All Posts

Confucius said that real knowledge is knowing the extent of one’s ignorance. Aristotle and Socrates said the same thing. Is it a skill that can be taught or learned? It probably can, if you have enough of a stake riding on the outcome. Some people are extraordinarily good at knowing the limits of their knowledge, because they have to be. Think of somebody who’s been a professional tightrope walker for 20 years—and has survived. He couldn’t survive as a tightrope walker for 20

"READ This one's a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised at how many successful people check their outside interests at the door once they put their name and title on it. Keep your worldview as wide as possible. If you're in the widget business, it's not enough to know widgets. Celebrate your well-roundednessl Stay on top of public events and economic developments. Read at least two daily newspapers all the way through. Always have a book going. Learn a little bit about a

"Every morning, millions of Malaysians wake up surrounded by invisible fortunes; companies that generate 10x, 50x, even 100x returns for investors. Yet most people have no idea these wealth machines even exist. Meet Encik Rahman, a civil engineer in Kuala Lumpur. His day is about to reveal a secret: the greatest investment opportunities aren't always the ones with flashy logos or celebrity endorsements. They're hiding in plain sight, powering every moment of Malaysian life

Author John Huo in the Malaysian number one book bestseller, Malaysian Multibaggers, gives a blueprint for finding companies that delivered 10x-100x Returns on Bursa. He writes about the "genetic code" of a 100-bagger, and states that if you can find a company that has all four of these genes, you have found your "durian tree sapling". Indeed, it is a content heavy book that is rife with potential about succeeding on Bursa Malaysia, and particularly in the growth stocks (and

"KEEP A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF If you bend to every demand, there'll be nothing left to justify the transaction. And yet if you demand everything, there'll be no transaction. There's a great episode of Taxi in which Louie De Palma, the character played by Danny DeVito, is given an opportunity to literally fill in a blank check to complete a deal, and he pulls out his few remaining hairs in coming up with a figure. He knows there's a number that will make his benef

"Embracing “I’m not sure” is difficult. We are trained in school that saying “I don’t know” is a bad thing. Not knowing in school is considered a failure of learning. Write “I don’t know” as an answer on a test and your answer will be marked wrong. Duke, Annie. Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts (pp. 26-27). Penguin Publishing Group." Annie Duke argues that life (and investing) is a lot more akin to poker than it is to chess. Chess, r

"The Battle of Long Island was a disaster for George Washington’s army. His ten thousand troops were crushed by the British and its four-hundred-ship fleet. But it could have been so much worse. It could have been the end of the Revolutionary War. All the British had to do was sail up the East River and Washington’s cornered troops would have been wiped out. But it never happened, because the wind wasn’t blowing in the right direction and sailing up the river became impossibl

Entry level financial education books frequently even if not always highlight Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad series of books. Yet the Rich Dad series by Robert Kiyosaki are widely described as brash, unconventional, and even confrontational. Its confrontational posture, often striking a stark contrast between the author's two fathers (the rich dad and poor dad) lead to allegations and insinuations that the author was being unfair in his description of the poor dad. The original

Come war, oil supply shocks or a change in hegemony in the global economy, the belief is the Government is capable of and will take care of you. Inflation, interest rate, money supply, credit supply and even food on the table will all be taken care off to perfection by the Government of the day? Indeed, there are people who may even believe that water finds its level - that wealth will be redistributed from the rich to the poor! More taxes will be paid by the rich, and that

Again, die With Zero came highly recommended to me, perhaps for its insistence of shocking the average person (in this part of the world) into considering their 'autopilot' and deciding what to live their life for. If, according to the book, you are of a certain decent amount of income and assets, then you could spend your money on a designer latte or cappucino, or you could spend your wealth in a faraway beach somewhere, as long as it is a conscious decision. After all, mem

Die With Zero came highly recommended to me, perhaps for its insistence of shocking the average person (in this part of the world) into considering their 'autopilot' and deciding what to live their life for. If, according to the book, you are of a certain decent amount of income and assets, then you could spend your money on a designer latte or cappucino, or you could spend your wealth in a faraway beach somewhere, as long as it is a conscious decision. After all, memories,

One of the frustrations of investing from this part of the world is the seeming emphasis on investing in the USA, a jurisdiction which is extremely liquid and therefore easy to enter and exit as an investor. Most investors invest in this faraway jurisdiction that they may or may not understand. For the average person on the street, they may not have seen or experienced life in the this country half way across the world. Is there any way that you can support local industries,

This blog post is admittedly pre-reading thoughts on the book Die with Zero, which this blogger will read soon. The book is a subject of great local word of mouth, and, it is understood, indirectly only, suggests a certain budgetting for fun and leisure based on an individual’s age - an individual’s idea of fun in their twenties is different from an individual’s idea of fun in their seventies. An individual shouldn’t have to wait till retirement before experiencing fun and

It's still holiday season for some people, I know. Hari Raya, for some people, is pretty much now. Its an occasion for some to go on an excursion. An outing. Or spend some time away from home. Attention goes towards the loved ones. Or friends and family. Who wants to read a book? In other words, we're a quarter of the way into the year and some feel they already need a deserved break. There is no time to read about new literature. The Education of a Value Investor Of all t

It's still holiday season for some people. Hari Raya, for example, is around the corner. Its an occasion for some to go on an excursion. An outing. Or spend some time away from home. Attention goes towards the loved ones. Or friends and family. Who wants to read a book? In other words, we're a quarter of the way into the year and some feel they already need a deserved break. There is no time to read about new literature. Warren Buffett's Ground Rules Of all the possibiliti

What's there not to like if one is, for example, raking it in as a professional in engineering, or any other profession? Engineering in particular, as an example, is one of the highest paid jobs possible in this part of the world. As construction of infrastructure or other developments continues to take flight, those in such related professions have nothing to complain about. Life is good, after all. And one is therefore worried about complacency and reaching a plateau in l

For some readers, businss may already be good. Revenues are coming in and your net worth may be increasing, modestly. You're already jetsetting through Asia or even holidaying in the Maldives. There is not much else that you could ask for! Is there anything more you could hope for? It is not to say that one is complacent, but you are already committed to a steady business and the business is taking up your efforts as it is. In that context, your time is already money and t

Investing is an entirely different world. If you're an employee or working professional, nothing from school or higher education prepares you for the world of investing in the stock market. Are you seriously ready to critically analyse a prosectus, circular or annual report? What are all the stock exchange filings that you need to know about? Even if you have come across them at work, relying on such information to grow your money is something else entirely. For this reason,

Many people find investing difficult. Just the very idea of it is a put-off. It's always hard to get the ball rolling. Between a day-job, house chores and family commitments, it is hard to imagine finding the time to fix your financial situation, immediately. Everybody's situation is different and there is no one-size-fits-all for getting out of or improving your financial situation. Nobody can really give you straight answers for your predicament. Re-Read The Book One way o

It is easy to regard investing in public international markets as some sort of validation and confirmation of your abilities and aptitudes. How in tune are you with the latest artificial intelligence and technological breakthroughs. How in tune are you to any of the other latest fads and trends to grip the world (such as blind box labubu dolls)? Are you on top of the latest global developments to the extent that you can invest and make money in them? Are you better than ev