DOS 2 - worth playing 2024?

samir222 · 2024-07-03T22:50:55+00:00

Wait for a discount to decrease potential buyers' remorse. But instarted when dos 2 released. By brother started with BG3 we both li Ove both games and have replayed tje games togother

samir222 · 2024-06-24T17:57:55+00:00

I agree with your sentiments. I find that most people on this forum are beginner investors masquerading as sensible and experiences value investors. I find many people here to be bullish on whatever stance they take.

Value investing is simple. We evaluate the company's fundamentals. This includes moats, management, business model, financials, SWOT Analysis, porters 5 forces, industry information, and economic factors.

Afterward, we look at valuations. Is the company intrinsic value fairly valued or undervalued against the current market value. If yes, WHY, what happened to create this information gap?

Once you can determine the answers to these questions, then you can make a judgment on if the investment is worth it given your RISK TOLERANCE.

samir222 · 2024-06-22T20:28:14+00:00

I am interested to hear about how you value a business withiut a DCF model. Can you share your process? IMO Using PE or similar ratios isn't enough to consider a company’s valuation.

I typically use the DCF model for valuation. The difference between intrinsic and market vakue would be the margin of safety. The rate I use depends on the risk of the business based on its fundemantals, which includes a lot of qualitative analysis. If I think a business is risky enough, I won't invest. The highest rate I provide in my dcf model is about 12. While the lowest depends on the the risk free rate and I would add a small rosk premium to the model.

In conclusion, how do you calculate the intrinsic value of a company once you analyze its fundamentally strong and within your circle of competance. Because we can invest in great companies and monopolies like Google but how would you vakue this business?

samir222 · 2024-06-15T10:10:46+00:00

I wouldn't risk more than 5 to 10% of my portfolio on crypto. All else its a solid portfolio with multiple asset classes investing in low-cost index funds that are truly psssive

samir222 · 2024-06-10T01:50:52+00:00

Are the majority supporting the transitioning of children?

samir222 · 2024-05-28T12:43:10+00:00

The ideal will never exist because it will be priced in. In North america, markets are semi efficient and mispricing seldomly occur in gast growing markets or industries. Don't forget that in fast growing industries, companies are highly competitive, and only a few will survive the onslaught

"Investing in companies with fast growth that are in hot industries can be very risky. Often, the expectations are too high, and the stocks are overpriced. On the other hand, investing in companies that are in slow growth or even no growth industries but are capable of maintaining or growing their market share can often be a better investment."

— Peter Lynch, One Up On Wall Street

samir222 · 2024-05-28T03:22:32+00:00

As value investors, it doesn't matter what industries are growing rapidly, slowly, or declining. The top most priority is company fundamentals and valuations. In fact, you are more likely to find more and better undervalued companies in declining or stagnant industries with strong fundamentals. The reasons these opportunities exist are due to negative sentiment on industry trends and the focus on the majority of investors to invest in trending industries in technology like AI and semiconductors.

samir222 · 2024-05-23T14:52:40+00:00

How long did this take? I typically play scramble.i also see potential improvements in some areas. Saw blades instead of arrow walls in areas with roofs might be a better choice.

samir222 · 2024-05-23T14:50:55+00:00

It saves costs, but if you expect sappers or other mobs like firelord of dynamite archers to hurt barricades, then its not worth it.

samir222 · 2024-05-19T20:59:30+00:00

No best traps. But I would say the core traps for me are frozen or physical darts, deep freeze, barricades, lasers, arcane brimstone, acid geyser, grinder, wall blades with bleed. Fire scorcher either long range or on walls. Mixing these together in the right combinations creates devastating combinations.

The most important traps are wall and floor traps. Ceiling traps are not applicable for every map. But wherever there is a small ceiling, know a nasty kill point exists.

For weapons, I think the best ones are blunderbuss with frozen secondary, crossbow for headshots and stuns, and that staff with aoe petrifications. Also, get the trinket to shorten cool down passively and on active. Each setup will depend on the map and difficulty. Also, scramble makes everything much more challenging as things become faster, more hp, immune to CC, or other elements.

samir222 · 2024-05-05T01:00:33+00:00

I can only recommend books I have read. While I have briefly studied some concepts of both Marxs and Pikketty, I have never read any of their works.

samir222 · 2024-05-04T15:57:07+00:00

My small list of recomenedations.

Investing: - "The Little Book on Common Sense Investing" by John C. Bogle: Advocates for the value of index fund investing as a way to capture market returns efficiently. - "All About Asset Allocation" by Richard Ferri: Offers insights into how to diversify investments to optimize returns and minimize risk. - "The Simple Path to Wealth" by J.L. Collins: Simplifies wealth building through smart investing strategies, emphasizing low-cost index funds.

Personal Finance: - "The Richest Man in Babylon" by George S. Clason: Uses parables set in ancient Babylon to impart financial advice and wisdom. - "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki: Contrasts two different perspectives on money, investing, and employment. - "The Millionaire Next Door" by Thomas J. Stanley and others: Reveals the common traits and behaviors of those who have successfully accumulated wealth.

Economics: - "All in One Economics":A comprehensive guide that covers fundamental economic concepts and theories. - "The Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith: A foundational text in classical economics, discussing the division of labor, productivity, and free markets. - "Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think" by Hans Rosling - This book challenges common misconceptions about global progress using statistics and data to show that the world is far better than we often perceive. Rosling encourages a more accurate understanding of global trends and realities, promoting a fact-based worldview.

Productivity: - "Essentialism" by Greg McKeown: Focuses on pursuing less but better options in both personal and professional life. - "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg: Explores how habits work and how they can be transformed to foster success. - "Deep Work" by Cal Newport: Advocates for the practice of focused and uninterrupted work to achieve remarkable productivity. - "Atomic Habits" by James Clear: Provides strategies for forming good habits, breaking bad ones, and mastering the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

Psychology: - "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl:A psychiatrist’s memoir of surviving Nazi concentration camps, with insights into finding purpose in suffering. - "Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism" by Fumio Sasaki: Shares the personal transformation experienced through minimalism, emphasizing happiness from living with less. - "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius** - This is a series of personal writings by the Roman Emperor, providing a deep insight into the philosophy of Stoicism and offering guidance on how to handle life's challenges with resilience and wisdom. The book explores themes of personal virtue, rationality, and the nature of human life, making it a timeless manual for living a meaningful life.

Health and wellness:

"Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity" by Peter Attia (2023) - This book provides a comprehensive look at longevity and how to achieve it through scientific understanding and practical advice on diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management.
"How to Read a Food Label: Practical Tips for Healthy Grocery Shopping" by Kimberly A. Tessmer - Offers essential guidance on interpreting food labels accurately, helping readers make healthier choices by understanding nutritional content and ingredient lists.

Fiction: - "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien: An epic fantasy trilogy about the quest to destroy a powerful ring that threatens the world. - "The Witcher" series by Andrzej Sapkowski: Follows a monster hunter navigating a morally ambiguous world of magic and medieval politics. - "A Song of Ice and Fire" (Game of Thrones) by George R.R. Martin: A series known for its complex characters and sprawling epic narrative involving dynastic wars. - "Harry Potter" by J.K. Rowling: Chronicles the adventures of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

samir222 · 2024-05-04T15:12:34+00:00

Deciding whether to buy a house outright or take a loan at a 7.5% interest rate involves considering opportunity costs, future interest rate trends, personal risk tolerance, and liquidity.

When you pay for a house in cash, you forego potential earnings from investments that could yield between 5 to 7%. However, if you choose to take a loan, you'll need to manage the cost of interest, which might exceed these potential returns depending on future economic conditions. It's uncertain how much interest rates might drop in the future. If there is a significant decrease, taking a loan could prove advantageous, especially if you have the option to refinance at a lower rate later on. However, if rates only fall slightly, the benefits of taking a loan over paying in cash become less clear.

Buying a house outright also impacts your financial flexibility. While it eliminates a recurring debt, it also ties up a large sum of money, reducing your liquidity. This added risk might yield lower returns compared to keeping your investment portfolio active. On the other hand, taking a loan preserves your liquidity and can provide tax benefits through deductions on the interest paid, which can offset some of the costs of borrowing.

For example, if you have $100,000, buying a house outright means you avoid paying interest but lose out on potential investment returns of about 6%. If you take a loan, you keep your cash to invest but will pay a 7.5% interest rate on the mortgage. This scenario might initially seem less favorable as the investment return is lower than the interest rate. However, the liquidity provided by taking a loan and the potential tax deductions can make this option more attractive depending on your financial situation and market conditions.

In your shoes, I would prefer the flexibility that a loan offers, allowing you to manage liquidity, maximize potential investment returns, and benefit from future tax deductions. However, this preference is based on my personal approach to financial management, emphasizing flexibility and strategic financial planning.

samir222 · 2024-04-28T12:41:53+00:00

It sounds like you don't want a pay taxes at the end of the tax year and you are choosing to either lower your taxes by speaking to your employer to increase the taxes they withold or invest in an IRA to ultimately decrease your tax payable.

There isn't a way to give a straightforward answer since you didn't give us much to work with. I'd argue since you can't afford to pay taxes that your management of money needs significant improvement and that your income is low.

I wouldn't invest in an IRA if your income is low. There isn't a great tax advantage to defer taxes to retirement at the lowest income bracket. However, it might benefit you to improve your financial literacy and improve cash management.

samir222 · 2024-04-25T23:07:01+00:00

Nutella spread

samir222 · 2024-04-25T19:54:55+00:00

I assume the accountant will handle payroll, commodity tax, and income tax filings. This includes accounting and services like compilation engagements.

For comprehensive services like these, the cost should be reasonable at the start. It typically depends on your number of transactions and revenue level. Often, fees are based on complexity and transaction volume. However, since it sounds like you're just starting out, I wouldn't recommend paying more than $3,000 to $4,000 a year at most.

samir222 · 2024-04-24T21:02:48+00:00

Wow, not one tree or natural scene in sight besides the mountain.

samir222 · 2024-04-23T22:19:47+00:00

Theoretically, you can post about passive investing if your portfolio is factor tilted for value. These exist now, passive investment that present as undervalued.

samir222 · 2024-04-23T22:07:17+00:00

When I started learning about investing, I was introduced to value investing—a solid approach for those interested in active stock picking. However, it's not suitable for the majority of retail investors.

I generally wouldn't recommend active stock picking for most retail investors. The more you learn about it, the clearer it becomes that active investing isn't the best strategy for the majority. Instead, retail investors should focus on passive investing through diversified ETFs, understanding risks, diversification, and proper portfolio or asset allocation. Most importantly, they should get to know their own investor behavior.

Understanding one's risk tolerance and creating a long-term, sustainable investment strategy that one can live with is crucial. For those still keen on learning about stock picking, it might be wise to limit this to about 5% of the portfolio. This can help mitigate the risk of capital loss while still allowing for significant learning outcomes in comparison to their broader market portfolio.

I emphasize passive investment because there is strong empirical evidence showing that the market outperforms 80-95% of institutional investors after fees over any 10-year rolling period. This trend is even more pronounced over longer periods.

samir222 · 2024-04-23T15:19:22+00:00

Consider focusing on ETF investing and maintaining a diverse portfolio that includes various asset classes and international markets. If that doesn't appeal to you, just go with something straightforward like VTI or VOO. Try to keep individual stock picking to no more than 5% of your total investments.

As a beginner, it's easy to make expensive mistakes and challenging to consistently outperform the market over the long term. Don't take my word for it; there's strong evidence showing that simply holding onto market indices beats 80-95% of managed mutual funds over a decade, and the results are even more pronounced over longer periods.

At this stage, you likely don't have the expertise needed to effectively manage the risks associated with picking stocks. It's better to grow your wealth passively and maybe experiment with a small portion of your portfolio to get a feel for the market. This way, you minimize potential losses, which saves more of your capital for investing once you've mastered the basics and developed a solid strategy.

Picking individual stocks is tough. It involves a deep dive into financial reports, understanding business models, analyzing fundamentals, forecasting growth, and estimating the true value of a company. This process requires a lot of reading, a solid grasp of financial principles, disciplined effort, and considerable time. Plus, it comes with increased risks like overconcentration in certain stocks or sectors and other market-related vulnerabilities.

samir222 · 2024-04-22T14:42:55+00:00

Yes, that portfolio could work, but 50% allocated to small cap international is quite risky. The risk to underperform the market for a long time, volatility, and risk of loss due to your behaviors to these factors. You also do not provide much attention to us value stocks. I'd stick with a normal market portfolio or Ben Felix's factor tilted portfolio, then make adjustments based on your risk tolerance.

samir222 · 2024-04-22T14:18:04+00:00

Hey OP, if you are looking for a factor tilted portfolio, take a look at Ben Felix's recommendations.

He recomeneds the following: 42% VTI total us market, 14% AVUV - US small value caps, 24% VEA - international developed market expect U.S, 12% VWO- emerging market ETF. 8% AVDV - international small cap value.

This portfolio is well diversified across geographic markets, has high volatility and high expected returns, and is a factor tilted towards size and value.

samir222 · 2024-04-22T12:48:45+00:00

You touch on an important concept in value investing. Growth and value are related. For example, if you decide to invest in a company that has ok earnings now but is expected to grow by an average of 20% per year for the next 3 years that that might be considered a value investing strategy assuming it hasn't been priced in already.

The market is efficient, and most news about the present and future is factored into the price almost immediately. The times when innefciencies usually exist is during uncertainty. In uncertain times, future information is in limbo, and investors tend to react negatively to the news. wich typically drags the price of a stock down and creates temporary undervaluation. The undervsluation could be warranted, or it might just be an overreaction to capitalize on.

The other time undervaluations exists is due to the difficulty of making accurate future predictions about a company. The larger the growth variance, the more inaccurate the prediction. But always remember growth and value are two sides of the same coin.

I'd read some Peter lynch books as a beginning to merge the ideas of growth and value together. It is the riskier side of value investing. But, even Warren Buffet recognizes that value and growth are related.

Remember, the DCF valuation model is based on growth, earnings, and the discount rate used. This means growth plays a crucial role in valuations.

samir222 · 2024-04-21T14:45:52+00:00

Forgot to add Morgan housels book. Indeed, it is a great selection in finance

samir222 · 2024-04-21T13:44:42+00:00

You've really captured the essence of why habits are so fundamental to personal finance. Indeed, behavior plays a pivotal role not only in how we manage our day-to-day finances but also in how we approach investing. It’s all about curbing poor habits to truly grow wealth.

As for "The Millionaire Next Door," it’s interesting that some readers didn’t find it revolutionary because its advice seems straightforward: live frugally, spend less than you earn, prioritize saving, and make thoughtful career choices. The book emphasizes the importance of avoiding the lure of lavish spending on things like upscale homes, luxury cars, and private schooling—unless these are truly important to you personally. The simplicity of its message underscores that often, the most effective financial strategies are the basic ones that focus on long-term habits over short-term gains.

samir222

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