Archive for the ‘Business/Investment’ Category
Greed? On the sharemarket? Never!
Obvious Otis headline of the morning goes to the NZ Herald for this AFP story … The sell-off sparked more finger pointing and anger from those who had expected the price to zoom to massive gains like the immediate doubling of career-oriented social network LinkedIn’s IPO price last year. “Investors are searching for someone to […]
BYOB and self-direction
I don’t always agree with VC Fred Wilson, although I find him worth reading. He’s got this right: It’s one thing to build your business on the infrastructure of someone else. Publishers do that all the time (hopefully adding value). It’s quite another to be their poodle. Dependent. This is not just an ‘attitude’ thing. […]
A polite request from Plunderbund: ‘Please unblock our ads’
As we’ve discussed, a lot of web browsers (people not software) — including me — have installed ad-blocking software. In my case, I was driven to it by feverishly animated Air NZ ads on the NZ Herald website and whirling dervish property spruiker ads on PropertyTalk. So, look what I spotted following a search result […]
Why not put it out there?
I know the cynics may try to tear this down. I don’t care. Why not aim high? – P Via Nick Bilton thanks to Tim Murphy.
Property Tutors’ Sean Wood is ‘not of good character’ – according to Authority & Judge
I’ve entertained questions of my own about former Richmastery (now Property Tutors) mentor and property spruiker Sean Wood’s credibility and marketing methods for some years (see here). Now the Financial Markets Authority’s conclusion that ’15 million dollar man’ Sean Wood is not a person of ‘good character’ for the purposes of the Financial Advisor’s Act (and […]
Crafar farms decision déja vu
Rubber stamped for a second time … Overseas Investment Office docs (hat tip: NZ Herald): Recommendation | Decision summary Sir Graeme Harrison on Radio NZ National’s Morning Report (before the decision was announced). [Audio clip: view full post to listen] MP3 file for non flash users Updated with audio links
The trajectory of property spruiker Dean Letfus
I hadn’t seen this until today — a remarkably positive article about investment ‘lessons’ spruiker Dean Letfus has learned from the collapse of his ‘property empire’ in April’s New Zealand Property Investor magazine. A few other bankrupt investors are mentioned to leaven the loaf, but in the main it reads like an article about cover […]
Fishing for suckers
Just back from my school camp/tropical island holiday (ha!) and look what was on the fax machine: A new scam looking for victims… Fishy? Yup. Yellow Pages Group is warning its small business customers not to be sucked in by a scam that asks for their details so that they can be listed online. The […]
Why I’m leaving …
Here’s a sensational way to resign from your job … which became an instant internet meme. Followed (very quickly) by a wonderful spoof… There’s no saying how much Greg Smith’s resignation-in-the-round was influenced by the very serious ‘Why I left Google’ blog post by James Whittaker … who’s gone to work for Microsoft (!) Wow. […]
Privatisation goes into panic mode
For those interested, here’s Michael Coote’s very worthwhile article touching on the political management of the National government’s intended privatisation of State Owned Enterprises … Read it at National Business Review: Privatisation goes into panic mode – P
Window dressing
I was sorry to see this … Article here at stuff.co.nz As I said when the Lombard Finance charges were laid, I had quite a bit to do with Doug Graham and Bill Jeffries as cabinet minsters when I was a journo in the Press Gallery. I liked them both. This result will give pause […]
Fattening the lawyers
Fran O’Sullivan, writing in the NZ Herald today about the controversial Crafar farms sales process has this exactly right, in my opinion: The door is open to Shanghai Pengxin to change aspects of its original application. The OIO said yesterday this often happens during the application process as “applicants refine their applications and agree to […]
Paying for results
Congratulations (whether they’re deserved or not) to spin doctor Matthew Hooton (last discussed in Matthew Hooton and the exquisite agony of being a paid shill). Look: Oh. Read Patrick Gower’s column here. – P
This is just how I see it too
It’s hard to say I told you so without sounding like a dork. But this is how I see it too. Especially about design really mattering. Following on the heels of Apple’s enormous success … Watching Apple Win the World — John Gruber at Daring Fireball 26/01/12 David Heinemeier Hansson, on the satisfaction of being a […]
Denouement of Dean Letfus
This has been a slow train coming down the track, and I take no pleasure in recording it. Almost a year after the wheels fell off the Shaun Stenning-Dean Letfus-Steve Goodey hyperbole machine, reality is sinking in with attendant finger-pointing and blame shifting. As you will see if you care to follow discussion and comments […]
