Thursday, July 20, 2006

Share Regrets

I have been actively buying shares as long as I have been blogging (2004) and have made some investment decisions that have turned out to be both good and bad. Here’s a re-cap of the major lemons:

Total Bonkers Broker!
I deposited a cheque with my broker to open an account while I picked the stocks I wanted for my portfolio - and then settled on Kenya Airways (KQ) which I felt was undervalued at 11 shillings (11/=) per share given it’s growth and earnings. But, when I got my first statement from the broker, in addition to my KQ shares, two-thirds of my money had been used to buy me shares in Total (Oil) at 37/=. I called the broker and was told that Total was a good company and shares were likely to appreciate

This would not happen to me today, but at the time, I was new at the broker. I was timid, and didn’t want to rock the boat - I had no sense of my rights and expectations as a shareholder. I felt that if I had asked for the shares to be un-sold, the broker would handed me back my cash and closed my account, since I was not ready to follow his advice in the mysterious arena of share investments.

So I sat with my Total shares, and since I didn’t want to have a negative cash position in my account I sold some KQ shares at 12/= to bring my account back to zero.

Outcome I kept my Total shares for a almost a year, got a 2.50 shilling dividend, and sold them at the same price of 37/= - and they are still at 37/= today, while KQ is at 113/=

Broker vs. Investor Smarts!
I attended one Serena AGM (as a proxy) where the company announced that there would seen be restructuring to combine their holdings in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. Other companies that have had rights issues had seen their share prices appreciate if investors looked positively at the moves (e.g. KCB). I had just sold my Total shares and thought this was a good buy as Serena was around 50/= per share then.

At the AGM lunch I met a classmate of mine who worked at one investment bank and I shared my thoughts with her ”should I buy Serena?” “nah, looks good, but buy Breweries” “Tourism is hot, the company is going to be bigger in a few months” “nah, breweries just had a stock split (now at 90/=, buy now as it will soon go back up to 300)”.

Outcome I took her advice, placed an order for EABL which was rapidly rising from 90 to 110, 115, then 130 when my broker finally bought the shares. Again I kept them for a year, got a 3/= dividend and sold them at the same price of 130/=. Meanwhile Serena's shares rose after the AGM from 50, 70, to 80 when they announced the rights issue and closed their register. After they re-listed, the new company shares are now at 115/=.

Uchumi
I had read the prospectus at the time of the rights issue, and all the research, about Uchumi. I did not believe in the company then, did not participate, but only bought the shares afterwards when the prices started going up.

Outcome I was greedy and bought into a company I knew had no fundamentals because I would have sold at a higher price. Now I'm stuck, and on Friday, we shareholders will be asked to invest another 300 million shillings into the company.

Ultimate Sin
Looking at Ory’s shareholding is an excellent indication of the time value of share investments and the need to start early. At one time Breweries shares were going for 50 shillings, B.A.T 45, Barclays 90 and Portland cement was 15! Some shares may look expensive, but where will they be in ten years?

A few years ago I was on holiday from the States, and home for a typical Kenyan student summer trip - sun, sand, fun, tusker, nyama choma etc. I had also lined up a possible interview with a leading stockbroker in Nairobi to feel out future employment prospects. I was working at the time, and one of my good friends there (also Kenyan) suggested that now would be a good time to buy some shares in Kenya because it was so hard to save money in the US. He gave me a $1,000 to give the stockbroker and I also set aside $500 to add to the pile.

I came to Nairobi and interviewed with the stockbroker - it was more a chat really, that went nowhere. He didn’t give much information, was not encouraging, was non-committal on a job offer, and was maybe preoccupied with his impending political foray. So I never brought up the issue of buying shares and after I left his office, all the money was wasted on sun, sand, fun, tusker, nyama choma etc.


Big mistake. Big. Huge!

I then went back to the States and had work harder, to repay my friend.

Outcome What a wasted opportunity - I may have become a student millionaire.

43 comments:

gathinga said...

Interesting Recap banks. i guess everyone has a similar history to tell. the moral of the story is perhaps we need to stop chiling and do our gut feel.These guys who ouhht to advise us laymen appear to have no idea. And had you been a conservative investor and deposited your cash with any of the fund managers then, your cash would have grown only 150% -200%. Compared with the 1000% for EAPC. In short, this proves to those guys who have been batting for Unit Trusts to hold their horses!!!!

Anonymous said...

checking out a companys financial figures, and refreshing ones memory about the fundamentals of investing counts.But either way by investing one is always at risk unless you stick to unit trusts.
speaking of which any info on unit trust?

Anonymous said...

Getting in early is the best thing anyone can do.

NSE has been good to me, i'm up 26% this year from a basket of 11 stocks, my gains could buy me a small sedan. I'm also in unit trusts, i run my own portfolio just to compare myself against professional fund managers.

If NSE can get electronic trading happening soon, & someone builds an online platform, etrade kinda website. Day trading will be my thing.

Anonymous said...

Hi,...
invoked God's name after i read this (hopefully no wrath) and thanks for insight and so much so in the 'need to be firm with the stockbroker' - thanks for link to kenyan pundit's article - that was a good piece too!
thanks again for yet another informative blog

Anonymous said...

True that the stock market is a casino...only that there are no beauties gracing it..

Anonymous said...

The way I see it, fundamentals are important, but there's also a lot of muchene that drives the other crazy people in the market with you. Some of it is insider information, most isn't. What burns me is how our business reporters ignore even that which is in the public domain.

Case in point: Scangroup. Our papers are all standing around holding their noses and making faces. Nobody is saying who farted. So Bharat is pocketing half a billion off (IMHO) an overpriced offering. No surprise there. He's entitled not to reinvest if he so wishes.

What's surprising is that at the IPO's launch Ntalami blasted him about it, hinted that he had tricked the CMA and even used the word "fraud" to describe such behaviour. As Scangroup controls 25 per cent of all 'advertising exposure' this little spat was overlooked. (The Nation went as far as to misreport what was happening with the Sh700m)

I know reporting on an IPO is tricky new ground, but I think this incident is reflective of all business reporting. Material facts get left out, the few with information drive the market, and suddenly share performance is wildly delinked from fundamentals. Enter greed, fear and someone loses their money.

Anonymous said...

Propaganda, are you telling us to steer clear of Scangroup?

Anonymous said...

Banks, what would you advise on the buy for Scangroup. My take is to have a portion of it for the very short term.
What do you have to say about today's article in the Daily Nation regarding Kengen's share value?

Anonymous said...

Banks, what would you advise on the buy for Scangroup. My take is to have a portion of it for the very short term.
What do you have to say about today's article in the Daily Nation regarding Kengen's share value?

Anonymous said...

No, Nellie. Look at the numbers and buy if you like. (I'm probably going in for a few thousand myself, which is fewer than I had in mind before I read the prospectus: It looks okay, but the premium is greater than I -- no expert, mind you -- expected for such a company. There's nothing really to compare it to).

I'm just pissed with local business 'reporting'. It's like reading PR releases until all hell breaks loose. I want drama. Dirt. The 'inside' stuff that moves markets. This 'see no evil' approach is not helping anyone.

Anonymous said...

LOL!
Propaganda -- am a business journalist!!!
What more would you like to see?

gathinga said...

propagfanda really hit the nail on the had here!!

my take on EQUITY BANK'S future

www.gathinga.blogspot.com

coldtusker said...

@propaganda - Hilarious!

Ntalami used to head up Sterling Securities which got KICKED OUT of the NSE while he as its CEO or Chairman!

If there is "fraud" then STOP it now.

QUESTIONS???

BT is allowed to cash out & it is in the prospectus! Did ntalami read it BEFORE CMA approved it?

Wasn't he the same guy who refused to comment on CMA's role in the Uchumi debacle?

What is the purpose Of "blasting" CT & ScanGroup at a press conference when the issue has been approved by the CMA (he being the CMA's CEO)???

Check out my take - www.coldtusker.blogspot.com

Spidey/Tato said...

but i guess u win some and lose some itstsill better than not bein in the game in the first place..but seriously KQ looked like it wasnt goin anywhere 4 a very long time

LOL at pretty woman chic...and just like her u will return to that store with ur head held high! "bankelele walkin down the street bankelele.."

Ken said...

@Nick: guess he shld have labelled the post ' a random walk down kimathi street'
@Banks: Following the gut depends on just how much you can stomach. In June last year I developed cold feet when kq hit 76 the day I had placed the order and I called my broker and cancelled. Settled for MSC @43. Cant say I blame any one but my own cowardice.

Looking at the prices for the market overall, the rate at which the prices of stocks jumped in 2005 was pretty high (simple avg 65.26%) so far this year we are at (simple) avg 28.26% I think we have more loosers than winners with investors in Uchumi and Alternative inv and the agricultural sector being the worst hit.

Moral diversify wisely.

Anonymous said...

I just don't think scangroup has the fundamentals to survive on the stock market for long! I can bet you this stock will not survive - this is what I call a 'Hype Stock' - people are excited but the only beneficiaries from this issue are the institutional investors, current shareholders and the regulation agencies! This company does not have a 'product' that can sustain revenue growth - leave alone excitement in the market. "Advertising - is too risky" Look at their balance sheet critically? The one company whose business closely/sought of compares to scangroup is Nationmedia. Analyse these two companies - Balance sheet and Income statements - "Keep in mind the size difference" and you will realize Scangroup is a "HYPE STOCK" - Just like African Lakes, when it listed in early 2000's.

Nation Media's Balance sheet:
http://www.nairobist.com/stocks/financials/?id=10&item=1

Nation media's Income statement:
http://www.nairobist.com/stocks/financials/?id=10&item=2

Scangroup's balance sheet
http://www.nairobist.com/stocks/financials/?id=51&item=1

Scangroup's Income statement
http://www.nairobist.com/stocks/financials/?id=51&item=2

In short, scangroup is very very risk. If you want to invest in this stock, I think you need to be very well diversified: (KPLC, EAPORTLAND< EACABLES, MUMIAS and other non-related companies). Otherwise as a small investor - huna chako!

Ama sio?

Anonymous said...

im not in kenya but one thing is that advertising and marketing are fundamental to an economy and in a young economy like kenya there is room for growth but looking at 5-10 year range i would buy scanngroup.

if i had a stash of cash i would be buying uchumi right now(risky but looking at the local level and global trends uchumi will definitely be an acquistion target same for scangroup only thing about uchuni is the politicians that removes all business logic)

But back to scangroup - scangroup has been around atleast its entities from the early 80's thru the terrible 90's. buy scangroup if you are bullish on the kenyan economy dont if you are bearish

Anonymous said...

BUBBLE !!!!!!
"The stock market becomes a bubble when you can no longer have a simple analysis of how returns will be made for the investor"
Scangroup fundamentals are not that convincing, revenues of 2.8 Billion, and profit of 200 million before tax? damn seems like their costs of doing business are really high !!! The only thing that would make me buy into the company, is because with the rush of IPO'S coming hot on the heels of one another, then they stand to make good money creating advertisements and marketing materials, elections are also around the corner. Overall Scangroup is a good buy medium term, not long term coz advertising is a cyclical industry but the potential for making some money is definitely there.
The basic rule of investing is "invest in something that you understand " and also dont ever trust an anlyst, remember they are only interested in attracting the investment banking business, and are not interested in small retail fish like us. so their research will always be biased and slanted to make the big client happy.

Anonymous said...

i think my investment philosophy is that i invest in the whole economy msotly - thats why people by GE, and wal-mart coz those companies represent the economy as whole and ebenfit from different sectors, so i ideally my portfolio would consist.

transport,telecom,advertising,food and bev,banking,manufacturing et a-ll unfortunately teh stocke exchange in kenya does not really represent all segments of the economy. for exampel the agric secor has only 'old agriculture' not new.

but then again wjhat on the NSE is based on fundamentals. if we were to go that route strictly then kengen im sorry but i would not touch it.

still on teh topic of stocks - can soembdoy tell what KPLC's business model is. i mean to be a customer you have to pay them to build the infrastructure (i.e invest in them) and then they sit on your cash for like 3yrs and sytilll you havent got electricity

to put this in perspective it owuld be like in order to get cell phone service you would be require to find 10 of your friends then pay for the cell tower in order to get service

Anonymous said...

Slim, I'm getting into that right now. Check Zimele, they have very good diversified investment ventures.

Ken said...

Guys there is a big difference between 'investing' and 'trading/speculating'.
The market is full of both kinds. Scangroup may not interest the investors as it doesn't come across as a value stock but traders are interested in any stock in the market regardless it's fundamentals.
I am a trader. I believe the value of the stock 3months after they open trading will give better returns than banking my money including adjusting for inflation.

Anonymous said...

Digression: jaime You're cute!!

pesa tu said...

Ha...Ha.. and i thought i was the only one with a sob-story on investing. I bought KBL at 48/- and sold it(after name change to EABL) 16 months later at 85/-.
In investing u take profits and losses.Thats the game.Opportunities never stop coming.

Check out my take on Scangroup at;
www.pesatu.blogspot.com

bankelele said...

gathinga: I have also received god advice from brokers e.g Mumias, but the bad ones sting so bad!


Sassy: I want a unit trust for money markets and bonds. but not equities

Anonymous: Agreed, getting in early is the best thing, but day trading is a long way off.

Kenyan Pundit has done well for herself

Propaganda: Investmetns are a mix of profession aldvice, news, fundamentals, muchene, greed. I applaud Bharat for putting his dream on the line and showing other entrepreneurs how to exit gracefully from their companies

Jakarumba: Am buying 1,000. As for Kengen each stockbroker/analyst can give a differeent opinion

Nelie: Welcome to theforum

Gathinga: Have some issues with Equity and am not touching it at 70/=

Coldtusker: YOu have been pretty harsh on CMA, with good reason. Maybe they will notice and change their slothful ways

Nick: KQ was everyone's WORST investment, two years ago. I saw the movie on NTV during WC, and that line is just so apt when you realise you have made a major blunder

Ken: Imagine I told people NOT to buy KQ at 48

MpendaPesa: there are several hype stocks on NSE. ScanG is not a dot.com but we are entering an era of companies that have more intangible measures

Tee: Thanks

Anonymous: You can't buy Uchumi, though Gathinga is also buying

Jomba: I'm buying

Mashatall: Media companies have lots of intangibles like Scangroup, but I agree even many analysts don't understand and are recycling what SG feeds them



Slim: investment club or investment company? keep your eyes open and read the fine print

Ken: I think our investmets are a mix of both

Jaime: See Gathinga

Pesa tu: I thought i'd share my sob stories, maybe you should too!

Anonymous said...

Tks Banks!
Lemme pay my respects -- your blog rocks!!!

Anonymous said...

Nellie: I'd like to be able to read about what's really happening from papers, not blogs. Coldtusker has helped put Ntalami's (under-reported!) comments in perspective. Bharat's actions, Ntalami's remarks etc should all have been reported with stuff like that as background.

Mpendapesa: Can't compare Scangroup with Nation for reasons too numerous to get into!

Everyone: Take a close look at how Scangroup has arrived at a turnover of Sh2.3 billion. Their definition of turnover is very generous. (Captions!!?) That's one of the reasons why I decided against an aggressive (greedy!) position. Or maybe it's just fear holding me back? We'll see.

Anonymous said...

@Propaganda
I agree that some of the stuff written in our papers is very PR. There are journalists that solicit or accept bribes to write favourably.
BUT
Sourcing of info is also important for a story to be credible. So some stories will never see ink and paper simply because they cannot be well sourced.
Then thirdly, Kenya laws against defamation et al are very stringent. So even if you have your facts right, you may not have a very strong case in court!
Lastly, blogs were created so that people could freely share info they could not share in other forums such as newspapers!
So -- let's blog on!!! And its free!

gathinga said...

i think some people have gone overboard in criticising B. Thakrar in this scangroup matter. A guy starts a business, takes it through some comndable growth and then decides to cash out and 'share the growth'. Isnt that what caitalism is all about. there would be nomotivation to start risky ventures if one cannot cash out later on....and there is a prospectus for us to decide if we like the business or not!!

anon: true am buying uchumi 'over the counter'

aJamaa said...

Pata potea
A guy is walking down the street he sees a crowd collected around a smartly dressed young man shouting 'Cheza ukule'. Out of curiosity and driven by the thought of 'kulaing' he stops to have a look. He is soon mesmarised by what is going on the young man is inviting the audience to play a game of cards where the contestant gets to double his money if he selects the one Ace in the three cards that the young man is shuffling. Our guy see's one contenstant play for a 100/= and win 200/= the next contenstant plays for 1000/= and wins 2000/=. Our guy is now considering playing the game, he soon starts seeing how much he can win and is even imagining all the wonderful things he will do with his winnings. He is blinded by greed and is no longer rational. I need not continue with the story what will happen next is obvious the guy will play and loose his rent money.

The share market is the same its a game of pata potea. Ask yourself, if a particular share is so good and is guaranteed to provide reasonable returns why would anyone want to sell it? Remember that unless its an IPO or rights issue everytime you buy a share someone else is selling it. Why is the seller not seeing all those wonderful opportunities you can see. But on the other hand you do not want to sell a share that is not actively traded since you may not be able to liquidate your investment when necessary.

While their is a fair amount of risk in investing in shares, you also do not want to be like the proverbial rabbit that while crossing the road gets so scared of the lights of the on coming vehicle that it cant move and consequently gets run over.(Ok I know I have twisted the story for my purposes but my intentions are noble so I am allowed). If you are like me and hope to buy a house, educate your children and have sufficient capital to guarantee a reasonable life style in the future but your only source of income is a small salary then you have to give shares a second look. See them as a necessary evil that may deliver you to the promised land but also check yourself because you can easily start playing a game of pata potea.

Having decided to invest in the stock market I had decide how to go about it. I identified two options, i) buy shares personally or ii)do unit trusts

Individual share ownership
Apparently distributing your risk is supposed to be a good thing when you are trading in shares. This makes sense unless you have a magic wond that pointed out KQ, KCB and my favourite East African Cables as the shares to buy in 2003. Based on this argument a guy should build a big portfolio distributed across various industries. This theory is sound but how does a guy go about selecting shares to have in his portfolio and how much to put into each share? Even a those wagangas from Tanzania cannot answer this question for me. In addition to the challenge of deciding which share to buy there is the added complication of transaction costs, Bankelele does a broker charge you 2 or 1.5% of the transaction value and then the risk of loss of liquidity should you not be able to sell the share like a guy who owns Uchumi shares but finds themselves in a medical emergency and in need of cash fast.

Brokers and journalists
I have learnt that you cannot take advise from brokers and journalists. A broker is a trader. Infact they are even worse than traders, since all they do is complete some forms. When you go to buy a shirt do you ask the shop attendant what shirt you should buy? As far as I can tell most of the people you will deal with at a stock brokers as a small investor is junior staff who are not well trained or well paid. They will tell you to buy or not buy a share and justify their reasons with information that you already have from the press.

As for journalists a guy should stop listening as soon as they start providing an analysis or opinion. They are not financial experts how can they be, I dont think they studied business or have experience in the area you might just as well get advise from them on which make up to buy. I think that most of the so called business reporters are guys who are gaining experience in being infront of a camera so that they can later report politics. I put them in the same category the sports and weather reporters. Business writers on the local dailies are better but am not convinced they do adequate analysis either.

So I am afraid a guy who decides to buy shares directly is on their own. You just have to trust your own assesment and instincts and hope that you will select and the Ace card.

Unit trusts
Quite a number of unit trusts have been launched in the last few years. The reasons commonly identified for doing unit trusts is gaining access to expert knowledge (hoping that the fund managers have more knowledge than journalists and brokers or access to a a magic stick), liquidity since some indicate that should you chose to sell your units you will get a cheque in two days, and a wide portfolio of stocks and money market products if you invest in a balanced fund. One other advantage is convenience. My savings are driven by my salary, I need to plan to save x shillings every month. If I was to save a 5K every month I may not be guaranteed to get shares worth exactly 5K every month if I invest directly but with unit trusts I can do exactly that since they can sell me less than one share. I also do not have to call a broker every day to confirm if they got the share I wanted or how much they got it for and if they did not go ahead and get me something I did not ask for so that they could earn a commission (Bankelele this must be illegal and you must be able to tell the guy to shove the shares up some orifice and give you back your money).

A small time save like myself can access two unit trusts that I know of Zimele or African Alliance. Zimele's balanced fund requires a minimum initial investment of 5K while Africa Alliance requires an investment of 10K. Both will charge you an exobirtant commission of 5% but if you are a layman like me you may consider this a fair fee for them making the difficult investment decisions for you. From there on you can throw some cash in as and when it becomes available.

However, there is no free lunch, so may end up earning lower returns than those people who choose to buy their own shares. And I think unit trusts are a good way to start out as you gain knowledge and experience that will allow you invest in shares directly.

Scangroup
A lot has been said about this which is a good thing especially since it appears some people have read the prospectus (the damn thing is 106 pages). During the Kengen IPO I have a buddy who got his prospectus after submitting his application form, talk about putting the cart before the horse.

I take great exception in Bharat been bashed for making money by selling his company. Because that is what is happening, he has build a successful business over the last 20 something years and now wants liquidate part of his investment by selling a part of the company to like minded investors. The two guys who started Google made a killing when it went public. Its the way of the world, build a successful business and then sell it to the public. Infact I wish I had what it takes to build a successful business , I would do the same thing.

gathinga said...

somone on this blog wanted 'muchene' or something like that....i think it was propaganada. I Have heard some propaganda on Scangroup: www.gathinga.blogspot.com

Ken said...

Ajamaa. African Alliance is now demanding 100k on the lowest account you can open and they are talking about 12% returns.
I walked out so fast the guy thought I had gone crazy. I made 78% returns last year why the hell would I want 12% from a guy investing in the same market especially since a unit trust cannot guarantee the returns.

Can anyone shed some light on a brokers fee. Despite expecting around 60k when i sold my kengen shares my broker gave me around 58k I thought it was a rip off.

coldtusker said...

@Ken - 2% + CMA & NSE fees! A rip-off! Check out the (a plug in progress) rant on www.vituvingisana.blogspot.com.

If you think ScanGroup is a rip-off do not buy... easy as pie! There is a 106 page prospectus... Don't understand it? Don't buy!

Don't know ntalami personally but hey, propaganda & others, please try and answer the questions in the earlier comment!

You can't compare Nation Media & ScanGroup. Natio Media's peer is Standard Holdings.

Microsoft is all about intangibles! Most "soft" goods e.g. software are about brand names & intellectual capital... "perception" not physical assets.

I wish I had a firm like ScanGroup that I could cash out of!

My take at my blog...

bankelele said...

Nelie: Thanks

Propaganda: I think (and maybe Nelie will disagree) newspaper reporters want access to these breifings/events, so they will not be too cricial at such events lest they are not invited again (or their media house asked to send a different reporter) - that means no more invitations to the Carnivore or KQ launch of a new aircraft!

Mpendapesa: Agree that Nation/Scangroup are not in the same league.

Gathinga: What will you do with your Uchumi shares?

aJamaa: No comparison between Pata potea and the stock market.

- unit trusts vs. individual share buyers - is more risk = more reward. for each EA cables, there's an Uchumi (and unit trust cushions the gain/loss in each case)

- SG, I support Bharat and hope he can demonstrated to Manu Chandaria and other Kenyans (esp. Asians businessmen) a way to exit gracefully.

Ken: Funds now want 'sophisticated investors' - so they set 100k minimums to eliminate the rest

Coldtusker: great info. Can you merge vituvingi & coldtusker into one? cheers

Anonymous said...

It's not a perfect comparison.

I definitely agree its not a perfect comparison. But as an analyst you will attempt to breakdown Nation's financials and focus on advertising revenues/forecast - and thats what I did with my Nation/scangroup comparative analysis. I did not look at printing, courier and other business areas. (I dug in more - apples to apples!)

Nation is among the few companies that you can 'closely' compare in terms of business to scangroup.

Looking at the advertisement business, the only other company is Standard Group.

Anonymous said...

Bankelele, I hear you on the stock broker thing...I too was 'misled'. Instead of following my gut instinct and buying Mumias which was at 30-something, I bought EABL at 160 which according to the broker was meant to hit 200+ by end of last year. Win some, lose some. I'm stuck with EABL at 134!

gathinga said...

banks: i inted to hold out with uchumi. FYI am buying @2.50 from jamaas who cannot hold anymore. so far i have bought 12,500 units since uchumi closed shop.

Anonymous said...

@Bankelele
Ofcourse I disagree!
Companies cannot afford to loose coverage just because some reporter wrote some unpalatable stuff.
The media in Kenya is still relatively undeveloped and the companies don't have much of a choice -- its either Nation or Standard and a few other publications.
The briefings are really not all that, that reporters are just dying to get invited to the next one.
Journalists get to sit in a room for an average 3 hours and listen to a lot of hogwash and have to wade through tonnes of information to get a good story.
I agree with some comment earlier that some business journalists have no business training -- but there are some brilliant boys and girls out there that I could vouch for -- if am credible enough...
But the comment that some business journalists use their beat to move onto political coverage - that I don't agree with.
I LOVE business journalism and if my boss got up one day with a headache and asked me to cover the political beat - I would have a headache.
On analysis - business journalists do not do the analysis themselves but call YOU experts out there for EXPERT COMMENT and write it out.
I must say that I am terribly disappointed by the quality of "expertise" available in Kenya! So the business journalism is reflecting what is in our market in IMHO.
So cut some slack for the poor business hacks...

Anonymous said...

I agree Scan GRoup Docs should be SCANNED Further. or risk loosing your money!
chepsoi

Anonymous said...

This blog is required reading for us who are not capital market savvy at all!Thanks for the good job your doing!When the first $1000 is ready for investment I will knock on your blog chap chap!

coldtusker said...

Nelie: Well... then check out www.vituvingisana.blogspot.com and answer the questions...

Financial Gaffes...

Anonymous said...

I totally feel your frustrations with stockbrokers. Atleast you get to buy some shares. I listen to advice and think the shares being pushed at me are too rich for me and end up not investing. So all my hard earned cash is spent on fuel, beer and hair!!! Speaking of fuel, when the price shot up to accomodate road repairs (yet I keep hitting potholes!), are there fewer cars on the road?

Anonymous said...

am not sure - what about this isual of investing?

Anonymous said...

Reckon to get brokers advice as suggetions- but make ur own decision.....roo ju!
Back to work.

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