The share competition and getting your offspring involved in investing also on this week's boards.
The risks of investing overseas
Investors are often seen chasing the next rising star and wanting to get a slice of the latest developing market. But while there may be nice rewards to be had, it's not without risk, as Carmensfella observes on the Paulypilot's Pub - Share Ideas board...
"For a long while now I have been wondering about using a very generalised filter mechanism as so often the same type of problems seem to occur at, shall we say, companies listed under the same flag...whether it be geographic location or offshore registration etc. However, this poster seems to have taken it a step further and it did bring a wry smile to my face [...]
Never buy an AIM share that has Chinese, Israeli, Soviet or Irish connections.
I am almost certain that amongst all those companies listed from those four countries, there will almost certainly be a far higher percentage than the average for the whole market that have gone belly up or delisted back into the founders' arms ! I do not have the statistics but would be seriously interested in links to any research on this"
What are the reasons? You'll have to read it to find out, and discover a few other people's rules of thumb for avoiding investment disaster.
Share competition
On the same board, we're getting some great share competition write-ups, like this one from Glasshalfull...
"Eros International is my 1st pick and I believe the company displays a number of attributes that will eventually see it multi-bag from the current share price. An entertainment play on emerging markets, they are the market leader in their industry by some distance and on a derisory single digit PER despite forecasts indicating that they will grow earnings by 30%-40% in the current year and mid teens % in 2013."
Even if you're not part of the share-picking competition, these reports are well worth reading just to learn about how to analyse our own potential investments.
Teach your children well
On the High Yield - Share Strategies board, AJ51 extolled the benefits of getting one's offspring interested in long-term investing in shares -- and even if they are already 30, it's never too late...
"I persuaded my son (30) to put a small stranded pension into a SIPP under my control 6 months or so ago. He's really chuffed that it has gone up 10%.
However, when I tell him that Vodafone put £42 into his pension last month, or Glaxo coughed up £14, he's over the moon.
Unfortunately, he now seems to think that his 12K pot will grow into a comfortable income over the next 30 years!"
Don't you love it when a dividend comes rolling in? Feel free to come on over and join the thread.
Your favourite boards
Do you ever wonder which discussion boards are the most popular at any time? It's easy enough to find out. Start at the main Boards page, then under Best of you'll see a number of tabs, with Top Boards being the leftmost one.
Over the past week, the Does Anybody Know? board came out tops, as it often does. Have a straightforward factual question that needs a factual answer? That's the place to ask it. And with a couple of big stories in the news this week, it's not surprising to see the Football Fools board up there, too.
But wait, this is an investment site, isn't it? Yep, and among the most popular investment boards of the week, the Oil & Gas - Companies one has been busy, closely followed by Property - Markets and Trends and High Yield - HYP Practical.
Want to keep a track of an interesting board when you've found one? Just click on the little red heart next to its name and it will be added to your list of favourite boards, which you can quickly get to from the 'My Fool' menu at the top of every page.
Social Fools
Some Fools are going to be meeting up in London on 23 February, in a pub called The Clachan. If you fancy going along and want details, AleisterCrowley has them on the Foolish Social Events - London board.
Last week's roundup: The Executive Pay Debate Continues
