The world of money

Price Is What You Pay – Value Is What You Get The headline of this chapter is a quote from Warren Buffett, one of the most successful investors in the world. A man, I follow for decades and I very much recommend any new investor to do as well. In short, with his investment philosophy, condensed in the title of this chapter, …

When it comes to investing in financial markets, it’s a wise decision, sometimes to say ‘no’. It’s perfectly ok, when you think the selection process as proposed in last chapter is too hard and too time consuming, and just following tips from the internet is too dangerous. So just don’t do it, besides there is an alternative, how you can …

In financial markets, the most significant news are usually the moving of stock market indices. There are hundreds of them across all asset classes. We focus on the most important Indices for stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is probably the best-known and most widely followed financial index in the world. It consists of 30 of the largest publicly traded firms in the …

When the first stock market index was created in 1884, there was no motorcar on the streets and no one could imagine, that humans will ever fly in airplanes. Stock markets – or meeting points for buyers and sellers – were around for centuries, with the merchants of venice or the dutch exchanges. Years later, the London stock market was …

I am pretty sure, the majority of the readers here are using Facebook or Google daily, most probably more than once. I am also convinced, that 99 percent who follow this website have at least visited once a McDonald’s or drinked a Coke. What this has it to do with investing? Well, each time you order a Big Mac or pick …

In today’s financial markets, billions of shares are traded every day. The biggest exchanges by volume are New York, Tokyo and London, but through electronic trading, shares are bought and sold around the world around the clock. Chinese philosopher LaoTse didn’t know about stock trading, he lived in the 5th century BC. But he did know ‘that even the longest …

When flipping or scrolling through a brochure of a travel agency, it’s a pretty safe bet, that the illustrations for a journey to Holland contains a picture of a tulip farm. And for the nights, you might choose between the ‘Golden Tulip’, the ‘Royal Tulip’ or the ‘Tulip Inn’. The national flower of the dutch did not grow naturally in …

In the summer of 2007, the value of 1 EUR was 3.20 RON. The value of 1 Swiss Franc (CHF) was 2.10 RON at the schimb vis-a-vis my house. Last summer (2015), 1 EUR was 4.40 RON; 1 CHF was 4.25 RON. The effect of this change for me, earning a few CHF a month: the 2015-summer-holidays in Mamaia was …

When something unexpected happens in financial markets that hurts ordinary people, as in the CHF/RON quotation, the ones who got the blame first, are often the ‘speculators’. Some unknown, but powerful forces in high rise buildings in New York or London making money to the cost of house buyers in Craiova or Bucharest?! If you believe that, then better stay …

To understand, what is really decisive for the RON exchange rate, there are only two romanian gentlemen you need to know: Mr. Central Bank & Mr. Foreign Trade. When the rata lunara for CHF-mortgages exploded in January 2015, affected homebuyers gathered at the offices of the romanian central bank (BNR) in downtown Bucharest to protest in the hope that the mighty bank …