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    Bulls & Bears: Life Lessons From The Financial Markets
    Bulls & Bears: Life Lessons From The Financial Markets
    Bulls & Bears: Life Lessons From The Financial Markets
    Ebook125 pages1 hour

    Bulls & Bears: Life Lessons From The Financial Markets

    By Siphiwe Moyo

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Bulls and Bears reveal some interesting and practical life lessons learned from observing the markets. This book will inspire and drive you to be the person you are destined to be.
    Some of the lessons:
    All trends eventually end. If you are going through a “personal recession” be comforted: this too shall pass.
    You can get back up again – a lesson from the rand.
    Bull markets always last longer than bear markets – be bullish
    On the other hand – a lesson from the Economists: lesson about counting your blessings
    In the markets, just like in life, nobody cares how good you used to be
    Let the analysts talk – you are the Chief Executive.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSiphiwe Moyo
    Release dateDec 10, 2013
    ISBN9781311021243
    Bulls & Bears: Life Lessons From The Financial Markets
    Author

    Siphiwe Moyo

    Siphiwe Moyo is a Professional Speaker based in South Africa. He researches and speaks on career progression, employee engagement, employee morale, and employee motivation and on strategies aimed at nipping the entitlement culture in the bud. Siphiwe was divisional Head of Learning & Development for at least three JSE listed companies with market caps averaging R120 billion.Siphiwe holds an Executive Development Programme, a Masters in Business Administration, a BCom (Hons) in People Development and a B Tech HR (cum laude). He is a Certified International Retail Banker awarded by the International Academy of Retail Banking. He is the Chairman of the Board at the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP), a Past Chapter President at the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa (PSASA) and a Member of the Global Speakers Federation (GSF).Email: siphiwe@siphiwemoyo.co.za

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      Book preview

      Bulls & Bears - Siphiwe Moyo

      BULLS & BEARS

      LIFE LESSONS FROM THE FINANCIAL MARKETS

      By Siphiwe Moyo

      Published by Mind Power Publications

      www.mindpowerpublications.com

      Copyright © 2013 by Siphiwe Moyo

      www.siphiwemoyo.co.za

      For further titles – see end of book

      All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This E-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment

      only. This E-Book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      *****

      CONTENTS

      Acknowlegements

      Introduction

      Bulls and Bears: The lessons before the lessons

      In life you will mess up, get over it

      You can get back up again – A lesson from the Rand

      The death of a bull market is not the bad news everyone believes it to be

      The Agency Problem

      Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out. R Collier

      Get the principles right when you are still small.

      Wall street people learn nothing and forget everything. Benjamin Graham

      The intelligent investor realizes that shares become more risky as their prices rise and less risky as their prices fall."

      Human beings are like derivatives: your value depends on what happens to the value of another asset (another variable)

      Price is what you pay, value is what you get." Warren Buffet

      Change your words and change your world

      Exceptionally high earnings growth rates are unsustainable for long periods

      Pricing power is derived from differentiation, not by being a commodity business

      If you are born poor it is not your fault but if you die poor it is. Bill Gates

      If it works for someone else, it doesn’t mean it will work for you

      Investing in yourself, just like investing in the stock market, is cheaper than you think

      Don’t panic over price changes

      Experience always counts

      When we see a game, they see business

      Delayed Gratification

      Stop lying, you are not self-made

      Price Follows Earnings

      Finding a good mentor is like finding a great investment adviser

      All trends eventually end

      Overconfidence is as bad as lack of confidence

      People judge you harshly when you’re untested, it’s not personal: focus on the work and they’ll come around

      You cannot judge someone's potential by their past. Give people a chance

      On the other hand – A lesson from the Economists

      There is something called too much diversification – Those who get to the top are focussed and single-minded

      Bull markets always last longer than Bear markets – be bullish

      Past performance is no guarantee for future results

      Humiliation is a part of life, Deal with it

      If your friend ever asks you who Robert Mugabe is, terminate that friendship!

      In the financial markets, just like in life: nobody cares how good you used to be

      Contrary to popular belief, the world owes you absolutely nothing

      Small now, large later

      Be patient

      The job of analysts is to talk - The job of Chief Executives is to run a business

      Bibliography

      About the Author

      *****

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  Thank You Lord for saving me and for giving me gifts and talents to serve my generation.

      A special word of thanks belongs to the most beautiful woman in the world, my wife Thabang for all the sacrifices she made during this project. Thank you for understanding. I love you, you are my life. To my daughter Obakeng, thank you for making me smile.

      To my two mothers, Ntombi Moyo and Selina Matlwa, my dad Elias Mlaba, my brother Jabulani Moyo and the rest of my family, thank you. I don’t believe in this ‘self-made’ theory. I am here because of you, ngiyabonga.

      Thanks to my spiritual parents, Bishop Mosa Sono and Pastor Gege Sono for their outstanding leadership. I would also like to thank Dr EMK Mathole for the many lessons you taught me while accompanying you in your speaking engagements. Thanks to Pastors Fani and Morwesi Gxoyiya, Nkosana and Nancy Tsoliwe, Bongani and Bernice Zwane for all you have taught me.

      To my speaking mentor Billy Selekane, CSP - thank you for the time you always give me.

      To all my friends, colleagues, leaders and church mates, thank you for all the support.

      Thanks to Granny Manamela for the great work she did editing this book.

      *****

      INTRODUCTION

      HOW IT ALL STARTED…

      I fell in love with the general financial markets and the equity market in particular between the year 2000 and 2001. The early 2000s were a very interesting period in the South African financial markets. The South African Financial Markets were going through financial liberalisation, which is a fancy term meaning that people outside the country were starting to buy our local securities and the locals were also showing interest in foreign securities.

      I was in my late teens, staying in an informal settlement in the South of Johannesburg called Orange Farm and I was studying for my first degree full-time and working at Mr Price clothing store part-time. I moved to Orange Farm in 1997 from Soweto and never really made friends for a while because most people didn’t think I was cool enough. I found solace in two things, radio and books. I listened to business radio and read a lot of business books, which was unheard of in my neighbourhood. The more I read and listened to radio, the more aloof I became and my love for the financial markets kept growing.

      My first degree had absolutely nothing to do with financial markets; I studied Human Resources followed by a BCom (Hons) and an MBA. While studying for my MBA, I was working for one of the top four banks in South Africa and my love for the financial markets was getting out of hand. I even considered changing careers in 2008 right in the middle of the global financial crisis. I registered for a program in financial markets at the South African Institute of Financial Markets (SAIFM) but later dropped out because I realised that I don’t want to make this my career.

      I’m a born professional speaker and facilitator. I still qualified as a Certified International Retail Banker, interestingly from an academy that advocates separating retail banking from investment banking.

      This book is not about the financial markets so if you were hoping for some tips on investing, unfortunately you have the wrong book. It is about the life lessons I have learned from the financial markets. I’m still amazed by the incredible life lessons that can be derived from the financial markets.

      To make understanding the book easier, I will only define what the bull and bear markets are. The terms bull market and bear market describe upward and downward market trends, respectively and can be used to describe either the market as a whole or specific sectors and securities.

      Bull market

      A bull market is associated with increasing investor confidence, and increased investing in anticipation of future price increases (capital gains). A bullish trend in the stock market often begins before the general economy shows clear signs of recovery.

      Bear market

      A bear market is a general decline in the stock market over a period of time. It is a transition from high investor optimism to widespread investor fear and pessimism.

      Enjoy the lessons and apply them because the practice of knowledge is called wisdom.

      *****

      BULLS AND BEARS: THE LESSONS BEFORE THE LESSONS…

      Before we get into the core lessons of this book, I think it’s important to first look into the animals themselves because there’s so much to learn from them and some of the market-related lessons I discuss have been influenced by the animalistic lessons.

      Let’s take a look at the bulls- they’ve come a really long way and serve multiple purposes beyond just meat and dairy. This shows the bull’s flexibility because it doesn’t serve a single purpose. The bull doesn’t just do one thing so grab the lesson here, be a bull and learn to be flexible. Engage and participate in different things but never loose focus on your key purpose.

      Back in the days, bulls were often used as a form of transport and today, this hardly happens because things have changed and the bulls are moving with the times. Likewise, you must be relevant and live in the present. Fulfil your relevant purposes and demands in all spheres of your life (work, home, relationships and other organisations).

      Another thing about bulls is that they only eat certain things, they don’t just chow anything. Similarly, bears also have their own type of food. In general, these animals both have a ‘special bull/bear diet.’ The fact here is, these animals know what to eat and don’t just eat anything they come across. They know what’s good

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