Hoping C-gold Opens a KL Branch

Perhaps c-gold is like when windows first came out; bland, boring looking, minimal aesthetics, as long as it works kind of like an Operating System software. Now, there is the super beautiful Windows vista. My point being aesthetics can be upgraded later. I saw some photos of c-gold branch in Penang, Malaysia. They look more appealing than the website & with a "collapsing" safe vault too. I wouldn't mind storing some gold at the Penang branch but I hope c-gold opens a KL branch. The closer my precious metals are to my home then the better because I do not feel good with my precious metals being far away from me. Otherwise, I may as well keep my gold at my home. PhhBBtt! :P

Jim Chanos: The Man Going Against Stocks

Jim Chanos opened his own firm in 1985 to bet against stocks. Micheal Steinhardt & George Soros were among those who sought his opinion. Today he manages the world’s largest hedge fund (around $4 billion) that bet against stocks. It does not matter whether the market was bullish.

Jim Chanos would seek out the companies which he thought would fold. He made a presentation (does his homework) about two companies, Enron & Williams Communications which he thought would be on its way down the next year. Enron did fall & so did Williams Communications at 99.9% & 96% respectively.

How does Jim Chanos do it? How does he manage to do what he does best, going against stocks? Well, the first thing he does is what all traders should practice which is limiting his risk. The second thing is that he does his homework, lots of it & makes good trades. The first thing is easier than the second which not many people do let alone know how to do, I mean how do you know a company is going to fold? Jim Chanos has his methods.

What are Jim Chanos’s methods in making a successful business by going against stocks? He looks at certain elements that influence the success of business. The first element is Consumer Fads. Jim Chanos has made money going against companies associated with Martha Stewart, Cabbage Patch Dolls, George Foreman Grills, & etc. What do all the examples have in common? They are all out of trend where the purchasing appeal is virtually non existent. Well, at least it is my opinion. More research has to be done into it. UUgggh! Homework. :(

Other elements of a company that Jim Chanos looks at & does his homework upon are Accounting irregularities, Booms that go bust, & Technology obsolescence. Accounting irregularities are like Enron & World.com cases. Booms that go bust are like the dot-com bubble in the 1990s & real estate bubble in the late 1980s. Technology obsolescence is business concepts that are outdated for example Netflix. Netflix’s business concept is likened to having little old ladies in warehouses stuffing envelopes with DVDs. Jim Chanos does not see Netflix lasting more than a few years.

Jim Chanos tells about the demise of cable television companies & the rise of internet television companies. He likened Cable companies buying each other as shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic. From my understanding it means that regardless of whatever is happening with the cable television companies, their ship is going to sink. Well, Jim Chanos has given us the tips & it is up to us to do our homework for some smart investing.

Reference:

Financial Times interview with Jim Chanos.

GDCA Warns of E-Bullion Unfavorable System

One can find that the GDCA (Global Digital Currencies Association) have posted a warning about E-bullion. E-bullion has been dubbed “An unfavorable system for online commerce and for the safe and secure storage and transfer of funds” by the GDCA. To add salt to the wound, E-bullion has been given an “F” Rating by the Council of Better Business Bureau, Inc. because of its inability to respond to unanswered complaints as far back as 2005. Basically, I do not trust any place for keeping my money that charges me monthly fees like E-bullion. It should be the other way round & it’s not like I can use the E-bullion account as a current account to write checks or etc.

Egold Not Becoming Any Better

As much as I guess that it should be closing, egold does not seem to be closing. There are still many people who like speeding on the Autobahn (egold) but the problem is that there are no legal Autobahns in the U.S. They are just asking for a speeding ticket to be served to them by the police. How do you think of egold nowadays, folks? Seems like egold is not becoming any better than it was before with increasing complaints about blocked accounts & etc.