Power of Motivation

Power of Motivation

Recently I discovered that a SYT (sweet young thing - but this SYT is not a thing, but a young sweet lady) who is actively posting meaningful, inspiring, thoughtful and motivating notes on her facebook. And she does it happily from time to time. At first Kassim did not pay much attention to her postings, but as Kassim begins to know her, Kassim begins to appreciate her kind efforts to share all those good notes on her facebook. (Above is one of the samples from her)

Some of her notes are very motivating ones. Some will make you pause for a moment to reflect of the meaning of the notes. Although we could source all these from various websites, (I know most of us would be too lazy to do that), we tend to get on with our lives on a regular daily routine without a thought for some reflection. It is only when we notice certain eye-catching Motivating notes that inspire us or remind us of our wonderful lifes that we have.

So each time you come across a motivating notes anywhere, be grateful and thankful of that person(s) who take the unselfish step to put up the notes. A big syabas to them! Keep up the good work!

A personal thank you to this SYT too! I know she will be reading this post and I told her that one good turn deserves another. In this instance, my expression of appreciation of her effort, hopefully will motivate her to continue with her good efforts. (See, sometimes the motivator needs to be motivated by another motivator!)  Is Kassim confusing you? Ha ha. Share with you one more tip. This SYT has unforgettable deep dimples when she flashes her golden smiles!

Motivation can come in various forms. Kassim remembered when he ran his first Mas International Marathon in Penang in 1993. As Kassim had only been able to finish a half marathon in 2.30 hours, the confidence and strong will to finish the full marathon within the 6 hours stipulated time needed extra motivation to finish the race.

So what did Kassim do to motivate himself to finish the full marathon race? Kassim printed out an A3 size paper with just 3 words : I DID IT! The idea was to imagine and vision the finishing scene as Kassim is crossing the finishing lines and taking out the folded A3 size paper and show it to the waiting crowd, including his then little boy, spouse and several good friends that he had done it.

Did Kassim finish the race? Yes, such was the motivating factor during the race as Kassim was struggling all the way after the half way mark. Kassim eventually finished the race with just one minute to spare.

Motivation can also has an effect when it comes to investing. If a top fund manager or let us say a fund managed by Warren Buffet starts buying one local company listed in Malaysia, it is very safe to presume that many of us would be jumping into the wagon to join in the buying frenzy and thus sending the stock price north sharply.

Similarly when a few top fund managers or a few big well known fund start to sell, many of us are likely to follow them, again resulting in a sea of red.

Selling by two directors of MFCB

Recently there was a report released by  PublicInvest Research posted on Sep 30, 2014 featuring Mega First Corporation Berhad (MFCB). It initiated coverage with an Outperform call and SOP-derived  fully  diluted  target  price  of  RM3.85. 

The various reasons given were really very "motivating" factors for many readers which prompted heavy demand for MFCB's shares the moment trading started that morning. The share price went to touch a more than decade high of RM2.77 before settling down at RM2.66 on heavy volume of 4,913,100 shares.

Unfortunately, on that very day, one of its directors disposed off 60,000 shares at RM2.67 in the open market. Then on Oct 2, an announcement from MFCB reported that another director disposed 50,000 shares on Sep 29 and again another 35,000 shares on Sep 30.

Such prior and post disposal of shares by the two directors at such a short time during PublicInvest Research's report confused and rocked investors' confidence deeply. Why? If directors who hold sizable stakes in their own company sells the shares, especially when the company has been given an excellent coverage by a reputable research house, who would investors trust?

Kassim would definitely be very confused and lost. While it is the rights of anyone or investors of any company to buy and sell shares of any company, it is definitely different when it involved those directors - whom investors trust them to lead and run the company in a profitable manner.

Directors should be very mindful of their timing to sell as this will send out a very different kind of signal to investors. Perhaps the time to sell their shares would be when the company's share price are trading and consolidating at a tight range and with no research's house coverage at that time.

That is why Kassim always like those major shareholders/directors/founders of companies who are very committed in running their ships. They do not get involve in selling, instead they implement share buy backs from time to time, thus reducing the number of shares left in the open market.

Ironically, MFCB has been very actively purchasing its shares back from the open market. There are 20,488,500 shares cumulative net outstanding treasury shares as at Aug 27, 2014.

Kassim's responsibility as a blogger

As a blogger myself, I am also very mindful about the thoughts of my readers, followers and  close friends who are investors. I know some of you would have read my postings and possible be influenced or motivated by my postings to buy certain stocks which I shared.

That is why I am particularly carefully of the timing of my posting which involve the selling and purchasing of stocks related. I would rather share my posting immediately or soon as possible the moment I bought certain stocks. I do not want to be accused of "accumulating" first in a comfortable way and then releasing my posting "promoting" that particular stocks, hoping others would join in to buy and push up the share price higher.

Imagine I had been inviting readers to join me to invest in Mercury Industries Berhad for the long term. Then two weeks later, I post to inform about my entire disposal of Mercury. And it so happen after my disposal, Mercury shares came down. How would you (as my followers or my readers) feel? Especially when you are still holding on to Mercury shares?

Would you ever trust me again? See, my responsibility as a blogger is more than you, readers and followers and friends. You can sell and buy quietly without anyone knowing, but I can't.

An email from Pn Lee Bee Swan

Pn Lee expressed her joys of being able to purchase 1000 shares of Harrisons Holdings Berhad at RM3.41 on Oct 14, 2014. She asked if it is still a buy at RM3.79 (on Oct 23) and what are the other undervalued counters. She would like to invest in Mercury Industries Bhd but at what price?

First, I would not know how the price direction of Harrisons is going to perform in the future. If the performance is good, it would reflect in the share price. The recent "mini-correction" of the global stock market also hit many counters on Bursa Malaysia. Many counters became attractive and "undervalued" overnight.  But which one is more undervalued and offer higher opportunity for faster chances of share price rebounding?

Mercury's last traded price is RM1.37 on Oct 24, 2014. My last purchase of Mercury shares was at RM1.59 for 4,500 shares on June 2. Although my purchase qualified for the 10 sen dividend paid recently, theretically I am still staring at a paper loss if compared to the current price of RM1.37.

Yet I am not bothered at the slightest. Unless Mercury's earnings shrink in the future, that would be a different story. But if Mercury's earnings improve or at least maintain the 16 sen earning annually, than the current price is definitely a steal due to the depressed market sentiment.

So Pn Lee, shall I welcome you to join Kassim to be the owner of Mercury?