Month: November 2015

Gearbox records – Seedr campaign

Today I made a small investment with Gearbox records, they are seeking funds for the expansion of their business. They are a record label which presses old hard to find jazz and some new artist as well.

I love vinyl and I believe they are on the right track. So I decided to do this. The campaign is almost fully funded and I wish them all the best. And hopefully they meet their goals.

Links :

Campaign : Gearbox seedr campaign
Website : Gearbox records

Portfolio news – November additions

So it’s November again and this month has seen the following additions to my portfolio. Adidas is the first one, just 5 shares as it is a bit expensive at the moment. One of the reasons I bought the stock is I really like the shoes. I have some and always wear them. Apart from that there is the dividend, which is a bit low in percentage, current stock price is 88,15 and the with 2,38 dividend. Which is 2,67 % , decent enough. Another plus is the company has no more cash than outstanding debt. I am going to add to this position over time.

Another stock I added is ONEOK. A gas company, which has been hammered this year,it has been paying out dividends for a very long time, it’s around 8%. Which is high. Too high most people say. But I am confident the energy market will rebound and natural gas is still a very important energy source. So I think of the current price as buying with a discount. I added 10 shares to the portfolio.

Kraftwerk

One of my first LP’s I bought was Kraftwerk’s Radio-Aktivität. Basically because the art intrigued me. The second hand shop didn’t have a record player to check it out. It was very cheap 0,50 cent so I could the risk.

Once home I put it on , I thought it was very strange music. It took a couple of months before I put it on again. Somewhat louder this time and for some reason the music hit me. And stayed with me.

Years later I had the change to see them at the Evoluon in Eindhoven. Which was one of the best concerts I have been to so far. The sound was excellent and the building is something very cool as well. It is shaped like an UFO.

Lucky me. Lately I have been seeing a lot of Kraftwerk around me. There was a documentary on Belgian TV which was very nice. And last week when I was vinyl hunting and couldn’t find anything to my liking I spotted a cheap and mint Trans Europa Express around in the CD part of the shop. Which I didn’t own yet. Made my day.

A lot of music I bought when I was younger hasn’t stood up to the test of time as well, but Kraftwerk and some other excellent choices (which were all pure luck) did. And I think It will forever.

Well, just wanted to write a bit about Kraftwerk. As it once again made my day by listening to Trans Europa Express.

The Secret History of the Mossad

Since finishing this book I have been thinking that spy movies and novels are too constraint. Gordon Thomas wrote this very voluminous book on the Mossad , for those who don’t know. The Israeli secret service.

The book details the history from the beginning of the state Israel until the day it was published, with all the highs and lows.

He has done so by talking to al lot of people involved , ex spies, Mossad directors and people who have become involved somehow. Bankers, publishers.

It reads like a spy novel. With a lot of typo’s , which can be annoying. Some stories are a bit far fetched I think. But overall you will get a good sense of how the world of espionage works. And how different country’s approach the gathering of information.

The book is a long read but well worth your time.

operatiemossad

Roots Manuva – Bleeds

British hip hop legend Roots Manuva has a new album, Bleeds. I always liked his music a lot. Found out about his new album after reading Future music.

Today I listened to it on Spotify, which is great for checking out new stuff. But I prefer the psychical product.

The album starts with Hard bastards, excellent start with slow beats and cool feel. Crying is a haunting track which I really liked.

Other favourites are Stepping hard , Me up and One thing. Listen to this, and don’t forget his older work, which is very good as well.

The Mortgage, paying off and how to begin.

Well, it’s getting less, and is making a significant impact on our monthly expenses . so far it saves about 115 Euro a month. Most people will say that’s not all that much.

It’s a nice dinner for two every month for example. Some money you can spend on something else than interest.
It gets more interesting if you save that money and pay your mortgage off some more. Let’s take an example.

For instance you have a 200.000 mortgage. Let’s take 5% interest. I know it’s lower nowadays but a lot of people are still around 5% from before the 2008 crisis.
In the Netherlands it was all the rage to have a mortgage where you only paid the interest and didn’t pay off the debt every month.

This works well if the market keeps going up and when you sell the house is worth more than the original price you paid.
Not so much now , and a lot of people are either waiting it out or some start to pay off. the latter being a very wise decision.

Back to the example , Let’s say you pay 20.000 which saves you about 1000 per year in interest. (not taking into account any tax benefits etc.)
Save that 1000 and pay off again at the end of the year or better monthly (if possible). Saves another 50. And next year you can pay off 1050 , saves 52,50.

Etc etc, well you get the drift. This goes pretty fast without costing any extra money per month except for the initial payment. You simply start. It’s that easy.