Hey, this an ideas thread. Ideas I've had for some time and done nothing about myself. I've taken note though, as time has gone by, that no-one has done them, or anything similar. Maybe there are good reasons for this. Hmm.
1. Baby Boomers Retiring:-
New Zealand this, not talking in the USA etc., where private equity is well established....
No, I'm not talking about retirement homes, or farming oldies. I'm thinking all those baby boomers are retiring and what happens to their businesses? Like Auckland house prices, the amount of capital needed to buy these businesses has gone beyond the reach of younger investors.
Baby boomers also inherit their parents business and want the cash out. Or the baby boomers don't have children capable of taking over, or the children are not interested, or the children have taken over and want to cash out. Whatever, you get the idea.
Simple idea really, a private fund buys these good businesses and runs them under management. They're either directly governed or brought together into industry groups which can be floated off onto a stock exchange, or sold to management later, maybe being split up before doing so.
I'm not aware of any consultant or investment banker in NZ operating in the space where the businesses are smaller, but not the corner shop either - let's not get carried away here; I'm thinking 20-50 employees and under $50 million worth.
It could even be handled like a reverse mortgage, the retiring owner stays in place in a senior governance role and is paid out over time. Nothing really new in that angle I guess though, but where I think I'm different is that the group buying these businesses packages or bundles them up.
I can think of literally dozens of businesses where the owner is older, nearing retirement and carrying on regardless. Some I personally know and they say they have to carry on as no-one can buy their business.
So that's an opportunity for an enterprising investor.
2. Search by thought and eyes:-
The next Google is a search engine that processes your thinking. Reads your mind. Maybe through your webcam it reads your eye movement. Touch screens yes, but if you can touch the screen why can't the screen touch you?
3. HorlorVision:-
This is an implant, far beyond Google glasses. It's in your brain and you can see any movie or TV show ever made, right inside your head.
Or driving along you can see Google street view in part of your brain.
Or the military application - you can implant all the necessary steps for being an excellent soldier. Correctly configured, the soldier can work with satellites and drones, seeing behind targets ( who's hiding behind the wall?).
4. Basketball Jumping Shoes
Intelligent clothing. The rules of basketball say you're not allowed to get an advantage by jumping off or being held by someone else (technical foul). So no riding on someone's shoulders or jumping off something (such as jumping off a body crouching like a stool, or a hand off or climbing onto the backboard). But shoes have some leeway, and have improved over the years. I think Adidas put out a shoe they said allowed a higher jump, and the sole looked good.
But I'm talking a sole that applies leverage but never changes shape. This avoids the charge that the shoes are like someone standing on stilts. The interior of the shoe would use leverage to propel the player higher (the foot inside the shoe would need room).
In the next development the sole itself would have a memory that equates to a spring like a lever spring, but no actual large spring. The sole is flat but when activated by toe reflex, springs the player upward. Look at these Rosta bearings, the unit on the far right is what I'm talking about miniaturising, get the idea? This could be inside the sole and would provide massive lift...
These elements pictured work in industrial applications, inside a shoe they'd provide maybe two and a half feet of lift for the average size person - BOOM - every competent player is a dunker.
5. Water Driven Car
People go on about electric vs petrol vs fuel cell.
Well woop de doo. I'd get excited if one day you can get the garden hose and fill your tank with water and drive along using that.
Two ways this could be possible, c'mon engineers do it...
(a) the first is you have a uranium using nuclear plant in your car and it turns the water to steam, which then drives your car. The advantage of this is that when at home the same plant can power your house with electricity and feed the national grid, or;
(b) The water is fed through a cracker which splits the water into hydrogen and oxygen. Most talk about hydrogen, but the oxygen is useful here I think, bring the elements back together and boom, ignition. The nuclear unit would crack the water.
The idea is that you fit the nuclear unit to the car and it goes for the life of the car without replacement uranium, the car being disposed of when dead after 20 years or so. I haven't costed the uranium and the quantity available on planet earth. The idea falls over if there isn't enough uranium to go around.
Found this page >>Click Here<< which lists great books you never hear about. From the list I've read two of them and flicked through a third, so I'm going to trust the list and say they're all good.
A fantastic read is The Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker by David Boyer. I found it in a secondhand bookshop and bought it for a few cents. What a bargain. It's right up there with the best.
Cassell's Dictionary of Slang is the other one I've read and it's good too.
The Black Book by Lawrence Durell, I now regret simply skimming through this while visiting a friend. He's dead now so I won't be able to go around to his place to borrow it. Look out for this one.
One book missing from the list but worth a mention is The Red House by Else Jerusalem. It was published in Vienna about 1907/08 and translated into English in the 1930's. Good luck finding a copy, but it too needs to be credited.
I've been thinking - a good sport would be a soccer/basketball game with the goals combined. See kiddie picture attached to illustrate and a photo of both courts side-by-side somewhere, when they could be combined. I couldn't find a picture of what I'm imagining as, apparently, no-one apart from me has thought of this.
The game is played on a basketball sized court and uses a fussball or similar, scoring either in the basketball or soccer goal. No basketball dribbling but passing with hands allowed. Only one step allowed if ball in hand. Goals scored; 3 points if a soccer goal, 5 points if a basketball goal off the foot only with no hands involved. If a basketball goal is scored shooting from the hand exclusively then 1 point, but if the player puts the ball from hand then onto the foot and then in the basketball goal, 2 points.
I figure 6 players on a team ( one goalie ). It would be a hard game involving a lot of skill, but easy to get the hang of quickly. Think about how fast it would be, interceptions could be by hand or foot, but for each individual player, they'd have to decide in a flash whether to put the ball to hand or foot when receiving a pass. The ball must be kicked into the soccer goal for 3 points, if off the hands or an own-goal even, the attacking team get the ball back at half way with no points scored.
Rejoice, the earth is saved. That's the propaganda line coming out of the climate conference in Paris.
My problem with the proposed measures is they appear to be socialism under another guise. They're taking from the rich to redistribute to the anointed few.
When was the last time nanny state organised anything other than a colossal cock-up? Hmm?
>>Link<<
New Zealanders will remember Nick Smith selling the emissions trading scheme to New Zealand. He went out of his way to lie to the entire nation. Recall him saying over and over that New Zealand would not be paying for trees grown before 1990? He wilfully ignored the Kyoto amendment from Marrakesh that expressly pays Russia to not cut down trees. That's wealth transfer right there and expect more of this horse-shit this time round.
The taxpayer is being hoodwinked. What's going to happen is we pay more tax, we will not be saving the planet. It's a massive tax grab, nothing more than that.
Here's an idea. How about Europe sorts itself out and puts its trees back. Heard of the black forest? It's hardly there now, but a couple of thousand years back, the thing got called the black forest as it was so dense no light penetrated.
Or how about by the time Genghis Khan rode across the steppes, all the trees had gone, his armies had a clear run.
See where am I going with this? How come people in the Americas or the Pacific for that matter have to pay for the Europeans fucking up the planet? How about our version of socialism; fuck them, they can starve, we get on and live our lives as we please. We owe them nothing.
The new flag has been chosen. It will now run off against the current NZ flag. Not bad for a country with no air strike capability and a navy that runs away from fishing boats. Grow some balls New Zealand, get a military before you change your flag.
Being a known investor I get all sorts of offers of various kinds coming across my desk. Some of them are funny, almost all are duds, but some are far worse and make me take note - but not in a good way.
One such company is music site Baboom. I was approached by some outfit touting this thing as the next best thing, a Spotify beater. Oooh, look out. Kewl. Get the idea?
Well, being inquisitive I checked out the website - it didn't function at all well, the first page took minutes to load, and since then each page loads in a slow 30 seconds. I am using an HP15 64 bit Windows 10 computer with Opera 32 browser. Download speed is 7.88 Mbps. Not overly fast but good enough to check anything including YouTube, the NBA and ESPN.
So I dig deeper. Turns out this nonsense was founded by Kim Dotcom, the convicted criminal who is awaiting extradition from New Zealand to the USA on money laundering and racketeering charges. Hmm.
Okay, so let's not be too judgemental (laugh track), I check out the speeds of competitors and they load in seconds. Oh dear. I Google common search terms for music, Baboom doesn't show up. Deary me.
Now what was touted was a compliance listing of Baboom on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Securities prior to that were offered at a 20% discount. Great deal? Well no, my estimate is the shares are worth very little if anything at all. A company founded by a crook, charged with offences directly related to the business at hand, must mean the site cannot get major record label business and so cannot be viable. It's as simple as that.
So be warned, if you get Baboom quoted to you by a broker or anyone else, laugh and walk away or hang up quickly.
(Note: These opinions are information only and do not constitute investment advice. If you need investment advice on these stocks or anything else for that matter, talk to your recognised and professional investment adviser. Better still, do your own research and act on it confident in your own ability.)
So the Christchurch City Council are going to sell their parks and road construction business, City Care. What is it worth? My calculation is it's worth about $65 million. Anything over that and they're laughing.
Ok, so Chris Cairns has been found not guilty. He had an excellent barrister. Now what of Brendon McCullum, the NZ Cricket team captain? Should he resign?
Here is my list of the most underrated cars. Bear in mind I'm a Kiwi and so this list will be biased toward cars that were available down under. They all held up well and I'm weighting for that fact principally, but also important is the car's utilitarian usefulness, reliability and cost of ownership. Without further ado, in ascending order:-
10. 1950's Standard Ten
A cute little car that held up well, they're still used on a daily basis in NZ, mostly by little old ladies who as we all know, know their cars. The great little Triumph Herald came later, and the Ten gets little mention as a result.
9. Lada Niva
Heh, the Suzuki Vitara copies this car, imitation being the sincerest form of flattery of course. The Niva people invented the crossover SUV with this brilliant car. It is almost never rated unless they're a serious off-road driver or German farmer.
8. 1960's Humber Super Snipe
These cars last forever and you would be foolish to discount it even today if you're looking for something cheap and indestructible. Older versions have won just about every demolition derby, but the 60's models are great rides and are just modern enough to be acceptable still.
7. Jaguar Mk X
I just about wet myself whenever I see one of these. I've owned Jags, including a Mk1 and 1967 S-Type but always wanted a Mk X, I just never found one in good enough condition. They tended to get thrashed (they're very powerful). A big car this.
6. Ford Ka with black bumpers (pre 1999)
Such a practical car and a good secondhand buy though you rarely see it mentioned.
5. Leyland P76 with the V8
Considered the biggest failure in Australian car manufacturing they're actually a good car. They have a boot that will take a couple of sheep.
4. Trekka
A useful New Zealand car and still in everyday use. They're powered by a Skoda engine. Usually mentioned is the Kiwi Duzgo (it does go...get it?) which was a dud to be honest, despite the hype and faithful few who promote it. Always overlooked is the Trekka, which was a success.
3. Vauxhall Velox LIP
The 6 cylinder car in the Wyvern body. Don't think about going over 70 mph and the suicide doors are a joy. Later Velox models get all the credit but this car is amazing. My father got a 1951 LIP as his first company car and he kept it until the early 1980's when he sold it for a few dollars. It was thrashed its whole life, got rarely cared for yet just kept on going.
2. Ford Anglia c. 1960
Bullet proof, just about.
1. Studebaker Champion c. 1950
My most underrated car. Reliable, robust, modern, own it today and it will go just fine.
My novel Basketball Obsession will be available free from the Kindle store on Wednesday November 25, 2015. It's an easy read and suitable for age 14 and up. The story is set in a town at the top of the South Island in New Zealand where it isn't rugby the locals are crazy about, it is basketball.
Following on from my earlier post about Caterpillar's troubles, JCB now report a huge plunge in sales.
>>Click Here<<
Quote:-
“In the first six months of the year, the market in Russia has dropped by 70%, Brazil by 36% and China by 47%,” said JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald in a press release.
Yeah, not so good.
Update on Caterpillar. Their share price continues to fall, from a high of just over $106 within the last year, they're now at $69.39 as at the close of trading in New York a few hours ago. That's a drop of about 34%. Caterpillar now fall into the buy territory with a P/E lower than 15.
(Note: These opinions are information only and do not constitute investment advice. If you need investment advice on these stocks or anything else for that matter, talk to your recognised and professional investment adviser. Better still, do your own research and act on it confident in your own ability.)
An interesting view from the Express; Jihadi John was killed as a result of Russia getting heavily involved in Syria...
>>Link<<
Personally I think Russia is going about things the right way. First, they're mopping up the rats and mice before crushing ISIL. Then later on they'll likely stab Assad in the back.
I'm getting a bit sick of the constant attacks on Russia. The latest is the cry to ban them from the Rio Olympics.
Doping in sport is widespread, back when Marion Jones and many other Americans were busted, was the USA banned? And what about all those British athletes. And is it just genetics and training that has those Jamaicans running so fast? Hmm?
It's all politics at the moment, and I'm sick of it. How about handicapping athletes who dope, or run separate races for those who do.
Richie McCaw has just captained New Zealand's All Blacks to their third Rugby World Cup, the first back-to-back championship since the event started in 1987 ( which NZ won). The All Blacks are now poised for a 'three-peat'. Heck at this rate they'll go four years unbeaten (hope so). New Zealand are getting so good at Rugby they're making everyone else look pedestrian. Maybe in future the World Cup will decide who gets to meet the Kiwis in a World Series?
But heh, let's not get too carried away.
Many have noticed McCaw has not retired as was expected. What's up? He wasn't named in the Crusaders squad that was recently announced and he'll have to be playing Super Rugby if he's to qualify for NZ and the chance to earn that 150th test cap (he's on 148).
Tempting to speculate, so let's do that...
* Maybe he's going to the Highlanders? He's from Otago and went to Otago Boys High School. The Press in Christchurch claimed him as a Canterbury son on their front page Saturday - well he isn't actually, so there.
* Maybe he's going up to Auckland to player/coach them?
* How about he's going straight in on the All Blacks coaching staff and then replacing (Sir) Steve Hansen when his contract expires.
* Then there's that Japanese Super Rugby franchise, maybe he's negotiating to player/coach them?
* He may have been recruited for the National Party list at the next election. It's no secret National have lusted after having him on their ticket (don't do it (Sir) Richie).
What do you think?
Interesting stuff from the Swiss, Ettringite concrete, reported below from DW TV. Concrete blocks are made which heat when exposed to water. Copper pipes are threaded through the blocks, which act as a heat exchanger. The hot water then circulates through the house, heating it.
DW TV Video
It would take only a few blocks to heat an average size home all winter. Would these blocks last? It appears they will, at least as long as the home will, which has got to be something worth considering. Are they expensive to produce? Simple answer - I don't know, but the process looks a little complicated, the blocks heat up when made, can they explode if you get the recipe wrong?
One of the guys featured in the video can be found here...
Frank Winnefeld of Empa - the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
Found the following article which explains clearly what happened as a result of the General Motors bankruptcy back in 2009.
http://www.dailywealth.com/2125/gm-americas-biggest-bankruptcy
Put simply, the union got the money and the bondholders were screwed. Don't worry about the company not being able to make a decent car, or the chance to have capitalism go to work and make the GM assets available to new entrepreneurs, No, Obama had to win Michigan and the US taxpayer forked out.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership has been agreed, the actual value of which is now to be debated. What struck me is how something so small at the start can grow very fast, now covering 40% of the world's economy.
A rough timeline...
2001 - the process starts when New Zealand and Singapore conclude a free trade deal.
2002 - a year later Chile is on board, now called the Pacific Three Closer Economic Relations
2005 - now Brunei joins and we have the P4; the term Trans-Pacific Partnership begins
2008 - joined by USA, Australia, Vietnam and Peru, now this thing is big
2010 - Malaysia join
2012 - Canada and Mexico are now in
2013 - Japan join the party.
