Any share purchase disasters?

Rubberpigg

Rubberpigg

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In 2010 I bought R15000 worth of shares in Africa Cellular Towers.
They were manufacturers and fabricators of steel communication towers, portal factories, steel fencing, diesel and water tanks, solar structures and general steel engineering.
They also specialised in the management of turnkey telecommunications network projects including GSM, WLL, fixed wireless and VSAT technology.
At the time, I thought they were worth a punt.
In 2012 they were liquidated. :(
 
Rubberpigg said:
In 2010 I bought R15000 worth of shares in Africa Cellular Towers.
They were manufacturers and fabricators of steel communication towers, portal factories, steel fencing, diesel and water tanks, solar structures and general steel engineering.
They also specialised in the management of turnkey telecommunications network projects including GSM, WLL, fixed wireless and VSAT technology.
At the time, I thought they were worth a punt.
In 2012 they were liquidated. :(
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I hope, like me, you didn't listen to a friend's recommendation on ATR. I still have that rubbish share in my portfolio, always wondering whether it will ever be removed seeing as the company doesn't exist anymore... Lost R4k only, LUCKILY!

Esor Franki, after their BEE deal, the company went south, sold them for a loss of R17k.

Ellies. I saw the signs, didn't listen but at least made a little bit of money when I sold them two years ago. When the CEO sells massive amounts of shares and tells everyone on TV that all is good. This is a bit of a generalisation because many CEO's sell shares to diversify.

Invested in shares listed on German exchange not really understanding the relationship between $ and EUR. Euro has since weakened massively against dollar. I'm up on the share, but R10k down due to exchange rate :(
 
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Lukcydog said:
Ellies. I saw the signs, didn't listen but at least made a little bit of money when I sold them two years ago. When the CEO sells massive amounts of shares and tells everyone on TV that all is good. This is a bit of a generalisation because many CEO's sell shares to diversify.
(
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When the African Tower shares started to drop, one of the guys who started the company started buying shares.
So, I decided to hold.
He must have lost a small fortune.
 
I bought Arcelormittal Sa Ltd (ACL) at around R80 a share - currently they are worth R19 a share
 
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It happens. And it is often unpredictable. I lost big on QHL and dodged the bullet with 1Time. Currently battling with mining stocks too. My BHP Billiton was -25% not too long ago. It has crawled its way back to -9% now.
 
bromster said:
It happens. And it is often unpredictable. I lost big on QHL and dodged the bullet with 1Time. Currently battling with mining stocks too. My BHP Billiton was -25% not too long ago. It has crawled its way back to -9% now.
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I need to investigate Kumba. It fits into my initial criteria of companies to analyse (I'm a value investor).
 
Rubberpigg said:
In 2010 I bought R15000 worth of shares in Africa Cellular Towers.
They were manufacturers and fabricators of steel communication towers, portal factories, steel fencing, diesel and water tanks, solar structures and general steel engineering.
They also specialised in the management of turnkey telecommunications network projects including GSM, WLL, fixed wireless and VSAT technology.
At the time, I thought they were worth a punt.
In 2012 they were liquidated. :(
Click to expand...

In 2007 we were doing simulated trades on BHP Billiton... was going really well, and put in 100k into a trade. Mother of a drop 20min later. Lost R40k in 2 minutes.
 
creeper said:
I need to investigate Kumba. It fits into my initial criteria of companies to analyse (I'm a value investor).
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3 month graph. Possibly a good time to buy. There is definite value if the prices return to where they were.
 

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bromster said:
3 month graph. Possibly a good time to buy. There is definite value if the prices return to where they were.
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There is. But looking at the decline means the market feels that the company won't do well in the future. Also. I'm not a big fan of technical analysis.

I use PE ratio and dividend yield as an initial investigation. Kumba fits in well. Now to get the last 5 years of year reports and also investigate the iron ore industry (which isn't doing well at all). Do a DCF and compare it to the share price to see if it is over or under valued.
 
bromster said:
It happens. And it is often unpredictable. I lost big on QHL and dodged the bullet with 1Time. Currently battling with mining stocks too. My BHP Billiton was -25% not too long ago. It has crawled its way back to -9% now.
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Remember QHL as I had Cyberhost (used for reverse listing) for a while. Luckily sold out before QHL fell by the way side.

Of late, a bit on Sherbourne Capital (SHB) who was delisted last year - promise of student accommodation.
 
Not quite a share disaster, but I lost around 5k with a Liberty Endowment plan a few moons back.
Had just started working, got a call and did a telephonic risk profile, signed up, didn't quite understand how it all works. When I tried to take my money out 3 years later, got hit with a bunch of fees and basically ended up with R5k less (out of R18k if I remember) than if I'd put the cash under my mattress. My fault and all that, school fees I guess.
 
SauRoNZA said:
You've only lost it if you bailed.

Riding it out and taking a longterm view could very well see it breaking even or making you money.
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That really helped with African Cellular Towers... ;) The unfortunate thing is if the share has lost 50% of its value, it needs to grow by 100% for you to break even (excluding inflation etc). A very unlikely scenario over the short term.

My case with ESR, selling at a 50% loss and reinvesting it has gained me more than keeping them would have... I'm with you on the longterm view but if there's something fishy going on, rather sell than end up with a total loss.

My general strategy is a 5 year cycle where if a share hasn't shown a CAGR of >15% p.a I sell them and reinvest in either new or my existing shares. So far its worked exceptionally well.
 
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Sepeng said:
Not quite a share disaster, but I lost around 5k with a Liberty Endowment plan a few moons back.
Had just started working, got a call and did a telephonic risk profile, signed up, didn't quite understand how it all works. When I tried to take my money out 3 years later, got hit with a bunch of fees and basically ended up with R5k less (out of R18k if I remember) than if I'd put the cash under my mattress. My fault and all that, school fees I guess.
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I'm sure you only get nailed with fees and penalties if you decide to pull out before the endowment matures?
 
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