john ndege

i’ve been seriously interested in finance for a couple of years now and been actively investing for over a year. in order to ensure I am honest with myself and because of  a desire to share my thoughts on global markets, i’ve decided to keep a blog going on my investments and the world economy.

there are various things I look forward to covering but an obvious place to start is why I like this stuff.

why i like this investing stuff

1. picking stocks, bonds, investments or whatever you are into is an intellectual challenge. some people see it as sophisticated gambling. that may describe trading but I believe successful long term investing is about a company, its management and analysing the business. luck plays an important role but over the long term across a range of investment decisions skill will win the day. picking the right investments is a challenge thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of people are involved in day to day and there is a sense of achievement in knowing you got something right.

2. i like numbers. i like analysing data coming up with conclusions and acting on my opinions.

3. its fun making money

stocks i hold

at the moment i am invested in the stocks below, in a future post I will explain why.

Fortune Oil (Chinese Oil Company)

Dominos Pizza (Takeaway Pizza)

Morrisons (UK Supermarket)

new york times feature on graduating from college dorm style living to a proper well designed residence. i just like the new design. nice art on walls and good sofas. still, the whole think cost $8,000. style isn’t cheap (most of the time).

almost bought these today

likin this look. lovin my fashion these days

amazing set of plays at the tricycle theatre, kilburn, london. seriously “seize the day” is the best play I’ve seen!

I just kind of like it!

davemorin:

superamit:

tedr:

mikehudack:

blakeley:

stellavista:

letters of note

How artists conduct business.

Mick is my new business hero. In this terse letter he congratulates his coworker, he sets expectations, he advises w/o directing and takes the pitfalls of the compensation issue entirely off the table. I sincerely aspire to lead/create/live like this.

Read it twice.

looking forward to this…

out of boredom…

1. sonar 2009 - my first time in espana - pure hedonism
2. picking stocks - go emerald energy!
3. making new friends - i’ve made a fair few who i expect i will be good friends in the future
4. telling people i went to the gym - now i no longer go!
5. visiting kenya

I wonder what the rest of the year will bring…

i read a lot. most of it is probably junk and completely useless but I take it all in. for me the accumulation of knowledge (typically through reading) is something i almost can’t do without. unlike most people i know who read a lot, I rarely read fiction. in fact, i can probably count the number of fictional books i’ve read from start to finish on a pair of hands. fiction never quite interested me, it just felt somewhat useless. non-fiction attracted me beause it could be applied to everyday life. it could be a book on economic history or a random article in vanity fair. somewhere, sometime that knowledge will be of some use.

my relationship with reading takes me on some wild rides. on saturday afternoon when i am lazying about at home after a late night, i can’t bare to watch tv or a film. again, mostly fictional it seems like a waste of time. espeically considering i would likely have wasted a lot of money the night previous and felt the need to make up for it. so on starurday afternoon your likely to find me spening hours trawling through wikipedia and assorted articles. i can start something mundane like different sorts of fabrics and end up on an article about ancient mesopotamia. its pretty fascinating and thats how i learn about pretty interesting things.

this all probably makes me a bit of a nerd, what the hell! reading is fun

one of my fav features of iphone 3.0 software