Bradbury BRW and not blowing up, The Intelligent Investor, 1 Jun 2009
This year's BRW Rich 200 catalogues the fall of Phil Green, following the very public implosion of Babcock & Brown, and the less public downfall of Global Machinery Company (GMC). Founded in 1997 by Tony D'Antonio and Peter Hosking, GMC designed products such as cordless drills and air compressors in Australia and manufactured them in China. Riding the property and renovation booms, BRW put the pair's combined wealth at $300m in 2006. But over the past year the downturn, combined with a large lick of debt, hit GMC hard and receivers KordaMentha were called in.

This all begs the question: What practical steps can we take to avoid crashing out financially?
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Major Asset Sector Review 2008, Investing Times, 15 May 2008
We summarise our quarterly review of the major sectors of the market ended 31 March 2008 and update for the significant correction and ongoing volatility of global sharemarkets since January 2008 to date.

Cash and fixed interest.

The old saying still holds true - "cash is king", and even more so in these volatile times in capital markets, with lower risk fixed interest investments anchoring portfolios. All portfolios will be generating cash following the distribution of six month and quarterly (where applicable) dividends, interest, rental income and other distributions from investment funds.
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Choosing Investment Software, Moneybags, 14 Apr 2009
Using a software package to select, track, and manage your investments can be a great help to most investors but with so many software packages available and all sorts of confusing claims from producers, choosing the right investment software can be an extremely difficult decision.

In this article we outline what investment software can do for you, the types of packages available, and provides some tips to help you find the right package for your needs.
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Hoping For A Repeat Of The Eighties, FNArena, 15 Mar 2009
At the end of August last year I came across a study by the institutional desk at GSJB Were. From the moment I read the report I had a strong suspicion the potential scenario suggested in it might prove to be highly accurate.
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Using The 36 Strategies To Trade - Besieging Wei To Save Zhao , Daryl Guppy, 19 Jun 2006
In a world that seems information-rich and time-poor it is all too easy to ignore the context of our trading activity. The financial market is a dangerous and rewarding place. It may appear the struggle for survival is based on lightning fast reactions to each emerging crisis, but this is incorrect. The 36 Strategies of the Chinese For Financial Traders gives traders a means to lift their head above the skirmish activity inherent in every trade and focus on the wider context of their relationship with financial markets.
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I’ve Done All the Dumb Things, Chapter 1 Contracts for Difference, John Wiley, 21 Aug 2006
In this chapter I would like to exorcise the demons of my trading past by recounting my version of I Should Be So Lucky. I will tell you the story of how I got into the trading business, because I know my story is probably not that different from many small traders’ first encounters with the market.
Ironically, being lucky is the exact opposite of my story. In fact, I borrow from the chorus of another popular Australian song when I call this story ‘I’ve Done All the Dumb Things’....
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Writedowns and raisings plague reporting season, The Intelligent Investor, 16 Feb 2009
The stockmarket has already predicted a slump in company profits. With reporting season now under way, we're seeing the first real signs of bad news - and there's quite a bit more to come.

The United States economist Paul Samuelson famously quipped that 'the stockmarket has forecast nine of the last four recessions'. There's no argument the market is a fickle beast, but it did a masterful job of predicting the current one. And if the size of the fall in the All Ordinaries Index is anything to go by - 53% from the peak in November 2007 to the low in November 2008 - this recession will be a doozy.
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Green Shoots Emerging!, Investing Times, 1 May 2009
The last 18 months have un-nerved even the most experienced investors; however the last eight weeks has also been as un-nerving for many investors. Those who converted back to cash with the thought of returning to the market when it is all safe must be asking the question 'how can the Dow Jones rally 2000 (31%) points in six weeks, and the Australian Share market put on nearly 1000 (25%) points without there being a light at the end of the tunnel.'
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Retracements & Reversals, Leon Wilson, 20 Apr 2006
Distinguishing between reversals and retracements can not only be a tricky business it can be an expensive one if we get it wrong. One of the more difficult aspects with reversal analysis is identifying when a retracement becomes a reversal in real time which can be an immensely difficult task because price action can be indecisive. It is often case of experience and intuition as it is much technical analysis.
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Affirming Better Trading, Ruth Barrons Roosevelt, 1 Aug 2008
"Any thought put into your mind and nourished regularly, will produce results in your life." John Kehoe

An affirmation is a statement made in the present about the future as if it had already occurred in the past. Let me say it more simply. An affirmation is a simple statement about what you want to become true in your life. You state it in the present tense as if it were already true. You repeat your hopes and dreams. You declare the opposite of your fears. For example, the fear that you could lose all your money becomes: "I grow my capital through consistently applying my winning methods."
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10 Top Charting Books, Moneybags, 10 Mar 2009
Learn about charting and how to trade in a systematic way.

If the past 12 months has taught investors anything, it is that share prices do not move continually upwards. People with a ‘buy and hold’ strategy may ultimately do well out of their investments but at the moment their portfolios will be suffering.

Another group of investors is the chartists. They use share price movement to dictate how they trade. Their general assumption is that the people in the know are alert to upcoming news or economic conditions and that the share price will move accordingly before an announcement or the release of the latest company financials.
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Proving what you see in short-term patterns, Joe Ross, 4 Mar 2007
The key to successfully finding potential short-term patterns is based on what you see. There are two things I look for:

• I look at current market action each day. I do not look at what happened years ago. I have to trade today's markets not those of the past.
• I'm not trying to look at every possible pattern that might help me to see the most recent market action. Instead, I look for prominent defining characteristics.

The Bears Hit Back: Too Soon, Too Fast, Too Confident, FNArena, 11 May 2009
I think I have discovered one major difference between rallies in a bull market and the bear market version of a share market rally: in a bull market the rationale behind rising share prices might still be questioned, but at least most market participants seem happy and upbeat, in a bear market only a few do not ask questions while the majority sits on the sidelines and is genuinely not happy with how things are progressing.
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Coffee, July 2006, Dr Alexander Elder, Dr Alexander Elder, 1 Aug 2006
Background: I became very bullish on coffee in June, just before leaving on a trip to Asia. The weekly chart was historically low, its Impulse system turned from Red to Blue. The daily chart showed a bullish divergence of MACD Lines, prices hugged the lower channel line, daily Impulse turned from Red to Blue. I had promised myself not to open any new trades during the overseas trip, but actively recommended this trade to the members of the Spike group.
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How to Invest in Managed Funds, Article, 3 Mar 2002
In order for a market to be established in any industry, there must be buyers and sellers. In some industries, you will also find a range of other participants whose role it is to facilitate the movement of a product from the buyer to the seller.
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Some strong winds are blowing, The Intelligent Investor, 9 Sep 2008
Some strong winds are blowing in the business world at the moment, but a well-positioned portfolio should take them as a breeze.

On the whole, value investing is a 'bottom up' affair, examining individual companies and concentrating on their valuations, but that doesn't mean you can wash your hands entirely of the economic conditions in which they operate. With apologies to John Donne, no company is an island, entire of itself, and, like it or not, its fortunes - and therefore its valuation - will depend to a large extent on the broader economic context in which it operates.
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Tips & Hints - Conducting a Property Renovation for Inspection, Pinnacle Wealth, 6 Sep 2006
Residential property is usually an emotional decision for most people. That's why hitting the right emotional cords are crucial to creating wealth through property renovations. I purchase residential property to renovate only if it meets the above criteria. Of course there are many more factors that must be considered (61 in fact!) but if it doesn't meet this type of criteria initially then I won't even need to begin making any further assessment.
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Baby Boomers - The Great March Into Retirement, Investing Times, 1 Dec 2007
Love them or hate them, the baby boomers have commenced their long march into retirement. Australia is currently experiencing the first wave of this historic event as the queues of baby boomer retirees gets longer and longer as those born between 1945 to 1961 move into their golden years. This event is a one-off phenomena that will change the shape and demographic of Australia in a way never seen before as governments,business and services adjust to the ageing population to provide supportand services to the ever demanding needs of the baby boomers.

This dramatic change to how we, as a country, accommodate and provide for the baby boomers will provide significant opportunities for the private sector to grow their businesses and earnings. This alone will provide investors with the ability to gain exposure by positioning their portfolios into the sectors that we consider will benefit significantly from an ageing population.
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Steve McKnight's Top Five Tips To Ramp Up Your Reno Profits, PropertyInvesting.com, 31 Oct 2006
1. Add more in perceived value than actual cost.
2. First Impressions Count
3. Focus On Emotion – Not Structure
4. Careful Cost Control
5. Time Is Of The Essence
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Learning Guide for Real Estate Investors, Moneybags, 10 Sep 2008
If you are reading this article, you are probably wanting to make your next property decision based on more than emotion or some speculative reports in the press.

This property investment guide is a practical, user-friendly, comprehensive list of our most relevant resources to help you make this important decision. It contains our most recommended books, courses and software products.
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Chinese Medicine - A New Way to Boost the Performance of Property Investors, Investors Direct, 1 Mar 2009
I am 42, and had lived in China for the first 21 years of my life, and next 21 years in Australia. One of the most striking differences in the two countries is how we see medical doctors.

You may wonder what this has got to do with property investors making money. The answer is a lot more than what most people realise. Let me explain.
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NEGOTIATION: The highest paid work you’ll ever do, Dale Beaumont, 1 May 2007
Let's do a quick test!!

1. What is your hourly rate?
2. Now divide that number by 60 and what do you get?

That's the value of your time every minute. If it's more than $1.00 you're doing well. However, how would you like to increase that figure to $100, $1000 or even $10,000 per minute? Well you can, simply by learning the art of how to NEGOTIATE. As real estate investor Hans Jakobi says, "NEGOTIATION Is The Highest Paid Work You'll Ever Do!"
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Will you make excuses or reap the rewards?, Michael Yardney, 1 May 2009
I was fascinated to read a recent survey commissioned by the Master Builders Association that revealed almost 60% of renters fear they may never own their own home.

Obviously the media had a field day with this, raising fears about the “Great Australian dream” fading away.

As I read on I came across a line in the survey that brought back memories. It said the following “The nationwide survey also shows that 51% of parents of adult children are becoming increasingly pessimistic about passing on the great Australian dream to the next generation.”

I remembered hearing that before….
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