to be owner of the company yourself? Are you aware of the trends in the business world?

If you are employing technical analysis, do you know enough about the technical indicators and price and volume trend? Do you have the necessary charting skills?

2. Are you able to control your emotions?

Are you able to think with a rational mind, and not let greed, hope and fear rule your head? Do you base your buy and sell decision on hastily following the crowd without proper analysis on your part?

3. Are you disciplined?

Do you follow the investing system you set for yourself religiously? Or you constantly shift your strategy just to justify your actions?

Am I making a crucial mistake?

I was reading SiteProNews, a popular webmaster resource newsletter recently, and in their latest issue, there was a point mentioned that got me thinking and questioning myself.

Real hard.

Ok the point in case here is about reciprocal linking.

Here is the exact excerpt:

“ Linking Your Way To Obscurity
You know the reciprocal linking strategy everyone is talking about as a way to generate leads? Did you ever consider that each link to another website is an invitation to leave your site? Is that really what you want – to invite people to leave? I think not! “

I have not actually done any reciprocal linking yet. In fact all my outgoing links are either either affiliate links or 1 way links out.

My affiliate links on this blog are purely just for some small side income (my other sites which are in the works will be the one bringing in the main dough), very small change to the best net marketers out there.

I merely want to write about my views and thoughts here, come out with some articles of value, and maybe earn a little just to make my time spend writing to recommend (and dare I say educate?) more worthwhile.

The folly of overdependence. Are you guilty of it?

Recently, Indonesia banned the sale of sand to Singapore, citing environmental problems as a result of over harvesting of sand. This move send shockwaves among the building and construction industry here.

The implications are huge. Construction projects have to be put on hold. The price of sand from other sources, have risen with this sudden surge of demand, meaning significantly more expenses will have to be incurred!

Have you ever faced a similar situation, whereby your partner, supplier or worker have suddenly left you in a lurch without warning, leaving you to face all the s**t that ensures alone?

I know for sure, many people I know have. Personally I have experienced this before. And it is definitely NOT NICEEEE!

Focusing is a virtue I always advocate, especially when it is investment-related. However when it comes to work issues, I will prefer to diversify and not over rely on someone.

Ask yourself these few questions (all the more so for Biz owners):

• Is there anyone on your team that is not indispensable (everyone is expendable, and yes, including YOU)?
• Are their ideals and beliefs aligned with yours?

The Emotional Investor Part 1

Many serious investors out there must have heard of or read the investment classic “The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing.

I have my own version – The Emotional Investor.

The emotions associated with investing (or trading/speculation for that matter) are very real! And may I add very counterproductive, even harmful as well!

When one is emotional, sense and level-headedness are thrown out of the window. It blinds the most intelligent of people. It clouds the judgement of even the wisest of them all.

What deadly emotions are we talking about here?

1. Greed

So what’s new? Greed has been present in men since the very beginning of time. The insatiable urge to squeeze out more money, every little ounce of them. I for one has experienced this before, many times in fact!

Greed is one of the worst destructive emotional behavior.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you are supposed to take profit, quit the trade, but decide to stay on longer just to earn a few more percentage points, and in the process going against your own rules?

I have.