Latest Colmar Brunton Poll reveals Phil Goff is history

In a week that revealed Helen Clark felt rejected by New Zealand when she lost in a landslide election to National last November comes more bad news for Labour.

New Zealand is in love with John Key and the National Party.

They have done well so far despite for delving into "big gay outs" and cycleways just to win popularity but John Key continues to urinate into Phil Goff's pocket.

ONE News Latest ONE News Colmar Brunton poll results as of 05/04/09

• WATCH the video (4:47)

It might be wrestling with the biggest economic down-turn in 70 years, but the National-led government is riding a massive wave of popularity according to the latest ONE News Colmar Brunton Poll.

Despite some of National ministers needing to be reined in like Richard Worth's, whose private business trip to India had the opposition accusing him of both a cock-up and a conspiracy, it hasn't affected National's or PM John Key's popularity with the masses.

It is still sky high in the polls with 57%. Labour is well back on 31%, the Greens are on seven percent and the Maori Party and ACT both hovering around two percent.

Translating that to seats in Parliament, it gives National 70, Labour 37 and the Greens eight.

Assuming electorate seats are held the Maori Party has five seats, ACT two and United Future and the Progressives one seat each. TVNV.co.nz

What is clear is that Kiwis wont even consider Labour as long as Phil Goff is spluttering his way through his opposition position.

c Political Animal 2009

What 11 years of Stockmarket investing has taught me

This might be depressing or revealing or both but hang on dear readers you just might learn from my experience.

Discuss this subject @ Shareinvestor.net.nz

If I knew what I know now before I started investing in the stockmarket 11 years ago would I still invest today?

I think that is a really good question.

Again it is a question of long VS short term investing.

The first stockmarket investment I made was quite large at the time. It was around 90% of what I owned at the time. I bought 9600 Telstra shares in March 1998, from memory at about $3.9o something, and sold them 4 days latter for $4.47. I made around $4000 very quickly and got bitten buy the stockmarket bug.

The brokerage was around 600 bucks, no internet trading and getting a broker was akin to joining a secret schoolboy club.

My second investment was made in 1998 (7 April to be exact), was for 1000 shares in the Restaurant Brands [RBD.NZ] IPO at NZ $2.20 per share. If I had held on until last week I would have been able to sell RBD shares at around 80c each. If you include dividends and tax credits totaling around $1.20 I would still be short 20c per share! (see chart below for the sad story)

I sold out years ago at around $1.30. Interesting that I was to pick the buy and hold approach to investing because since these two purchases stockmarket investors have seen: *The Asian meltdown of the late 1990s *The tech bubble bursting in 2000 *9-11, where stocks dropped afterward for many months *The accounting scandals in America in 2002 *2007- ? The credit meltdown and associated recession I have learnt along the way and I am still learning. I bought one internet stock that I lost money on (around $3000) sold all my shares on September 11 and lost a little and then started investing in Sky City Entertainment [SKC.NZ] shares in 2002 and then sold during the accounting scandal for another small loss. Looking back I can see how much of an A-grade moron I really was. I shouldn't have bought the internet stock, that was greedy and I shouldn't have sold in 2001 or 2002. They were mistakes but I learnt from them. I started my current portfolio in 2002 and haven't looked back since. Seven years latter it is still in the black (when dividends and tax credits are included) even after all the recent stockmarket calamity-among the worst in living memory-and I am looking forward to a good return as the years go by. It took me until 2002 to develop my investment strategy, a full five years after my first stock purchase, and it has been from my mistakes that I have learned the bulk of what I now know. I knew nothing of the stockmarket 11 years ago, the most I had heard or seen about it was when I saw Michael Douglas in Wall Street 10 years previously and even then it was as foreign to me as a brain cell is to Al Gore. After 11 years, knowing what I know now would I still invest in the stockmarket? I will keep you posted. Recent Share Investor Reading The Headliner: 2 April 2009 Edition Emotional Refuse A Hickey in Bernard's Advice Nuplex rights decision a dilemna for shareholders Share Investor's 2009 Stock Picks: Looking Back Dead Cats and Vicious Bears Long VS Short: Freightways Ltd Related Amazon Reading The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel (Revised Edition) (Collins Business Essentials) by Benjamin Graham Buy new: $13.25 / Used from: $9.24 Usually ships in 24 hours c Share Investor 2009

The Headliner: 2 April 2009 Edition

Subscribe to The Headliner @ Headliner.co.nz

Direct from my Mysterious Benefactor comes another edition of one of New Zealand's leading finance papers, The Headliner.

This April 2 edition has a major story on Sky Television [SKT.NZ] and its coming battle with Tivo.

It also covers something I have missed, a foray by Jan Cameron to buy more shares in Postie Plus Group [PPG.NZ] She now owns a whopping 17.75% for a very low total price.

It also skips over retailers Hallenstein Glasson [HLG.NZ] and Briscoe Group [BGR.NZ] with a look at results and future prospects.

Pike River Coal, GPG and Cavalier are also given the once over.

The Headliner has an interesting Portfolio picks section. Here are this edition's picks:

Pike River Coal [PRC.NZ]

Lyttleton Port [LPC.NZ]

Northland Port [NTH.NZ]

F & P Appliances [FPA.NZ]

Just Water [JWI.NZ]

Nothing I would have chosen except perhaps Fisher & Paykel Appliances and only below 20c.

To my mysterious benefactor thank you and please keep them coming.

Disclosure: I own PPG, BGR, & HLG


Recent Share Investor Reading

• A Hickey in Bernard's Advice
• Nuplex rights decision a dilemna for shareholders
• Share Investor's 2009 Stock Picks: Looking Back
• Dead Cats and Vicious Bears
• Long VS Short: Freightways Ltd

Related Links

Subscribe to The Headliner @ Headliner.co.nz
Headliner.co.nz

From Amazon

The Headliner Subscription
12 months, 24 issues


c Share Investor 2009

Hairy "T"

This is the gift that just keeps on giving.

Paul Henry can be annoying but that is part of his charm.

I'm going to buy one and send it to Stephanie Mills.

Watch the video here and wonder at the same time why the fuss?

c Political Animal 2009