I’ve decided to start a new tradition here on the Dividend Ninja, and do an annual year in review. Here are some of the notable business stories from 2012, and my takeaways. Happy New Year everyone! I wish you all the best in 2013. The End of the World courtesy of weeklyworldnews.com The end of the world wasn’t business news. However, it should be obvious to any investor the end of the world would have a big impact on their portfolio (since it wouldn’t exist). According to the Mayan Long-Count Calendar, which ends on a 5,125 year cycle, the world was set to end on December 21st, 2012. Of course the world didn’t end, people went Christmas shopping, and companies continued to issue dividends. Although the Mayans predicted this date with incredible accuracy, they didn’t really claim there would be big cataclysmic events during the End Time. Much of that hype has been modern spin. Fortunately, the world did not end, and my portfolio remained intact. How did ...

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It’s ironic that last week when I wrote the initial draft for this series, I could barely come up with 10 reasons why an investor shouldn’t buy Facebook (FB). That was before Facebook’s IPO on May 18th. In light of all that is happened since then, it is hard to understand why anyone would want to buy Facebook at this point. There has been an indication of earnings being lower than reported, an overvalued stock price, and a myriad of law suits against Facebook and its underwriters within the first two days of trading. Even more surprising is that investors didn’t sell their shares last week in light of such news. Facebook shares closed Friday at $31.91 per share, down -16% from the $38 IPO price. This is the final post to this series on the Facebook IPO. If you missed the previous posts, Part-1 and Part-2, be sure to check them out. The Honeymoon for Facebook is Over   Things are not looking good for Facebook or for its main underwriter Morgan Stanley. It also looks like the honeymoon ...

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Backyard Makeover Over the last three weeks we have finally started to have warm spring and summer weather here in Vancouver. After a long winter this was a much needed break!  Between busy shifts at work, and the nice weather – blogging has been less of a priority. Last year I took on landscaping the front yard, and this year I’ve decided to tackle the back yard. I’m starting with a nice curved walkway built up with a rock wall on one side, a small patio, and then some raised beds. I think I’m going to have a busy summer. Ninja Makeover As well as our back yard, the Ninja was also due for some redesign. Some of you may have noticed the Ninja was brought into a new theme. I loved the look of the original Ninja, but it was becoming a problem with all the plugins to make it run, and having to constantly tweak code to add any features etc. I also wanted to tone down some of the yellow in the sidebar. I decided on using Theme Junkie, the same framework I used when I redesigned ...

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In Part-1 of this series, I looked at Facebook’s historic IPO and its lacklustre start off the finish line with its closing share price only up 23 cents from its original IPO price. I looked at the risks associated with buying an IPO, especially when you buy a company without a long standing corporate history. I also looked at Facebook’s valuation at $38 per share, which is already being shorted, and showing early signs of being overvalued. In this post, I continue to look at Facebook’s recent decline off the finish line. I also examine its business model, and revenue model. In Part-3, I examine Facebook’s, accountability as a public corporation, potential privacy and legal issues, as well as the lack of shareholder control. I also look at Groupon’s legal problems and how that may impact Facebook. Here are the Top 10 Reasons why you shouldn’t even consider buying Facebook, continued:  3. The Stock is already being shorted Although it’s already after the fact, support for ...

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The Facebook Fizzle On Friday morning I brewed myself a nice strong cup of coffee and happened to catch the debut of Facebook (FB). This was the much anticipated IPO (Initial Public Offering) of a prize race horse about to belt off the starting line. I felt that I was watching a part of history for the largest IPO in history, and BNN proudly had a real-time quote taking up the whole screen ready to go! The opening however was marred by a lengthy half-hour delay. Once Facebook shares started to trade from the IPO price of $38, FB shares went as high as $42 within minutes of opening, and settled back to a closing price of $38.23 by the end of trading day (See chart below). This was obviously a win for day-traders who already were able to purchase their shares at the IPO price of $38 and offload them at $42, a tidy 10% return for a few minutes of work. But for those investors who bought in after the IPO, they have already lost money, and I believe they may even lose more in the weeks to follow. Facebook ...

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