Business
Phuket Business: Learning from the master investor

PHUKET: Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, is arguably the greatest investor of our time. Most of us can never hope to achieve the kind of success he has had, but we would all probably do well to follow some of his very common-sense advice.
I have gathered a few quotes attributed to him for this week’s article. They’re pretty much simple advice – and obvious if you really think about them – but then, most deep wisdom usually is.
- “Warren Buffet’s Two Rules of Investing: Rule One: Never Lose Money. Rule Two: Never Forget Rule One.”
- “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
- “You don’t need to be a rocket scientist. Investing is not a game where the guy with the 160 IQ beats the guy with 130 IQ.”
- “After all, you only find out who’s swimming naked when the tide goes out.”
- “Investors should remember that excitement and expenses are their enemies. And if they insist on trying to time their participation in equities, they should try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful.”
- “When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever.”
- “The best thing that happens to us is when a great company gets into temporary trouble… We want to buy them when they’re on the operating table.”
- “I have pledged – to you, the rating agencies and myself – to always run Berkshire with more than ample cash. We never want to count on the kindness of strangers in order to meet tomorrow’s obligations. When forced to choose, I will not trade even a night’s sleep for the chance of extra profits.”
Basically these quotes sum up a very simple yet effective approach to investing in stocks or businesses in general. Buy good companies, when times are bad and prices are depressed, and hold them forever.
Warren Buffet has amassed the bulk of his fortune from doing just that. He invests only in companies he understands, and chose to sit on the sidelines during the dot com madness. Thus he avoided the big crash that hurt so many investors at the start of the century.
He also is very anti-debt, which is what he is referring to in the final quote. If he has been able to achieve becoming the wealthiest man on the planet without being leveraged to the hilt (for many years it bounced back and forth between him and Bill Gates), there is no reason for anyone else to employ leverage either.
It should be noted that Warren Buffet doesn’t make money every single calendar year, and even he lost money last year. The big difference between his “losses” and most people’s losses are that his will be recouped easily when markets climb as he is invested in companies that will likely still be around in 100 years.
If you are seriously interested in stocks, wait patiently for the next crash, and invest in companies like McDonald’s and Coca-Cola when they have reasonable valuations.
David Mayes MBA lives in Phuket and provides wealth management services to expats around the globe, specializing in UK pension transfers. He can be reached at david.m@faramond.com or 085-335-8573.
— David Mayes
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Business
Governments & old media versus social media – who will win? | VIDEO

We look at the recent changes made by the Australian and Indian governments to except control over the world’s biggest social media platforms. India has issued strict new rules for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms just weeks after the Indian government attempted to pressure Twitter to take down social media accounts it deemed, well, anti social. There is now an open battle between the rise of social media platforms and the governments and ‘old’ media that have been able to maintain a certain level of control over the ‘message’ for the last century. Who will win?
The rules require any social media company to create three roles within India… a “compliance officer” who ensures they follow local laws; a “grievance officer” who addresses complaints from Indian social media users; and a “contact person” who can actually be contacted by lawyers and other aggrieved Indian parties… 24/7.
The democratisation of the news model, with social media as its catalyst, will continue to baffle traditional media and governments who used to enjoy a level of control over what stories get told. The battles of Google and Facebook, with the governments of India and Australia will be followed in plenty of other countries as well.
At the root of all discussions will be the difference between what governments THINK social media is all about and the reality about how quickly the media landscape has changed. You’ll get to read about it first, on a social media platform… probably on the screen you’re watching this news story right now.
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Business
The social media giants in battle with ‘old’ media and world governments | VIDEO

“The rules signal greater willingness by countries around the world to rein in big tech firms such as Google, Facebook and Twitter that the governments fear have become too powerful with little accountability.”
India has issued strict new rules for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms just weeks after the Indian government attempted to pressure Twitter to take down social media accounts it deemed, well, anti social.
The rules require any social media company to create three roles within India… a “compliance officer” who ensures they follow local laws; a “grievance officer” who addresses complaints from Indian social media users; and a “contact person” who can actually be contacted by lawyers and other aggrieved Indian parties… 24/7.
The companies are also being made to publish a compliance report each month with details about how many complaints they’ve received and the action they took.
They’ll also be required to remove ‘some’ types of content including “full or partial nudity,” any “sexual act” or “impersonations including morphed images”
The democratisation of the news model, with social media as its catalyst, will continue to baffle traditional media and governments who used to enjoy a level of control over what stories get told.
The battles of Google and Facebook, with the governments of India and Australia will be followed in plenty of other countries as well.
At the root of all discussions will be the difference between what governments THINK social media is all about and the reality about how quickly the media landscape has changed. You’ll get to read about it first, on a social media platform… probably on the screen you’re watching this news story right now.
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Never miss out on future posts by following The Thaiger.
Business
Turbulence ahead for Thailand’s aviation industry | VIDEO

When the airlines, in particular, were asking the government to put their hands in their pockets for some relief funding in August last year, it was genuinely thought that international tourists would be coming back for the high season in December and January. At the very least local tourists and expats would head back to the skies over the traditional holiday break. And surely the Chinese would be back for Chinese New Year?
As we know now, none of that happened. A resurge in cases started just south of Bangkok on December 20 last year, just before Christmas, kicking off another round of restrictions, pretty much killing off any possibility of a high season ‘bump’ for the tourist industry. Airlines slashed flights from their schedule, and hotels, which had dusted off their reception desks for the surge of tourists, shut their doors again.
Domestically, the hotel business saw 6 million room nights in the government’s latest stimulus campaign fully redeemed. But the air ticket quota of 2 million seats still has over 1.3 million seats unused. Local tourists mostly skipped flights and opted for destinations within driving distance of their homes.
As for international tourism… well that still seems months or years away, even now.
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