Paarslaars

Is "just $200k" typical for investors here to start with? I started as soon as I had my first 10k saved.

A lot of this is rather recent though, you don't know how it will play out. I noticed some people here have a (bad?) habit of finding great idea's but getting in too early and be forced to average down. The thesis might still play out in their favor but it remains to be seen. For instance, FTP has now tripled since its lows. Those who averaged down, might have some nice returns by now.

I agree with SD though I see nothing wrong with owning more to reduce your risk. No matter how convinced you are of your idea, it's never a sure thing. I remember a few years back people were strongly convinced in FTP, taking large positions around the 22$-16$ range. Same thing more recently with VRX at 200$.

It sounds whiter so it must be good!

Hard is a relative term. What is easy for you can be hard for someone else. I always thought math was easy but until college I was surrounded by people who disagreed. So beating the index can be easy for you but hard for 90% of people, I assume the statement here refers to the average investor. So far you're doing better :)

It simplifies things but if you're going to be spending 1 year per idea, you better make sure you're right :)

I agree with Jurgis though I am wondering how most people with other (non-finance) professions combine their job with value investing? At the moment I'm an R&D engineer at a research center, pretty relaxed job and I have time to do some value investing during work hours. Now I am leaving for a management position in a production company, surely time during working hours will have to be spent otherwise. (On the plus side, MUCH better salary package so more money to invest :) ) On top of that I am expecting my first child in June... still have to figure out where I will find the time.

Sigh, great timing... guess I can average down now.

Started a small position in FNMA.

Sounds familiar, my girl is pregnant so as long as the baby is in there, her vote counts for two... ::)

I really want a newfie but my girlfriend doesn't want to be a fulltime cleaning lady... :( We will rescue as well, her grandfather works in a kennel and will keep an eye out for one that is not too traumatized (should be able to handle young children). I want a big dog, she wants a small dog so... we're getting a small dog.

Gone already :(

Or a great marketer. This. I saw a video where the interviewer asked why he didn't re-release his book and make it available. He said he liked that it was selling at a premium, it showed it's value. Another perspective. I heard someone say if his book was $20 it would be considered a run of the mill investing book not worth seeking out. But since it is so rare and expensive people think it's special. Bottom line, the guy understands marketing better than most. But one can easily get it in electronic form for free :) Was curious about this, took a good 5 minutes though. :)

So this is what happens to investors when patriotism wins over rationality. Being fully honest to your business partners while avoiding to take unnecessary consequences for those opinions is a smart thing to do. But if your opinion is that it is unamerican to be smart, well no objections here ;D

Are you so sure that was a bad move? Buying back in now may be the bad move. We are into one of the longest bull cycles of all time. How much more upside, or how much longer can it go? No one knows of course, but probability says there is a 100% chance of a bear market. In the position you have created which is presumably got lots of cash, I would be inclined to sit and wait, and cherry pick. I am essentially buying nothing right now. I am short term trading around core positions but thats it. Core positions I dont mind getting stuck with. Well would have rather sold it at 23 of course... :) My mistake was selling it because I expected some initial panic after the Trump win where I might be able to buy it cheap again like after the Brexit vote. Clearly I was wrong here... Though you are right, I did get a substantial cash position that has been partially rolled into some E&P positions, the rest I am sitting on as I lack conviction to go balls deep into any current idea.

Depends on how bad the democrat will be. If he/she can get half of the country that did not vote to the booths, I don't think Trump will stand a chance. But for all we know we might get a decent Republican challenging him... I do have questions about his health though, presidency will be hard on a 70y old, especially on the american diet. :)

Well, if prices go up 20% then the US will find those goods somewhere cheaper I guess, so Mexico will be forced to take a cut on those goods or will not be able to sell them at all.

I sold my common right before the election, kicking myself too now but that should teach me not to make macro plays... clearly I don't know what I'm doing.

That's a bit of a silly argument. Kinda like smokers saying "but cars pollute and give you cancer too". Like cars vs smoking, guns vs immigration are two separate issues that need to be taken care of. It is not a matter of choosing between the two. Would it be better to focus on gun safety first? Any non-american would strongly say yes to this as the current situation seems ludicrous to us. But the Americans have gotten used to it so they might actually prefer the immigration issue handled first. And Trump already announced (as expected) that he would forward the bill to Mexico by taxing their export. They simply cannot afford not to be able to sell their goods in the US.

Well, would you like to live in a country where the media can freely manipulate the news for their own gain without sanctions? Because that is what they have now... I don't think one is better than the other for the people but the right winged goverment in control of the media would be better for us investors (at least short term). On the plus side: on this first day Trump was able to get more fat women out walking than Michelle Obama could in 8 years. ;D

Same here, don't want to sell BRK though. :-\

Successful in studying or the blog? Always interested in reading blogs from people here.

I was already invested in oil/gas going into 2016 (which had a substantial contribution to my losses in 2015). I did pick up BTE somewhere below 4$ in september. All of my commodity holdings, with exception of BXE, are currently standing at a substantial profit since purchased. Fortunately for me I was able to add 50% to my portfolio in cash from bonusses (small personal portfolio) at the beginning of 2016, so the 40% return this year is about 2.5x the -20% loss I sustained last year.

Picasso, Is there a thread about FELP? If so, I would like to read it and understand your reasonings about the company. If not, where could I find more information? Thank you! Gio http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/investment-ideas/foresight-energy-felp/ 60 pages, I've been going through it again for educational purposes, makes me question why I considered it risk to go above 5% position. I guess in hindsight anything that works out will look less risky. Still have much to learn, yet so little time :)

40% here, a third of that came from FELP (thanks Picasso!), if only I had the balls to go deeper... Usually 5-10% in cash. Happy with the results as I was in Sri Lanka for Februari so missed out on the bottom. Couple of small mistakes this year but nothing really big, which is nice as 2015 kicked my ass (-20%).