Portfolio Update November 2016 and How to Deal With Potential Major Turnaround Events

Note that, as usual, you can expect our next update in about 12 weeks or so, in February 2017.

Meanwhile, you can also have a look at our actual portfolio and previous portfolio updates here:

DIY Portfolio

Portfolio Update August 2015

Portfolio Update November 2015

Portfolio Update February 2016

Portfolio Update May 2016

Portfolio Update August 2016

After a tough start to 2016 that provided some interesting buying opportunities and a moderate rally afterwards, markets and by the same token, our DIY Portfolio kind of have been struck in neutral lately. Historically, stock values that don’t go anywhere and are stagnant for a while are often a sign that something big is coming. So a bold movement could be expected but the problem is that you never know in which direction it will go. Is it going to be way up or way down? Nobody can tell…

Reduce your Telecom Bill Just by Asking

The other day, my uncle Jim was furious after receiving a juicy internet bill. He initially thought he got charged too much. He immediately called his provider to complaint about the “overcharge”.

Very patiently, the customer service clerk made some verification and subsequently told him he had exceeded his transfer capacity for the last two months. Jim wasn’t happy with that yet very sensible answer and still went on grumbling.

A tiny bit later, by what seemed like insane magic, the extra charge had been reversed. On top of it, they even gave him a free upgrade so he would not bust his monthly plan anymore. What!?!

The next day, still a little angry yet proud about it, he called me. He still was worried his Wi-Fi router had been hacked and doubted the company’s assessment. I checked the logs and immediately discovered he had done it on his own. It clearly was his fault as he started to read his favorite newspaper online every day; all those presentations full of nice images and interactive videos quickly add up and could explain his sudden heavy internet usage. 

We laughed about all the fuss he had made and the fact he still got an upgrade just for calling and being a little persistent.

With my uncle’s happy fortune fresh in mind, the following week, I decided to also call my telecom provider to ask for a rebate. After just a few minutes, our monthly telecom bill was nicely reduced. Maybe not as substantially as Jim’s…still very easy money that remains in our pockets. Should have asked sooner and took note to do more often!   

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Housekeeping The 12-Minute Way (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on April 12, 2012

Living in a clean environment can contribute to your well-being and happiness but proper housekeeping takes time.

So, here are some 12-Minute Ideas to keep your house neat and tidy. Hope this helps make your home more peaceful, relaxing and inspiring.

Wacky Golf Fact – Hitting Forward Tee-Markers with Hedgehopping Drives

For this month’s chronicle, our main suggestion would be quite opposite to Lee Trevino’s advice on putting in strong winds: “Keep it low!”

Like power lines are a grave danger for low flying aircrafts, forward tee-markers can be hazardous to low altitude tee-shots.

At some point, hitting tee-markers happened to all of us, respectable golf enthusiasts. Sometimes, it can transform decent drives into horrible ones. Other times, they were already terrible strokes to begin with. But most of the time, it can be funny and even hilarious, especially to less penalized playing partners.

So, next time you intend to drive you golf ball close to the ground, remember to still give it some kind of elevation and beware those nasty tee-markers; they can get both good and bad tee-balls into ugly trouble and transform you, in an instant, into the laughing stock of your “friendly” group of golfers.    

Driving in Reverse

On a brisk fall Saturday morning a few years back, Eric experienced that type of out-of-the-ordinary misfortune. In fact, it was the first time I meet and played with him. Let’s just say he left a most entertaining first impression.

No Need to be Perfect to Have Success

The Utopic Pursuit of Perfection

Some people think you have to be perfect to have any success and accomplish anything significant in life. Even though I’m literally allergic to incompetence, I still tend to believe quite the opposite. From my standpoint, nobody is and can be perfect, yet everyone can improve and achieve wonders.

As a sample of great accomplishments of imperfect humans until now, just look at all that fascinating technology and architectural marvels that surround us. All those things were not built perfect the first time around. We are far from perfect but still are getting somewhere. And that somewhere is most of the time, getting better and better.

Furthermore, those who try to become or remain perfect will most likely get away from their true self in the process. Their resentful and sometime annoying pursuit of perfection may also result in a lack of support from their peers.

Letting go of minor discrepancies, admitting we are all human and embracing the contribution of others to focus together on essential matters can be a much more interesting and productive approach.

Accept Occasional Mistakes

Only person who do nothing never make mistakes. You’ve got to allow yourself and others to make a few here and there.

Get All That Stuff Off Your Mind

If you’re like me, you always have something that pops up in your head: things you have to do, interesting writing ideas, fascinating subjects to reflect on, etc.

If I let my mind wonder on, it becomes very difficult for me to accomplish anything.

That’s why I now have a system to collect my thoughts and ideas (called items). In a few words, I immediately note any item that comes up and develop it later when I have more time.

Try it; it will help you quiet your mind.

An effective system has to free your conscious mind; you need it to stay focused on the task at hand. And the funny thing is that without much effort on your part, your subconscious will continue to work on those «collected» ideas.

This principle is especially applicable in our multi-tasking era as some people always seem to be doing many things without really doing anything right.

My system was inspired by the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology by David Allen.

The system assures me to avoid the risk of forgetting brilliant ideas. It also enables me to simply put aside and forget boring stuff that I will deal with later.

In today’s electronic world, it can be pretty easy to use your devices to collect and organize your items. I personally mainly use Outlook at work and Toodledo for my personal stuff. I also employ some basic mainstream software like Word for writing stuff and Excel for budgeting and finance.

Just don’t hesitate to use good old paper if you are away from your devices. For instance, you could keep a notepad close by for those middle-of-the-night genius ideas. If these come to me, to avoid sleepless nights, I often gribble down a couple words to remember my inspiration in the morning and go right back to sleep.

So organize yourself to put some order in that mumble jumble; it could unlock all the potential of your so powerful mind!

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