Forum Archive Index - December 1999

[Harley D Betts <BettsH@landcare.cri.nz>]

Hugh,

I agree with your comments entirely, viz.

>And just as in 1985/86/87 it became fashionable for every large NZ
>Group to
>list a finance/share investment paper shuffler e.g. NZ Forest Products
>with
>Rada, now it has become fashionable for nearly everyone to list a 'tech'
>offshoot without, shall we say, a credible business plan. 

>So its a bubble, and everyone refers to it that way, its just a matter of
>time until most of them go down in flames or quietly fold their tents. 

>I'm glad there are some value investors in the forum, I hope to have
>some
>fruitful discussions with them

This whole fascination/addiction/frenzy/whateveryoucallit over
high-flying, high promise & unproven tech stocks is scary and, in my
mind, totally unsustainable.  There are so many promises of future profits
but even if these were to be realised it has already been factored into an
already sky-high share price.  Just look at the p/e ratios of most of these
companies, the ones that aren't negative that is.  I'll confess that I don't
have a cent invested with this new breed of company, and I don't intend
to.  Meanwhile other more 'feet on the ground' stocks have done very
well without having the same high risk - eg Tourism Holdings (ok, I have
some, but it's not my point) have more than quadrupled in price from their
recent lows of 75c and actually have a growing revenue stream worth
crowing about.  I'd far rather have my money in an undervalued,
relatively ignored company than in a 'flavour of the month' company that
is groosly over valued and more or less unproven.  This latest craze
sounds very much like the 80s all over again, doesn't it?

Anyway, my 2c worth... no offence to those who have done very well
with the high tech stocks, I offer my congrats but I only hope you know
when to get out before the bubble does indeed burst.

Cheers, H.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
To remove yourself from this list, email sharechat-request@sharechat.co.nz
with "unsubscribe" in the body of the message, or use the unsubscription
form at http://www.sharechat.co.nz/forum.html.