Missed Opportunity Stems from Hasty Decision on a Stock
A few years ago, I bought a stock at 40,000 Vietnamese Dong (VND) per share (US1.71) after considering that the stock was undervalued. Then, the stock rallied to VND50,000 and dropped back to VND41,000/share. I sold all my stock at this price to protect the VND1,000/share gain! After my apparently overzealous reaction, the share price doubled over the ensuing six months. Lessons…
Read Full PostClassic Bike Collecting Dust Is Better Than a Dog of an Underdog
When initially considering what my worst investment was, I thought about the 50-year-old Royal Enfield motorcycle that I bought in my early 40s (guess why?), which is so delicate that it never works and just stands in my mother-in-law’s garage in Switzerland. But on further reflection, it still makes me happy that I own this bike, which means: “I’m…
Read Full PostClassic Case of Caveat Emptor (Let the Buyer Beware)
My biggest mistake was the purchase of a presale condominium unit in the Philippines as an investment without doing sufficient due diligence on the developer and the process itself. Investor puts singular belief in property salesperson I just believed what the real estate broker told me and now I’m at risk of defaulting and losing all the down payments that I have made over the course of more than two…
Read Full PostSilent Restaurant Partner Finds His Voice Too Late After Too Much Golf
A few years back, a Japanese colleague of mine, Kobayashi Takeru (not his real name), decided to invest in opening a ramen restaurant in Bangkok. Japanese restaurants had yet to reach the popularity in the Bangkok dining market that they have achieved today and so there appeared to be a lot of space for further…
Read Full PostAlways View Yesterday’s Successes Through Today’s Glasses
When I was younger and not so financially “sophisticated”, I used to work for one of the largest international general contractors in the world. In theory, it should have been a good idea to invest in the company I worked for As part of my 401(k) plan, I was given the choice of different…
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