Extending a middle finger in 2008

For the first post of 2008 on Political Animal and just to poke a middle extended finger at the Electoral Finance Act, that came into force today, I am going to do something that I should be freely able to do.

Speak my mind about politics, politicians what they do, and how they do it.

I would like to point out to my readers that I could be breaking the EFA and risk a fine and or prison for what I am about to say.

Don't vote for Labour, NZ First, The Greens or the Progressive party.

Those that make up these parties are fascist, nasty and Stalinist and are freedom haters of the lowest form and they don't wish for you to have a free vote in the 2008 New Zealand Elections and you must vote accordingly if you want a free election.

Free speech is an important part of any democracy and that has now been removed because of the Electoral Finance Act and the aforementioned collectives.

Vote for either the Maori Party, Act or National, because they voted against the bill and clearly respect your freedoms as voters.

All together now, middle fingers extended!!

Wish me luck.

I wish you all a happy, free and prosperous New Year.


C Political Animal 2007

Share Investor: Best and Worst of 2007

Its the time of the year where I look back on the good, the bad and the ugly in the business world during 2007, with the Inaugural Share Investor best and worst of 2007.

While there was very little good about it; finance companies going bust, management spinning stories till investors got sick with dizziness and a sharemarket that failed to catch afire, some ugliness: Helen Clark and her mates increasing taxes again and not returning them till election year 2008, and few bright sparks, Micheal Hill glittering with gold by returning healthy gains for investors.

Enough verbal diarrhea.

Lets kick it off then with the biggest prick of the year.

Wanker of the year

Little Timmy Saunders and Origin/Contact Energy win this award for steadfastly refusing to step down the aforementioned Tim Saunders and other board members on Contact Energy's board for pursuing Origin's objectives rather than the wishes of Contact Energy shareholders who wanted him gone.

Arrogance and failure were the hallmarks of Saunders reign and his failure at the head of Feltex Carpets seemed to be of benefit for his reelection to the Contact Board at the end of 2007.


IPO Disasters

While there were a number of notable failures in 2007, Xero and Carmel Fisher's Marlin, the IPO that made the biggest headlines this year was Burger Fuel.

Burger Fuel had the highest hit count on this blog on Google so while it is a favourite subject, that doesn't make it a favourite for investors when they decided where they were going to put their cold hard cash this year.

The IPO was shooting for NZ$15 million but got less than a third of that.

The shares were issued at $1.00 and never sold for that figure and have continued to slumber in the 50-60c range, where they finished today at 59c.

It doesn't look promising for 2008, given the global credit crunch so best we all shut our eyes and wish the coming year away.


Leaders of the year

It is for a company that I have a shareholding in but I cant avoid name dropping it again.

Don Braid and Bruce Plested from Mainfreight control a company that is growing profits and sales globally while at the same time having a no nonsense approach to managing his people and his company.

He put the boot in during 2007 into the Labour Government for increasing business costs and interfering with private and public companies. Clearly not afraid of any possible political backlash, New Zealand business needs more no nonsense straight talkers like this dynamic duo.


Cant wait to see the back of you award

Head and shoulders above anyone would have to be Telecom's Teresa Gattung.

Presiding over a company that failed to plan for the future and is now counting the financial cost Gattung left with a hefty payday and never looked back on her years of shareholder destruction at the helm.

Restaurant Brand's Victoria Salmon finally got pushed and her emphasis on marketing and flash over service and substance had a marked affect on sales and profit at the restaurant operator.

Its current decline was somewhat slowed latter on in 2007 but it had nothing to do with new management, it was just another small upwards cycle until the next inevitable downward spiral.


Most battered sharemarket sector

While most NZX sectors got a hammering this year, head and shoulders above the rest, without a doubt, were the retailing stocks.

Battered by high mortgage rates, gas and electricity prices and new taxes, shoppers held off spending and only did so when enticed by increasing sales by retailers.

Retailer's margins were affected and competition by the likes of Hallensteins, Postie Plus, Pumpkin Patch, The Warehouse and others meant that share prices of these retailers sank like their store sales sticker prices.

Pumpkin Patch finished the year at around half its $4.95 high and others had more than 30% come off their market caps.


Losers of 2007

Investors in the myriad of finance companies that folded this year, putting well over a billion dollars of investors money at risk.

Investors ignored the risk or were advised to take the risk by "financial advisors" and were not given the required return for risk taken.

A lesson in investing that hopefully some can learn from.


Woolpullers prize

The prize for keeping its investors and the investor public at large out of the picture would have to go to management at Sky City Entertainment.

Its ability to string out takeover proceedings and its nonsensical market statements and erroneous time frames for deadlines is a skill worthy of David Copperfield, not the manager of a New Zealand blue chip.

Hopefully the new head, Nigel Morrison, might be able to stop the boardroom table and investors heads from spinning in 2008.

Red tape award

The red tape award has to go to the Commerce Commission for first deciding to put the kybosh on the Warehouse takeover by Foodstuffs and Woolworths and then appealing the decision by the High Court to overrule that decision.

The commission have stretched out the whole process by more than a year and it looks likely shareholders will be none the wiser until well into 2008.


Conflict of interest prize

To large shareholders in Auckland Airport, Lloyd Morrison's Infratil, Auckland and Manukau city councils and their representatives on the board.

The conflicted board members are not serving other shareholders well and put their own conflicted interests before smaller shareholders.


Fairy tale award

For those in the Green Global warming religion whose adherence to fairy tales and junk science has cost New Zealand millions already in 2007 and is set to cost us billions in 2008 and for the NZX and Mark Weldon to latch onto it by starting up a "Carbon Trading" platform in 2008.


Thank you for 2007

If it wasn't for those connected with Sharetrader getting my old share investor forum site removed from its host in July because they were afraid of a little healthy competition, this blog wouldn't have been the success it has been in the latter half of 2007.

The competition has pushed me to expand and enabled a much more immediate and larger audience than before and at this rate of growth it will easily surpass sharetrader's audience by mid 2008.

Blogging really is the way and I want to thank Philip Mac Callister for his help there!


Disclosure


I  own shares in The Warehouse,Sky City,Auckland Airport, Mainfreight, Ryman, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, Contact



 c Share Investor 2007

Merry Christmas and NZX holiday trading hours

I just want to thank all my readers for continuing to check out the Share Investor Blog during 2007 and I want to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a safe and very prosperous New Year.

I will be checking in momentarily over the summer break and will furnish the inaugural Share Investor best and worst of 2007 for the financial sector before years end.

Until then why not check out my companion site Political Animal best and worst of 2007 for my pick of the rogues and heroes in New Zealand politics for 2007.

Just a note for NZX market watchers. The NZX closes today early at 4.00pm and resumes for normal hours again on 27 December.

For more details of the coming NZX holiday hours please check here.

Cheers,

Darren Rickard


C Share Investor 2007

Political Animal: Best and worst of 2007

In the spirit of this season and in the spirit of giving, Political Animal would like to hand out presents for those politicians who went above and beyond the call of duty to single themselves out for attention in 2007.

Lets face it politics is a dirty business, and politics has been especially filthy this year.

It hasn't escaped me this time of year, you creationists out there may have been looking for evidence of Darwin's evolution and modern humans relationship to our cousins the apes, and one doesn't have to look further than Parliament in Wellington to see clearly that some modern humans have failed to evolve and apes they still are.

Nail in Labour's Coffin


Emmerson NZ Herald 19 Dec 2007


In fact some in the Labour Party clearly fail to reach ape like status.

Anyway, that is enough of the serious stuff, lets get on with Political Animal's inaugural 2007 best and worst of Politics.


Man of the year

John Boscowan, for showing opposition to the Electoral Finance Act, putting his money where his mouth was and organising huge opposition to to the fascist, Stalinist, bill that will remove free speech in election year 2008.

His courage and conviction for such a noble cause, in the face of Labour lies and innuendo, where there is usually little courage and no conviction instills pride into myself and others who marched down this countries streets to fight for our rights to have our say.

Boscawan is an individual whose qualities are rarely seen in New Zealand.

He stands above all others.

Disgrace of the year

The passing of the Electoral Finance Bill.

Whopper Lie of the year (sponsored by Burger Kings vegan vege burger)

Sue Bradford, former Miss New Zealand and now Green Party member told parliament that her anti smacking bill wasn't introduced to stop parents from smacking their kids lightly to stop them from crossing the road without looking and then when the bill became an act she said this was the kind of scenario that the bill was passed for.

Best punch and bully of 2007:

The obvious choice for this is of course Trevor "The Bash" Mallard, for trying to deck Tau Henare in Parliament and then unwisely picking on several women state workers, forgetting of course that his boss is a woman....hmmmmm....oh come on Darren that is a cheap shot.

Wanker of the year (sponsored by Durex condoms)

It just has to be that best dressed clothes horse and Taurangas answer to Don King, the heavyweight boxing promoter, Winston Peters.

There is so much material about Peters in 2007 that puts him in the Wanker of the year category. His intellectual masturbatory "gifting" of $158,000 of taxpayer money to a children's hospital instead of giving it back to those it belongs to defies logic.

We all know Winnie and logic fast became strangers when he confused his balls for baubles in 2005 and decided to take the booty instead of smacking the booty of Clarke and co.

His curious affection for Condi Rice also has tongues wagging in Wellington and closer to home, the marital bed.

Leader of the year

John Key, the Leader of the National opposition party finished the year as the most preferred Prime minister and so did his party, by a country mile. He is a man who's time has come and 2008 could be his year.

Disappointment of the year

Once again John Key, he voted for the piece of crap anti smacking bill and systematically drove a wedge into his major support.

Hot air award (sponsored by Exxon Mobil)

To those of all political parties who continue to support the myth and lie of man made global warming and are heading New Zealand on a path of economic destruction and poverty not seen since the great depression and the poppy rush in Europe 400 odd years ago, for no good reason other than politics, taxation and control.

Fool of the year

Micheal Cullen wins streaks ahead of anyone else for this category.

A collective who is so confused by how economies work he thinks governments can spend taxpayer money and not have an effect on an economy but when individuals and companies spend their own money they do!

October 2011 will see this historian look back on 2008 and see that his tax cuts of that year were too little too late for the economy and also failed to have himself and his mate Helen reelected.

Quote of the year (sponsored by Carbon footprints)

"scumbag, scumbag, scumbag, rich prick.." all directed at John Key in the house in December and sums up in 3 words what Cullen and the Labour Party think about those that have made a success of themselves in life.

As long as you don't do better than anyone in the Labour Party, who are ironically mostly from very privileged backgrounds, then you are above reproach.

Micheal Cullen, extremely wealthy himself, not that here is anything wrong with that, should be praising those that do well.


Dope/s of the year

Nandor Tanchos and his party the Greens for railing against gambling, smoking, alcohol, fatty and sugary foods while at the same time advocating the use of marijuana and"party pills" .

Defies belief and conscious thought.

Perhaps the Greens were unconscious when taking their stance on the "ills of society".

Positive media stance of the year

The New Zealand Herald's stance on the Electoral Finance Act. Never before has any media got it so right.

Disgraceful media stance of the year

Russell Brown, John Campbell, Chris Trotter, Al Gore, Findlay MacDonald, and his wife and their mates from NZ's overwhelmingly leftist media pushing the spin that the left do so well.

Repeat a lie often enough and eventually people will believe it.

Racist of the year

Willie Jackson from Radio Live, who calls himself a "Political Animal", he is right on the last part.

Willie gets off on calling people who disagree with him racist while at the same time peddling something akin to the likes of Mugabe.

Little Willie, as his wife affectionately calls him, is also on the state tit and definitely has a face for radio.

To be avoided in 2008.

Caught in the headlights award (sponsored by Wilson Tennis Raquets)

To David Benson Pope for not seeing the car driven by Helen Clark, at 170km pr hr, speeding to cut him down for stuffing tennis balls in children's mouths 20 years ago while still a teacher.

Broadcaster of the year(sponsored by Newstalk ZB)

Leighton Smith, for saying it like it is on his morning show on NewsTalk ZB.

Talkback straight to the point and with intelligence, Smith took no prisoners in 2007. His education of those ignorant to the garbage extolled by the global warming zealots was a high point.

Essential listening for 2008. (back late January)

Loser of the year (sponsored by the New Zealand Labour Party)

The last but not least category is taken out by none other than our favourite Aunt, Helen Clark.

Helen takes out this years award for loser of the year for one main reason, although there are a myriad of others.

Helen managed to take her party from being ahead in the polls and her as Prime ministerial fave, to sinking any chance that her party might have in the 2008 Elections.

She got it wrong all the way through 2007.

The anti smacking bill, Electoral Finance Bill and the failure to be punished for stealing $800,000.00 of taxpayer money to buy the 2005 election were all black marks against her and her party.

The arrogance and high handedness and the dictatorial nature of her leadership let her down time and time again and even long time Labour supporters are questioning their allegiance to a person who would pass laws to stop free speech and interfere with their lives as individuals.

Political Animal wishes all its readers a very Happy Christmas and a wonderful and overwhelmingly prosperous New Year.


C Political Animal 2007