the ship is safer in the harbour

After finishing a course of san choy bow and honey prawns, my local Chinese restaurateur presented me with a fortune cookie. It said;

The Ship is safer in the harbor but it wasn’t meant for that

Now think about that in a market context. Rough Seas. Big (and mid) Caps capsize and highly leveraged pleasure craft are smashed against rocks.

Big caps are under constant scrutiny to perform and the commentary from shareholders becomes so loud that it distracts the board from doing its job. Just look at Fairfax. In a year’s time how many decisions will be labeled knee jerk? And silly play things like unfunded mining projects are simply thrown to the sword regardless of what’s in the ground.

With very few surviving those that do are:

1. Those that say enough’s enough, it’s time to abandon our ship for another – the takeover which is so macabre in this market; a black comedy applauded for its certainty in its end of grief.
2. Those that are too big, slow and or ugly to sink. The consumer staple and infrastructure
3. Those that have a tight knit crew

What was so nice about the Bells Report was not the fact that we are rated a strong buy, or we have a break through platform technology, but we have a clear and identifiable path to calm waters – a business plan supported by a committed team, capable of ignoring any outside distraction. This is the most valuable asset we have. Seriously the strength of our FULLY FUNDED BUSINESS PLAN SHOULD NOT BE UNDERESTIMATED IN THE MARKET, it provides us with the strongest defense possible. It focuses the fire in the belly of the staff and sends a message to the market that on an on we go.

Let’s not forget we have a fully funded business plan with no debt and no requirement for debt where obtaining finance is increasingly difficult. How many companies out there need money to finish the job. We are not one of those.

When it gets down to brass tax, the actual business you’re in shouldn’t matter, providing its not Newspapers or akin, as long as what you do is defined, fluid, focused and committed, and surely we are all of the above.