some ramblings to ponder, page-15

about my self and those around me

I ‘m from Melbourne, so that’s another corner of the continent covered.
Closed down my architectural business in my late 50’s due to health problems and lesser energy levels to spend 5 years or so making many trips in our four wheel drive, camping and seeing so many parts of Australia and particularly the outback. I love the outdoors, and i like to explore.

Then finding our assets were beginning to run low, but at the same time with the advancement of medical science assisting my energy levels, i was back at the drawing board again (or should i say the computer) involved in design of residential developments and some individual residences, plus developing an interest in the share market.

I am now seventy four years of age, have been through the dotcom era naively buying stock by the sound of the companies names and trying to trade them by technical analysis in a falling market, the rise and rise of the mining boom where a lot of money was made and i could do no wrong, prior to the crash and the great financial crisis... sold out half way down, and then made some good money as the markets recovered.

Over the years i believe i have developed an excellent ability to pick stocks by screening stocks on the commsec web site on the basis of the wide variety of performance and financial fundamental data available there. And when i have honed in on in on a few favoured stocks i start scanning previous annual reports for further elimination. A lot of work but at least i am then fairly familiar and confident about the stocks i have selected.

It has not been all financials, I have used my market analyst charting program to assist and its additional note sheets (which can be added within the same window) to add my financial data and notes.

Why am i in the CFD arena ? well bluntly, share prices are now far from bargain prices, and i can see the Australian economy falling in a heap in the next few years, and i would like to make some money out of it, but it looks like i am going have to exercise some patience yet.

On the family side of things my wife and i have been married 54 years, three kids now in their forties and three grand children from our youngest daughter, ages 6 to 11 (boy,girl boy). The grand kids live close by, so we see a lot of them and just love them to bits. The oldest boy has been playing football and basketball for a number of years and i am there most saturdays to cheer him and his team on, (much too loudly for the likes of his mother) but who cares you’ve got get into the spirit of things. Little marco the 6 yr old is as smart as is older brother is not so smart. He’s particularly interested in natural science type stuff and has a knowledge in this area well beyond his years. There is so much i want to teach him . his dad is a big well built italian, outside his working day his only interest is sport, and lies on the couch all weekend (when he is not working) watching it) . nathalia, well, she is just the most beautiful little girl in the whole world. When she fixes her innocent gaze on me with her large dark brown eyes i go all soft and mushy. When she grows up the guys just wont have a chance.

So we are heading into the final chapters. i am still enthusiastic about being able to make some money on the markets and in much the same way as jongo i am very keen to learn and keep up, if not ahead of the world’s financial movements. At times a few brain cells disappear together with snippets of information and logic - thats life. I have found the conservation and information that has developed on this site plus the team-like approach of all really stimulating.

gk