Financial Samurai

After writing “The Art of The Interview“, I realized after interacting with readers that interviewing is completely like dating!  You’ve got a first chance to make an impression, and if it’s a good one, you get to go on more dates until you finally get “the prize”.

Let’s talk about five connections that prove interviewing and dating are so much alike.  We can make an argument that the Casanovas of the world are much more adept at finding employment and potentially staying employed than those with no game.  As men are generally the ones to initiate a date, the following connections will be from a man’s point of view.  That said, all of the interview concepts are the same for both men and women.

1) HOW YOU ROLL Read more…

A Sliced Heart

With Valentine’s Day coming up, I thought it’d be nice to dedicate some of this week’s posts to relationships.  Few things are as rewarding as finding the one you want to grow old with.  I can be stranded somewhere in Kabul, and so long as the one is beside me, I am happy.

That said, does true love have a price?  If a genie gave you the option of having $100 million dollars but never finding the love of your life, or finding that special someone but always living just above the poverty line, which would you choose?

Before answering the question, think about all the fun times you had in your prior relationships, some that could have been.  Not all bad right?  Now think carefully whether after a certain point, more money can really bring you more happiness.

My theory is that “love” will be the landslide victor, however, at the margin men will have a greater tendency to choose money over love, while women will gravitate towards love over money.

The Samurai Fund: -3.13% YTD vs. the S&P 500 -4.4%. Lenar +15%, Berkshire +11%, GE +4% and STE +6.15% continue to be stars. While MWW -18% and Toyota -11.3% are the biggest dogs.  If Toyoda-san didn’t apologize on Friday, I would have sold the stock in a heart beat.

Samurai’s Alexa Ranking Challenge: Is growing strong!  I’m very happy to see so many people progress and support each other.  Forget about all about SEO, link ratios, and yourself.  Keep up the content and the promoting of others!  If you would like to join, read the post, let us know in the comments section with your rank so Daniel-san and I can track.

HIGHLIGHT POSTS OF THE WEEK Read more…

Back in the 9th grade, I remember goofing off quite a bit with my buddies.  We skipped class, stayed out late, and essentially did a lot of stuff that was detrimental to our grades.  Despite working with plenty of Spanish speaking colleagues during my part-time job, I still only got a “C” in Spanish because I didn’t care.   All I wanted to do was have fun, and fun is what I had!

My parents spoke to me one evening and asked, “How are you ever going to be a great business man if you can’t even get an “A” in math?  Do you think award-winning scientists get “C’s” in high school chemistry?  Do you think Andre Agassi doesn’t practice hard every single day?”

The questions stuck with me because ever since I was 12, I wanted to be a “business man.”  I remember getting picked up in a sweet Mercedes 300 SEL by one of my father’s friends to take us to their mansion party.  The whole experience with the infinity pool, car, food, and servants made me want to do what they did, whatever that was!

After the pep talk, I began caring about my grades through college.  I didn’t want a silly thing like grades to get in the way of my dreams.

THE QUESTION TO ASK ALL PEOPLE Read more…

The S&P showed five consecutive days of gains in the first week of 2010 to close up 2.68%.  Meanwhile, The Samurai Fund (TSF) outperformed by 200 basis points to close up 4.77%! For an actual fund of 17 positions, this is absolutely huge!  We are up almost $80,000,000 this week, and if we keep this up, the team is going to get paid like rock stars come year-end!

I’ve put up a permanent tab to track our names to facilitate accountability.  If you are one of the 17 contributors, please provide periodic updates in the page to keep this as realistic as possible.  There will be a review of the bottom performers end of the quarter, to potentially make room for 3 new entrants.  Nobody is safe in this meritocracy!

INCOME POLL: There’s a new poll on the south-right side bar, asking how much money you made in 2009.  The poll is totally anonymous, so feel free to contribute.  It’ll be interesting to see the income distribution of our community, to help me help you discuss more pertinent things. Read more…

Searching For Fortune On The Fund's Yacht

With great pleasure, I announce the launch of The Samurai Fund!

Thesis: Through random selection based solely off permutations of reader’s names (personal or site title), we are able to create a long-only mutual fund that will outperform the S&P 500 index!

Fund Details: $1,672,003 billion launch, $100/share NAV, with 17 positions equally weighted.  Concentrated multi-strategy portfolio with defensive names in the alcohol and utility space, as well as higher beta names in technology and health sciences.  Small caps and large cap names included.  S&P 500 start value 1,115 benchmark.

Investment Outlook 2010: The stock market continues to rebound, but at a slower pace.  Inflation and interest rates remain benign, leading to a re-emergence of consumer spending.  Housing stabilizes with 30-year mortgage rates staying below 6.5%.  The government maintains record spending to stimulate the economy and the unemployment rate begins to fall in the second half of the year.  The S&P 500 increases by 10-15% with a blue-sky target of 1,322.

Duration & Rules: One year.  The bottom 3 performers will be up for review every quarter. To stay in the fund, one must write a convincing argument as to why we should not cut our losses.  Picks down more than 20% also will be re-evaluated.

Goals: To have fun, learn something about the stock markets, prove a theory that luck plays a big part in performance, and to build better relationships with the community.

Contributors: Please retweet and spread the word to any of the social media sharing sites below.  We need all the support we can get to outperform the professionals!  Contributors are encouraged to provide updates and commentary as the months progress.  If anybody wants to do a portfolio analysis below, please feel free to do so!

*** STOCK PICKS SUMMARY WITH CONTRIBUTORS *** Read more…