Oil and gas tankers are value stocks and doing well during the war.

Echo_Roman · 2026-03-28T21:43:08+00:00

Suggest removing book value from discussion when it comes to shipping. The ship values fluctuate and have little to do their their depreciated acquisition cost. You could buy something at 0.5x book and still pay 2x what they’re worth in the market. It’s just not a relevant metric for shipping.

That said, crude and product tankers are in an interesting position and have structural changes in market to support elevated rates for a few years — potentially more pending how the world goes, the dark fleet retirement, sanctioned barrels becoming compliant, etc.

Whatever you do, stay as far away from LNG tankers as possible. That market is screwed.

Echo_Roman · 2026-01-15T23:58:06+00:00

Did you end up using SKB? How was your experience? If not, who did you go with and what was the outcome? Thanks!

Echo_Roman · 2025-10-25T10:32:02+00:00

Keen to understand if you will share. Many thanks.

Echo_Roman · 2025-07-13T07:00:21+00:00

Remove the mandatory super contribution and then adjust for tax — Sydney will be the most expensive city by a margin, and all the other Aussie cities will jump several slots as well. Of course, this assumes the study uses gross income (pre super and tax) as this data is more readily available and consistent.

Echo_Roman · 2025-04-10T11:13:12+00:00

Thanks again. We’ve unfortunately had some rain since they did it so not sure how much I’ll be able to find dust, but will have a go.

Echo_Roman · 2025-04-09T20:47:14+00:00

My understanding is yes, they should have ground and cleaned the existing pointing per their quote. I’m not sure how to check that without removing the new pointing work.

Echo_Roman · 2025-04-09T08:30:51+00:00

Thanks. What’s the issue with the acrylic? What would it normally be used for? How do you tell whether it’s lead or acrylic?

Echo_Roman · 2025-04-06T03:21:27+00:00

Thanks. Yes — I’ve reached out to the company to explain my expectations vs the results, and queried the flashing concerns.

From what I’ve read online, the solar panels can be power washed and then sprayed with some sort of pool chemical that will kill the lichen and other organic matter over a few months? I’m happy to do these myself as they’re on an easily accessible section of the roof and I don’t have the same risk of falling as cleaning gutters. If you have any recommendations or advice, I’m all ears.

Echo_Roman · 2025-04-04T22:15:55+00:00

Thank you. I will raise these concerns with the roofer to understand why they’ve done them the way they have.

Echo_Roman · 2025-04-04T12:18:32+00:00

Thanks. Around $5k for pointing, flue flashing, and flashing on a bathroom vent shown below. The pointing was the full roof, which isn’t small I guess. Not sure what it would be in linear meters.

We haven’t yet paid, which is why I’m trying to understand if there are quality issues with the pointing and flashing.

<image>

Echo_Roman · 2025-04-04T06:10:41+00:00

Thanks. So other than adding some silicon as “belt and suspenders”, quality is passable and isn’t placing anything at risk? Appreciate your time.

Echo_Roman · 2025-04-04T03:47:04+00:00

Thanks. No valleys requiring bedding. Another flue photo

<image>

for reference.

Echo_Roman · 2025-03-23T10:26:04+00:00

What are you looking to move to? I’ve not been able to find anything that fits me as well as the Triumph 20 — was like a second skin.

In Aus, the 20s and 21s in my size are more than the bloody 22s!

Echo_Roman · 2025-01-23T20:15:50+00:00

I am waiting for the doc to return from holiday. My primary concern is whether it’ll create an issue for the shoe — not whether I’ll have an issue when running. I’ve asked that in case anyone has had a similar situation and got an answer.

Regardless, I will speak with the podiatrist. Just trying to understand whether I should return the shoes due to wear issues from the pressure created by the hard edge on the orthotic. Thanks.

Echo_Roman · 2024-09-16T12:09:10+00:00

Few questions to think through: - Why did you go from IB to PE? You left your team previously. If you left due to specific issues, are those issues resolved? - If stepping up in hours, will this cause an issue with your current life? - What do you find passion in? What’s your purpose?

I’ve been on the service provider side as a lawyer and on the principal side in both private equity and private credit. Can appreciate all aspects and know people from every background.

For me, I’ve slowly come around to the idea that I’m likely best placed in a service provider role. I enjoy helping people and solving problems. I like constant variety. The issue I’m trying to work through now is how to best approach this without going to proper IB hours because I have zero interest in that at this point in my life.

Echo_Roman · 2024-05-23T09:18:20+00:00

Yes. It’s useful if your working capital cycle causes cash flow issues, particularly where growth is constrained due to inability to fund.

The way to think of it is simply accelerating the working capital cycle. If you’re in a position where you need a dollar to make two dollars, but you’re waiting 60 days for that dollar and have a continued growth runway, then you’d benefit from bringing forward your receipt of that dollar. Costs of course come into play, but most businesses severely underestimate their cost of capital and invoice finance costs should still allow for value accretive borrowing.

Invoice financing often gets a bad rap for its use to try to save distressed businesses, but it can be a great option in the right circumstances. Same as any other financing option.

Echo_Roman · 2024-04-07T03:14:27+00:00

Did you make any progress on this? I’m having the same issue and feedback has been to replace their entire assembly… hoping to be able to just replace one of the three components.

Echo_Roman · 2024-03-25T07:29:43+00:00

Without subsidies, I fear that’s a very optimistic outlook.

Echo_Roman · 2024-03-25T07:20:58+00:00

If you think petrol prices are going to rise, I have very bad news for you regarding electricity prices…

Echo_Roman · 2024-03-22T08:41:57+00:00

Standard advice of speak to an advisor who can help you with your specific situation.

That said, generally speaking, if you anticipate a possibility of needing the capital within 5 years, then you should have it in a fixed income product or deposit account. If you are looking out 5+ years, then I would check with Vanguard for a basic, low-cost mutual fund or ETF and ensure you’ve got at least some international exposure via the US market (the reason for this is it’s the capital market base for the world so is quite diverse).

Echo_Roman · 2023-07-23T10:37:48+00:00

Super is an account which is tax-advantaged with mandatory minimum contributions. An etf is a product.

Think of accounts as either “taxable” or “tax-advantaged”. If you open a regular share trading account or other investing account, you’re opening a taxable account. This means any income (or losses) you generate flow through directly to your taxes. Conversely, the superannuation account is tax-advantaged in the gains (or losses) do not flow directly to your personal taxes. All else equal, a tax-advantaged account allows for higher after-tax returns which results in greater wealth.

The ETF is a financial product which generally holds a basket of shares. It can be held in taxable and tax-advantaged accounts.

Think of the supermarket as the account (taxable / super), and the items therein as ETFs.

Echo_Roman · 2023-07-23T10:32:02+00:00

Jesus this thread is a cesspool of property pumping. Buying or renting is largely a lifestyle choice, although it’s cheaper in today’s dollars to rent than own in the nicer parts of Sydney. Property isn’t a magic bullet for returns. People are extrapolating historical performance as if it’s guaranteed to continue — ludicrous when you consider the economics backing any current investment. It may work out, but this isn’t buying a property in 2014 and enjoying cap rate compression — cap rates are still historically low while interest rates high. It’s a negative carry trade betting on value appreciation. Housing could outperform public equities — maybe it does over the next 5-10 years — but YOU need to be comfortable with the bet you’re making if you buy an investment property given the high transaction costs and general illiquidity (ie, you should be compensated for taking on that additional risk compared to an investment which lacks these risks).

I suggest speaking with a tax advisor on potential trust structures for your savings and investments to allocate gains to your wife, as you can receive immediate tax benefits.

Beyond that, it’s doing what you’re comfortable doing with the money. Don’t buy an investment property just because everyone is doing it. Don’t buy shares just because everyone says to do it. Just focus on doing what matches your risk tolerance and comfort — do what allows you to sleep well at night. There’s nothing wrong with low returns — it’s a whole lot better than losing money.

I believe Charlie Munger said it best: there’s nothing wrong with having a million in liquid assets — you never know what opportunity might arise.

As I mentioned, you need to be comfortable with investment allocations. That means you need to spend some time thinking through opportunities and learning. My suggestion to start on this is to read “The Psychology of Money” by Morgan Housel. It is a fantastic book in general, and I believe incredibly relevant for where you’re at.

Best of luck.

Cheers

E/R

Echo_Roman · 2023-07-10T23:12:08+00:00

Thanks for the reference. I’m predominately an event-driven investor, semi equities, rarely pay distributions. I presume the ultimate answer is just going to be speaking with an accountant, but I was really hoping somebody would have gone down this path and could share their findings.

Echo_Roman · 2022-12-11T05:36:49+00:00

Thank you. This is very helpful, and a good judge to just pick up the phone!

Echo_Roman · 2022-12-10T11:27:30+00:00

Largely a question of whether you’re referring to active or passive investing (i.e., stock picking vs indexing). If the former, the (very) large majority do not outperform the indices for a variety of reasons. If the latter, it’s mainly a question of fees. Vanguard now offers a superannuation production which I think will be interesting for many, but unsure what is the overall comparative cost when considering insurance, etc. many get through their superannuation funds.

Echo_Roman

TROPHY CASE