09-26-2014, 11:04 PM
Thanks for that jft.
Strangely, it was not leverage that got me in 87 .... I didn't even know the word.
The first was a case of investing in companies that had great potential but were not producing yet. When markets collapse then these are the first to go. Things like Krinkle Motors and City Resources etc.
The second was by investing in gold and gold producers. The crash came, the price of gold and gold companies shot up. Then over what appeared to be almost overnight people realised they had to sell their gold and gold shares to cover their losses in other investments. Gold tanked big time and took those shares with them. No Internet at that time so I discovered what was happening way too late.
The third was in investing in what I thought were safe blue chip companies that were controlled by entrepreneurs who were praised by all the financial publications (Skase and Bond) who turned out to be crooks when the times became tough.
Funnily enough it was only OSH that still exists from my share portfolio of that time. Yes it took a real beating also, but at least it survived. Even more funny, about 3 months ago I was notified by another company that was restarted from the ashes of that era, and I am now the proud owner of around $20 worth of those shares also, but they are no longer being traded on the stock market.
I still remember saying to myself at the time "be strong in your conviction and the market will eventually correct itself" instead of trying to salvage the last fraction of my wealth when I could see what had happened. You guessed it, I was not prepared to crystallise my losses and slowly, one by one, most of those little stars of mine (those companies) got snuffed out to never be seen again.
Anyway, times have moved on and things may well be different now, but for me the mental scars remain and I will never take the risk of being caught out like that again
Sorry about my ramblings.
Strangely, it was not leverage that got me in 87 .... I didn't even know the word.
The first was a case of investing in companies that had great potential but were not producing yet. When markets collapse then these are the first to go. Things like Krinkle Motors and City Resources etc.
The second was by investing in gold and gold producers. The crash came, the price of gold and gold companies shot up. Then over what appeared to be almost overnight people realised they had to sell their gold and gold shares to cover their losses in other investments. Gold tanked big time and took those shares with them. No Internet at that time so I discovered what was happening way too late.
The third was in investing in what I thought were safe blue chip companies that were controlled by entrepreneurs who were praised by all the financial publications (Skase and Bond) who turned out to be crooks when the times became tough.
Funnily enough it was only OSH that still exists from my share portfolio of that time. Yes it took a real beating also, but at least it survived. Even more funny, about 3 months ago I was notified by another company that was restarted from the ashes of that era, and I am now the proud owner of around $20 worth of those shares also, but they are no longer being traded on the stock market.
I still remember saying to myself at the time "be strong in your conviction and the market will eventually correct itself" instead of trying to salvage the last fraction of my wealth when I could see what had happened. You guessed it, I was not prepared to crystallise my losses and slowly, one by one, most of those little stars of mine (those companies) got snuffed out to never be seen again.
Anyway, times have moved on and things may well be different now, but for me the mental scars remain and I will never take the risk of being caught out like that again
Sorry about my ramblings.