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Sunday, November 27, 2011

Suze Orman Money Class at TV: taking advantage of the US recession to sale books

I am currently listening to Suze Orman Money Class at the television. It’s pretty much a sale book pinch. However, her stuff that can eventually help people with dealing with their money, there’s no doubt about that. I am not that a fan of Suze Orman since the time she mistreated Nadya Suleman with the help of Oprah, the TV queen. I think she must be a very frustrated person thinking she knows it all. It’s not because Suze Orman is a bestselling author that she’s necessarily a good person. Personally, I never had been able to watch a full TV episode of the Oprah show. There’s something about her that disturbed me and I don’t know exactly what it is.

But my feelings are completely different when it comes to Rosie O’Donnell. Back when I was a teenager, I used to listen to her show and I was just very entertain by her interaction with her guests and also the piano man even if I didn’t exactly understand all of what it was said because it was all in English. However, the Rosie O’Donnell show was absolutely terrific. She now has a new show on the Oprah channel but I didn’t have the chance to watch since it started.

Suze Orman is a big talker of emergency fund. And I am not. I don’t have saving. Everything is pretty much pack in stocks. That’s because of what I am trying to build. And it does also have a lot to do with my personal situation. I am a single fresh babe (lol) with basically no responsibilities what so ever and I am proud of that. I don’t have a huge payment to do on a mortgage each month and I don’t have children to take care of. Emergency funds are a must, but are not a necessity when your portfolio is full of stocks and especially when you are a single fresh babe like myself or single fresh man.

There’s many ways to deal with money and it’s all about finding the right way for you.

In my case, the risks I am taking are calculated. Being in Canada help also. We are not completely immunized from a recession, but chances are lower here in this side of the bother than it is in the US. How could had predicted that one day, the American dream would had become Canadian? I wasn’t ready for the 2008 events and for everything else that followed after that.

Currently, Suze Orman is talking about dividend saying that is have nothing to do if the market is down or up, it’s about getting paid each quarter. And I think that this reach a lot of what Susan Brunner was said in her last comment, to focus more on dividend payment and not that much on the current value of my portfolio. I must be around 10k in capital loss right now. Major part of the current capital loss I am experiencing is related to the current value of my portfolio. There’s no real capital loss unless stocks are being sold. While holding, capital losses are papers stuff only. It has nothing to do with the real value. There’s the market value that played the yo-yo all the time and there’s the essence value.

Do you really think that the real value of Just Energy (JE) is below 10$? I don’t think so, but that’s the value it is trading on in the market. The smartest move would be to buy now when some amazing stocks like Just Energy are trading so low. Because those stocks won’t remain under valued forever. But this is certainly the most difficult part of all, to think outside the box. Each single time a stock crash happens, it’s extremely difficult to remain believer and think that, one day, again, the market will rebound. Right now, that’s the major problem I am dealing whit.

There’s a huge space in between what I really want and hoping for and what is happening right now in the market. And that in between became to be quite frightening. Just like if it will never get better.

In the right column of my blog, I have this section name “My investment portfolio is now at 156 233.56$”. Under that section I had “Only missing 43 766.44$ before reaching my FIRST 200 000$”. I am getting rid of that second line right away. No more money goal, no more cold hard contact with the reality that is disturbing and disgusting. I think it best way to protect myself from doing anything stupid, like selling my stocks, that being just one example.

In case you’re asking, I am not a fan of Suze Orman. Not at all.

While Suze Orman with her blond short hair and super white teeth is desperately trying to sell her books at television, I am going to check on what’s going to be my next investment while wearing my brand new perfume if you don’t mind. This upcoming week is payday. So be ready.

15 comments:

Ruth Anne Kruuv said...

HI Sunny..love your blogs and your thoughts. i am however a fan of suzie..an emergency fund is a must for most people. i noticed you are in favour of just energy, i think they must have a lot of debt.it will be a dog's age for that stock to go back up..the stock market is way up today and just energy is down, a broken stock that pays all it's profits on dividends and you lose on the capital. yes, not a loss till you sell but it could be in a better stock instead of waiting and it could go down again. my thoughts , i think you have done wonders for your age group considering some i know that have only a car and debt..way to go!

Sunny said...

Hi Ruth,

The stock market was up today, which is a good thing. I am getting closed to the 110k in my non-registered portfolio. It's great to be able to experience some gains again.

I understand that having an emergency funds is something important. I agreed with that. Suze Orman sometime gives good advice, other time she doesn't. I am doing to explain more in my next post about what I had watched at TV yesterday and disgusted me.

Anonymous said...

It does not make any sense for you to have an emergency fund while you carry all that debt. But you should focus on paying down some of your debt especially since you seem to have no focus in your portfolio and chase high yielders like JE.

I wish you luck but fear you might fall into the trap of thinking you have more expertise then you do.

Anonymous said...

Since you are the 'dividend' girl it would be interesting for you to do a dividend portfolio update like Derek Foster did in his newsletter. (Which stocks cut dividends, which didnt change and which increased dividends and by what %)

Sunny said...

I am pretty down to earth with everything and that included my investment.

It's pretty much conservative stuff that I hold anyway. I don't trade on options because I don't undertstand them. I don't go too much in the deep and I just do what I understand.

I am not taking that much risks. I can handle my current level of debt but I know I shouldn't go deeper. The whole point of this was to have a 100k worth portfolio for my 30th birthday last year, I did so. It wasn't more than that. But I am getting a sense of what you mean.

I was pleased to received Derek Foster latest newsletter. I took a quick look. It's seem like his only holding US stocks. I was surprised. The idea is good. A Dividend Girl need a dividend update. You can compare that stuff to a Dividend Girl manicure.

Sunny said...

It's not because I don't like Suze Orman that I think I am somebody else, by the way.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sunny-Congrats on educating yourself by subscribing to Derek Foster's newsletter. How are you enjoying it? Is it a monthly/weekly publication?
One criticism I have of Derek Foster is that he doesn't see the BIG PICTURE. You say he is invested in US stocks. Does he give a compelling reason or do you take his advice blindly? As an investor, It's important to read books and to always educate yourself on stuff you don't understand, because in the end, the dog that knows what's happening and invests with that knowledge will do better than the amateurs and talking heads on CNBC.
Mark

Sunny said...

Hi Mark,

Derek Foster portfolio change over the years. I made a great deal of cash with PPL, ENF and a few other. Those were his stocks. But strange thing being that he doesn't own them anymore. So is pretty mess up.

Derek Foster make money from his books and have a lot of $$$. So his portfolio reflect his new situation.

The newsletters and books are good reading. My result really kick off following the reading of the Lazy Investor in 2008. I cannot denied the importance of his work on my result.

What he wrote about his ways for individuals to make money from the stock market. It's not exactly what he did himself. That part irritate me for a while but following what, I took the book for what they were without attaching them to the author and it worked better that way. There's a HUGE in between that is right between what he had done himself and what he is teaching. Of course, that suck but that's how it is with Derek Foster.

However, it's all good stuff.

James said...

The problem with Derek Foster is that he makes investing seem too easy. He has admitted that he has a degree in accounting (i believe or finance). You don't think that he puts a lot of time into each of his investments. I read one of his comments explaining his leveraged bet on PM where he described looking at the history of their warning labels among other things. These are not the actions of an "idiot investor".

He is a very intelligent person who has tapped into a market of people who want to build wealth easily. He is a book salesperson. I enjoy his books but trying to get new investors into things like options is dangerous. Also, even if you follow his portfolio, you have to time your purchases and be able to evaluate when these stocks represent good value. And even if you are able to do so, you are fighting against money managers etc. buying the same stocks.

All this to say, I am a fan of reading his books, just make sure you read them with a critical eye. Perhaps reading books like "The Intelligent Investor", "The Warren Buffet Way", and "The Quest for Alpha" would bring some other perspectives.

Anonymous said...

When Derek first retired, he was living off is stock portfolio. The books came after. Just goes to show that you just can't stay at home and do nothing. The kids are in school and I believe is wife works part time. Retirement early is not what it seems; think about it, what would you do every day if you wouldn't have to work.

Derek's portfolio has changed as he admits he made mistake and he's adapting with his situation. Derek's portfolio was down quite a bit in 2008 and now he invest in larger more defensive companies that happens to be in the US that are less volatile than the smaller canadian companies. He's more worried about preserving his capital that doubling it. I still think that he should have a percentage invested in bonds though.

Ruth Anne Kruuv said...

preserving the capital is what makes the money...

Anonymous said...

Most people that invest in stocks even people with a finance background like Derek Foster will make the same mistake of buying too much of one company and not diversifing enough. Most will be tempted to buy fallen star like Enron, Nortel, Rim and so on. Also most will be tempted to sell their losers and buy stocks that are going up which is the opposite you need to do. While most are going into safe stock right now, I believe you need to increase your more cyclical stocks.

Market crash will get most correcting their mistakes and go a different path.

Investing doesn't have to be complicated. Just buy 25% canadian etf, 25% US etf, 25% international and 25% bonds. Rebalance one or twice a year. The rebalancing makes you sell high and buy low. Don't have to worry about picking stocks. You don't lose sleep wondering if you made a mistake picking JE, MFC, ECA, DGI.UN, etc.

I have a finance background and have done some of the mistake as Derek. Like someone else said, this can be addictive and you start to feel like you can't lose. But don't worry, market has a way at making you humble.

Sunny said...

I think of myself as being probably one of the best retail investor if not the best. :)

Not the best in term of capital gain or in term of stock pick, but I am the best in term of stock attitude. I had been investing non stop for the past 7 years, following stock market crash after stock market crash.

Some of my stocks had done very well, some other don't. I have develop my way to invest. I am not into popular stock. I never invested in oil specific stocks, RIM, Nortel or other shit. I am not into insurance companies stock either. Forget about Sun Life, Manuvie or other. An insurance company cannot be a good investment as they have to cover people and they give away too much money to be an interesting and highly profitable business. I don't think companies like Sun Life, Manulife and other are what we can consider being good companies to invest. They are not. I am very specific on what I am looking for. So specific that I came to an end where nothing interest me at this time in the stock market, no more new investment.

In other words, I am kicking ass, and I am not even coming from a financial background. I had build my portfolio in stock crashes and that's the way to go. Fortune can be made in time of desperation and that's had been my purposes in my 5 years of active blogging.

Anonymous said...

It seems you're not the only one that's in that situation, not wanting to buy any more stock. That's why the stock market has basically gone no where this past year. I am also having a hard time finding good stocks to invest in at a good price.

Sunny said...

I always want to buy more stocks, but when I do buy, I hold after. I am for the biggest part a buy-and-hold investor. What I have currently as portfolio is the result of years of ACCUMULATION. I am among the type of investors you can simply dream of. When I hold, I hold for real.

 

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