gerry harvey doing it tough in the sharemarket

From Lateline Business interview on 29 July 2008 - Gerry Harvey complains about the state of the market.

loki

"LEIGH SALES: Harvey Norman's share price is off by about 50 per cent, you've been a recent buyer so you obviously see value where others perhaps don't. Why would investors get into retail now?

GERRY HARVEY: Well Harvey Norman shares were $7.30 or something and when they dropped to $4.55, wow, I was in there buying like, you know. And then they dropped to $3.90 so in I go again. But then they dropped to $3 and now I'm too shell-shocked. So I didn't buy any at $3. I'm a mug. I bought at $4.55 and $3.90; I should have bought at $3. But then you just get shell shocked. I've got shares in about 50 public companies and they're all, I've been buying for the last 12 months, I keep buying and they keep dropping and dropping. ANZ Bank, I've got heaps of them, Westpac, I've got heaps of them, NAB, I've got heaps of them, down, down, down and you think to yourself, "Gee, what share do you buy at the moment?" Like, realistically, Harvey Norman, half the price that it was? At $3.50? It's not at the moment, I don't know what it is today, $3.30 or $3.20 or something. I think it's silly, but that's what it is.

LEIGH SALES: Are you going to keep buying?

GERRY HARVEY: I'm losing courage. I've sort of, you know, I've been flogged. When you keep buying and it just keeps dropping and I keep losing my money all the time, I think "Oh, oh, just have a rest, don't buy anything."