wisdomous.com

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2008/28/c6093.html

the story can be read at the link above.

I am glad someone has finally sued Mercedes Benz. They are totally defrauding people out of their hard earned money. They require unneeded modifications done to Mercedes cars brought to Canada from USA. Those modifications can only be performed by a MB retailer, who charges $120-up per hour.

I bought a Mercedes-Benz E-class in the USA.  I was told that vehicle would need a Canadian bumper in order to pass the federal inspection. The bumper had to be purchased new, and be installed at a Mercedes dealership. In total i paid over $1300 to have this done. Here is the kicker> After I had the bumper installed unpainted and passed the inspection, I decided to have it painted. Upon removal of the Canadian bumper i compared the part numbers to the American bumper. And, guess what… they were identical. They made me buy a bumper i did not need. Awesome!! After that I never bought another Mercedes-Benz car.

On top of all of this, when I asked the dealership who installed the bumper, for the old american bumper.  I was told that it was discarded. Well, I replied then you owe me at least $500 for a used bumper. Upon hearing that, the service rep said: maybe it is still in the back. Of course it was. They wanted to keep it for themselves.

I have already contacted the lawyers handling this lawsuit to see if i can be included. I hope Mercedes will learn something from this lawsuit.

BMW is another manufacturer that since November 2007 made it difficult to  bring their cars in into Canada. You now require to obtain a letter from a BMW dealership that states that the car is admissible to Canada. Cost of this letter is $350. Ridiculous!! If the car is admissible BMW requires a provincial inspection and get this: a BMW inspection! Cost: $250. Of course daytime running lights have to be added and only by a BMW store. Cost: $125. If everything goes well and no other items are needed to pass the inspection you will require a recall letter from BMW. Cost: $500. Double ridiculous!! Before November 2007 this letter was FREE!! I can not believe they sank that low.

Dear Mr. Paul D. House

Tim Hortons is my favourite fast food restaurant. It is open 24 hours, it has a variety of food: donuts, sandwiches, soups, bagels, different pastries, yogurts, and there seems to be a TimHorton’s location everywhere. I even used to be a shareholder. (bought Aug-7-2006 at $24.34 and sold Sep-19-2007 at $34.74) The company’s stock closed today at $35.49.

So, while I obviously think TH is great, there is some room for improvement. Donuts are great, they are sin food. However they are a thing of the past. Today’s population is health conscious more than ever. I see it all the time people want to get a Boston Cream but instead they settle on something more healthy.

My suggestion to TH is to add more healthy items to your menu. Salads seem like a no-brainer, you already have the veggies for your sandwiches in stores, why not use them to make salads. There is a movement away from bread, even whole wheat. More and more people are discovering the goodness of fresh vegetables. Even if we forget the health issues, adding salads to the menu offers yet another alternative. Which in turn  should bring more people in the stores.

Going even further ahead I would suggest adding Sushi to your offerings. I realize that is is a long shot, but the sushi trend is here to stay for at least a decade. Why not capitalize on it. Furthermore in my province of British Columbia there are no chains offering Sushi. This would place TH in a competitive advantage. Imagine being able to get the same sushi wherever you go. I am sure that McDonald’s is exploring the sushi idea, especially after trying out successfully I may add the Feng Shui theme in some of their California restaurants. Just something to ponder…

32.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot, including this one.

Why? Simple?

1. Average house price over $500K and average income around $45K, do the math.
2. General public feel prices are still moving up!! Can you say bubble?
3. Developers canceling sold out condo developments (Sophia in Vancouver at 11th and Sophia)
4. Credit market tightening. Commercial paper market first, wait a few months for consumer market to follow.
5. Olympics frenzy - the thinking is once people see beautiful Vancouver they will want to buy here. I say not when they see the prices.
6. Looming recession. OK, British Columbia may actually slip through the recession because of capital expenditures on large construction projects, which feed money to the economy (Golden Ears Bridge, Twinning Port Mann, Sky-Train). On the other hand due to the strong Canadian dollar the forest industry is in distress
7. do we really need a 7th reason

My advice is if you own multiple properties, sell them while the market is at the top and buy similar properties later at a discount

This is why I try to always be fair. I believe whatever unfairness and bad deeds you put out there in the end they will come back to you. The universe has a way of keeping the score even.

The way this works is even in our subconscious. Suppose you find a twenty dollar bill that someone has lost. What do you do with it? Well, you go and spend it somewhere. Be it a dinner, be it flowers for your significant other, or any other thing. You put that twenty back out there, someone is already reaping the benefits that will eventually make their way to the person who lost the $20.

So whenever you have a chance to do something nice without any reward, don’t hesitate! The reward will find its way back to you.

As you read in my previous post i sold yahoo at $29 today (it was purchased at $23.50).
Here are my current holdings:

Well, today i said goodbye to Yahoo! as a shareholder. I got bored with the slow developments in the whole Micro-hoo fiasco. Microsoft started a proxy battle for control of Yahoo’s board. It dawned on me that Bill Gates is a tough and shrewd businessman, it is not his style to be nice and pay more. So i logged in to my TD Waterhouse account and sold yahoo at $29 per share. I think i did OK, i bought it in the summer of 2007 for $23.50.

Yahoo will inevitably become a part of Microsoft and i think the combined entity will be worth looking at as an investment idea. Microsoft has been a money maker for me in the past. I won’t hesitate buying it again.

I came across an article that promotes following the trading moves of billionaires. (http://seekingalpha.com/article/64799) I came across this while looking into E*Trade.

The article’s author offers a stock tip: a billionaire’s purchase of 300 million shares in as of yet unnamed natural gas company. The company will be named Feb 18th at 5pm. after the markets close. Here is a link to the promotional page: http://www.angelnexus.com/o/web/4127 At a glance that page looks fishy. New York Times is quoted, but the date of the quote is not given. Which of course then can not be verified. The writing is also a bit odd. There is a reference to a “rich billionaire”. Is there any other kind?

The source of the stock pick is a star trader named Ian Cooper. His picks are listed in a chart, only one of the trades was a loser.

I am usually skeptical of people promoting their future stock picks with their track record that is not supported by any proof. So I decided to follow this and see how the new pick does. When the natural gas company is named, I will post it on here and we will follow its price movement.

In the past few weeks the markets almost daily have moved up and down with enough momentum to make one sea sick. This volatility has presented buying opportunities. Once company I am starting to take a liking to is The Blackstone Group.

Perhaps is the private equity business that I am drawn to, or perhaps it is their efficiency I admire. Something about Blackstone is very attractive to me:

1. The stock is trading at an all time low. (IPO was only last year)
2. The company is run by people who proved themselves time and again.
3. They have a tonne of cash.
4. One of their Directors is Canada’s former prime minister: Brian Mulroney
5. Book to Price ratio is now below 1 (source: Yahoo finance)
6. Billionaires invest in Blackstone, why not small fish like me?

I will be watching their stock, but at the current price: $16.83 I believe it is a good deal. I would rate this as a long term stock. As a bonus they do pay a dividend.

There has been a lot of talk about the takeover of the Internet giant YAHOO by the software Goliath MICROSOFT. Since the takeover bid was announced YAHOO’s stock shot up to reflect the price of the bid. Yahoo held a board meeting on Friday( Feb 08 2008) and promptly rejected Microsoft’s offer.

Now since I hold Yahoo’s stock I am left wondering whether to sell or hold. What follows is strictly my opinion, I am not advising to buy, hold, or sell. I am simply stating what is good for me.

In my opinion Microsoft needs to buy Yahoo for its online strategy. Their online game is weak, it is most likely losing money. Microsoft paid a fortune for a sliver of Facebook, showing in the process that it is aggressive about its online strategy. I believe that the top honchos in Redmond are prepared to pay a little bit more for Yahoo’s assets. Yahoo after all owns some of the prime properties on the web, together with Microsoft’s business savvy, and the power of Facebook the new entity could have some clout. Not to mention synergy savings. I am going to hold on a bit longer to Yahoo’s stock.

Bottom line is that I see Microsoft paying $34-36 a share for Yahoo.

I would also assume that all the institutional investors would rather have  dividend paying Microsoft shares, rather than no-dividend Yahoo shares. (The offer was half cash, half stock)