GoodBye PageOne, You Will Be Missed

PageOne closes down.  So another bookshop closes.  First it was Borders at Wheelock, then it was PageOne at Vivocity and now Harris at Great World is also closing down.

It just seems that bookshops are not able to be profitable nowadays.  Or is it simply the case that Singaporeans don't really read anymore?  I mean there are so many things online for us to read that we don't want to fork out the money to buy a book.  I think very little people actually spend more than $100 a month buying books.  We could easily spend that amount in a single day on a good meal.  But not on books.  Sadly.

And so the bookshops all around us are closing down.  High rent is one factor.  But I think most bookshops probably have very low profits.  And it doesn't help that people are also buying books online nowadays.

Bye bye PageOne.  You will be missed.

Wide Awake at 12:52AM & Random Thoughts

Why Scrambled Eggs Matter and What They Tell

What a weekend! Was really looking forward to Saturday after a hectic week in the office. (Well, work is always hectic for me in a sense..) Breakfast was nicely done at SimplyBread. Had the delicious ham steak served with scrambled eggs. Felt that the toast was sort of burnt but the scrambled eggs were really good. Anyone who can cook scrambled eggs better than me definitely deserves praise. And there are really not many places in Singapore that serves good scrambled eggs.

I am not really a foodie. But when it comes to discerning good food - especially "Western style" breakfasts, scrambled eggs is the sole criterion by which I judge whether a certain cafe or stuff deserves a second visit. Scrambled eggs is like fried rice. If you can find a good zi char stall that sells good fried rice, its other dishes ought to be pretty good as well. It is really the basic dishes that sets the good apart from the rest. And when it comes to breakfast, it is really the SCRAMBLED EGGS.

You see, I am not much of a cook myself. I hardly step into the kitchen. But one dish that I think I can cook pretty well is scrambled eggs. I am not sure where I picked up the recipe for scrambled eggs but I guess it must be my mum or something. Of course, watching Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver must have added some of its influences on me as well. Of course, eating scrambled eggs at Bill Granger's restaurant in Sydney must really be THE MOMENT for me in realising how a simple dish really tells so much about a place.

And the fact is that scrambled eggs needs to be cooked with butter and of course, "stirred" continously. It should never be cooked like an omelette where you literally fry it (I have witnessed some egg counters in certain hotels/resorts do just that) !! That is a strict No-No for scrambled eggs. It needs to be continously stirred under low heat in the most loving manner. And that is what makes it scrambled if you ask me.

After Breakfast Happenings

Well, that is so much for breakfast. There wasn't really much that I wanted to do afterwards and there wasn't really much to do after a satisfying breakfast. Went to Hort Park for a walk to soak in some nature. It didn't help that the weather was almost scorching hot. In short, it was a bit too hot for my liking. Lunch was at Burger King. Pretty simple fare and I somehow realised that I don't enjoy fastfood as much as I used too in the past. I used to love fastfood - like I thought it was really yummy- even though I know it was unhealthy and stuff. Nowadays, I don't really like it so much anymore. Perhaps it is just changing tastes. I very much prefer my chicken rice or wanton mee than Macs or KFC or Burger King.

Wasn't able to get an afternoon nap as the little one was kind of cranky the whole day. We ended up eating a really really early dinner if you ask me. I wasn't too hungry but ate anyway. End up taking a nap at like 7pm and woke up at around 10pm only to find that I could no longer put myself to sleep...

TV and the Latin Epic Poem

Watched a bit of NatGeo Wild and it was quite silly to spend an entire hour seeing some person try to figure out whether sharks were inhabiting some part of some river in some part of South Africa. It was really quite a waste of time since they could have easily cut the chase and went straight to the findings.. Got a bit irritated just waiting for them to reveal WHICH shark was actually inhabiting the river...

When one is wide awake at this hour, there isn't really much to do. I don't Facebook as often as I used to and I don't really get much time to hang out with friends nowadays. It is really just me and the internet or me and my books. Have been struggling to complete Virgil's The Aeneid. Yes, I have been spending my time on such frivolous readings - books which really just delight me and which I do not really spend to much time to analyse or think about.

After reading the Iliad, I decided that I was really quite fascinated with all these ancient epic poems and stuff. These were definitely books that I would not consider reading in the past but now...I actually enjoy them... it is really weird. Maybe I am growing more "artsy fartsy".. hahah...or maybe it just gives me a sense of accomplishment to read this supposed classics. The wife sniggers at me when she sees me reading them . She thinks that I am reading them because of their cover and their title. Well, she might be correct to a certain extent but the truth is, I actually do quite like the stories (or maybe the translator's story since most of these were written in Greek and Latin so I am probably reading a translator's interpretation of it).

Random Thoughts

Well, lots of random thoughts. I just spent a good hour of my time watching magic on youtube. I never really liked magic. Or perhaps it was my exposure to David Copperfield kind of magic in my early days. I could never quite tell whether it was clever film editing or stuff. Besides, I don't really like the parts where they put their lives on the line to saw their bodies in half.

But lately, I have been quite interested and intrigued with the simpler magic tricks. Those involving the simple cups and balls, cards, coins, rope and stuff. And if one must watch any magician, I recommend Slydini. Wonderful sleight of hand techniques and misdirection. I can't even tell how he does some of his tricks. Ricky Jay is also pretty good with cards (not to say being a very entertaining comedian at the same time). Bebel is quite slick too even though I don't understand French. But I could serioulsy spend hours just watching them perform their tricks over and over again. Even though I know how some parts of it are done, it is really amazing to watch this people perform it in such an artistic manner. The sheer amount of practice required is truly amazing.

Song of the week in my head: Hope of all Hearts by PlanetShakers
Mood : Uncertain about the future

Getting Lost in Books and Work

Apologies for the super long "blackout" in terms of blogging. I have been too consumed with reading that I did not get a chance to sit down and write anything for sometime.

I have been reading Homer's Iliad - a book that I never thought I would or could read. But surprisingly, the translation that I am reading seems fairly simple and apart from Googling here and there for the various terms/names that I wasn't familiar with, I managed to finish the book in roughly 1.5 weeks. I don't declare to understand everything that Homer is saying but I do appreciate the story and its account of events about the Trojan War. It makes me realise the number of deviations that the movie Troy has from the actual book!

Work has also been busy and it does not help that I have had little free time to read. So all my free time that I had was spent reading. Somehow, reading seems to be a great way to relax after a stressful day at work.

I have been contemplating lately about what it means to have an education and be educated. This thoughts and reflection led me to read a book titled "How to Read a Book". Though not entirely convinced by the list of Great Books that was suggested by the author, I still decided that life is too short to leave my reading list by chance/whim/fancy. I thus decided to at least read some of the more well known classics and books that have been recognised as Great Books. Homer's Iliad is one of these great books. Now that I have read it finish, I hope to read through the next book on my list soon.

Old Book from Ebay by James R Rutland

This is a picture of the book (that I bought off Ebay) as requested by one of my readers (LP) . This book really looks like any other ordinary book out there. I am pretty sure an online version exists since the copyright most probably has ceased.

Anyway, it is just cool to know that I am holding a book that is out of print. Using eBay to carry out my transactions is also something that I am pretty comfortable with since I have bought quite a number of items using eBay and so far, all the items have been shipped and are always in good order.

Investment Books to Recommend

Every now and then, I get queries from readers on what books do I recommend that they read.

It is really hard to recommend books to read. After all, there are tons of investment books out there and they all cover a wide range of topics. Some teach you how to invest in stocks, some commodities, some real estate, some forex, etc, etc.

Basically, whoever has made money in a certain trade is sure to start writing a book and recommending to everyone to follow in his footsteps. And that is why Warren Buffet writes about stocks and Jim Rogers writes about commodities. I am sure some other real estate tycoon has made his money from real estate and will write about investing in real estate.

Are these good books? Some are, some are not. You have to discern for yourself whether the rules apply and whether you need to contextualise it to suit our environment.

Nonetheless, here are some of the books that I have read:

1. Capital Ideas

2. Random Walk Down Wall Street

3. Millionaire Next Door

4. Rich Dad Poor Dad

5. Retire Young, Retire Rich

6. Hot Commodities

Of course the books written by Warren Buffet and other investment greats are also worth reading.

But reading is one thing...............applying it in real life is a whole different playing field.

10,000 Hours To Be An Expert

Everyday I try to draw some lessons from the books that I read or the things that I experience.

I have been reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. In one of the chapters, it mentions that 10,000 hours is what it takes to make a person good at a particular field. That is roughly 10 years. The most gifted person or the most talented person still needs to practice 10,000 hours before they get really good.

Come to think of it, I have never really truly put in 10,000 hours into any particular field. Even during my university days, I don't think I managed to study 10,000 hours. And that perhaps explains why I am neither talented in any sport or in any musical instruments.

10,000 hours is all it takes. Of course, there needs to be some talent involve. But even with talent, you still need 10,000 hours.

Where should you devote 10,000 hours to?

Of Grenadine Syrup, Kolo Mee, Aimlessness and 1984

I went to Giant today and stared at the Grenadine Syrup that cost ten bucks per bottle. Cool. I could make my own tequila sunrise with this final ingredient. I have been eyeing it for sometime already but the thought of spending $10 for sugar water made me think twice. Alcohol by itself is already fattening and the last thing I want to do is to make myself any fatter. So I didn't buy it in the end.

Had lunch at the Sarawak Kolo Mee place. I am not sure why they call it Kolo mee. I am not sure what Kolo is supposed to mean. Anyway, the place was almost empty. The waitress greeted me warmly and I took a seat. The last time I had eaten the Kolo Mee was like more than 3 years back. Now I understood why the place was empty. A bowl of Kolo Mee which is basically like noodles, pork bits, prawns, wanton and char siew cost over $6. Together with the drink that I ordered, lunch cost me a whopping $8.55!

Nevertheless, I must say that the Kolo Mee was really tasty. I am pretty sure they drenched it in lard oil or something cos it was really super duper tasty. But I guess I won't be eating it anytime soon simply because paying six over bucks for a small bowl of noodles doesn't make economic sense to me. I know of $2.50 wanton mee that taste just as good. There is this Pontian Wanton Mee outlet at various hawker centres which are really worth it and yummy....

Feeling aimless the past few days. My wife asks me why I am not talking to her. I also do not know what to say. I just feel like I have achieved quite a bit of the goals I have set for myself in life. In the past, it was stuff like get married, get a job, travel to Europe, study abroad, have children, buy a car, get my own flat, etc etc. And I realise that I have already sort of achieved all these goals already. Whereas my peers still have the fun and joy of looking for their life partners or are looking forward to buying a car or flat, I have already sort of BEEN THERE DONE THAT. I am just feeling so aimless.

Perhaps it is time to setting more goals. Or perhaps it is about discovering what my true purpose in life is.

I have just finished reading Ninety Eighty Four by George Orwell. I thought I read it in the past but I must have been mistaken. Because I do not remember it being so saucy. My goodness. To think that I recommended the book to my wife when we first met... hahahha.. she must have thought that I must be quite "loose". I figured that I must have skimmed read it the first time or probably just jumped right to the end of the book without reading the middle parts. Anyway, 1984 is a good read. I really liked the parts about history only existing in written records and in our minds line of argument. Wicked if you ask me.

If I don't exist on written records and I don't exist in people's minds, does it mean that I do not exist at all?

On to reading my next book : One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Cheap and Good Books

I am always on a lookout to buy cheap and good books to read. I am addicted to reading and always need a book in hand to keep my sanity. It isn't the coolest of hobbies as there really isn't much to talk about after reading a book. Nevertheless, I get immense pleasure from just reading books, especially if they are good.

I guess deep down inside of me, I always wanted to be a sort of novel writer or something. But perhaps that dream might never get fulfilled. Afterall, how many famous authors do we know from Singapore? Most of the famous authors hail from countries like the United States and Britain. Very few come from Asia. This is especially so when it comes to writing in English. Who will want to buy a English novel written by a Chinese writer? The market is really limited in that sense.

Anyway, back to cheap and good books.

I found out that Penguin books are usually really cheap and good. Recently, I bought The Beach by Alex Garland for $10.70 at PageOne. I devoured the entire book in less than three days.

Just today, I also managed to grab another Penguin book that cost $10.70. Apparently, there is a whole list of this Penguin books that have this plain orange coloured cover that are all going for $10.70. A really good deal if you ask me.

So if you are really looking for a cheap and good book, look no further. Penguin books are really worthwhile in my opinion.

Every once a year, there is also a Penguin BookFair that is held at the Singapore Expo. If you are patient enough, you can get the books there for an even cheaper price.

Lessons from Silas Marner

Silas Marner is a book written by George Eliot. I just finished this short story which I felt was a wonderful read. In this story, the life of Silas Marner is told.

Silas lives as a lonely waver near the village of Raveloe. He works hard and gains gold and reputation but shuns humanity for it treated him badly once. One night, his stash of gold is stolen and in its place, Silas finds a gift that is more precious....

The way George Eliot wrote this book was wonderful. The way she stringed together words were also perfect in my opinion. What is even more amazing is the way she uses the character of Silas to show the tendency to hoard money amongst human beings. Certain good quotes from the book as follows:

"Do we not wile away moments of inanity or fatigued waiting by repeating some trivial movement or sound, until the repetition has bred a want, which is incipient habit? That will help us to understand how the love of accumulating money grows an absorbing passion in men whose imaginations, even in the very beginning of their hoard, showed them no purpose beyond it."

"His life has reduced itself to the mere functions of weaving and hoarding, without any contemplation of an end towards which the functions tended."

George Eliot has indeed hit many money hoarders right where it hurts. Too often, we treat our work and the accumulation of wealth as the entirety of our lives without giving thought to what purpose they serve.

The end of the story is a sweet ending and I shall not reveal it lest some of you might want to read the book.

Great Book - The Forever Portfolio

I spent the weekend reading a book that I borrowed from the library. It was titled : "The Forever Portfolio" by James Altucher.

I don't really like to write book reviews but this book really got me blown away as it was easy to read and it also contained lots of gems from a person who truly knows what he is talking about.

In fact, I finished reading the entire book in just 2 days!

The Forever Portfolio basically focuses on 2 simple questions to determine the stocks that one should hold in his or her portfolio:

1. What are the tidal wavelike demographic forces taking shape around the world that we can surf on top of?

2. What companies are best positioned to take advantage of these long-term trends?

The book gives lots of tips on which stocks to look out for and also simple advice on how to "piggyback" on various investment gurus.

While it is written in a US context, I believe that most people will find a gem or two in this book.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and now have a much better understanding of various US businesses and certain stocks that I might want to purchase in the future. I wish I could share more but let me just do some of my own research first...

Automatic Millionaire By David Bach

I was at the library the other day and was browsing through the Automatic Millionaire by David Bach. Here is the one key lesson that I learnt from reading his book.

Forget about The Budget

David Bach started out as a financial planner and he tells the story of how this average-looking couple in their fifties walked into his office one day. To his amazement, he discovered that they had actually close to $2 million in networth and were ready for retirement even though they were just in their early fifties. What the rest of the book talks about is how normal people can be like the couple and become millionaires - AUTOMATICALLY.

The thing is to forget about budgeting as it does not work. Rather, the principle is to pay yourself first. And the BEST way to pay yourself first is to automate the process such that a certain percentage of your income goes into some savings or investment instrument automatically. You can then spend the rest of your money without worries.

I find this a much more useful approach compared to budgeting. Afterall, I am very lousy at budgeting and simply cannot keep to my budgets. It is better to just pay yourself first and spend the rest of your money without having to worry about a budget. It is just framing the problem in another way if you ask me.

The method does not make you a millionaire overnight but it should make you a millionaire one day as long as you keep setting aside a sum of money every month. (Ideally, I think the amount should be around $300 to $500 per month based on 10% returns). If the returns are not doing well, I think you should adjust the figure accordingly.

Apple Tree Story

This brings me to the apple tree story which I have heard some other people talking about. We should all aim to have multiple sources of income such that we do not over rely on only our earned income. The way to do that is to grow more apple trees. Each apple tree is a money generating tree such that once you have enough apple trees, you can safely retire.

Apple trees can be bonds, REITs, dividend paying stocks, rental property, options and even trading income or businesses.

Combine PAY YOURSELF FIRST and the APPLE TREE.

If one combines both approaches and automate your savings while investing your savings into apple trees and re-investing whatever income you get from the apple trees, I think you will not have a problem retiring when you reach the retirement age in Singapore. This is just my 2 cents thought. Feel free to expand and share your strategies.

Travelling and Reading Broadens My Horizons

If there are two things that adds to my learning, I would safely say that it is travelling and reading.

Travelling brings me to new places, allows me to see new sights, experience different cultures, face unique situations, taste new food, feel differently about home and lots more. It engages my five senses and makes me more aware of my surroundings.

During travel, there are also lots of stories to tell. One's experiences during travel are perhaps richer when compared to the mundane day to day living in Singapore.

Of course, one could learn as much in Singapore but sometimes this makes it difficult as we are just not as receptive to learning as when we are overseas.

Reading is another good platform for learning.

Through reading, we can learn from the experiences and knowledge of other people. People have poured in effort in the writing of their books, articles and blogs.

This allows us to learn from their experiences, shorten our own learning curve and avoid the common mistakes that are made in lives.

Together, they allow us to see the world differently. We become more aware of our limitations and who we really are.

The process of discovering how little we know about this world is indeed a refreshing idea.

A book in one hand while travelling the world is one of my dreams.

Centralised Planning Versus Disciplined Pluralism

I was reading John Kay's The Truth About Markets as I was touring recently.

In it, he mentioned that there were many instances when centralised planning fails and how a market economy could actually achieve better coordination compared to an economy which had some form of central planning.

Take for example the queues in a supermarket. Shoppers are out to protect their own interest and based on their own judgements, join the queue that they perceive to be the shortest. This sort of decision making without any form of centralised control (i.e. a supervisor of the shop directing shoppers to join the shortest queue) is efficient by itself.

That is why you seldom see supermarkets employing people to help people get to the shortest queue. People who are looking after their own interests will automatically search for the shortest queue to join. This is how a successful market economy ought to function with disciplined pluralism.

In another example, no one discovered the personal computer. Instead, the industry emerged from a process of unplanned trial and error within a framework of disciplined pluralism. We are all well aware of how the founder of Microsoft himself was not even certain of the need for such powerful machines for an individual when he said: "640K ought to be enough for anybody."

A look at the failures of Mao in his attempt at the Great Leap Forward also shows the failures of a centrally planned economy. We idolised Jack Welch because it is hard to believe that a large corporation like General Electric remained successful because of decentralised decision making amongst thousands of individuals in the organisation.

So what does all this have to do with my tour?

During my tour, I could not help but noticed lots of unfinished buildings that lay scattered amongst the landscape. I was told that it was perhaps due to the economic crisis that led to this projects being abandoned.

This unfinished hotels were indeed a sore sight to any tourist. The buildings looked like they could easily become 5 star hotels but were now left abandoned without any windows or paintwork.

It made me wonder how disciplined pluralism really works. Sure.. we can let all the businesses flourish and let businessmen make their own decisions. The market will decide everything and that is why there were so many unfinished hotels.

But wouldn't it have been better if there was some kind of central planning agency to estimate the actual supply and demand of tourists that were expected in the area? Of course, for all we know, the central planning agency might have failed even more spectacularly with over optimistic figures and for all I know, the landscape might have been littered with even MORE unfinished hotels.

And yet when we look at Singapore, we seldom see any so called unfinished hotels or buildings. The tight control and central planning by URA has been efficient and effective in that sense.

So which works better? Centralised planning or Disciplined Pluralism? I don't know.

BookFest @ Singapore 2009

For those of you living in Singapore who missed the Penguin Book Fair held at Singapore Expo recently, here is another chance to grab books cheap. (I am not sure whether the prices will be as cheap as that at the Penguin Book Fair though.)

The BookFest @ Singapore 2009 will be held at the Suntec Convention and exhibition Centre from 11 December 2009 to 20 December 2009. This is organised by Popular so I guess you can expect to see the same range of books that you find in Popular and Harris bookstores.

The only thing is that since it is held at Suntec, I guess the rental of the place will be slightly higher and that might result in the books not being priced as attractively as at the Penguin Book Fair.

At the Penguin Book Fair, I managed to grab a grand total of 7 books. (Prices ranged from $5 to $10) They are the following books:

1. Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman
2. The Three Trillion Dollar War by Josephy Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes
3. First, Break All The Rules by Marcus Buckingham
4. The Last Tycoons by William D.Conan
5. The Assault on Reason by Al Gore
6. Fateful Choices by Ian Kershaw
7. The Walmart Effect by Charles Fishman

I guess these books will last me all the way till end 2010 when the next Penguin book fair comes again. I will then swipe up all the books that I hope to be able to get at a huge discount.

You can view the site to BookFest 2009 here.

Read Related Articles :
1. Penguin Book Fair & $50 Competition

What is Dow Theory and Why It Matters to You

What Dow Theory?

Charles Dow never wrote about any Dow Theory nor presented it as a trading system.

However, Dow Theory today serves as a theory on underlying stock prices and is very much a pillar of technical analysis. The theory was derived based on editorial articles that Charles Dow had wrote and it was subsequently called the "Dow Theory" by others who referred to his work.

Dow himself never spoke about any such theory. If anything, Dow was more a scholar than a speculator.

Dow Moves to New York City

Dow was born in a small town in Conneticut in 1851. He apparently held around twenty jobs before he found his passion in journalism. After certain life events, Dow decided that carrying out journalism at the Providence Journal was too small for him. He packed and moved to New York City with an old friend, Eddie Jones.

Together with Jones and a friend named Charles Milford Bergstrasser, they decided to go into a news distributing business. They called their company Dow, Jones and Co.

Perhaps the most lasting contribution to finance was the Dow Jones Average that was the first attempt by someone to create a sort of aggregate indicator of stock market trends. The Dow Jones Average is still what most people turn to if they want to find out how the market is doing today.

6 Basic Tenets of Dow Theory?

One of the assumptions of Dow Theory is that trends in stock prices, once under way, will always tend to persists until the market itself sends out a signal that these trends are about to be reversed. The 6 basic tenets of Dow Theory are as follows:

1. The market has three movements. A main movement( measured in years), medium movement (months to a year) and short swing (hours to a month). It can be said that these 3 movements can occur simultaneously, for example: "a daily short swing in a bearish medium movement under an overall bullish main movement."

2. Market Trends Have Three Phases. The accumulation phase, public participation phase and distribution phase. The accumulation phase is when investors who are in the "know" are buying stocks against general market opinion. The stock price does not change much in the accumulation phase. The publich participation phase is when this information becomes known and there is a rapid price surge. The distribution phase is when astute investors exit their holdings.

3. The Stock Market Discounts All News. The stock market price quickly adapts to any information that becomes available.

4. Stock Market Averages Confirm Each Other. When two averages move together, it confirms that the direction is correct. If two averages diverge, it means change is likely to come.

5. Trends are confirmed by Volume. Low volume trading does not make up a trend. Only high volume indicates a trend.

6. Trends exist until definitive signals prove they have ended. There are times when there are market noises and small reversals occur against the trend. This noises should be ignored and the trend should be given the benefit of the doubt. Difficulty lies in deciding which tools to use to decide whether the trend has ended.

Analysis of Dow Theory & Why It Matters to You

Till date, there has been no conclusive evidence on the profitability of using the Dow Theory. While studies remain inconclusive, some have have argued that Dow Theory produces excess risk adjusted returns compared to a simply buy and hold strategy.
Today, many chartists or technical analysts still consider Dow Theory's definition of a trend and its insistence on the study of historical price action of stocks as one of the pillars of technical analysis.

Read Related Articles:
1. To Trade Or To Buy and Hold

Book I Am Reading

I have been reading Capital Ideas by Peter L. Bernstein the past few days.

It provides an insightful account of the origins of Wall Street and also touches on the pionering work of all the early scholars with their new theories on risk, valuation, investment returns and the actual implementation of these theories to the real world.

This book really provides in-depth insights and timeless advice and shows how the unique contributions of these various individuals have profoundly changed the investment world as we know it today.

Why people should read this book is because it provides a very academic response to what has proven to work and doesn't work in the world of stocks.

Random Walks in Stock Market Prices - A Case against Technical Analysts and Fundamental Analysts

Eugene Fama quote on Chartists:

"He must show that he can consistently use these patterns to make meaningful predictions of future prices"

Eugene Fama quote on FA:

"The analyst cannot merely protest that he thinks the securities he selects do better than randomly selected securities; he must demonstrate that this is in fact the case."

My Stand

The onus is on all chartists and fundamental analysts to prove that their system works better than a portfolio of randomly selected securities. I do not side with any camp.

25% Cash Machine

I have been reading this book by Bryan Perry called the 25% Cash Machine.

Basically, this book advocates an investing method called double digit income investing to provide a portfolio that gives both income and capital gains of up to 25%. I enjoyed reading the book except for the fact that some of the stocks recommended in the book are already meeting with some financial difficulties due to the global financial crisis.

In it, the portfolio of stocks to build a 25% cash machine portfolio includes stocks like:

Canadian Royalty TrustsBusiness Development Companies
REITs

I really like the idea of creating a portfolio of 25 stocks that will not only give you income from dividends but also capital gains. Some of the stocks in my current portfolio are also purchased for this reason. They are:

1. ST Engineering
2. First REIT
3. Ascott REIT
4. Suntec REIT
5. PenWest Energy Trust (a Canadian Royalty Trust) - provides me with a monthly distribution.

Hope to find another 20 quality stocks to build my own 25% cash machine portfolio. Perhaps I should call it the Financial Freedom Portfolio =)


See Related Articles:
1. 3 Key Lessons from Rich Dad Poor Dad
2. David Bach - Automatic Millionaire
3. Donald Trump
4. Financial Freedom (Goal 2022)
5. Determine Your Financial Freedom Number