Workplace BS

[Westernskies]

Originally Posted by brewer12345

):sometimes I think I don't need a vasectomy; I need my balls removed.

I hear that Jesse Jackson is willing to help...

[NW-Bound]

Originally Posted by NW-Bound

I am trying. Like I said, I am just a nerd. NO sarcasm intended. I want to make money, and will listen to all viewpoints.

Forgot to add this disclaimer: I currently do not own, nor ever bought any Chinese stock, nor will anytime soon (I do not even know what to buy, not having researched the market). Just toss this idea out in response to another post, as a point for your own mulling. Jim Rogers books, I read for his multi-year worldwide treks/adventures, and on-the-scene observations of various governments and cultures. He went far beyond places that my Eurail passes would take me. And there are so many Euro rail spurs to explore, so little time, so little money...

[Nords]

Originally Posted by NW-Bound

Jim Rogers books, I read for his multi-year worldwide treks/adventures, and on-the-scene observations of various governments and cultures. He went far beyond places that my Eurail passes would take me. And there are so many Euro rail spurs to explore, so little time, so little money...

Jim Rogers, the guy who sold his Manhattan home for a gazillion dollars of cap gains and moved his family to China so that his preschool daughter could grow up speaking Mandarin?

What Brewer said...

[Alan]

Originally Posted by RunningBum

Oh, yeah, I'm sure this is a US thing only. The rest of the world is well-known for having no barriers to business productivity.

And if US businesses cannot possibly be productive, what makes you think stock prices will come back up??

Trust me when I tell you that British run megacorps ar just as bad as US megacorps when it comes to BS and red-tape, and they both shine like bright stars in comparison to their European counterparts. I have experienced this in bucket fulls over the last 30 years working in the US, UK and Belgium and listened to many friends and colleagues relating similar stories to this thread.

Originally Posted by ikubak

..... I am sure he is still a richard cranium.

Not heard that phrase, but I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunity to use it.

[brewer12345]

Originally Posted by NW-Bound

Forgot to add this disclaimer: I currently do not own, nor ever bought any Chinese stock, nor will anytime soon (I do not even know what to buy, not having researched the market). Just toss this idea out in response to another post, as a point for your own mulling. Jim Rogers books, I read for his multi-year worldwide treks/adventures, and on-the-scene observations of various governments and cultures. He went far beyond places that my Eurail passes would take me. And there are so many Euro rail spurs to explore, so little time, so little money...

Frankly, I have never bought any Chinese equity, nor do I plan to. The standard of investor protection is waaayyy too low for me to even consider it. However, there are plenty of other investments out there that give you exposure to what is going on in the Chinese economy

[BunsGettingFirm]

Originally Posted by Marquette

The book was thin enough that I decided to waste 20 minutes on it.

Executive summary of the book: Change happens so adapt or die. Also, if you see man-sized mice or mouse-sized men, you're probably on LSD.

or in an NYC Subway station.

[NW-Bound]

Right after I made my last post, I had to log off to drive up to my mountain "retreat". No Internet access, which lets me catch up on some reading. How can you guys find time to read (and I am sure you read)?

Originally Posted by Nords

Jim Rogers, the guy who sold his Manhattan home for a gazillion dollars of cap gains and moved his family to China so that his preschool daughter could grow up speaking Mandarin?

What Brewer said...

Quite radical, I know. There was no indication he would do that in his first 2 books. I only found out recently, when I decided to check on the Web to see what he's up to. And, having gone hardover on Chinese stocks, I wonder how his investments are doing with their market meltdown.

I'll admit that I am not sure how I would value his opinions, had I known his recent move to Singapore. The guy is quite different than the common man in order to travel into places that had 99.9% chance of resulting in bodily harms. Recently, I saw an interview with him on youtube. Looks like a pleasant man to me...

Well, if nothing else, his books gave me a heck of a geographic lesson. With Google Earth, everything looks so small and so close together. I keep having to remind myself that the view on the ground is quite different.

Originally Posted by brewer12345

Frankly, I have never bought any Chinese equity, nor do I plan to. The standard of investor protection is waaayyy too low for me to even consider it. However, there are plenty of other investments out there that give you exposure to what is going on in the Chinese economy

Yes. Now you are talking ...

[RockOn]

Originally Posted by NW-Bound

I'll admit that I am not sure how I would value his opinions, had I known his recent move to Singapore. The guy is quite different than the common man in order to travel into places that had 99.9% chance of resulting in bodily harms. Recently, I saw an interview with him on youtube. Looks like a pleasant man to me...

I value his opinions highly, he called the commodity boom long before it happened, CNBC ridiculed him week after week for it when he was on that show.

He said Freddie and Fannie were a disaster several years ago and said he was short.

He called the upturn in the airlines a few years back when they were still in the tank. (before the big rally and recent swoon)

He called the real estate crash.

Now he says the FED is nuts for bailing everybody out. See if that doesn't come true too.

His track record is much better than most. If I listen to anyone he's in my top ten.

[NW-Bound]

Originally Posted by RockOn

I value his opinions highly, he called the commodity boom long before it happened, CNBC ridiculed him week after week for it when he was on that show.

He said Freddie and Fannie were a disaster several years ago and said he was short.

He called the upturn in the airlines a few years back when they were still in the tank. (before the big rally and recent swoon)

He called the real estate crash.

Now he says the FED is nuts for bailing everybody out. See if that doesn't come true too.

His track record is much better than most. If I listen to anyone he's in my top ten.

You are right! He was prescient in those things you mentioned. Like I said, I was caught up in his travel adventure, and forgot about his financial predictions. Still, how he's doing in Chinese stocks, anybody knows? You could be right all your life, until you decide to put it all on number 13!

[brewer12345]

Originally Posted by NW-Bound

You are right! He was prescient in those things you mentioned. Like I said, I was caught up in his travel adventure, and forgot about his financial predictions. Still, how he's doing in Chinese stocks, anybody knows? You could be right all your life, until you decide to put it all on number 13!

I think Mr. Rogers is up there with Bill Gross of PIMCO: they both like to talk their book in front of the media, regardless of whether any of it is anything other than the sheerest tissue of horse siht.

As for Chinese stocks, the ETF you want to look at for the Shanghai market is FXI. Great over several years, not so good recently.

[NW-Bound]

Originally Posted by brewer12345

I think Mr. Rogers is up there with Bill Gross of PIMCO: they both like to talk their book in front of the media, regardless of whether any of it is anything other than the sheerest tissue of horse siht.

As for Chinese stocks, the ETF you want to look at for the Shanghai market is FXI. Great over several years, not so good recently.

Still, they got more money than I do. Maybe they know something I don't?
Well , at least as it comes to investing, which our discussion here is limited to, yes?

[NW-Bound]

Originally Posted by Alan

Trust me when I tell you that British run megacorps ar just as bad as US megacorps when it comes to BS and red-tape, and they both shine like bright stars in comparison to their European counterparts. I have experienced this in bucket fulls over the last 30 years working in the US, UK and Belgium and listened to many friends and colleagues relating similar stories to this thread.

I trust you.

When at megacorps, we kept saying the only way we survived was because we competed with dinosaurs like ourselves. Well, until the little mammals start scurrying around...

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Originally Posted by ikubak

richard cranium.

Rectocranial inversion.

[cashbalancetrouble]

When my company president got his own copier in his office, he wanted to cut copy expenses everywhere else. Copiers were modified to require a counter that would plug into it before it would work. Each department was issued a counter and an employee would have to get their counter before a copy could be made. Records for use were recorded weekly. This stupidity lasted about six months.

Just think, if this would have caught on, no more global warming Al.

[Finance Dave]

Originally Posted by NW-Bound

I'll admit that I am not sure how I would value his opinions, had I known his recent move to Singapore. The guy is quite different than the common man in order to travel into places that had 99.9% chance of resulting in bodily harms. Recently, I saw an interview with him on youtube.

Maybe I'm misreading your post...are you saying that if you go to Singapore you're 99.9% likely to obtain bodily harm?

[NW-Bound]

Originally Posted by Finance Dave

Maybe I'm misreading your post...are you saying that if you go to Singapore you're 99.9% likely to obtain bodily harm?

No. I am sorry my post was misleading .

Jim Rogers went through Angola, and similar places that were rife with guerrillas, bandits, rogue soldiers, etc... The guy was NUTS !!!

The 1st time he toured the world (5 continents) with his girlfriend, each riding a BMW motorcycle. He claimed to be the only one traversing the vast Siberia, and not simply riding the TransSiberian Railroad. The roads, or trails that he took were not on the map. In fact, before the trip, his girlfriend looked at their maps and said "There's something wrong with this map. There's no road connecting the dots representing the cities or towns." He said "When we get there, we'll get better maps". They found out there were no better maps. There's no road! Hilarious!!!

In 2nd trek, he was older, so did it in a specially modified Mercedes. Its uniqueness was a great help, because as he wrote it, it dazzled the soldiers, border guards enough that they let him pass before realizing that they were supposed to rob him! Hilarious!!!

P.S. He chose a Mercedes SUV as the base for his vehicle for an utmost reason: In every corner of the world, no matter how poor, how desolate, you can always get parts for it. All tyrants, dictators drive Mercedes, and you will have no problem getting service. In fact, seeing his vehicle, they made friend and that got him passage!

[Finance Dave]

thanks for clarifying Bound..I did not know this story. Sounds like he should have used Google Earth.

[NW-Bound]

Originally Posted by Finance Dave

thanks for clarifying Bound..I did not know this story. Sounds like he should have used Google Earth.

I do not remember the time of his first trek on motorcycle, as recounted in "Investment Biker", but it was roughly in the late 80s, early 90s. There was no Internet then, as we know it today. That was when he crossed Siberia, a vast territory wider than the US.

He started his 2nd trek after celebrating the Millenium NewYear in Iceland, so the Internet already was popular then. This was told in his 2nd book, "Adventure Capitalist". I only learned after the facts, but he did have a blog site. Even if there were roads, he told stories of treacherous muddy stretches in tropical countries, sand traps in the Sahara. Fascinating.

I still maintain that the guy is NUTS. In person in interviews, he sounded pleasant and amicable. His wealth is not disclosed, but estimates range from centimillionaire to billionaire status. Remember that he cofounded Quantum Hedge Fund with the well-known George Soros. From his books, I had the impression that he is a frugal type, having grown up in a rural setting.

His later books on investing in China did not make as good a reading, perhaps simply because of the subject. Investing, or world travel, what's more interesting? The choice is obvious.