How to avoid investing mistakes

Every genius we see today has undoubtedly made mistakes at one time in their lives. Mistakes most times are learning experiences for people. Some people would say “Learn from your mistakes” but i say “Why make mistakes when you can learn from other peoples mistakes?”. It is based on this that we would be taking a look at some investing mistakes that every would be successful investor should avoid. You may have heard some of these before, but lets remember that its not whether you have heard them - it’s a question of whether you have actually put them into practice.

1. Develop a philosophy
Every investor should have a philosophy or set of beliefs and values before going into the investment world. This would define the kind of stock bought and how available funds are allocated. An investor that believes in value stocks and companies that are shareholder friendly would most like allocate more if not all of the available capital to buy a stock like First Bank plc or UBA plc as against Japaul Oil plc or ABC Transport.

2. Avoid too much information
Information is definitely the oxygen required to make the right choices in stock investment. Too much of it however is not good as the investor ends up having challenges sifting out what is required to move ahead. The investor should seek out the basic information from trusted sources and not always pay attention to rumors. For what its worth, an investor should endeavor to always have the financial reports sent to shareholders at the end of each financial year. This piece of info gives a detailed description as to the general state of the business.

3. Concentrate.
Some investors believe that they spread their risk and are better off when they buy into many stocks. I would say they buy a few of a lot. This is very risky as it becomes difficult for the investor to accurately know whats happening in all the companies at one. Successful investors like Warren Buffet has always said that investors should buy a lot of a few. It helps them stay focused and a focused investor is potentially a successful one.

4. Understand your investments.
Always remember to read and do a thorough research before you send your broker the cheque. Always invest in businesses in which you understand their financials, products, services and people. CEOs are expected to make their activities open and simple for the average investor to comprehend. If that is not present in a business, then do not put in your money. Simply put, invest in companies that are TRANSPARENT.

5.Don’t sell too soon.
Jumping in and out of stocks is certainly not the best way to make it big in investment. The only time the investor should sell is when you realise that a mistake has been made. Understand that the falling price of a stock does not mean that that particular investment is a mistake. Allow time to run its course. After all, if indeed you believe that you picked right, why wake up one morning and think otherwise.

We can go on and on but the bottom line remains that the level of your rise or fall as an investor depends on the level to which you play by time tested rules. Invest wisely and live happily.





Academy Press release first and second quarter results for 2008
Posted: 16 Jan 2009 10:38 PM PST
Academy press yesterday made available two of its quarterly results to the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The first being its Profit and Loss accounts information for the first quarter ended 30th of June 2008. It recorded a Turnover of N376.052 million, as against preceding year comparable periods N425.556 million. The Profit Before Taxation was N6.935 million, as against preceding comparable periods N54.869 million. While, the Profit After Taxation also declined by 87.36 percent to N4.855 million, lower than preceding comparable year 2007’s N38.408 million.

The second quarter ended 30th of September 2008’s accounts information showed a declining earnings report too. The Turnover figure declined to N773.581 million, as against preceding year comparable periods N754.420 million. The Profit Before Taxation showed a figure of N11.133 million, as against preceding year’s comparable periods N62.535 million. While, the Profit After Taxation figure also declined to N7.793 million, as against preceding comparable periods N43.77 million, indicating an approximately 82.2 percent cut, in the net profit made for the share holders of Academy Press.





Nigerian stock market update for 16 January, 2009.
Posted: 16 Jan 2009 10:36 PM PST
Data from the Nigerian stock Exchange show’s a further declining market as the All Share Index (ALSI) dropped to 27,108.54 basis points, as against yesterday’s closing of 27,421.05 basis points. There were a total of 6,064 stock transactions involving a share volume of 150,470,106 units, worth N1.253 billion; as against yesterday’s 7,747 deals involving a volume of 255,346,864 unit shares, valued at N1.495 billion.The market capitalisation closed for the last trading day of the week at N6.032 trillion, as against yesterday’s N6.101 trillion.

The most traded stocks (volume wise), in a descending order: (1) FIDELITYBK led the activity chart by trading with 20,267,144 units, valued at N85,245,712.11; (2) PZ traded with 14,047,127 units, valued at N203,615,616.78; (3) BCC traded with 9,153,387 units, valued at N183,101,645.80; (4) FIRSTBANK traded with 8,397,027 units, valued at N159,167,525.41; while (5) ACCESS traded with 8,256,223 share units, valued at N48,033,009.56.

The top price gainers of the day in a descending order includes: (1) BCC appreciated by N0.99 to close at N20.98; (2) UBN gained N0.67 to close at N14.17; (3) DANGSUGAR gained N0.66 to close at N14.03; while (4) WAPIC gained N0.19 to close at N3.99.
On the other hand, the top price losers for the day in a descending order includes: (1) UACN which lost N1.50 to close at N28.65; (2) WAPCO lost N1.12 to close at N21.45; (3) GUINNESS lost N1.11 to close at N73.00; while (4) UAC-PROP lost N0.89 to close at N20.00