Sharemarket and Global Meltdown. How has it effected you?

[Trev]

For those of you with Super, you can take control of it. If you are young yet, this might all seem like it's too hard, but now's the time to learn how your super works and start steering it.
Look at your super fund and read up what your options are for investment. There are high risk options ranging down to cash, with varying returns. Generally take higher risk options if you are younger because you'll ride out the current and future crises. As you get older, become more conservative in your demands.
We've done that and our main fund has only dropped 11% since the market high. As it rose much more than that over the last few years we are still in front (and we are at the conservative end of the investment options). The 11% drop includes an income stream paid monthly which is only at the lower end of the required scale.
I share most people's scorn of the mad rush to make money on the share market but if you pick a good industry fund they spread the investments pretty well across a range of options, like local and international shares, property, cash and even "green" companies. A sensible mix means less exposure to the volatility of the share market.

[Chong]

The great thing about being a humble surfer is that we do not need fuel for a motor

Gotta disagree with you there Marine Jacket Spud. I may not need fuel for my tofu corrolla but I sure as F**k want it to hunt waves that are emptier (& better) than my local spots.

Most surfers I know are unafraid of spending hours in a car chasing a swell.

This thread depresses me as compared to some of you blokes (Ringmaster, Puuri) I feel about as fiscally responsible as Albania (hello credit card, car loan, chunky mortgage etc).

I'm thinking "debt reduction" is my new mantra if I can avoid becoming unemployed.

[brownhornet]

Just watched The life and films of Ably Falzon (morning of the earth). Interesting flick and I we all have to admit as surfers there is a part of us that wants to drop out and live in the treehouse at backbeach Angourie.

I guess the issue is obvious from this thread. We are all keen to do it but only if we own the rendered house on Angourie Point. How times have changed. All this talk about investment property, shares and plasmas. None of us really have the balls to drop out of modern life and live the simple one as we are so tied up in consumerism (new boards, firewires, plasmas, rendered houses, new cars, mentawii trips etc...)

Solution...
I have none but as much as I think as the years pass I'm getting closer to break away point this thread makes me realise it is a nostalgic dream.

[2nd Reef]

^^^^There is a photo spread by Jon Frank in the next issue of Kurungabaa with a few accompanying anecdotes and stories. Franky talks about nomadic photographer Ted Grambeau in one story and he speaks highly of Grambeau's sacrifice and comitment. Here's a short part of it: "There are costs involved with any decision that directs you away from traditional paths, but when the bullshit is removed, how many of us lead inspiring lives? Ted Grambeau does, and he has had to fight bourgeois expectation every step of the way to do it."

[Buff_Brad]

Not too concerned really, im resilient ive got a trade if i need it. Just wish i could remember how to do it.

Well for a start Dino , you get down on your hands and knees and open your mouth.

[Marine Jacket Spud]

The great thing about being a humble surfer is that we do not need fuel for a motor

Gotta disagree with you there Marine Jacket Spud. I may not need fuel for my tofu corrolla but I sure as F**k want it to hunt waves that are emptier (& better) than my local spots.

Most surfers I know are unafraid of spending hours in a car chasing a swell.

Fair cool mate. However when you live in the land of potato's it is just a short stroll down to the beach, headland or point to enjoy the waves

[boogaloo]

does anyone have an opinion on life without shares or investments or property? is it possible? what would it be like?

It's possible. What it would be like depends on you.

The boss and I lived for about a year and a half (mid-1993 to mid-1995) in a 1975 Kombi in the USA, Canada and Mexico, mostly near water because we were trailering sea kayaks and the plan was to use them as much as we could. When we started we thought we might get jobs from time to time, but never got around to even looking. We were both about 50. We had some money in the bank, but that was it. We had no health insurance.

By avoiding paying for campsites 99% of the time, making most meals ourselves and not drinking much alcohol we managed to live on about $US10,000/year. With what we had in the bank we could have kept doing it for at least 3 more years, but we would have been broke when we got to Oz and that would not have been good.

It was fcuking great. The boss saw an old camper for sale last week and started talking about doing it again. If we did we'd possibly be on the road for the rest of our lives, or at least until we couldn't drive any more. I reminded her that the newly-adopted kitties probably wouldn't like it, and she grumbled a bit. Now she's fixing to design a special kitty kamper attachment for a van.

[mustkillmulloway]

firstly..i called it...the good old aussie i don't give a shit is kickin in

don't freak out....worry about important things

"how shithouse are the tide charts"

"hmmm....are quads really better than thrusters and did u see the fish dino's got..."

and of course with summer nearly upon us

"is the beer cold "


now if only the fed goverment could get this one off grant too low/middle income earners ( me) b4 the melbourne cup

i'm sure i can double me money

Now for something right out of leftfield. Up until recently it seemed the vast majority of the general public had finally gotten their heads around the need to act now on climate change. While it was and still is going to cost an arm and a leg to finance these important changes, people were beginning to realise that it was a sacrifice that had to be made. Times were good, the markets had been on the rise for a good 5 yrs and there were no signs of impending chaos. The ones set to lose out the most in carbon-offsets and other measures were big business and the finance sector. What better way to scare the masses and put climate change out of the public consciousness than with a global recession. The amount of money needed to pay for climate related issues over the next 50 yrs makes the current losses seem like a 20 cent piece dropped on the footpath by comparson.

he has a valid point....i reckon this little fiassco'

could end up costing the earth

p.s theirs a few people suggesting buying shares in company's i wouldn't piss on regardless there return

b & b are one

if ya not part the solution................your fincianing the problem
p.p.s

[ Now she's fixing to design a special kitty kamper attachment for a van.

it's call a tow rope...patent pending

[papa]

Keep your eye on Babcock and Brown.

BNB is now up 44% since you wrote this...

For all our sakes, any more tips?

P.S: Where in CBA do you work? (PM me )

[macgreggor]

And the conspirocy movies are all doing a roaring trade at this point in time.

Google "Zeitgeist". If you could be bothered dowloading it it's worth a look.

[TMC]

And the conspirocy movies are all doing a roaring trade at this point in time.

Google "Zeitgeist". If you could be bothered dowloading it it's worth a look.

You can watch the second one (Adennum I think) on google videos. It's actually very interesting stuff

[Natho]

Papa,

sounds like your coment was only tongue in cheek however i make the following points:

one of the golden rules of investing is don't take 'tips' from people (salty included).

Ok so B & B is up (along with many other shares). You buy in coz its up one day. What is your plan when we see another horrid day on the market and B & B gets smashed again?

If B & B falls 30% tomorrow the stock will have to rise much more than 30% for you to just break even.

remember that the fundamental cause of the market crash and the crash of B & B still has not been fixed.

One of the key characteristics of a Bear market is that there are wild swings both down and up.

B & B has a complex business model which is very hard to understand. In fact even some of the people at B & B appear to not understand their own business model. Their bussiness model relies heavily on leverage which is very difficult to make work in the middle of a credit crisis.

Another good rule is that if you don't understand how a business works or the business model is too complex then don't invest in it .

[Natho]

^^^ Well some of em do surf in fact. I surf now and then with a couple of em.

But they ride mini mals and are total kooks. Great for dropping in on.

[dingoshred]

In the very short term its good for me, because I have a US tax check denominated in US dollars coming when I finally put that in. The conversion will be nice.
in the mid term it makes travel more expensive, so bad for me
long term, who knows.

[oldman]

Like lemmings, the sharetraders keep running towards the cliff because they can't stand the thought of getting out a little bit early, and they think they will hold on and get out just before the cliff face comes into view, and before they know it they are falling like everybody else.

They ARE the cliff face.

How very Zen of you, and very true.

Herd mentality. The smart ones don't follow the herd. Harder to do than to say.

[bc]

The lemming thing is a myth.

"The myth of mass lemming suicide began when the Walt Disney movie, Wild Wilderness was released in 1958. It was filmed in Alberta, Canada, far from the sea and not a native home to lemmings. So the filmmakers imported lemmings, by buying them from Inuit children. The migration sequence was filmed by placing the lemmings on a spinning turntable that was covered with snow, and then shooting it from many different angles. The cliff-death-plunge sequence was done by herding the lemmings over a small cliff into a river."

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/ ... sinscience

[papa]

Papa,

sounds like your coment was only tongue in cheek however i make the following points:

one of the golden rules of investing is don't take 'tips' from people (salty included).

Another good rule is that if you don't understand how a business works or the business model is too complex then don't invest in it .

Thanks for your concern Natho, you must work in the industry also so you'll probably know where this is from "If your not inside... YOUR OUTSIDE!"

You sound like your know your stuff mate. I agree with all your posts on this thread and it'll help some of the guys that aren't used to stock investing.

My 2 cents:

As with history, there are booms and busts. This is the bust that had to happen. It'll go up again in the future. For a long term investor this is a great time to LOOK to buy good solid companies - Not go all in yet, but definitely a time to start accumulating. Especially is the stock has a large gross yield (Guaranteed dividends) - We just need a positive catalyst to happen which probably won't happen for a few YEARS. I think this we will go sideways for a few years.

One thing is certain: In this new world, markets move ALOT quicker than they used to. The DOW literally crashed UP on Monday! Never before have moves like this happened and the volatility will continue in the future with the new pace of the market. Everyone is looking for the quick buck, but the patient investor will always win (over the quick buck guys that is!)

Good luck to us all.

PS: Go surfing and forget about this whole mess. It's going to F the economy but there is nothing we can do about it individually.

PPS: To further Natho's point previously - 'Lord make me a good seller'