The Value of Value

Warren Buffett & Coca Cola

2015-06-03T18:05:00.001+08:00

For Coca Cola to drop from $40 to $19 after it has been listed in 1919 and you might think it's some kind of disaster: You might think sugar price increase and can price increses. You can always find reasons why that is not the ideal moment to buy. And years later you see World War II, Great Depression,.... but in the end if you bought one share for $40 bucks and reinvested your dividends you would have gotten 5 million dollars. I don't get worry any given of that if I've got a wonderful business.

7 Habits of Highly Frugal People

2013-04-12T08:28:00.001+08:00

The book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has sold over 15 million copies since it was first published in 1989, teaching people all over the world how to live happier, more successful, and more satisfying lives. One of the prevailing themes of the book is that to change your life, you need to change your attitude.

No one else is responsible for what happens to you but you, so you can either complain about the things you don’t like in your life or you can set about changing them. Not surprisingly, this directly relates to the state of your finances. This post is a financial application of the concepts presented in the book.

If you’re tired of living paycheck to paycheck, having your phone regularly cut off, or making excuses to skip dinners with your friends, then you can use these seven habits to take control of your money situation and live a happier and more frugal lifestyle.

Habit One: Be Proactive

The first habit of highly effective people is that they take responsibility for their own lives; if they fail, they have no one to blame but themselves. Regardless of how you were raised or how you were treated at school, you can choose your behavior now. Being proactive means understanding that YOU are in control of your day-to-day interactions, and thereby, the direction your life takes. This is in stark comparison to a reactive person, who is often affected by their environment and will find external sources to blame for their behavior. For example, if the weather is good, they’re in a good mood, but if the weather is bad, it affects them and they blame the weather for their bad mood.

What most people forget is that though you can’t control the stimulus, you can control your response. One of your most important choices is your words; the language you use is an effective indication of how you see yourself. If you use proactive language, such as “I can” or “I will,” you’re starting with a more positive attitude than someone who uses language like “I can’t” or “I have to” or “If only.”

How to be proactive for effective frugality:

Take the first step. You cannot take control of your finances until you make the commitment to do so; the more you ignore the situation, the worse it will get. Instead, take a long hard look at your finances — your budget, debts, income, and expenses, and try to understand where your money is going and where you can budget better.

Tell people. Using proactive language to vocalize your hope of being more financially responsible not only helps you crystallize your goal, but it can also help you avoid the peer pressure that makes budgeting and frugality hard. If you explain to your friends and family that you’re trying to live a more frugal lifestyle, they’ll be less likely to pressure you into one more round of drinks or another dinner out.

Listen. Listen to yourself and to the reasons you give each time you make a purchase outside of your budget or decide not to put spare money into your savings account. Taking the time to stop and listen to the reasons you give yourself for spending more than you earn will give you the opportunity to hear just how shallow many of those reasons are. This can stop you from making purchases that impede your goal of effective frugality.

Habit Two: Begin with the End in Mind

Those who are effective in achieving their goals are able to envisage their desired end result in spite of the obstacles. Highly effective people adhere to this habit based on the principle that all things are created twice; there is first the mental creation, then the physical creation. The physical creation follows the mental creation the same way that a building follows its blueprints.

If you don’t visualize what you want, then you’re at risk of other people and external circumstances influencing your life – because you’re not influencing it yourself. Instead, begin every day and every task with a clear vision of where you want to go and how you’re going to get there. Make that vision a reality with your proactive skills from habit one.

How to visualize effective frugality:

Define your goal. There are many ways to live a frugal lifestyle, and you need to decide how frugal you want to be. Do you want to be debt free, build a savings account of a certain value, or live on one income in a two-income household?

Decide how you’re going to get there. This will again draw on your budget, but you need to be aware of the obstacles that are standing in your way. These may be literal obstacles, such as credit card debts, or they may be obstacles you’ve identified in your behavior. An example of a behavioral obstacle would be spending $10 every day on junk food on your way home from work, because you’re starving. Instead, you could be packing an inexpensive granola bar to keep you going until dinner. Or, do you find that when you go shopping with your sister, she always helps you justify a frivolous purchase, when you could leave your credit card at home?

Habit Three: Put First Things First

Knowing WHY you’re doing something is an effective motivator in helping you transform a mental creation into an actual physical creation of your goal. Ask yourself what the things are that you find most valuable and worthy to you. When you put these things first, you’ll be organizing and managing your time around your personal priorities to make them a reality.

For many people, it’s hard to say no, but this is exactly the skill you have to learn to keep your goals as your first priority. While we are constantly told we can have it all, in reality, having it all is really about prioritizing what is most important to YOU to have, and then focusing on that.

How to put effective frugality first:

Recognize the effects of your finances. You may not dedicate as much time as you should to managing your finances and practicing frugal principles because you feel there’s always something more important to be doing — whether it’s work, taking the kids to soccer practice, or getting ready for dinner with the girls. If your finances aren’t under control, however, and you’re regularly spending more than you earn, then they’re having a negative impact on every other aspect of your life, from your work to your family and friends. You need to recognize that being frugal is your first priority.

Just say no. It’s easy to spend more than your budgeted amount each month when you’re worried about missing out on a dinner with friends, feel as though you have to cater a birthday party for your son and 50 of his closest friends, or don’t want to wear the same suit to a work conference two years in a row. If you recognize that you don’t have to take on everything and that it’s okay to say no, then you’ll find you’re more in control of your spending and your budget.

Habit Four: Think Win-Win

Most of us are taught to base our self-worth on comparisons to others and competition against our peers. We think we can only succeed if someone else has failed. We’re also taught that there’s only so much pie to go around, so if you get a big piece, then someone else is missing out. When you think like this, you’re going to feel like nothing is ever fair. As a result, many of us retaliate and take the pie before someone else can take it from us.

Thinking in a win-win mindset allows you to see mutual benefits from all of your interactions. By doing this, you’ll see that the pie tastes even better when it’s shared. If you can approach conflicts and problems with a win-win attitude, you’ll be able to express your ideas and feelings with courage, while still maintaining consideration for the feelings and ideas of others. When you have an abundance mentality, you’re able to see that there is enough for everyone, and that by balancing your confidence with empathy, you can achieve your goals while helping others achieve theirs.

How to create frugal win-win situations:

Recognize that you don’t always know the full story. As you aim to implement frugal principles and stick to a budget, you may often find yourself thinking “it’s not fair.” It’s not fair that they get to go out to dinner. It’s not fair that they get a new car. It’s not fair that they get to go on vacation, and I don’t. Take the time to realize, however, that you’re only seeing a small part of the finances of your friends and family who seem to “have it all.” And though it’s hard to watch your best friend take a dream European holiday, or your brother buy the car you covet, you’ll get there, too — if you manage your finances frugally. And the best part? There will still be plenty of holiday destinations and fast cars when that time rolls around.

Understand the difference between possessions and net worth. While your friends and family may seem to have a fuller lifestyle because their house is bigger or their car is newer, you need to consider that it could just be a facade covering their mountains of debt. True wealth is not measured in possessions, but in assets. When the value of your assets is greater than the amount you owe on mortgages, car loans, and credit card debts, then you have a strong net worth and are truly wealthy. By trying to live a more effectively frugal lifestyle, you’ll be able to achieve true wealth, rather than just a life full of stuff.

Habit Five: Communication

At its base, communication is the desire to be heard and understood. Most people will listen with the intention to reply to what you’re saying, rather than to understand what you’ve said. To effectively communicate, you need to first understand. If you communicate with the sole intention of being understood, you may ignore what others are saying and miss their meaning entirely. Don’t just wait for your turn to talk; pay attention to what people are trying to tell you.

How listening can help you be effectively frugal:

You are not the only person in your life. Chances are you’re married or in a relationship, have friends or children, or all of the above. As a result, you’re not the only person being affected by your decision to live a more frugal lifestyle. To be effective in your goal of frugality, you need to be able to listen to and understand the goals and behaviors of the other people in your life, too. Consider how effective your frugality would be if you were taking packed lunches to work and avoiding the afternoon coffee run, while your partner was going on shopping sprees during their lunch break. Instead of living a more frugal lifestyle, you’d really be saving on one end and spending on the other.

Understand the goals and needs of others. While it’s important to explain your desire to live more frugally, it’s also important that you understand the goals and needs of those around you. This way, you can find a way to be more frugal without them having to give up all of the things that are most important to them.You can’t know what those things are unless you listen.

Habit Six: Synergize

Interactions and teamwork are some of the most important ways you can learn new skills and more effective behaviors. Synergizing is the habit of creative cooperation — working as a team to find new solutions to existing problems. Synergy is not something that just happens. It’s a process where you bring all of your personal experience and expertise to the table, enabling more effective results than those you would have been able to achieve individually. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

When you have genuine interactions with people, you’re able to gain new insights and see new approaches to your problems — ones you might not have thought of before.

How to synergize for effective frugality:

Look for new ways. In a society that excels at consumerism, you’ve probably already realized that you need to find new ways of doing just about everything to be frugal. It’s easy to buy your lunch every day, but it’s more frugal to pack it. It’s easy to drive to work, but it’s more frugal to take the train. It’s easy to buy a new cocktail dress, but it’s more frugal to make one.

Surround yourself with other frugal people. To be successful in your quest for frugality, surround yourself with like-minded people. Find people who are where you want to be by joining online frugal-living forums, striking up a friendship with a fellow coupon-cutter, or starting a sewing club. When you’re around people with the same goals as you, you’ll be able to share ideas and learn from each other.

Habit Seven: Sharpen the Saw

You’re the greatest asset you have on your journey to achieving the lifestyle you want, so you need to look after yourself physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Taking the time to renew yourself in these areas of your life will give you strength to maintain the previous six habits, which are essential for your success.

How to frugally renew yourself:

Physically. By eating better, you’ll feel better. Take it another step further and start your own vegetable patch, which will save you money at the supermarket and be healthier for you. Exercising keeps you fit and healthy, and it doesn’t cost you anything to go for a walk, ride a bike, or skip rope in the backyard. To rest your body, you don’t need to go to a day spa; you can simply relax in the tub at home.

Emotionally. Interacting socially with others allows you to make meaningful connections, and it makes you feel good. This can be achieved by chatting with the woman at the coffee shop or by calling your mom once a week.

Mentally. Exercising and expanding your mind through learning, reading, writing, and teaching can be done frugally. Visit your local library, or volunteer at a school or retirement home to teach others a skill you may be taking for granted.

Spiritually. Spend time close to nature and expand your spiritual self through meditation, music, art, or prayer. Take a quiet moment to center yourself and empty your mind before going to bed. Or, go for a hike and be grateful for the beauty of nature surrounding you.

Frugality doesn’t mean having to give up all the luxuries and things which make you happy. Don’t get burned out by developing habits one through six without taking the time to renew yourself. Frugality is something you want to develop and maintain for the long-term. Follow these seven habits, and you’ll be on your way to becoming a highly frugal person.

Equity Valuation - 01

2012-07-06T11:54:00.002+08:00

Introduction of Equity Valuation

The fundamental value (= intrinsic or fair value) of each investment is the present value of its expected, future cash flows discounted at an appropriate risk-adjusted rate.

Virtually every sophisticated equity valuation model used by leading investment banks today is based on discounted cash flows (DCF). The structure and the names of the models might differ, but the underlying idea is always the same. They are all rooted in the present value framework for equity valuation pioneered by Merton Miller and Franco Modigliani in the early 1960s.

Economists use models to simplify the complexity of the real world. A good valuation model is simple and helps investors to make informed decisions.

Many financial analysts today forget that a good model is simple, not complex!

Financial economists subjectively make simplifying assumptions to focus on specific valuation aspects while neglecting other aspects. As a result, a plethora of “different” discounted cash flow approaches exists today, each with its own acronym: dividend discount models (DDM), free cash flow to the firm (FCFF) and Economic Value Added (EVA), to name just the most popular models discussed in academic literature.

Financial analysts at leading investment banks have added proprietary discounted cash flow models and new acronyms. The most sophisticated DCF models used by financial analysts today are, in our opinion,

Credit Suisse’s Cash Flow Return on Investment (CFROI) model
Morgan Stanley’s ModelWare
UBS’s Value Creation Analysis Model (VCAM).

潇洒晚年靠投资

2012-07-02T16:49:00.001+08:00

将退休年龄，由55岁提高到60岁，已势在必行。提高退休年龄，是世界潮流，经济上轨道的国家早已实行，大马现在才跟上，实际上已嫌略迟。

紧跟着退休年龄的提高，提取全部公积金的年龄亦相应提高到60岁。工薪阶级的薪金，通常在55岁时已到顶薪，公积金的缴交额达到最高，加上累积公积金所赚的利息也最大，故由55至60岁的5年，公积金可增加20%，使上班族的黄金岁月过得较宽裕。

但只是“较宽裕”而已，还是不足以保障晚年生活。调查显示，公积金会员在55岁时提完公积金，有72%在3年内花光。其馀28%不是不花光，只是在3年后才花光而已。现代医药发达，除非患上绝症，要活到80岁并不难。

退休人士钱不够用

由55岁到80岁的25年，属黄金岁月。而最少有72%的乐龄人，要在钱不够用的窘境中，度过他们人生最后的22年。这是多么残酷的事实，多么痛苦的人生。大部分退休人士还是要靠儿女，或别人的资助，才能度过晚年。

换句话说，大部分退休人士，都无法做到财务自主，都面对钱不够用的窘境。没有财务自主的晚年，不可能是潇洒的晚年。黄金岁月也不可能是金光闪闪的岁月。有财务自主潇洒晚年，才有可能好梦成真。

退休后财务自主，潇洒地度晚年应成为每一个上班族终身奋斗的目标。从众多工薪阶级退休后，都得依靠亲人过活，说明了单靠薪金，无论如何节衣缩食，都无法达到财务自主。要财务自主须学投资

要达到财务自主，必须学习投资。投资就是以钱生钱，就是让别人为你赚钱。作为受薪人士，你已经把你的时间卖给雇主，你再也无权支配你的时间，所以你不能兼职。你只能靠“不劳而获”赚钱，那就是“投资”。

投资是让时间替你挣钱，或让别人为你赚钱，你在将“资金”“投”出去之后，什么都不必做，财富却与日俱增，使你在退休时财务自主，潇潇洒洒的度过你的黄金岁月。

工薪阶级最适合买产业

买产业是工薪阶级的最佳选择，除非买错地点、买错价格，投资产业失败者少之又少。交20%的头期，买一间屋子，只要涨价20%，就取得100%的回酬。借贷越高，回酬越高，一间50万令吉的屋子，如果头期只需5万令吉 (10%)，20年供完，如果每月租金足够摊还每月供款的话，20年后即使产业没有涨价，你也有了50万的财产了。所以，买屋应成为职场新鲜人的第一项投资。

股票简单易行须有智慧

股票是最简单易行的投资，但必须要有智慧。买股票就是参股做生意，你的成败决定于生意的成败，不是决定于股市的起落。只要你参股的公司，钱越赚越多，你的股票就一定会增值，又何必担心股价不起呢？

整天盯住股价，不理公司业务是否有进展，是舍本逐末。舍本逐末，使你的投资走向末日。所以，股票投资要成功，首先是要具备正确的投资概念－－投资于业务。有前途的企业，其股份（票）才有可能增值。投资者最常犯的错误，是以为“价值”可以无中生有，殊不知被吹胀的泡沫，破灭只是时间问题而已。

企业必须脚踏实地去经营，才能创造价值。股票要有价值，才能增值。惟有投资于能增值的股份，才能致富。能致富，才能财务自主，有财务自主晚年才能过得潇洒。投资增值，需要时间，所以投资越早开始越好。现在就开始投资吧！

投资赚钱靠“增值”。投资赚钱靠“增值”，增值需要时间。投资回酬与风险往往成正比，通常时间越长，风险越低，时间越短，风险越高。股票投资，每天抢进杀出，长期结算，赚钱的少之又少，非累积财富之道。

一个小心挑选的股票投资组合，持握10年，没有人会亏本。因此靠投资累积财富，长期是最佳途径。要长期，必须要有耐性。耐性是纪律的表现。许多人投资失败，是因为不守纪律，不守纪律是因为你的“情商”(EQ) 高过你的“智商”(IQ)－受情绪控制，而不是受理智控制。受情绪控制，你就无法克制你把金钱化在消费品上的冲动。

消费品只会贬值，不会增值。把钱化在只会贬值的消费品上，你就很难储蓄。而储蓄是累积资本的原始手段。没有储蓄就不会有资本，没有资本，就无法投资。无法投资就无法达到财务自主。

长期投资减低风险

投资必须长期的，一个最重要理由，除了减低风险，就是按照“复利”理论，较后期的回酬率比初期的回酬率高不知多少倍。后期3年所赚，可能高过前期的10年。故短期套利，是牺牲了后期庞大的回酬。

致富靠后期的庞大回酬，并非靠初期的低微回酬。投资一定要有先苦后甜的精神，“先苦”而不半途而废，靠耐性，耐性靠纪律，纪律靠控制情绪，控制情绪靠你自己的意志力。自救多福，此之谓也。投资的途径很多，买产业和股票是最普通，最易行的途径。最普通、最易行，却不保证所有人都成功。

成功靠增值。定期存款之所以不是好投资，是因为母金不会增值。增值是投资成功之钥。

有纪律储蓄才能增值

千里之行，起于跬步，财务自主是马拉松，要达到财务自主的终点，需由本身做起。第一步是克制你的消费欲，有纪律地储蓄－－每个月领到薪金后，先抽出20%，存入银行，其余的才花用。不要等到月尾才储蓄，因为不是每一个人都有守纪律的精神，花到月尾时可能已所剩无几，甚至出现负数。

你的公积金数目可观，是因为强迫缴纳。你如果要储蓄成功，最好的方法是强迫自己储蓄。先存后花就是强迫储蓄。

勿把钱留银行太久

强迫储蓄可以培养纪律，纪律可养成耐性，有耐性，投资才能长期坚持，长期坚持才能增值，增值是达到财务自主之钥。

不要把钱留在银行中太久，因为银行给你3.5%的利息，而通货膨胀率为6%，你每存一年，就亏了2.5%，存得越久，亏得越多。

投资致富的人，多不胜数，却从来没见过靠利息收入而发达的人。你的金钱必须为你赚取高过通胀率的回酬，就好像投资回酬必须高过投资成本（借钱投资，利息就是成本）一样。

Commentary On Chapter 1

2012-06-22T17:57:00.003+08:00

All of human unhappiness comes from one single thing: not knowing how to remain at rest in a room. —Blaise Pascal

Graham’s definition of investing could not be clearer: “An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis, promises safety of principal and an adequate return.” Note that investing, according to Graham, consists equally of three elements:

• you must thoroughly analyze a company, and the soundness of its underlying businesses, before you buy its stock;

• you must deliberately protect yourself against serious losses;

• you must aspire to “adequate,” not extraordinary, performance.

An investor calculates what a stock is worth, based on the value of its businesses. A speculator gambles that a stock will go up in price because somebody else will pay even more for it.

As Graham once put it, investors judge “the market price by established standards of value,” while speculators “base [their] standards of value upon the market price.” For a speculator, the incessant stream of stock quotes is like oxygen; cut it off and he dies. For an investor, what Graham called “quotational” values matter much less. Graham urges you to invest only if you would be comfortable owning a stock even if you had no way of knowing its daily share price.

Like casino gambling or betting on the horses, speculating in the market can be exciting or even rewarding (if you happen to get lucky). But it’s the worst imaginable way to build your wealth. That’s because Wall Street, like Las Vegas or the racetrack, has calibrated the odds so that the house always prevails, in the end, against everyone who tries to beat the house at its own speculative game. On the other hand, investing is a unique kind of casino—one where you cannot lose in the end, so long as you play only by the rules that put the odds squarely in your favor. People who invest make money for themselves; people who speculate make money for their brokers. And that, in turn, is why Wall Street perennially downplays the durable virtues of investing and hypes the gaudy appeal of speculation.

People began believing that the test of an investment technique was simply whether it “worked.” If they beat the market over any period, no matter how dangerous or dumb their tactics, people boasted that they were “right.” But the intelligent investor has no interest in being temporarily right. To reach your long-term financial goals, you must be sustainably and reliably right.

To see why temporarily high returns don’t prove anything, imagine that two places are 130 miles apart. If I observe the 65-mph speed limit, I can drive that distance in two hours. But if I drive 130 mph, I can get there in one hour. If I try this and survive, am I “right”? Should you be tempted to try it, too, because you hear me bragging that it “worked”? Flashy gimmicks for beating the market are much the same: In short streaks, so long as your luck holds out, they work. Over time, they will get you killed.

Commentary On the Introduction

2012-06-22T17:14:00.002+08:00

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be.

Now put the foundations under them. —Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Notice that Graham announces from the start that this book will not tell you how to beat the market. No truthful book can. Instead, this book will teach you three powerful lessons:

• how you can minimize the odds of suffering irreversible losses;

• how you can maximize the chances of achieving sustainable gains;

• how you can control the self-defeating behavior that keeps most investors from reaching their full potential.

But no matter how careful you are, the price of your investments will go down from time to time. While no one can eliminate that risk, Graham will show you how to manage it—and how to get your fears under control.

ARE YOU INTELLIGENT INVESTOR?

Now let’s answer a vitally important question. What exactly does Graham mean by an “intelligent” investor?

Graham defines the term—and he makes it clear that this kind of intelligence has nothing to do with IQ or SAT scores. It simply means being patient, disciplined, and eager to learn; you must also be able to harness your emotions and think for yourself. This kind of intelligence, explains Graham, “is a trait more of the character than of the brain“.

In short, if you’ve failed at investing so far, it’s not because you’re stupid. It’s because, like Sir Isaac Newton, you haven’t developed the emotional discipline that successful investing requires. In Chapter 8, Graham describes how to enhance your intelligence by harnessing your emotions and refusing to stoop to the market’s level of irrationality. There you can master his lesson that being an intelligent investor is more a matter of “character” than “brain.”

As Graham shows so brilliantly in Chapter 8, this is exactly backwards. The intelligent investor realizes that stocks become more risky, not less, as their prices rise—and less risky, not more, as their prices fall. The intelligent investor dreads a bull market, since it makes stocks more costly to buy. And conversely (so long as you keep enough cash on hand to meet your spending needs), you should welcome a bear market, since it puts stocks back on sale.

So take heart: The death of the bull market is not the bad news everyone believes it to be.

Thanks to the decline in stock prices, now is a considerably safer—and saner—time to be building wealth. Read on, and let Graham show you how.

PEOPLE ARE FUNNY

2012-06-22T08:26:00.002+08:00

Sometimes, I have to hide a smile when I look at the antics of some people. Certain things they do or say, well, do not quite add up. Check out the following examples:

Some people say, “My life has changed 360 degrees” – to imply that they have undergone a total transformation and are totally different person now. Actually, a 360 degrees change in direction will bring them right back to their starting place.What they should have said is, “My life has changed 180 degrees”.

Some people say, “Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may still wind up in the stars.” I don’t know where they learnt their astronomy but aren’t the stars a lot further away than the moon? So, even if you missed the moon, there is no way you’ll wind up in the stars. You’re more likely to wind up back on earth!

Some people believe that an investment adviser is an expert in investments. They think he knows all there is to know about investments, and then some. They believe the investment adviser has their best interests at heart. Actually, the reason they are called “investment adviser” is that “speculation advisers” do not sell as many products!

Some people believe that a successful formula will bring in excellent results forever. They repeat the formula over and over again because it has been making money. So, even though the world and regulations have changed, they will continue to use the same formula. This partly explains why some people become ex-millionaires! They are stuck in a rut.

Some people rush to buys properties because the CEO of the housing developer told them that prices will soon rise. Don’t they realise that it is the CEO’s job to say that? After all, he is hired to sell as many properties as he can.

Some people think they can make money from options and futures and currencies when they already have a hard time making money from properties, which is actually the easiest, simplest and time-tested way to make money in Malaysia. Isn’t that a little like trying to beat a grandmaster at chess when you cannot even win at checkers?

Some people spend much time, effort and money to research a particular investment. The good news is all that research tells them, yes, the time is right for the investment. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, instead of investing ameaningful amount into the investment, they put in just a small amount of money – RM10,000, RM5,000 or perhaps even less. The problem with this is thatthe money is too little to be of any significance. For example, if they managed to get a 100% return on investment, which is superb and out-of-this-world return, their RM5,000 becomes RM10,000. While it is certainly a newsworthy performance, the extra RM5,000 will hardly change their financial situation. Had they invested RM100,000 or, even better, RM500,000, in return would have made a huge difference to their situation. This explains why some people never get rich even though they chose the right investment – their investment is too little.
Some people want to become rich but do not want to do anything different. Instead, they want to continue doing what they are currently doing, even though it is not bringing them the desired results. That’s like wanting to see the sunset but heading east to catch it! It just cannot happen!

Ten Value Drivers That Increase Sale Price of a Business

2012-06-13T15:37:00.003+08:00

Business Value -- What Drives It?

A valuation is not about determining what a company is worth in the current owner's hands, it is about the company's transferable value. The purpose of this article is to help you evaluate your company through the eyes of a buyer. From that perspective we will ask you to focus on ten value drivers. Each driver is a characteristic of a business that either reduces the risk associated with owning the business or enhances the prospect that the business will grow significantly in the future. Simply put, the better your performance in these areas, the greater the selling price of your business. The likely result is that you will sell at the higher range of the multiples normally associated with your industry.

Value Driver #1: Stable and Predictable Cash Flow

Think of revenue and the bottom line cash flow of your business as the first introduction to a buyer. Revenue and cash flow is the number one attraction. A business with an established pattern of growth will bring a premium price when it is sold. The value associated with acquiring the available cash flow is directly related to risk. The lower the risk of losing that cash flow in a transfer of ownership, the higher the price will be to acquire it. If recurring revenues comprise a material portion of a company’s overall revenues, the recurring revenue stream can be valued at a higher level than the non-recurring revenues. Examples of recurring revenues are maintenance contracts, monthly support agreements, annual license agreements, warranties, subscriptions, or other revenue streams that are contractual and repeating in nature. Buyers are willing to pay the highest amount when their perception is that cash flow is predictable and will increase into the future.

Value Driver #2: Reliable Financial Information

Reliable financial records are not only a critical element of business management but also support the claim that a company is consistently profitable. In the purchase of a business, the buyer will perform some level of financial due diligence. If the buyer is not comfortable when reviewing the company’s past financial performance, there is no deal, or at best a reduced value for the company. If a buyer faces a seller of a business who asserts that the company has been making $1 million per year for the past three years and is projected to make at least that much in the future, the seller will be required to prove it. If the seller then produces past financial statements that are incorrect, insupportable, or incomplete, the buyer would most likely be gone. The lack of financial integrity is one of the most common hurdles encountered during the sale process.

Value Driver #3: Customer Diversity

A broad customer base in which no single client accounts for more than 5 to 10 percent of total sales helps to insulate a company from the loss of any single customer. It reduces the risk of serious cash flow issues if one or more customers do not stay under new ownership.

Value Driver #4: Human Capital / Quality of Workforce

Keep your talent, they are your business. Buyers look for situations where management and / or key employees want to stay for the long term. The quality of the workforce, including experience, expertise and depth of knowledge, is also considered. An in-place team that can provide continuity and assist in the growth of the business under new ownership is a valuable asset. If a company’s success is reliant on capable, well-trained employees – not the owner – it means the business will not be negatively impacted under new ownership. This reduction of risk will pay off with increased purchase price.

Value Driver #5: Growth Potential

When an owner can describe realistic opportunities for growth that specifically illustrate the reasons why cash flow and the business itself will grow after it is acquired, a higher value can be achieved. A documented growth plan demonstrates the viability of the company’s future and may identify opportunities that a buyer had not considered. Some areas to consider in developing a growth plan:

Is your business in a growth industry?
Are there additional markets that a new owner should pursue?
What additional products could be delivered to existing customers?
Where are the best profit margins realized and can they be expanded?
Can your technology be licensed?
Will demand for your product or service increase as population grows?
How will enhanced marketing campaigns and sales efforts affect growth?
Are there opportunities to grow through acquisition?
Can growth be achieved by expanding territory or manufacturing capacity?

Value Driver #6: Operating Systems and Procedures

The establishment and documentation of standard business procedures and systems demonstrate that the business can be maintained profitably after the sale. Business systems include the computerized and manual procedures used in the business to generate its revenue and control expenses, as well as the methods used to track how customers are identified and how products or services are delivered. The following are examples of business systems that enhance business value.

Personnel recruitment, training and retention
Human resource management (an employee manual)
New customer identification, solicitation, and acquisition
Product or service development and improvement
Inventory and fixed asset control
Product or service quality control
Customer, vendor and employee communication
Selection and maintenance of vendor relationships
Business performance reports for management

Value Driver #7: Facility and Equipment Condition

The business facilities and equipment should be well maintained to realize maximum value. A buyer will not pay a premium, and may very well discount an offer, for a disorganized warehouse, office or other building. Seeing disorganized or poorly maintained facilities and equipment may cause the buyer to perceive that other aspects or the business may be similarly disorganized (employee records, financial records, compliance records, etc.). Owners should ensure that facilities and equipment are organized and maintained in peak condition before beginning the sale process. Buyers will appreciate that their investment will not include major repairs and that all equipment and inventory will be easy to locate and identify. Lastly, are the facilities large enough and machinery sufficient to accommodate some level of modest sales growth? A buyer does not want to have to look for additional space or immediately invest in new equipment shortly after closing.

Value Driver #8: Goodwill

This value driver involves stability and consistency. Name recognition, customer awareness, history, ongoing operations, and reputation are all part of business goodwill and influence value. Even if the company does not have many hard assets, relationships are key. The fact that customers have been with the company for a period of time does matter. Brand recognition, service or product reliability, and high customer satisfaction are distinguishing factors that add value. This driver of goodwill should not be overlooked in a valuation because it is helps mitigate perceived risk.

Value Driver #9: Barriers to Competitive Entry

Features that give a business an advantage over its competitors, strengthen its strategic position, or that can be leveraged for future gain boost value and lessen perceived risk. Buyers will pay a premium for a niche that has barriers to competitive entry. One way to describe this Barrier Value Driver is to use Warren Buffet's term, "Business Moat." Buffet compares a castle's moat to the protection that a business needs to encroaching competitors. For instance, the wider the moat, the more easily a castle could be defended. A narrow moat did not offer much protection and allowed the castle to be breached. To Buffett, the castle is the business and the moat is the barrier that protects the business' competitive edge. The following are example barriers that widen the moat and hinder competitors from breaching the company’s castle.

Copyrights
Trademarks
Patents
Trade Secrets
Developed Processes
Proprietary Designs
Proprietary Know-How
Brand or Trade Names
Engineering Drawings
Customized Software Programs
Step-by-Step Training Systems
Customized or Proprietary Databases
Published Articles or Industry Press
Hard-to-get licenses, zoning, permits, or regulatory approvals
Contracts with difficult-to-penetrate entities (government, for example)

Value Driver #10: Product Diversity

A narrow product set increases risk and drives down value. Diversity of revenue sources lowers the inherent risk of the business. Therefore, businesses with a healthy product mix, good gross profit diversification, or with products or services sold into multiple industries, receive a higher perceived value from prospective buyers.

Key Characteristics of Successful Business Owners

2012-06-13T15:25:00.000+08:00

Some people are just born with it!

These are traits that successful business owners commonly share. Above all, however, business owners need to have strategic thinking skills, time management skills, and know the job.

No one can embody all these traits if they are part of the human species, but varying degrees of these characteristics is the stuff that success is made of.

Decisiveness (ability to make decisions)
Open-Mindedness / Flexible (willingness to change with the market as technology advances)
Multitasking Ability
Negotiation Skills
Ability to Delegate
Leadership Skills
Innovative Abilities
Problem Solving
Energy
Judgement
Courage (risk taking)
Vision
Creativity Skills

Additional signature traits of successful business owners:

Interpersonal motivation as well as self-motivation
A pioneering spirit
Self confidence
Team-building abilities

How Much Is This Business Worth?

2012-06-13T14:59:00.001+08:00

Q: I am looking into trying to buy an existing teashop. The owner said to make him on offer, but I'm not sure of the best way to determine the worth of the business. Do I ask to see his books or do I value it based on the existing clientele? What kind of time frames do I need to have to make this a reality? Once I have an offer and it is accepted, where do I go from there?

A: There are a lot of ways to value a business. There's no "right" way, though you could probably come up with several wrong ones. Ultimately, the business is worth whatever you think it's worth, based on the criteria you set forth. But you can make your estimation by using several different ways to value the business and then choosing the mix that reflects your final value estimate.

You can start by looking at the value of the business's assets. What does the business own? What equipment? What inventory? After all, you'd have to buy all the same stuff if you were starting a teashop from scratch, so the business is worth at least the replacement cost. The balance sheet can give you a good indication of the value of the company's assets. If the company doesn't have a good set of books, think twice about buying it. You can get badly burned if the current owners don't even know accurately whether or not the business is profitable.

The other valuation approaches all think of a business as a stream of cash. They value a business by trying to come up with a value for that stream of cash.

Revenue is the crudest approximation of a business's worth. If the business sells $100,000 per year, you can think of it as a $100,000 revenue stream. Often, businesses are valued at a multiple of their revenue. The multiple depends on the industry. For instance, a business might typically sell for "two times sales" or "one times sales." If you have a good stockbroker, he or she may be able to help you research typical sales multiples for your industry. A good business broker can also help you if he or she has done valuations in the industry you're investigating.

But alas, revenue doesn't mean profit. If you're in doubt, just look at Amazon.com: It had 2002 sales of almost $4 billion, but no profit. In fact, it hasn't made one cent of profit since the day it was founded. How much would you pay for an ongoing $4 billion per year that you have to pump an additional $380 million per year into just to keep it afloat?

That's why earnings matter and why multiples of earnings may be a better way to think about valuation. If a company had a profit of $10,000, that cash can be used for growth or dividends to you, the shareholder. Estimate the earnings for the next few years and ask how much that income stream is worth to you. Be careful, though. Don't just assume earnings will be stable. Competition, supplier price changes and a declining industry can affect earnings. Make sure to reflect that in your projections.

Warren Buffett uses what's called a discounted cash-flow analysis. He looks at how much cash the business generates each year, projects it into the future and then calculates the worth of that cash flow stream "discounted" using the long-term Treasury bill interest rate. There's no room to explain the theory or calculation here, but you can do it in Excel using the NPV "net present value" function.

One quick and dirty technique is to divide the current yearly earnings by the long-term Treasury bill rate. For example, if the shop earns $10,000/year and T-bills are returning 3 percent interest, the business is equivalent to $333,333 worth of T-bills ($10,000/3 percent=$333,333, so $333,333 invested in T-Bills would return the same $10,000 income). So if you had $333,333, you could earn your $10,000/year by investing in T-bills with a lot less effort than running the shop. This technique puts an upper limit on your valuation. After all, why would you spend more than $333,333 on a store when you could earn more by spending the same money in T-bills? Of course, using this quick-and-dirty technique assumes that the teashop will have the same earnings year after year, and assumes that only monetary return matters.

These techniques-asset valuation, sales multiple, earnings multiple and cash-flow analysis-value the financial side of the business. Nonfinancial considerations also come into play. You might pay more for a teashop if it's next to a restaurant you own, since the combined business may be worth more. Or maybe you've just always dreamed of owning a teashop. Be careful with letting your dreams influence your valuation too much, however. My friend Vinnie always wanted to own an occult supply store. He got his wish, but not a good valuation. It cost him years and much heartache to dig his way out of the situation.

I hope these ideas give you a head start in valuing the business. I'd also recommend you get your banker involved in the valuation. Since your banker will be helping finance the business, he or she will have a good sense of how to do a good valuation for shops in your area.

白首方悔投资迟

2012-06-06T15:53:00.000+08:00

●冷眼

新年期间，参加了几个聚餐会。

老友记，老同学难得聚首，见面后，自然有谈不完的话题，其中之一就是投资。

提到投资，就有人感叹年轻时只知道在职业上拼搏，以争取加薪升职，没有花一点时间去思考投资问题。

要不然，当年以低到离谱的价格，买进地点优良的房子或是优质股票，收藏至今，价值增加数十倍，甚至数百倍。

如今晚年，达到财务自主，就不必靠儿女的“孝敬”过日子，手头更松爽，生活更有保障，就可以从心所欲，使黄金岁月过得更舒心，更逍遥自在。

这个话题，在叹息声中打住了，因为苏州过了没船搭，如今后悔，已於事无补，徒添惆怅而已。

现在的年轻人，如果不提高警惕，数十年之后，白发苍苍时，也可能会像现在的乐龄人那样，白首方悔投资迟！

人生好比是旅途，原本是向东走的，后来决定改变方向，向南走去，这个方向的转变，往往只是一念之差，但前面的风景，就截然不同了。人生亦如此，你所选择的方向，将决定你一生的荣辱。

越早投资风险越低

就以投资来说，你在年轻时有没有投资的意愿，作出怎样的投资，都对你的家庭和你的晚年，在生活素质和保障上，有立竿见影的影响。

投资的风险，跟投资时间的长短，息息相关。通常越早开始投资，时间越长，风险越低。

投资需要资本，原始资本来自储蓄，储蓄需要长时间，才有可能累积到可观的数目。

时间充裕，你可以按步就班，以从容不迫的步伐储蓄，生活才不会因过度节俭而太苦－我一向反对勒紧腰带式的储蓄，现在生活过得太苦，将来即使再富裕也是得不偿失，因为你的半生苦不堪言，人生几何，将来的财富又有何意义？

单靠储蓄无法致富

我提倡的是有纪律，定时定量储蓄，以不影响生活素质为原则，不要“先苦后甜”，因为将来充满变数！我们应该准备将来，但享受现在。

单靠储蓄，无法致富，我在报馆工作时，眼见一些同事在年终领了花红之后，马上存入银行作定期存款，一年后才去领取利息。

我当时对此种作法作出思考，所得的结论是这样做的同事，无法改善将来的生活。到退休时，这些同事生活果然清苦。

理由很简单：没有人靠利息致富，因为定存利率太低，资金无法发挥复利的效力，故无助於创富，你不可能靠定存利息，累积财富致财务自主的水平。

要致富，需投资，投资是绝对可以学习的。每一个有决心的人都学得懂。

更重要的是投资靠经验，经验只能从实践中挹取，别人无法代劳，就好像游泳需在水中学，在陆上是学不会的一样。

财富必须建立在价值的基础上才可以持久，没有价值作基础的财富，有如建在沙堆上的塔，叫作“泡沫”，随时可以倒塌。

创造财富需要时间

创造财富需要时间，不可能一蹴即成。

时间不但可以创富，而且可以减低为财富拼搏的压力。我读“徐霞客记”，发现他游山玩水，总是在雄鸡报晓时出发，出门早，使他有更充足的时间，悠哉闲哉地欣赏美景，而旅途一点也不会疲倦。

提早投资亦如此，时间在不知不觉中为你创富，不必因为过於拼搏，透支精力而损害健康。

通货膨胀是个劫贫济富的坏家伙。穷者因通胀而愈穷，富者却因通胀而愈富，因为富者拥有的有形资产－屋子、土地、股票（代表资产）、园丘、古董、名家字画，因通胀价值翻了数倍，甚至数十倍数百倍，身家不断膨胀。在通胀肆虐的经济中，有形资产是价值的护城河。

投资将通胀的“祸害”转为“有利”。

所有富豪，都是靠复利增长而致富的。复利者，利上加利也，可以创造财富奇迹，但复利的威力，需要时间才能发挥出来。

当机立断抓住良机

时间越久，复利创富越快，后期的所得比前期高数倍，如果半途而废，等于前功尽弃，好比掘井，掘井百尺，还有一尺就到水源了，竟然在此时停止挖掘，叫功亏一篑，岂不可惜？

听说跌断手骨腿骨者，复原时间跟年龄成正比。20岁青年，只要20天就可复原，70岁的乐龄人可能要70天，甚至更长。所以年轻人跌伤无大碍，乐龄人跌倒可是件大事。

投资亦如此，年轻时投资，或因经验不足，认识不够而马失前蹄，要东山再起，指日可待。

所以，不妨冒计算中的风险，以博取厚利，增加累积财富的速度，若年轻时过於保守，船头怕贼，船尾怕鬼，凡事畏首畏尾，犹疑不决，许多可以改变你一生命运的机会，可能就与你擦身而过，你如果当机立断，抓住投资良机，在累积财富这码子上，就可以做到事半功倍。

如果一味硬拼、蛮干，不会抓住机会，用力虽多，结果却是事倍功半。

优柔寡断投资大忌

在2007年8月的世界金融海啸中，股市跌至令人难以置信的低水平，正是千载难逢的投资良机，大部份人却因不敢冒计算中的风险而错过了，失去了一个赚钱的黄金机会，委实可惜！

投资要有胆识，优柔寡断，是投资的大忌。但胆识必须建立在知识的基础上，平常一定要勤做功课，作好准备，以等待机会的出现，世界没有免费的午餐，在追求财富上，一分耕耘才有一分收获。

耐力决定胜负

要怎样进行投资呢？以下是我的一些经验，愿与大家分享：

第一，不可投资於你没有信心或信心不足的资产或事业，无论是产业或股票均如此。信心不足，就容易半途而废，错过赚取巨利的机会。

第二，只投资於有成长或增值潜能的资产或事业。

珍藏优质股

第三，最好选择投资於稀有的资产，地点优越的地产和优质股票都有这个特点。优质股都被投资家珍藏，不轻易脱售，股市中股票数量有减无增，在供不应求的情况下，股价乃能长期站稳在高水平。物以稀为贵，此之谓也。

第四，投资致富，是马拉松长跑，并非一百公尺短跑。

耐力决定胜负，好股价格不动，不可轻言放弃。否则的话，功亏一篑，惟有“暗搥”，能忍，才能获巨利。

投资，要立志赚大钱，切不可立志赚快钱。在投资上，欲速则不达。快速致富的念头，害人不浅，需从脑海中彻底消灭。

时间是铁面无私的判官。许多人年轻时同时由同一个起跑点出发，30年后谁遥遥领先，谁被抛在后头，在时间面前，无所遁形。

但有一点是肯定的，惟有望着目标，单人匹马，以稳健脚步，一步一脚印向前奔跑的人，才有希望到达“财富”的终点。

那些由别人搀扶着前进，或是拉着别人“衫尾”向前走，或是在途中左看右望，心猿意马，或是患上脚软症的人，是没有希望抵达“财富”终站的。

你是哪类股票投资者？

2012-06-06T15:32:00.004+08:00

大马股票交易所负责为股票投资者保管股票的机构，叫中央存票处（CDS），从中央存票处的户头数目，就可以窥见大马股票投资者的人数。

根据马来西亚股票交易所有限公司2011年年报，在2011年杪时，中央存票处共有420万个户头。

但是，其中可能有重复（一个人拥有超过一个户头），所以，真正在股市中直接买卖股票者（不包括通过购买单位信托间接参与股票投资的人），相信少过420万人。

我们不知道重复户头的数目，假设有四分之三的投资者只拥有一个户头，那么，直接参与股市的人就有300万人。

假如你将这300万股市中人加以分类的话，你会发现大概可以分为三类。

第一类：游击型打了就走不理盈亏

“游击型”投资者一听到消息就冲进去购买，赚了一点或是亏了一点，都马上脱售，绝不恋栈。

通常我们称这类“打了就走”的人为投机者，英文叫Day Traders的，就是指此类当天搞定的股票投资者。

此类投资者的特征是：

⑴视股票为货物，通过不断买进卖出赚钱。

⑵既然是货物，则“货如轮转利路通”，所采取的是薄利多销的策略，每次所赚不多，但胜在交易频仍，累积起来，利润亦极可观。

⑶既然是货物，则重要的是有利可图，货物的素质反而不那么重要了。所以，这类型投资者对股票的基本面，是否有价值，也不屑一顾。

也不想知道所持的是好股还是坏股，对他们来说，会起的就是好股；不会起的就是坏股。好坏并不重要，重要的是会不会起。

没有人知道在300万股市大军中，“游击队员”占多少，但可以肯定的是占绝大多数，也许高达八、九十巴仙！

第二类：尴尬型随波逐流不亏不盈

他们不是投机者，因为他们也重视基本面，但自己不做功课，只靠从“耳语”中所得到的资料作出投资决定。也没有主见，只以别人的意见为依归，他们是典型的“追随者”(followers)，随波逐流，跟在群众后面走。

庄子中有一个这样的故事，东海有一种鸟，叫“意怠”，在飞行时，总是跟在别的鸟的后面，休息时总是挨着别的鸟，不敢独处。吃东西时，总是吃别的鸟留下的残食，不敢跟别的鸟抢食。靠着“进不敢为前，退不敢为后，食不敢先尝，必取其绪”(“绪”就是剩余的东西)，所以才能做到“是故其行列不斥，而外人卒不得害，是以免于患”(庄子“山木篇”)。

这类投资者在别人买了以后才敢买，别人卖了以后才甘愿卖。在时间上，他们往往是中、长期投资者，他们有一种错误的想法，以为只要有钱，长期收藏，买股票一定能赚钱，他们忘记了，如果所收藏的是垃圾股的话，收得越久，亏得反而越多，如果公司破产，他们的股票可能一文不值。这类投资者的投资成绩也很尴尬。

在股市中投资十年、八年，结算一下，可能只得个不盈不亏。

但跟十赌九输的第一类投资者相比，“尴尬型”投资者已属赢家。

第三类：严肃型做足功课长线投资

严肃的价值投资者，是基本面的忠实信徒。他们的特征是：

⑴做很多功课，深入研究企业的基本面，定力非凡，绝不买没有基本面支撑的烂股，他们的哲学是不打没有把握的仗，投机者赚到钱，他为他们高兴，绝不妒嫉，因为他知道这种钱不是他赚的；他知道自己没有赚这种钱的本领，所以，当别人投机“仙股”赚个盘满钵满时，他完全不动心。

买股票如合股做生意

⑵他们念念不忘他买的是公司的股份，买股份就是跟别人合股做生意，他的投资成败，决定于公司的成败，不是决定于股价。如果他所投资的公司，盈利年年增加，他的股份价值会与日俱增，他最终一定赚钱；如果他所投资的公司，年年亏蚀的话，他的股份价值必然每下愈况，最后可能化为乌有。所以，他很关心公司的业绩，不大理会股价的起落。

⑶这类投资者多数是反向思维者，在熊市中买进；在牛市中脱售。别人极端恐惧时，就好像2009年初次贷金融海啸时那样，他大量买进。他敢于买进，是因为他是以“价值”为准绳，不是以股价为准绳。

勇敢趁低买进回酬丰

他了解股票的价值，他知道要创办一家成功的企业，并非易事。

假如要创办一家这么成功的公司需要投资30亿令吉，还要花上20年的时间才能做到，现在由于金融海啸引发的恐惧，人们不计成本，胡乱抛售其股票，使整家公司的市值(股价×股数=市值)，跌到10亿令吉以下，他在股市买进有关公司的股票，等于以三分之一的价格买进有关公司的股份，同时可以节省20年的时间，为什么他不要买？为什么不敢买？他于是独排众议，在股市中购买有关公司的股票，长期持有，取得丰厚的回酬。

不要忘记，他的丰厚回酬是在什么也没有做的情况下取得的。

⑷这类投资者多数是长期投资者，他知道做生意赚钱，需要时间，没有捷径可抄，也不可能一蹴即成。生意是要脚踏实地，按部就班，循序渐进地经营，才有可能赚到钱。一项建屋计划，由买地到新屋保证期结束，需要5年；种油棕要3年才开始结果，即使开一间药剂店，也要守上三、两年，顾客群建立起来了，才有钱赚。今天投资，明天就赚钱，不是没有，只是少之又少。即使有，也不长久。他选择长期投资，其实就是给时间，让企业按部就班的经营，为他赚取利润。

须贴身跟踪企业进展

⑸他贴身跟踪企业进展，他知道，商场如战场，商战激烈，经营过程中面对许多的挑战，如果掌舵人无法应对环境的考验，企业也可能失败。

作为股东，他必须关注企业的一举一动，一旦发现企业走向失败，即使亏蚀，他也退股(把股票卖掉)，绝不恋栈。如果他继续投资下去，他会亏得更多。但是，如果企业盈利年年上升，又派发可观的股息(高过定期存款利息)，他也可能永远不卖，除非是股价被高估的离谱，不值得投资下去。

只有第三类型投资赚钱

至于以上三类投资者，那一类投资方式较好，是争论性的课题。我们与其去作无谓的争论，倒不如多花点时间去思考，那一种方式较有把握赚钱，更加实际。

并没有确实的统计数字，证明那一种方式有更高的把握赚钱，但我向股票经纪所作的抽样调查，以及现实的例子，显示第一类投资者的方式，长期操作，能赚钱的少之又少，也许不到三分之一。

第二类“尴尬型”投资者的投资成绩，参差不一。但很少有超越大势表现。

把握“做生意”机会

真正在股市赚钱，而且可以赚到很多钱的，绝对是第三类投资者。

其实这一类投资者，与其说他们是“投资者”，倒不如说他们是生意人，他们其实是在做生意，只是把生意交给专业人士去经营，他们并不参与管理而已。

他们的投资，成功或失败，决定于他拥有股份的公司的成败，并不是决定于股市或股价的起落。

许多打工仔投诉没有做生意的机会，这是很大的错误。在大马股票交易所上市的公司多达940家，所经营的生意，行行都有，你每天都有机会买进他们的股份，参股做生意的机会每天都存在，怎能说“没有机会”？

股市没免费午餐

尽管940家公司良莠不齐，但不可能筛选不出十家八家值得你投资，而股价又合理的公司，让你参股。

如果你找不到，是因为你根本不肯花时间去做功课而已。

股市没有免费的午餐，机会只会找上肯用功研究的人。

如果你进入股市，胸无大志，只想赚一点快钱的话，用那一种方式都无所谓。

如果你想通过股票投资，累积财富，使你有能力送儿女进最好的大学，是退休后财务自主，度有尊严的晚年，那么，除了第三种方式之外，别无他途。

我在股市投资40年，以上是我的经验谈，也是肺腑之言。

How to beat the market and become a super investor

2012-01-19T08:50:00.000+08:00

This is a guest post by Mr. Koon Yew Yin.

Risks in doing business:

It is important to stress that all businesses involve risk; hence the selection of shares is also a risky business. This is not the same order of risk as may be involved in going to the casino or betting on the four digits which in 90-99 % or even more of the cases, results in the patron losing his money, if not his pants.

Picking winning stocks means that we pick the companies that can meet the constant challenges of competition, supply and demand, change of fashion and style design, obsolete stocks write off, etc. There are also unforeseen factors such as variation in interest rates, import and export restriction, foreign exchange variation, change in Government regulations, etc. Inclement weather such as flooding affects production as we have seen in Bangkok so that even the most well run of companies such as Toyata and Honda cannot escape it.

Best form of investment

In my view, stocks are the best form of investment. They are tax free, have no management problem, and you can reduce or liquidate all your holdings at any time. There is a classical saying in the market – “You can buy the winning horse after the race”. This means that you can still buy a good share after the company has announced its profit. This does not mean that stocks are entirely risk-free.

Fundamentals of Stock Selection

The basic fundamentals for share selection are P/E ratio, NTA, Revenue, cash flow etc. How important are these factors?

The most important criterion is profit growth prospect. Never buy any share if the company cannot make increasing profits. You must buy shares that Fund managers are interested. They are the movers and shakers. Do not buy too much of illiquid shares because it is cheap. It is cheap for some reasons which may keep it at basement prices.

The main reasons why share prices go up include the following:
a. Exceptionally good profit growth prospect
b. Fund managers must be interested, liquidity, publicity etc.
c. Dividends are an important catalyst for moving share prices up
d. Unexpected good news of profit, bonus issues etc. will push up share prices.

When to Sell

When to sell? Do not worry about the daily share price fluctuation if you have a target price. Quite often the share you hold can move up rapidly and continues to go up. You must remember that no share can go up indefinitely for whatever reason. Sell when you are not willing to buy at the price or the reason to buy is no longer valid. Remember you must sell so that you can have funds to buy back during correction. If the fundamentals have not changed, the share price will go up again.

What to Buy

After having seen so many unexpected surprises in the stock market, I consider the safest shares to invest are undervalued oil palm shares. The reasons are:-

a. The production cost for CPO is about Rm 1,300 per ton and the average selling price has been more than double the production cost in the last 10 years or more. The average CPO price for 2011 is more than Rm 3,000 per ton. Which business can offer such big profit margins?

b. The demand and profit are sustainable due to population increase. Moreover, both China and India who are our buyers have been improving their economy. The financial problem in Eurozone and US has little or no effect on our palm oil market.

c. A palm tree will start fruiting after 3 years. It will continue to bear more fruits until it is about 16 years old after that age it will begin to bear less fruits. Only after about 22 years a palm tree needs replanting.

d. The land always appreciates in value.

e. There is good profit growth prospect and sustainable profit

I am obliged to tell you that plantation shares form the major part of my investment portfolio. If you decide to buy, I am not responsible for your profit or your loss.

How to become a super investor?

I started serious investing in public listed shares when I retired from executive work at 50 years old. I was not an accountant nor have I a MBA degree. I was just a civil engineer and I hardly knew how to read a balance sheet at that time.

I started by reading to understand the basic fundamental principles of share selection as practiced by Warren Buffet, Peter Lynch and other great investment gurus. These are the key traits to being a super investor that I picked up.

Trait 1: Be a contrarian investor, that is, the ability to buy stocks while others are panicking and sell stocks while others are euphoric. In 1983 when China declared that they wanted to take back Hong Kong, the people were selling as if there was no tomorrow because the Communists were coming. The Hang Seng Index plunged to about 700. Currently it is around 18,500.
In such a situation at that time, would you buy Hong Kong shares? I did.

Trait 2: Obsession in playing the game and wanting to win. Winning investors don’t just enjoy investing; they live it. They wake up in the morning and the first thing they think about, while they are still half asleep, is a stock they have been researching. They are thinking about selling, or what the greatest risk to their portfolio is and how they are going to neutralize that risk.
They are obsessed in enhancing the value of their holdings. I am that way.

Trait 3: The willingness to learn from past mistakes. Most people would much rather just move on and ignore the dumb things they’ve done in the past. I believe the term for this is repression.? But if you ignore mistakes without fully analyzing them, you will undoubtedly make a similar mistake later in your career.

Trait 4: An inherent sense of risk based on common sense. Most people believe analysts’ reports which are often ‘a buy’ recommendation. It is very seldom they recommend ‘a sell’ because they would lose the business from the company he has recommended ‘a sell’. You must always take any analyst report with a pinch of salt.
I believe the greatest risk control is common sense which is not so common sometimes.

Trait 5: Confidence: Great investors must have confidence in their own convictions and stick with them, even when facing criticism. Buffett never got into the dot-com mania though he was being criticized publicly for ignoring technology stocks. He stuck to his guns when everyone else was abandoning the value investing ship. He was proven right when the dot com bubble bust.

Trait 6: Clear thinking. When considering a share, you must try to understand the nature of the company’s business and its inherent difficulties so that you can evaluate your risk exposure. There are a lot of people who have genius IQs who cannot think clearly, though they can figure out bond or option pricing in their heads.

Trait 7: And finally the most important, and rarest, trait of all is the ability to live through volatility without changing your investment thought process. This is almost impossible for most people to do. When the market makes a severe correction, most people dare not buy more shares to average down or to put any money into stocks at all when the market is plunging. They would begin to doubt their own judgement.

Wishing you a season of happy and profitable investing!

机会成本(Opportunity Cost)

2011-12-06T22:56:00.000+08:00

　机会成本是指在面临多方案择一决策时，被舍弃的选项中的最高价值者是本次决策的机会成本。

　　机会成本又称为择一成本、替代性成本。机会成本对商业公司来说，可以是利用一定的时间或资源生产一种商品时，而失去的利用这些资源生产其他最佳替代品的机会就是机会成本。

　　在生活中，有些机会成本可用货币来衡量。例如，农民在获得更多土地时，如果选择养猪就不能选择养鸡，养猪的机会成本就是放弃养鸡的收益。但有些机会成本往往无法用货币衡量，例如，在图书馆看书学习还是享受电视剧带来的快乐之间进行选择。

　　而机会成本泛指一切在作出选择后其中一个最大的损失,机会成本会随付出的代价改变而作出改变,例如被舍弃掉的选项之喜爱程度或价值作出改变时,而得到之价值是不会令机会成本改变的。

　　而如果在选择中放弃选择最高价值的选项(首选),那么其机会成本将会是首选。而作出选择时,应该要选择最高价值的选项(机会成本最低的选项),而放弃选择机会成本最高的选项,即失去越少越明智。

　　机会成本通常包括两部分：

　　1、使用他人资源的机会成本，即付给资源拥有者的货币代价被称作显性成本。

　　2、因为使用自有资源而放弃其他可能性中得到的最大回报的那个代价，也被称为隐性成本。

再谈何时卖股

2011-10-23T11:44:00.004+08:00

本文说“再谈”，是因为在拙作“股票投资正道”一书中，有一篇“何时卖股”（第269-73页），已解答了何时该卖股票的问题，我提出的3个卖股标准为：
1. 公司亏损
2. 极度高估
3. 更佳选择

我的主张是如果你所买的股票，没有存在上述3个问题，那么，你可以继续收藏下去，这样可以减少投资的忧虑，也有助于减少投资亏蚀。

我没有提到售股的时间，是因为股市是不可预测的，如果你以股市的时机作为卖股的标准的话，你很容易犯了卖得太早、太迟或卖错股票的错误。

在“时机”方面，只要我们抓紧一个原则，那就是采取“反向”策略，在股市跌至低潮，股票价值被严重低估时买进，紧握不放，你就可以在买进时机方面，减少错误。

减少出错

股票投资的第一个原则，是不要亏蚀，第二个原则是永远不要忘记第一个原则。
减少出错，就等于提高胜算，而这是股市长胜军的最重要的条件。要每一次投资都赚钱，那是不可能的，就好像做生意，要每一种生意只赚不亏，那是不可能的一样，无论是投资股票或做生意，只要做到赚多亏少，就可以致富。

在3个卖股标准中，第一个公司亏损，尤其是持续亏损，就要毫不迟疑的把股票（股份）卖掉并不难做到。

但第二个标准极度高估和第三个标准更佳选择，在实际操作时，就不容易拿捏得准确。
高到什么程度才算“极度高估”？什么股票是“更佳选择”，需要对个别公司有深入的认识才有可能做到，故说来容易做来难。

我的做法是这样的：
首先我要把有关股票，分为高、中、低成长股。
我们知道，高成长股，应享有较高的本益比，低成长股，应享有较低的本益比。
大部份人最易犯的错误，是将本益比应用于所有股票，不分高、中、低成长股，因而作出错误的判断。

投资成功例子：反向+成长+时间=财富

为什么会犯这样的错误，请看表一就明白了。

假如你以每股2令吉50仙，买进一只每股净利15仙的股票，本益比为16.7倍，等于说16.7年才能赚回2令吉50仙的投资额，买价偏高（国际本益比标准约为10倍）。
但这是一只成长股，第二年每股净利增至25仙，本益比降至10倍，属于合理。
如此下去，到第4年，每股净利增至50仙，本益比再降至5倍，一只成长股，5倍的本益比，股值就是被低估了。

投资者，尤其是投资经理对于企业的盈利趋势，极为敏感，一只本益比只有5倍，而将来的盈利可能进一步增加的股票，成为极有吸引力的投资。
该股迟早会成为基金吸购的对象，股价将持续向上调整，假如本益比10倍，是这只股票的合理价格的话，则在第4年时，股价有可能升至5令吉（RM0.50 x 10 = RM5.00）。

财富与日俱增
在4年前以偏高的价格买进该股，4年后仍可取得100%的盈利（不计股息），每年赚率高达25%，这是一项成功的投资。
假如投资者对该股有深入研究，而且长期跟踪其股价变动，在熊市时以每股RM1.50的价格买进，紧握不放，到第4年时股价升至5令吉，回酬就高达233%。（RM5.00 - RM1.50）÷ RM1.50 = 233％，每年的回酬高达58%。
冷眼方程式（见本人拙作“30年股票投资心得”第285-311页）：反向+成长+时间= 财富。就是根据这个原理拟出来的。

第一个环节“反向”是以RM1.50而不是以RM2.50买进上述股票，第二个环节“成长”是每股净利在4年中从RM0.15增至RM0.50，第3个环节“时间”是指长期持有，也就是紧握该股4年或更长（视该股盈利表现而定）。
如果能遵行冷眼方程式的话，你的财富与日俱增，是相当肯定的。

投资失败例子：盈利滑落股亏蚀最重

看完投资成功的例子，现在再看一个投资失败的例子（见表二）：

以3令吉买进每股净利RM0.40的股票，本益比为7.5倍，买价偏低。

但这是一只业务日走下坡的股票，第二年每股净利跌至RM0.20，本益比升至15倍，已属偏高。

第3年每股净利再跌至 -RM0.10, 本益比升至30倍，以3令吉的价格买进实在太贵了。

第4年公司每股亏损 -RM0.15, 本益比无限大（永远无法回本）。由此可见，盈利不断滑落的公司，其股票即使本益比偏低（即股票价值被低估），还是不可买进，因为将来本益比将大增，使你永远无法回本，更不要说赚钱了。

在牛市中高价买进盈利日走下坡的股票，亏蚀最惨重，而且往往永无翻身之日，原因在此。4方式作出更佳选择从这两个例子，我们得到这样的结论：如果你肯定有关公司明年或后年盈利将继续上升的话，即使本益比偏高（例如15倍），仍不属“极度高估”，不应脱售。

如果有关公司将来的盈利将滑落，甚至将出现亏蚀，则本益比即使偏低（例如7.5倍），也不可买进，如果已买进了，即使蒙受亏蚀，也要忍痛脱售，明和公司盈利将持续走下坡，仍不肯脱售（由于股价亏蚀）是大部份散户失败的原因。

那么，要怎样作“更佳选择”，我的做法是：

1. 看公司的盈利纪录，最好比较10年的纪录，从纪录可以看出公司业务的趋势及稳定性。如果其他条件相同，我选择业务及盈利稳定的公司。

2. 比较同类公司的表现，即使是同一个行业，公司表现也参差不齐，决定的因素很多，最好选择表现亮丽及市场份额稳定的公司。以公司的素质，而不是以股价为标准。

3. 比较各行业的前景，以行业的景气为指南，尤其是周期性很明显的行业，应在最不景气时买进，景气最旺时脱售。

4. 我的投资原则是：成长一般的股票，本益比若走到15倍以上，就不再买进，20倍以上，就毫不犹豫的脱售。以上所用的本益比只是方便说明，实际情况可能有出入，读者切忌食古不化。

本益比只是评估标准之一，要作更准确的判断，还要考虑其他标准及因素，例如周息率（D/Y）及财务情况等。那么你也许会问：如果脱售后股价继续攀升，岂不可惜？我的心态是：那种钱不是我赚的，所以不必感到可惜，也不必后悔。广东话说：“卖仔莫摩头，摩头眼泪流”，成功的投资者要有希望别人也赚钱的胸襟。

股票投资千言万语，最终还是要进入股市投资，才有价值。

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

2011-10-15T19:52:00.002+08:00

求知若饥，虚心若愚今天，很荣幸来到各位从世界上最好的学校之一毕业的毕业典礼上。我从来没从大学毕业过，说实话，这是我离大学毕业最近的一刻。今天，我只说三个故事，不谈大道理，三个故事就好。

第一个故事，是关于人生中的点点滴滴如何串连在一起。我在里德学院（Reed College）待了六个月就办休学了。到我退学前，一共休学了十八个月。那么，我为什么休学？这得从我出生前讲起。我的亲生母亲当时是个研究生，年轻未婚妈妈，她决定让别人收养我。她强烈觉得应该让有大学毕业的人收养我，所以我出生时，她就准备让我被一对律师夫妇收养。但是这对夫妻到了最后一刻反悔了，他们想收养女孩。所以在等待收养名单上的一对夫妻，我的养父母，在一天半夜里接到一通电话，问他们“有一名意外出生的男孩，你们要认养他吗？”而他们的回答是“当然要”。后来，我的生母发现，我现在的妈妈从来没有大学毕业，我现在的爸爸则连高中毕业也没有。她拒绝在认养文件上做最后签字。直到几个月后，我的养父母保证将来一定会让我上大学，她的态度才软化。

十七年后，我上大学了。但是当时我无知地选了一所学费几乎跟史丹佛一样贵的大学，我那工人阶级的父母将所有积蓄都花在我的学费上。六个月后，我看不出念这个书的价值何在。那时候，我不知道这辈子要干什么，也不知道念大学能对我有什么帮助，只知道我为了念这个书，花光了我父母这辈子的所有积蓄，所以我决定休学，相信船到桥头自然直。当时这个决定看来相当可怕，可是现在看来，那是我这辈子做过最好的决定之一。

当我休学之后，我再也不用上我没兴趣的必修课，把时间拿去听那些我有兴趣的课。这一点也不浪漫。我没有宿舍，所以我睡在友人家里的地板上，靠着回收可乐空罐的退费五分钱买吃的，每个星期天晚上得走七哩的路绕过大半个镇去印度教的Hare Krishna神庙吃顿好料，我喜欢Hare Krishna神庙的好料。就这样追随我的好奇与直觉，大部分我所投入过的事务，后来看来都成了无比珍贵的经历（And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on）。举个例来说。当时里德学院有着大概是全国最好的书写教育。校园内的每一张海报上，每个抽屉的标签上，都是美丽的手写字。因为我休学了，可以不照正常选课程序来，所以我跑去上书写课。我学了serif与sanserif字体，学到在不同字母组合间变更字间距，学到活字印刷伟大的地方。书写的美好、历史感与艺术感是科学所无法掌握的，我觉得这很迷人。我没预期过学这些东西能在我生活中起些什么实际作用，不过十年后，当我在设计第一台麦金塔时，我想起了当时所学的东西，所以把这些东西都设计进了麦金塔里，这是第一台能印刷出漂亮东西的计算机。如果我没沉溺于那样一门课里，麦金塔可能就不会有多重字体跟等比例间距字体了。又因为Windows抄袭了麦金塔的使用方式，因此，如果当年我没有休学，没有去上那门书写课，大概所有的个人计算机都不会有这些东西，印不出现在我们看到的漂亮的字来了。当然，当我还在大学里时，不可能把这些点点滴滴预先串连在一起，但在十年后的今天回顾，一切就显得非常清楚。我再说一次，你无法预先把点点滴滴串连起来；只有在未来回顾时，你才会明白那些点点滴滴是如何串在一起的（you can‘t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards）。所以你得相信，眼前你经历的种种，将来多少会连结在一起。你得信任某个东西，直觉也好，命运也好，生命也好，或者因果报应。这种作法从来没让我失望，我的人生因此变得完全不同。

我的第二个故事，是有关爱与失去。我很幸运－年轻时就发现自己爱做什么事。我二十岁时，跟Steve Wozniak在我爸妈的车库里开始了苹果计算机的事业。我们拼命工作，苹果计算机在十年间从一间车库里的两个小伙子扩展成了一家员工超过四千人、市价二十亿美金的公司，在那事件之前一年推出了我们最棒的作品－麦金塔计算机（Macintosh），那时我才刚迈入三十岁，然后我被解雇了。我怎么会被自己创办的公司给解雇了？嗯，当苹果计算机成长后，我请了一个我以为在经营公司上很有才干的家伙来，他在头几年也确实干得不错。可是我们对未来的愿景不同，最后只好分道扬镳，董事会站在他那边，就这样在我30岁的时候，公开把我给解雇了。我失去了整个生活的重心，我的人生就这样被摧毁。有几个月，我不知道要做些什么。我觉得我令企业界的前辈们失望－我把他们交给我的接力棒弄丢了。我见了创办HP的David Packard跟创办Intel的Bob Noyce，跟他们说很抱歉我把事情给搞砸了。我成了公众眼中失败的示范，我甚至想要离开硅谷。但是渐渐的，我发现，我还是喜爱那些我做过的事情，在苹果计算机中经历的那些事丝毫没有改变我爱做的事。虽然我被否定了，可是我还是爱做那些事情，所以我决定从头来过。当时我没发现，但现在看来，被苹果计算机开除，是我所经历过最好的事情。成功的沉重被从头来过的轻松所取代，每件事情都不那么确定，让我自由进入这辈子最有创意的年代。接下来五年，我开了一家叫做NeXT的公司，又开一家叫做Pixar的公司，也跟后来的老婆（Laurene）谈起了恋爱。Pixar接着制作了世界上第一部全计算机动画电影，玩具总动员（Toy Story），现在是世界上最成功的动画制作公司。然后，苹果计算机买下了NeXT，我回到了苹果，我们在NeXT发展的技术成了苹果计算机后来复兴的核心部份。我也有了个美妙的家庭。我很确定，如果当年苹果计算机没开除我，就不会发生这些事情。这帖药很苦口，可是我想苹果计算机这个病人需要这帖药。有时候，人生会用砖头打你的头。不要丧失信心。我确信我爱我所做的事情，这就是这些年来支持我继续走下去的唯一理由（I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did）。你得找出你的最爱，工作上是如此，人生伴侣也是如此。你的工作将占掉你人生的一大部分，唯一真正获得满足的方法就是做你相信是伟大的工作，而唯一做伟大工作的方法是爱你所做的事（And the only way to do great work is to love what you do）。如果你还没找到这些事，继续找，别停顿。尽你全心全力，你知道你一定会找到。而且，如同任何伟大的事业，事情只会随着时间愈来愈好。所以，在你找到之前，继续找，别停顿。我的第三个故事，是关于死亡。当我十七岁时，我读到一则格言，好像是“把每一天都当成生命中的最后一天，你就会轻松自在。（If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you‘ll most certainly be right）”这对我影响深远，在过去33年里，我每天早上都会照镜子，自问：“如果今天是此生最后一日，我今天要做些什么？”每当我连续太多天都得到一个“没事做”的答案时，我就知道我必须有所改变了。提醒自己快死了，是我在人生中面临重大决定时，所用过最重要的方法。因为几乎每件事－所有外界期望、所有的名声、所有对困窘或失败的恐惧－在面对死亡时，都消失了，只有最真实重要的东西才会留下（Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I‘ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important）。提醒自己快死了，是我所知避免掉入畏惧失去的陷阱里最好的方法。人生不带来、死不带去，没理由不能顺心而为。一年前，我被诊断出癌症。我在早上七点半作断层扫描，在胰脏清楚出现一个肿瘤，我连胰脏是什么都不知道。医生告诉我，那几乎可以确定是一种不治之症，预计我大概活不了三到六个月。医生建议我回家，好好跟亲人们聚一聚，这是医生对临终病人的标准建议。那代表你得试着在几个月内把你将来十年想跟小孩讲的话讲完。那代表你得把每件事情搞定，家人才会尽量轻松。那代表你得跟人说再见了。我整天想着那个诊断结果，那天晚上做了一次切片，从喉咙伸入一个内视镜，穿过胃进到肠子，将探针伸进胰脏，取了一些肿瘤细胞出来。我打了镇静剂，不醒人事，但是我老婆在场。她后来跟我说，当医生们用显微镜看过那些细胞后，他们都哭了，因为那是非常少见的一种胰脏癌，可以用手术治好。所以我接受了手术，康复了。这是我最接近死亡的时候，我希望那会继续是未来几十年内最接近的一次。经历此事后，我可以比先前死亡只是纯粹想象时，要能更肯定地告诉你们下面这些：没有人想死。即使那些想上天堂的人，也想活着上天堂。但是死亡是我们共同的终点，没有人逃得过。这是注定的，因为死亡很可能就是生命中最棒的发明，是生命交替的媒介，送走老人们，给新生代开出道路。现在你们是新生代，但是不久的将来，你们也会逐渐变老，被送出人生的舞台。抱歉讲得这么戏剧化，但是这是真的。你们的时间有限，所以不要浪费时间活在别人的生活里。不要被教条所局限--盲从教条就是活在别人思考结果里。不要让别人的意见淹没了你内在的心声。最重要的，拥有追随自己内心与直觉的勇气，你的内心与直觉多少已经知道你真正想要成为什么样的人（have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become），任何其它事物都是次要的。在我年轻时，有本神奇的杂志叫做《Whole Earth Catalog》，当年这可是我们的经典读物。那是一位住在离这不远的Menlo Park的Stewart Brand发行的，他把杂志办得很有诗意。那是1960年代末期，个人计算机跟桌上出版还没出现，所有内容都是打字机、剪刀跟拍立得相机做出来的。杂志内容有点像印在纸上的平面Google，在Google出现之前35年就有了：这本杂志很理想主义，充满新奇工具与伟大的见解。Stewart跟他的团队出版了好几期的《Whole Earth Catalog》，然后很自然的，最后出了停刊号。当时是1970年代中期，我正是你们现在这个年龄的时候。在停刊号的封底，有张清晨乡间小路的照片，那种你四处搭便车冒险旅行时会经过的乡间小路。在照片下印了行小字：求知若饥，虚心若愚（Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish）。那是他们亲笔写下的告别讯息，我总是以此自许。当你们毕业，展开新生活，我也以此祝福你们。求知若饥，虚心若愚（Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish）。非常谢谢大家。

基本面剖析

2011-10-10T21:32:00.001+08:00

我常劝股友，在买进股票之前，一定要做足功课。

做功课就是Do your homework，从Homework这个Home（家）字，可以看出功课不是在课室，而是在家里做的。

在家里做功课，没有别人的督促和协助，必须独立研究。

这样可以养成独立思考的习惯，这是股票投资成功的先决条件。

多数成功的投资者，都是根据自己做功课的心得进行投资的，靠别人的“贴士”进行投资的，成功的少之又少。

先读懂投资资料

做功课的先决条件，是必须有读懂股票投资资料的能力。

股票资料包括年报、季报、股票分析报告、上市时发出的招股说明书、财经书籍、财经报章及杂志等。

要读懂这些资料，第一步就是要对财经、投资和经济的常用术语（Terminology or terms）和惯用词语，有明确的了解，这样才可以使你在阅读资料时，不但顺畅无阻，而且有深入的体会。

如果你对这类术语和惯用词语一知半解，你的吸收能力将大减，你很难在股票研究上登堂入室。

例如我们常常听到或读到：买股票最好买“基本面”强的股票，“基本面”就是Fundamental，到底“基本面”是指什么？

所谓“强劲”的“基本面”又是什么？

弄清楚术语含意

如果你没有明确的概念的话，你就不会知道“基本面”的重要性，在投资时也不会去理会“基本面”是否强劲。结果是所买的都是劣股，怎能赚钱？

所以，假如你有心研究股票的话，就一定要花时间和精神去弄清楚术语的含意。

你所花的精神和时间是值得的，因为你在弄明白术语以后，就一劳永逸的解决了阅读财经资讯难题，你会一辈子受用无穷，何乐而不为？

现在就让我们以“基本面”这个术语为例，说明了解术语的过程。

在英华大词典中，Fundamental作为形容词的含义为：基础的、基本的、根本的、重要的、更好的、主要的等。

作为名词是指原理、原则、基本、根本、基础等。

可见Fundamental就是一家公司赖以成功的最基本、最根本及最重要的因素，叫“基本面因素”。

计算出内在价值

梁孙健博士在他的著作《马星股市投资》（Stock Market Investment In Malaysia & Singapore）中，对Fundamental Approach（基本面研究）的解释为“仔细分析公司盈利及股息展望的投资法，基本面信徒相信他们可以根据此种分析，计算出一只股票的真实或内在价值。”

可见基本面的作用是计算股票的价值，这种投资法，叫“价值投资法”。

台湾出版的“财务金融辞典对Fundamental Analysis的解释为：“基本面分析，经由证券（股票）的基本因素所进行的价值分析，基本因素如：盈余、资本负债状况、经营管理效能等。

基本面分析的目的，是评估证券（股票）的真实价值，作为买卖该证券的依据。”

可见基本面又涉及企业的管理效益，侧重于财务评估。

Marsha Bertrand在他的著作Gathing Started in Inverstment Clubs对基本面分析（Fundamental Analysis）有颇为详细的解释：“根据公司的财报，过去的业绩表现及现有之策略，对股票将来的动向作出预测。”

分析财报作预测

“在基本面分析，我们审视公司的基本面。也就是说，我们分析公司的财报，以协助我们预测公司将来的盈利和股息。

基本面分析集中注意力于以下各点：盈利、现金流、投资回报，以确定股票的价格是否已反映公司的真实价值。

发掘价值低估股

这些资料显示公司将来在业绩和股价方面的表现。基本面分析有助于我们发掘价值被低估的股票，希望将来股价会上升。”

该书列出辨认基本面强弱的8个标准，为了使大家对基本面有具体的认识，让我们将每个标准分为1、2、3分。积分越高，表示基本面越强。

如果积分是在8以下，表示基本面孱弱，不值得投资；如果是在8至16之间，表示中等，是否值得投资，决定于基本面以外的因素；如果积分在16至24之间，表示基本面强劲，可以投资。

辨认基本面强弱八大标准:

为了使大家易于掌握起见，我信手拈来，以佳杰科技（ECS ITC BHD）为实例，加以说明。

标准一：流动比率（Current Ratio）

流动资产（Current Assets）为一年内可以化为现金的资产，流动负债（Current Liabilities）为一年中必须偿还的负债。

流动比率是流动资产÷流动负债所得出的比值，越高越好。

佳杰科技在今年3月31日首季结账时的流动比率为306（百万）÷156（百万）=1.96，远远超过一倍，属于超强，此标准应得3分。

标准二：营运资本（Working Capital）

以流动资产减流动负债得之，佳杰科技在今年3月31日时的营运资本为306（百万）-156（百万）=150（百万），足以应付营业所需的资金而有余。

难怪该公司完全没有负债，手头还有4000万令吉现金。

此标准应得3分。

标准三：负债对股东基金比率（Debt-To-Equity Ratio）

总负债除以股东基金所得比率，数目越小，表示该公司主要是靠现有资金而不是靠借贷做生意，故数字越小越好。

佳杰科技的负债对股东基金比率为：150（百万）÷154（百万）=1。财务稳如泰山，应得3分。

标准四：每股净利（EPS）

每年净利除以股数得之，越高越好。

佳杰科技去年每股净利为20.70仙，属于中等，应得2分。（我认为每股净利要超过30仙才属上等）。

标准五：本益比（PER）

股价除以每股净利，为赚回投资额所需的年数。

以佳杰1令吉40仙的股价计算，目前的本益比为RM1.40÷0.257=5.5（倍），国际的本益比标准通常为10倍，佳杰5.5倍的本益比偏低，应得3分。

标准六：股东基金回报率（Return On Quity，即ROE）

每年净利除以股东基金的得数。

此比率是用来测试管理效率，越高越好。

佳杰科技去年净赚2900万令吉，股东基金为1亿4700万令吉，故股东基金回报率为29（百万）÷147（百万）=19.7%，比银行定期存款3%高数倍，应得3分。

标准七：周息率（D/Y）

每股股息除以股价的得数。

周息率通常以净股息为计算标准。

佳杰科技去年派净股息8仙，以1令吉40仙的股价计算，周息率为8仙÷140仙=5.7%，比银行定存利息3%几乎高一倍，应得3分。

标准八：每股净有形资产价值（NTA）

股东基金除以股数得之。

佳杰科技的每股净有形资产价值为RM147（百万）÷120（百万股）=RM1.23，略低于股票市价，应得2分。

总结这八个标准，佳杰科技取得24分中的22分，可说是基本面很强的公司。

佳杰科技是四海栈张氏家族所控制，已有25年的历史，代理全球30多家电脑及手机公司的产品，分销点多达2500家。

企业的基本面有如建筑物的地基，基本面强表示地基坚稳，经得起狂风暴雨的袭击。

在买进之前，如果能照以上方法做功课，找出股票基本面的强弱，可以减低风险。减低风险，等于提高胜算。

谈机会成本

2011-10-10T21:31:00.000+08:00

在谈到什么是“机会成本”（Opportunity cost）之前，首先让我们认识经济学一个重要的术语“稀少性”（Scarcity），这样才能引导我们将“机会成本”概念，应用在股票投资上，以减低投资风险，增加投资回报。

台湾著名经济学家高希均教授在他的著作《经济学的世界》中，对“稀少性”（Scarcity）有很好的说明。

他说，“每个社会都必须面对一项基本的经济难题：如何将有限的资源做最佳的运用，以满足无穷的欲望，这就是经济学上“稀少性”的问题。”

“稀少性定律”告诉我们，我们永远不可以在一定的时间内，生产出所有人类想要的东西。

稀少资源

稀少资源就算能增加，也是要靠努力或付出代价，而且无法取之不尽，用之不竭。

资源的稀少迫使每个经济体系都必须有所选择，决定多生产某项产品，通常就意味着决定少生产其他的产品，所有的社会，都面临一个基本问题，就是决定要牺牲什么，以换取想要的
东西。

在股票投资上，“稀少性”就更加明显。

无论你的资金多么雄厚，跟动辄以万亿令吉计的市场总值相比，总是微不足道的，也就是说，股票投资的资金，“稀少性”特强，将你有限的资金，投入股市，只不过是沧海一粟。

不断选择

所以，你买了A股，就不得不放弃买B股。你必须在A股和B股之间，作出抉择。

你在股市买进卖出，其实就是在不断的作出选择。

假设你选择买A股，一年之后，A股跌了20%，假如你的投资额为10万令吉，一年后你的身家降至8万令吉。

与此同时，B股上涨了30%，你一年后的身家，就由10万令吉增至13万令吉。

由于你的错误选择，使你的身家在一年中相差5万令吉（13万令吉减8万令吉），等于少了50%，这5万令吉，就是你的“机会成本”。

有些人以为股票下跌了20%，他的损失是2万令吉，他忘记了他失去了从B股赚取30%利润的机会，他实际上是损失了5万令吉，这个“机会成本”所付的代价实在比他想像的高得多。

相信大部分投资者，都有这样的经验，他原本是要买甲股，后来因为听信“师爷”，转买乙股，结果甲股大跌，乙股大起，他哑子吃黄莲，出声不得，只好夜夜“暗搥”。

他是为“机会成本”而“搥”。

每一名投资者都是认为他所相中的股票会涨价，所以才决定买进，至于买进之后该股的套现，是否一如他的所料，那就谁也没有把握。

慎选好股屡战屡胜

为了避免双重损失的“机会成本”出现，最有效的方法，是在买进之前，货比三家，找出最有价值，最有希望跑赢大势的股只，使你有限的资金，发挥最大的赚钱潜能。

问题是怎样找出“最有价值”的股票？

要回答这个问题，就要返璞归真，弄清楚股票是什么？

股票就是公司股份的证明书，买股票就是买公司的股份，买公司的股份就是参股做生意。

既然如此，我们就要问：做生意的目的是什么？

答案是：赚钱。

赚钱越多的公司，其股份价值越高。

所以，假如数只股票的价格大同小异的话，那么，很明显的，每股净利最高的最值得买进。

通常我们是以本益比作为取决的标准。

假设三只股票的价格均为2令吉，它们的每股净利分别为15仙、20仙和30仙，则本益比分别为13、10及6倍。假如其他条件相同的话，那么，就应购买本益比6倍的那只股票。

参股做生意，我们希望每年都获得红利，也就是股息。

假如三只股价都是2令吉的股票，他们所分发的股息分别为5仙、10和20仙的话，则周息率（Dividend Yield）分别为2.5%、5%和7.5%。

比定存好

那么，你应该选购周息率7.5%的股票。

因为7.5%的股息回酬，比银行定期存款的利息高一倍，你可以将你的投资视为定期存款，这样就可以放心进行长期投资。

我们投资于一家公司，总希望有关公司底子扎实，经得起经济风暴的考验。

所以，最好是购买有形资产价值高过股价的股票。

通常我们是以股价与每股净有形资产的比值为标准，假如比值是低于一倍的话，表示股价被低估，可以买进。

例如股价为2令吉，每股净有形资产为2.8令吉，则股价∕资产比值为2 ÷ 2.8 = 0.71，低于1，这表示你以2令吉买进2.8令吉的资产，值得投资。

除了比较本益比，周息率和每股净有形资产价值之外，最好还要比较其他的因素，例如三家公司的财政情况、历年的业绩纪录、业务的稳定性等，然后选出优点最多的公司，买进其股
票作为投资，这样就可以减低“机会成本”出现的机遇率，提高胜算。

经过严格比较而选出的优质股，股价表现更有把握超越股市大势。

能够做到这一点，你在股市才能屡战屡胜。能屡战屡胜，方能致富。

股市实战手记五则

2011-10-10T21:29:00.001+08:00

1.留得青山在，不怕没柴烧。

当股市逆转时，假如你是将股票抵押给银行，借款投资股票的话，第一件要做的事，就是立刻采取行动，抛售一部份，将贷款额减低至安全的水平。

所谓“安全水平”，我的标准是即使股市再跌50%，你仍不会面对银行逼仓的困境。如果能完全还清贷款，那就最理想。

抛售时，要果断，要乾脆俐落，切忌犹疑不决，或是拖泥带水。

优柔寡断，是举债投资者陷入困境的最大原因。请记住两点：

i.股市是不可预测的，不要自作聪明，一厢情愿的认为股市下跌是暂时性的。股市不会理会你的想法，你须对自己行为负责。

ii.即使你的抛售是错误的，将来也会有机会买回来，即使不能买回原股，也可以投资於别的股票，所以不必迟疑不决。

留得青山在，不怕没柴烧。

生存永远比失去的机会更重要-重要百倍。

2.投资股票是持久战

买与卖，不要同时进行，买了又卖，卖了又买，是最糟糕的投资策略。

正确的做法是只有准备长期持有时才买进，不要贪图蝇头小利，不断的在股市抢进卖出，企图以此赚取快钱。

快速致富的人不是没有，只是少之又少，少到不值得我们去搏取。财富必须是脚踏实地去创造出来的，才能持久。

无论是亲力亲为做事业，或是投资股票，都是如此。

股市真正成功的投资者，多数是多年才买卖一次的投资者。因为他们视买股票为买事业，买事业等于参与做事业，是一场持久战，才有可能取得战果。

速战速决的战略，适用于别的市场，例如货币市场，但不适用于股市，股票投资必须是马拉松，不是短跑，短跑靠冲劲，马拉松靠耐力致胜。

3.吸取教训减少犯错

判断错误，买错股票，是属正常，如果一个人百战百胜，从未失手，我肯定他不是人，是神。

凡是人，都是血肉之躯，血肉之躯必然有思想感情，有思想感情的人都必须受世间所发生的事的影响，这些影响会使他作出错误的判断，所以，犯错误是正常的。

投资者所要努力去做的，不是要完全不犯错误，而是减少犯错误，只要对多错少，就可在股市投资致富。

所以，不要因为错误而烦恼，也没有必要去后悔。重要的是你必须吸取错误的教训，尽量减少错误。

成功投资者与失败投资者区别，是前者因错而做得更好，后者则一错再错，死性不改。

错误并不可耻，可耻的是错而不能改，改而不能久。

4.平常心看待股票投资

如果你发现你作了错误的投资，例如买错股票，就要认输，立刻采取行动补救。

不肯认输而死顶下去，是许多人投资失败的主要原因。

更坏的是不但不认输，反而找出种种理由来支持他的错误行动，最后必然自食苦果。

我认识一位持有金融和会计双学位的专业人士，担任财经要职，像他这样的学历的人，照理具备成为成功投资者的最有利条件，但我发现他在工作上有特出的表现，但个人的股票投资成绩单却满江红，差到极点。

我发现他的致命伤是他不肯认输，当他知道自己的投资出现问题时，他认为以他的学历，判断不可能错误，所以坚持下去，他忘记了股市是个不按牌理出牌的地方，以教条去应付诡谲的股市，当然是一败涂地。

股票投资，知识当然是重要的，但更重要的是常识。

本着常识，以平常心看待股票投资的人，反而比钻牛角尖所谓专家，有更大成功机会。

5.脚踏实地不幻想

在股市中，脚踏实地，老老实实投资的人，比侥倖行险，自作聪明的人，有更高的成功机会。

我常说，买股票就是买股份，买股份就是买事业，买事业须实事求是，不能存有幻想。

根据美国百多年来的统计，股票投资的平均回酬率约为10.5%，明乎此，你当知道，要在股市快速致富是不实际的。

趁低落实股票店铺化

2011-10-10T21:25:00.002+08:00

上周我在“视股票为店铺”一文中，提出了把股票视为店铺，把股息视为店铺租金的构想。

一些股友读后，认为我的构想不错，但实行起来恐怕不容易。

当然不容易，但困难并非不能克服。

正如我在“视”文中所说的“惟有有耐心、有信心及有守纪律精神的人，才有可能达到此境界（指通过视股票为店铺以达到财务自主）。”

我们这个社会，没有容易赚钱的行业，每一个行业都要克服许多的困难，才有可能把钱赚到手。

股票

1.信心

你必须对股票有信心。由于股市波动激烈，股价大起大落，许多人认为股票风险太高，只适合“投机“，不适合“投资”，尤其不适合长期投资。

对股票的误解，莫以此为甚。大部份人都忘记了，股票是公司的股份，股票代表企业的资产和业务，股票的风险不会比做生意的风险更高。

如果股票是高风险的行为，那么公积金、保险公司、单位信托基金就不应买股票了，因为这些机构都是关系到数以百万计小市民利益的组织，他们不能从事高风险的投资。

如果懂得投资的话，股票其实是相当安全的，就以种植股来说，种植公司所拥有的是油棕园，如果说种植股风险高的话，就等于说油棕园风险高，你会同意吗？

建立对股票的正确概念，是建立对股票信心的第一步。

除非你有信心，你不会对股票投资产生耐心。

2.耐心

企业需要时间去成长，价值需要时间去创造，所以，股票要长期投资，才有可能增值。

即使是最好的股票，如果不能长期持有的话，也不可能发挥其增值潜能。

我有一些朋友，在买进优质股之后，十多二十年，几乎从来没有卖过，他们所取得的盈利，不是一倍或二倍，而是数十倍，他们就这样，靠股息过着写意的晚年生活。

我国最富有的企业家，如李莱生家族、丹斯里李深静、丹斯里杨忠礼等，从来没有卖过他们的机构的股票，所以他们能成为巨富，为什么我们不能以他们为榜样，进行长期投资呢？

通过复利增长，长期投资可以创造财富的奇迹。

3.守纪律的精神

脚踏实地投资，不要投机取巧，不要预测股市动向，因为到现在为止，还没有人发明可以预测股市的“水晶球”，尤其是股市的短期动向。靠短线操作赚钱的人不是没有，只是巴仙率低到不值得我们去尝试。

假如你以低价买到优质股的话，最好不要轻易脱售，一只可以成长5公斤的西瓜，长到两公斤时就割下，实在太可惜。

第一步

你要从1000家上市公司中，选出具备以下特点的股票：

周息率（D/Y）最好比银行定期存款利率高1倍。目前定存利率为3%多，你所买的视为店铺的股票，周息率（股息回酬率）最好高过6%。

过去股价高昂，不容易找到周息率高过6%的好股，经过这一轮的暴跌，周息率已大大的提高，只要你用心筛选，你不难找到周息率高过6%的好股。

最理想的方法，是买进现在派息率较低，但将来派息率将提高的股票，长期持有，一个典型的例子是速远（Zhulian），假如你在3年前以每股1令吉买进的话，那时每年派发12仙的股息，去年以3送1发红股后，每股投资成本降至75仙，该公司仍维持每年派息12仙，周息率升至16%。如果你在熊市中，趁价低廉时买进有派高息潜能的股票，长期持有，将来也可能享受到高股息回酬。

利直南（DKSH）就有此潜能。

第二步

你所买进的高股息股，还必须有适度的成长潜能。

股息高，但公司没有成长，股票不会增值，股息即使再高，也得不偿失。

高股息和成长，其实并没有冲突。

实际上，只有有适度成长的公司，才有可能保持派发高股息。

有些人只注重成长，不注重股息，等于是购买没有租金的店铺，店铺也很难增值。

高股息的公司，即使成长比较缓慢，股价也有可能高企，安利和健力士就是典型的例子。

第三步

最好购买风险较低的企业股票。假如你翻查过去30年上市公司纪录的话，你会发现几乎从来没有一家种植公司陷困，所以种植股是值得考虑的对象，但必须购买有成长潜能的种植股（未成熟油棕面积大及不断扩大种植面积的种植公司）。

当然，每一类股票都可找到好股，只要你肯下功夫研究，一定有收获。

第四步

最好用股息买进更多同一只股票，以加速复利增长率。

第五步

假如你每个月投资500令吉，如果你所买的股票，股息加资本增值，平均每年取得复利增长12%的话，10年后，你将拥有115，019令吉的身家，每年可以收到超过1万令吉的股息。你可以将这只股票视为一间小小的店铺。

假如你有守纪律的精神，加上信心和耐心，同时把你每年从公司所取得的花红也投资进去的话，你要在退休时拥有12间此类店铺，绝对是可以实现的梦想。

这一轮的股市暴跌，使许多追高的投资者蒙受重大亏损，这是很不幸的。

但是，机会是隐藏在危机中，对于反向投资者来说，这正是低价买进好股的良机。

没有人知道股市何时到底，作为价值投资者，我们应以价值为投资标准。

我认为周息率如果在8%以上，本益比不超过6倍，股价等于净有形资产，而业务稳定的股票，都值得购买。

如果你具备以上3个条件－有信心、耐心，又有守纪律的精神，你就有可能把股票视为店铺的梦想，化为事实。

视股票为店铺

2011-10-10T21:25:00.001+08:00

要在退休后达致财务自主，产业和股票仍不失为理想的投资对象。
两者各有其长处与短处。

购买产业，收取租金，是明智的投资。

购买产业，住宅不如店铺。住宅是出租给穷人——没有能力自置产业的人。租屋居住是一种消费行为，削弱了租户的财力，故不易起租，收不到租金的情况也经常出现，使屋主烦恼不已。

店铺是出租给有钱人，他们利用你的店铺做生意，是一种创造财富的行为。

如果租户生意兴隆的话，加租不是问题，收不到租金的情况也较少出现，屋主较少烦恼。

对于做生意的人来说，地点至为重要，生意一旦做旺，租户不会轻易搬迁，更何况改租别店需花大笔装修费。对住宅租户来说，地点较不重要，所以，若租金过高，租户就可能易地为良，故屋主不敢随便提高住宅租金。

是的，购买店铺收租是良好的投资。

问题是在过去两年中，产业价值暴涨，尤其是地点优良的店铺，涨幅高达50至100%，租金却没有作正比例的上升，导致回酬率下降。

两三年前，地点不错的店铺，毛租金回酬率高达8%，现在已下降至5%左右。从回酬的角度看，买店铺出租已逐渐失去吸引力。

产业投资的回酬来自租金收入和产业增值，租金收入欠理想，而在产业大幅度上升之后，增值的幅度也不乐观。

复利创财富

我认为产业涨至目前的水平，不敢说已是强弩之末，但上升速度肯定将放缓，甚至停滞不前，需要巩固一段较长的时间才有可能再上一层楼。

投资者的资金是有限的，所以，应该比较各种投资的回酬率，然后将资金投注在回酬较高及增值较快的资产，才是明智之举。

投资者一定要知道，复利增长具有创造财富的神奇力量。

从短期来说，复利增长率（compound growth rate）相差3%，并不会有明显的影响，但长期来说，开始时相差3%，但在十年、二十年之后，总数可能相差一倍。

复利的神奇力量，是在后期才发挥出来的。所以，在选择投资时，应尽量争取较高的回酬率，以加速财富的累积速度。

在产业价值暴涨后，股票已成为更有吸引力的投资管道。

股票投资，风险肯定比产业高，但如果懂得投资，回酬也可能较产业为高，最低限度在未来数年，当产业价格停滞不前时是如此。

股票价格波动激烈，而股价难以预测，要靠低买高卖来赚取高于产业的回酬，难之又难。

所以，要取得较高稳定的收入，就必须注重股息收入。

注重股息收入

你会购买没有租金的店铺吗？

我相信脚踏实地的投资者不会买租不出去的店铺。

我有一个朋友，在吉隆坡市郊的一个新开辟的市镇，购买了一间店铺，长期租不出去，而每个月要负担六、七千令吉的分期付款，压得他透不过气来。

没有租金收入，使他个人的现金流量不足，换句话说，收入不足以应付支出（包括店铺供款），使他生活陷入困境。

同样的情形，购买股票如果没有股息收入的话，将使个人的收支不平衡，生活素质将下降。

试想将大笔资金投注在没有入息的资产，生活变得捉襟见肘，即使将来能赚到大钱，又有什么意义呢？

视为租金

所以，我一向强调股息的重要性。如果有稳定的股息收入的话，我们可以把股票视为店铺，股息视为租金，这样才可以长期收藏，就好像长期持有店铺一样。

由于股票投资风险比产业投资高，所以，股息收入理应高过店铺租金回酬率，才算合理。

我的想法是定期存款比店铺更安全，所以店铺回酬率应高过定存才合理，定存利率为3%，店铺租金回酬率要5%以上才值得投资（未扣税及费用）。而店铺既然比股票安全，则股息回酬率（D/Y，通常称为周息率）应比店铺租金回酬率更高才算合理。

如果店铺租金毛回酬率为5%是可以被接受的话，则股票周息率应比定存利率高一倍——6%以上才值得投资（指净股息收益）。

股息的稳定性也是一个必须重视的因素，股息波动太大的股票也不够资格被视为店铺。

业务“安全性”

另一个重要因素是安全性。

“安全性”不是指股价，因为没有人可以预测股价的趋势。这里“安全性”是指公司业务的稳定性，财务的健全及企业有适度的成长。

如果一家公司派发合理及稳定的股息，业务与财务稳固，而又有适度的成长，买进之后，就可以视为店铺，长期持有，视股息为租金，视股价上升为产业增值。

假设你退休前最后一个月的收入为1万令吉。

如果你由初投职场时就锁定十二只股票，长期累积，并把股息重新投资下去（现在开始有些公司以新股代替现金为股息），到退休时，每只股票每年付给你1万令吉的净股息，你可以视为一个月的收入。

十二只股票每年每只发给你1万令吉，等于你每个月都有1万令吉的固定收入，你人是退休了，但收入并没有退休，你就可以过着高素质的晚年生活。

我说“高素质”是因为你退休后开支减少了，但收入并没有减少，你可以真正享受你的晚年。但惟有有耐心、有信心及有守纪律精神的人，才有可能达到此境界。

所以，你要过怎样的退休生活，决定因素还是你自己。

Quote

2011-10-10T21:20:00.003+08:00

人一旦害怕风险，就会什么事都做不成。何况瞬息万变得现在，所有的变化都是风险，在这样的环境中，只一味追求安定，守成，因害怕风险什么都不做的话，才是最大的“风险”。

柳井正

就算再年轻，再没有经验，只要能学会解决问题的方法，能够自主思考，付诸行动，无论是谁都有可能达到令人刮目相看的成绩。这种能力并非与生俱来，而是训练就能学会的后天技能。

大前研一

Millionaire Strategies

2011-10-03T21:47:00.000+08:00

The Easy Way

The simplest way to become a millionaire is to choose the right parents and/or grandparents. Paris Hilton of the Hilton Hotel chain fortune "chose" this route, as did Jamie Johnson of Johnson & Johnson and many others. Since our lineage and the occasional corresponding trust funds are usually out of our control, most of us can't take advantage of this method.

If you're incredibly lucky or have a knack for trivia, you might have a chance at winning the lottery, hitting it big in Las Vegas or winning a load of cash on a game show. But those methods may or may not throw you into the millionaire circle. Plus, with the Las Vegas approach you may find that you're hooked (in which case, you should see our How Craps Works article) and subsequently lose your fortune on your next boondoggle.

If you have extreme athletic talent, you stand a slim chance of making millions as a professional athlete. LeBron James, who went straight from high school to the NBA, got a $90 million contract from Nike before he had even played a single professional basketball game.

Bill Gates has the best of both worlds. Not only is Bill Gates an ambitious and extremely successful entrepreneur, he also had the cushion of a million-dollar trust fund to fall back on -- just in case. Most ordinary people don't have that kind of luck, but that didn't stop over 7 million people from becoming millionaires anyway.

The Harder Way

Even if you're not a trust-fund baby and aren't the luckiest person around, you can still make it big. As we mentioned earlier, most millionaires are self-made, ordinary people very much like you. But they set a goal to become a millionaire -- or at least a goal to achieve financial freedom. In order to achieve their goals, most of them started their own businesses simply because it's difficult to earn enough money to become a millionaire when you're working for someone else. Instead, you're making them a millionaire.

Nothing is a sure thing. But if you want to really have a chance at making a million dollars then working for yourself is one of the best ways. Of course, starting your own business means taking a risk, but it may not be the risk we've always thought it to be. According to an article at Business.com, the old saying that nine out of 10 new businesses fail just isn't true. The author, Dan Kehrer, says that "a review of businesses gone bust by StartupJournal.com, a Dow Jones & Co. division, shows that the number of outright business failures in the United States is highly exaggerated".

The article also explains that about one-third of business closures that government statistics assume to be failures are actually successful businesses. Their owners simply sold off pieces of the business or closed them to retire or pursue other activities.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Business Tracking Series show about 65 percent of new businesses still operating after four years. Another recent study estimates that only 10 percent of the nation's 5.5 million small businesses (not counting solo operators) close each year.

With this outlook for success, maybe starting that new business isn't such a risk after all. If you do fail, just remember that with each failure comes experience and knowledge to help the next venture succeed. Many self-made millionaires failed at businesses before they got it right. And each time they failed, they learned a lesson for their next business idea.

Which factors determine how much you should be willing to pay for a stock?

2011-08-04T15:10:00.002+08:00

The long-term prospects

Nowadays, the intelligent investor should begin by downloading at least five years’ worth of annual reports from the company’s website database at then comb through the financial statements, gathering evidence to help you answer two overriding questions.

1) What makes this company grow?

2) Where do (and where will) its profits come from?

Among the problems to watch for:

The company is a “serial acquirer.” An average of more than two or three acquisitions a year is a sign of potential trouble. After all, if the company itself would rather buy the stock of other businesses than invest in its own, shouldn’t you take the hint and look elsewhere too? And check the company’s track record as an acquirer. Watch out for corporate bulimics—firms that wolf down big acquisitions, only to end up vomiting them back out. Lucent, Mattel, Quaker Oats, and Tyco International are among the companies that have had to disgorge acquisitions at sickening losses. Other firms take chronic write-offs, or accounting charges proving that they overpaid for their past acquisitions. That’s a bad omen for future deal making.

The company is an OPM addict, borrowing debt or selling stock to raise boatloads of Other People’s Money. These fat infusions of OPM are labelled “cash from financing activities” on the statement of cash flows in the annual report. They can make a sick company appear to be growing even if its underlying businesses are not generating enough cash—as Global Crossing and WorldCom showed not long ago.

To determine whether a company is an OPM addict, read the “Statement of Cash Flows” in the financial statements. This page breaks down the company’s cash inflows and outflows into “operating activities,” “investing activities,” and “financing activities.” If cash from operating activities is consistently negative, while cash from financing activities is consistently positive, the company has a habit of craving more cash than its own businesses can produce—and you should not join the “enablers” of that habitual abuse.

The company is a Johnny-One-Note, relying on one customer (or a handful) for most of its revenues. In October 1999, fiber-optics maker Sycamore Networks, Inc. sold stock to the public for the first time. The prospectus revealed that one customer, Williams Communications, accounted for 100% of Sycamore’s $11 million in total revenues. Traders blithely valued Sycamore’s shares at $15 billion. Unfortunately, Williams went bankrupt just over two years later. Although Sycamore picked up other customers, its stock lost 97% between 2000 and 2002. As you study the sources of growth and profit, stay on the lookout for positives as well as negatives.

Among the good signs:

The company has a wide “moat,” or competitive advantage. Like castles, some companies can easily be stormed by marauding competitors, while others are almost impregnable. Several forces can widen a company’s moat: a strong brand identity (think of Harley Davidson, whose buyers tattoo the company’s logo onto their bodies); a monopoly or near-monopoly on the market; economies of scale, or the ability to supply huge amounts of goods or services cheaply (consider Gillette, which churns out razor blades by the billion); a unique intangible asset (think of Coca-Cola, whose secret formula for flavored syrup has no real physical value but maintains a priceless hold on consumers); a resistance to substitution (most businesses have no alternative to electricity, so utility companies are unlikely to be supplanted any time soon).

The company is a marathoner, not a sprinter. By looking back at the income statements, you can see whether revenues and net earnings have grown smoothly and steadily over the previous 10 years. A recent article in the Financial Analysts Journal confirmed what other studies (and the sad experience of many investors) have shown: that the fastest-growing companies tend to overheat and flame out. If earnings are growing at a long-term rate of 10% pretax (or 6% to 7% after-tax), that may be sustainable. But the 15% growth hurdle that many companies set for themselves is delusional. And an even higher rate—or a sudden burst of growth in one or two years—is all but certain to fade, just like an inexperienced marathoner who tries to run the whole race as if it were a 100-meter dash.

The company sows and reaps. No matter how good its products or how powerful its brands, a company must spend some money to develop new business. While research and development spending is not a source of growth today, it may well be tomorrow—particularly if a firm has a proven record of rejuvenating its businesses with new ideas and equipment. The average budget for research and development varies across industries and companies. In 2002, Procter & Gamble spent about 4% of its net sales on R & D, while 3M spent 6.5% and Johnson & Johnson 10.9%. In the long run, a company that spends nothing on R & D is at least as vulnerable as one that spends too much.

The quality and conduct of management

A company’s executives should say what they will do, then do what they said. Read the past annual reports to see what forecasts the managers made and if they fulfilled them or fell short. Managers should forthrightly admit their failures and take responsibility for them, rather than blaming all-purpose scapegoats like “the economy,” “uncertainty,” or “weak demand.” Check whether the tone and substance of the chairman’s letter stay constant, or fluctuate with the latest fads on Wall Street.

Pay special attention to boom years like 1999: Did the executives of a cement or underwear company suddenly declare that they were “on the leading edge of the transformative software revolution”?

These questions can also help you determine whether the people who run the company will act in the interests of the people who own the company:

Are they looking out for No. 1?

A firm that pays its CEO $100 million in a year had better have a very good reason. (Perhaps he discovered—and patented—the Fountain of Youth? Or found El Dorado and bought it for $1 an acre? Or contacted life on another planet and negotiated a contract obligating the aliens to buy all their supplies from only one company on Earth?) Otherwise, this kind of obscenely obese payday suggests that the firm is run by the managers, for the managers. If a company reprices (or “reissues” or “exchanges”) its stock options for insiders, stay away. In this switcheroo, a company cancels existing (and typically worthless) stock options for employees and executives, then replaces them with new ones at advantageous prices. If their value is never allowed to go to zero, while their potential profit is always infinite, how can options encourage good stewardship of corporate assets? Any established company that reprices options—as dozens of high-tech firms have—is a disgrace. And any investor who buys stock in such a company is a sheep begging to be sheared. By looking in the annual report for the mandatory footnote about stock options, you can see how large the “option overhang” is. AOL Time Warner, for example, reported in the front of its annual report that it had 4.5 billion shares of common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2002—but a footnote in the bowels of the report reveals that the company had issued options on 657 million more shares. So AOL’s future earnings will have to be divided among 15% more shares. You should factor in the potential flood of new shares from stock options whenever you estimate a company’s future value. There can be legitimate reasons for an insider to sell—diversification, a bigger house, a divorce settlement—but repeated big sales are a bright red flag. A manager can’t legitimately be your partner if he keeps selling while you’re buying.

Are they managers or promoters?

Executives should spend most of their time managing their company in private, not promoting it to the investing public. All too often, CEOs complain that their stock is undervalued no matter how high it goes—forgetting Graham’s insistence that managers should try to keep the stock price from going either too low or too high. Meanwhile, all too many chief financial officers give “earnings guidance,” or guesstimates of the company’s quarterly profits. And some firms are hype-o-chondriacs, constantly spewing forth press releases boasting of temporary, trivial, or hypothetical “opportunities.” A handful of companies—including Coca-Cola, Gillette, and USA Interactive—have begun to “just say no” to Wall Street’s short-term thinking. These few brave outfits are providing more detail about their current budgets and long-term plans, while refusing to speculate about what the next 90 days might hold. Finally, ask whether the company’s accounting practices are designed to make its financial results transparent—or opaque. If “nonrecurring” charges keep recurring, “extraordinary” items crop up so often that they seem ordinary, acronyms like EBITDA take priority over net income, or “pro forma” earnings are used to cloak actual losses, you may be looking at a firm that has not yet learned how to put its shareholders’ long-term interests first.

Financial strength and capital structure

A good business is this: It generates more cash than it consumes. Good managers keep finding ways of putting that cash to productive use. In the long run, companies that meet this definition are virtually certain to grow in value, no matter what the stock market does.

Start by reading the statement of cash flows in the company’s annual report. See whether cash from operations has grown steadily throughout the past 10 years. Then you can go further. Warren Buffett has popularized the concept of owner earning.

Owner Earning = Net Income + Amortization + Depreciation – Capital Expenditures

As portfolio manager Christopher Davis of Davis Selected Advisors puts it, “If you owned 100% of this business, how much cash would you have in your pocket at the end of the year?”

Because it adjusts for accounting entries like amortization and depreciation that do not affect the company’s cash balances, owner earnings can be a better measure than reported net income.

To fine-tune the definition of owner earnings, you should also subtract from reported net income:

any costs of granting stock options, which divert earnings away from existing shareholders into the hands of new inside owners.
Any “unusual,” “nonrecurring,” or “extraordinary” charges.
Any “income” from the company’s pension fund.

If owner earnings per share have grown at a steady average of at least 6% or 7% over the past 10 years, the company is a stable generator of cash, and its prospects for growth are good.

Next, look at the company’s capital structure. Turn to the balance sheet to see how much debt (including preferred stock) the company has; in general, long-term debt should be under 50% of total capital. In the footnotes to the financial statements, determine whether the long-term debt is fixed-rate (with constant interest payments) or variable (with payments that fluctuate, which could become costly if interest rates rise).

Look in the annual report for the exhibit or statement showing the “ratio of earnings to fixed charges.” That exhibit to Amazon.com’s 2002 annual report shows that Amazon’s earnings fell $145 million short of covering its interest costs. In the future, Amazon will either have to earn much more from its operations or find a way to borrow money at lower rates. Otherwise, the company could end up being owned not by its shareholders but by its bondholders, who can lay claim to Amazon’s assets if they have no other way of securing the interest payments they are owed. (To be fair, Amazon’s ratio of earnings to fixed charges was far healthier in 2002 than two years earlier, when earnings fell $1.1 billion short of covering debt payments.)

A few words on dividends and stock policy

The burden of proof is on the company to show that you are better off if it does not pay a dividend. If the firm has consistently outperformed the competition in good markets and bad, the managers are clearly putting the cash to optimal use. If, however, business is faltering or the stock is underperforming its rivals, then the managers and directors are misusing the cash by refusing to pay a dividend.

Companies that repeatedly split their shares—and hype those splits in breathless press releases—treat their investors like dolts. Like Yogi Berra, who wanted his pizza cut into four slices because “I don’t think I can eat eight,” the shareholders who love stock splits miss the point. Two shares of a stock at $50 are not worth more than one share at $100. Managers who use splits to promote their stock are aiding and abetting the worst instincts of the investing public, and the intelligent investor will think twice before turning any money over to such condescending manipulators.

Companies should buy back their shares when they are cheap—not when they are at or near record highs. Unfortunately, it recently has become all too common for companies to repurchase their stock when it is overpriced. There is no more cynical waste of a company’s cash—since the real purpose of that maneuver is to enable top executives to reap multimillion-dollar paydays by selling their own stock options in the name of “enhancing shareholder value.”

A substantial amount of anecdotal evidence, in fact, suggests that managers who talk about “enhancing shareholder value” seldom do. In investing, as with life in general, ultimate victory usually goes to the doers, not to the talkers.

为何没有第二个巴菲特？

2011-07-11T12:30:00.000+08:00

世界500名最富有的人，都是靠经营某种事业成功而致富的，巴菲特是惟一“不事生产”，单靠股票投资而挤身世界500强者。他的财富，仅次於世界首富茨盖。

研究巴菲特成功秘诀的书，少说也有一两百种，模仿他的投资法的人，当不在少数，然而世上却未闻出现第二个巴菲特，何也？

实际上，在美国，曾有不少基金经理，师法巴菲特之投资法，对巴菲特亦步亦趋，却没有听说有那一个基金，创造了如巴菲特般的辉煌业绩。

不仅是巴菲特，其他投资大师，都成为无数投资者崇拜的偶像，如彼得林奇（Peter Lynn）、邓普顿（Sir John Teupleton）、菲力辉塞（Philip Fisher）、罗杰斯（Jim Rogers）等，都是投资界巨人，为基金投资者创造庞大的财富，本身也成为富豪。

这些杰出的投资家，都曾著书立说，与投资大众分享他们的投资经验，私淑这些大师的人，难以计数，然而却没有听说有第二个彼得林奇、邓普顿、菲力辉塞、罗杰斯的出现，何也？

原来学习任何的技艺，或从事任何的事业，都可以分为两个层次，第一个层次是“方法”，第二个层次是“心法”。

长期醖酿

所谓“戏法人人会变，巧妙各自不同”，师傅可以教你怎样变戏法，而且只要中等资质的人，都可以学会，因为这是“方法”，“方法”是基率的技术，但是如何把戏法变得“巧妙”，就要提升到“心法”的层次了，“心法”是天份。

领悟训练及经验的综合体，必须经过长期的醖酿才能得到，这就要靠徒弟自动自发的去摸索，去不断的练习，才有可能成功，所谓“熟能生巧”，要“巧”，必须“熟”，熟到极点，则“心法”自然水到渠成。

譬如打球，教练可以教你“方法”，但是要成为奥运会冠军，就要靠运动员本身的资质、领悟、训练及经验的累积，到了“庖丁解牛”时，“以神遇而不以目视，官知止而神欲行”（白话：用心神去领会而不必用眼睛去观看，器官（指手）的作用停止了，只是心神在运行操作）（庄子“养生主”）。

到了上下纵横皆如意的境界，“心法”就产生了。

又譬如武术，师傅可以教你如何使刀弄棍，而且一般资质的徒弟都学得懂，因为这是“方法”。

不假思索

但是，在迎敌时，你如何见招拆招，化解对方的攻势，就必须学到不假思索就作出反应的地步才行，如果你的招数停留在“方法”的层面，对方出招时你才来想一想用什么招数去应付，肯定一败涂地。

武艺练到不假思索，自然而然的出招的地步，才可以成为“高手”，“高手”必然有“心法”。

再譬如驾车，你的驾车技术必须到了不假思索就摆动驾驶盘的地步，才可以避免车祸。

如果你看到一只野狗突然奔出公路，你才来思索要把车子摆向何方，你准会出事，不假思索就把车子驾到左方或右方，避开野狗，其实就是“心法”在操作。

股票投资亦如此，尽人皆知低买高卖可以赚钱，何以那么多人赔本？何以在低的时候不买，高的时候不卖？为什么低不买却高买。高不卖却低卖？

因为你还停留在“方法”的层面，没有到达“心法”的层面。

在“方法”的层面，你在股价低跌时，希望跌得更低，所以始终不敢出手，也不知如何出手。

就好像只懂得花拳绣腿的武师，见对方使出一记“黑虎偷心”时，才来思索如何拆招，已是太迟了。

低不买，是因为你平时不做功课，不知股票的价值，所以不敢买进。

勤做功课做到“低买”

如果你平时勤做功课，对股票的价值了然於心，当股价跌到低水平时，你知道价值是被低估了，就自然而然的产生买进的胆识，做到“低买”。

让我举一个实例：去年当嘉利丹（Kretam）的股价徘徊在1令吉20仙的水平时，我曾向一些股友建议买进，但多数人的反应是“这是一只劣股”，不要买进。

因为他们所记得的，是10年前的嘉利丹，那时嘉里丹由于属下股票行、高达2亿多令吉的烂账而陷入困境，几乎没顶。

该公司进行业务重组，发出一系列的可赎回及不可赎回债券，这些债券利息和数额各异。

该公司靠着3万6000英亩油棕园的盈利，加上脱售一些非核心资产，逐步赎回债券，加以注销，经过了将近10年的奋斗，终於一步一步的还清债务。

到去年8月时终於无债一身轻，手头甚至还有数千万令吉的现金，试问一家在沙巴拥有3万6000英亩油棕园，完全没有负债的公司，怎么会出毛病？怎能称为“劣股”？

为什么嘉利丹会给投资者以“劣股”的印象？

原来该公司的债券有多种，利息和还期不同，该公司忍辱负重，默默地，一步一步地赎回，每年赎回的数额，胥视公司的盈利而定，除非肯下工夫去挖掘这些资料，又长期追踪该公司财务进展情况。

错失良机

否则，很难了解该公司的实况，到投资机会出现时，投资者脑海中只记得10年前嘉利丹陷困时的惨状，看不到火浴后重生的嘉利丹，就这样错过了低价买进嘉利丹的机会。

另一个原因是多数人不了解油棕园的价值。

目前沙巴油棕园每英亩的市价高达2万5000令吉，假如以每股1令吉20仙买进嘉利丹，等于以3亿令吉购买3万6000英亩油棕园，平均每英亩买价约为8000令吉，以8000令吉买进价值2万5000令吉的油棕园，风险何在？

为什么不买，因为不了解，不了解，是因为没做功课。

特此声明，我只是举嘉利丹为实例，说明何以投资者做不到“低买”，并非推荐投资者买进嘉利丹。

提升层次

毕竟现在嘉利丹的股价已直逼2令吉20仙，而不是1令吉20仙了。

如上所说，投资者若无法将自己提升到具有“心法”的层次，岂不是没机会在股市赚钱
是的，如果要成为第二个巴菲特，就非有巴菲特的“心法”不可，很少人能达到巴菲特的“心法”水平，所以很少人，甚至没有人可以成为第二个巴菲特。

但是，身为普通人的散户，也不必成为第二个巴菲特，只要能做到每年取得15%复利增长率的成绩，投资30年，到退休时就可以做到“财务自主”，做个有尊严的乐龄人。

身为凡夫俗子，我们只要坚持一些原则，脚踏实地进行投资，不投机，不取巧，就可以取得可观的投资成绩。

财富不能无中生有

这些原则包括：

1.一定要相信：财富不能“无中生有”，一定要有“价值”作为后盾，才能持久。没有价值的资产，就是“泡沫”，随时会消失。没有价值的股票，有如建在沙丘上的大厦，随时会倒塌。

2.没有成长的股票不会增值，成长时有时无，甚至负成长的股票价值飘浮不定，股价随之起舞，很难捉摸。

3.最好的股票，是盈利长期保持稳健成长的公司的股票，稳健但长期成长，胜过高成长但不稳健的股票。成长率不必高，只要年年取得15%以上的成长，就可以成为蓝筹股，值得长期持有。

4.价值“需要时间去创造，不能一蹴即成。果子需要时间成熟，树木需要时间成长，同样的，生意需要时间去完成。

生意是一种过程，从买原料，制成产品、销售、收账，每个环节都需要时间去完成，需要按步就班进行，绝无魔术可变。

你必须给时间让你所投资的公司去完成这个过程，为你创造价值，故投资宜长期，长期才能累积财富，并无捷径可循，快餐式的投资无法致富，快速致富根本行不通。

5.长期投资只需看股市大势，不必理会短期的波动，预测短期股市成功的巴仙率很低，不值得去尝试。

股市的运作有如一场球赛，你永远不知道对方会把球打向那一个方向。你不是他，怎么知道他在想什么？做什么？你又怎样能打败对手？

参与大马股市的，少说也有400万人，等于有400万种想法。庄子与惠子在濠梁上观鱼，庄子说：河中之鱼悠游自在，所以很快乐。惠子说：“子非鱼，安知鱼之乐？”（你不是鱼，怎么知道鱼快乐？）（庄子“秋水”）

同样的，你只是400万投资者之一，怎么知道其他399万9999名投资者在想什么？

股市只看大势即可

又何况世界每一个角落所发生的大事，都可能影响他们的想法，预测他们的动向是白费心机。故股市只看大势即可，不必理会短期波动，大势如潮汐，可以预测，短期波动如波浪，千变万化，根本不能预测。

股票投资，如果要取得大师般的超常成绩，就要有大师“心法”的层次，并非普通人可以做到，作为普通人，只要能取得超越大势的成绩，已属杰出投资者。

你若能坚持以上5原则，即使没有特出表现，要在退休时达到“财务自主”，绝对可能！