Hesuli offers various cathartic experiences from both ends. In addition to the previously mentioned Amor fati, famous perspectives or metaphors associated with Hesuli include Memento mori, Urea iacta est, Veni, vidi, anti, and Et tu, Rettig?
Legend has it that Nietzsche also saw a Hesuli investor buying the dip of the dip of the dip while out for a walk. Nietzsche hugged the portfolio, weeping, and said “Mother, I am a fool.” After that, he lost consciousness and his mind never recovered.
According to historical records, Marcus Aurelius’s Stoic daily life also turned into an opium addiction after refueling on Neste.
Quite often, and more so every day, I wonder what has made forum members believe in this Hesuli (Helsinki Stock Exchange) Wonderland? What is actually going well for us in Finland right now? Of course, the larger companies operate globally, but what about those small-cap companies operating in Finland? How can they achieve a turnaround?
With your money — do you actively go out for lunch or dinner — do you buy from Verkkokauppa.com instead of XXL — do you eat domestic fish instead of Norwegian salmon, etc.
I feel like Hesuli will continue to stagn
Interesting reflections on future stock returns in recent days. Real estate investments, of course, have nothing to do with future stock returns, but perhaps this story serves as a reminder of the power of the compound interest effect.
According to legend, a Dutch sailor, Peter Minuit, bought a somewhat uninhabited island far from everything for about $24 worth of trinkets. At this point, everyone already realizes we are talking about Manhattan. And that nearly uninhabited island has become the world’s financial center and an incredible concentration of wealth. Land prices have, naturally, skyrocketed. What is the annual return on this incredibly farsighted real estate investment (never mind whether the story is true)? Just under five percent real return per year.
This, of course, has nothing to do with future stock returns. But perhaps it’s good to remember the massive changes in wealth we are talking about over the long term, if historical returns were to be a guarantee of the future.
I think usually when people discuss the problems of Finland—or “hesuli” (the Helsinki Stock Exchange)—they list the same ones that are present almost everywhere else. It’s true that we have an aging population, an economy that has been stagnating for nearly two decades, shops selling goods made abroad and foreign companies on the streets (if this is even counted as a downside), political divides with their infighting, etc., but in which country is it not like this? If we look at other European countries, they largely have the same problems, and while some countries might be doing a bit better by these metrics, quite a few are doing worse.
If we look at so-called emerging markets, most of them have these problems too, and on top of that, bureaucracy that is two orders of magnitude stiffer and often a truly corrupt administration (and we’re not talking about zoning and overpriced toilets, which are also serious and should be rooted out).
The US is an exception, although not in all these matters, and it shows in the valuation multiples too. So, you either accept a significantly lower expected return, or then these other unpleasant things. Or of course, if there is a stock exchange where the expected return is not low and these listed problems do not exist, I would be happy to hear about it.
-Hey buddy, wasn’t the morning porridge good?
-Yeah, it was good.
-You know, I found those raspberries early this morning at the edge of the bushes behind the cabin. There are so many raspberries there!
-Yeah, I know there are lots of raspberries there.
-How do you know that?
-I always go for a pee in the bushes there.
-…
-…but Dad, the rain washes it off, right?
-Yeah, it does.
This early morning, I’ve been thinking about the state of the Helsinki Stock Exchange and Inderes’ former motto: “Let’s make the Helsinki Stock Exchange a better marketplace.” The background of the motto stemmed from the fact that in the 2010s, there was very little information and no analysis available on small-cap companies in Helsinki, earnings calls were held behind closed doors, trading volume had dried up, and most companies were just stagnating.
In a way, Inderes succeeded in fixing this on its part beyond expectations. Hesuli is a better marketplace in many ways, and a retail investor’s access to analysis and information is an order of magnitude—well, better.
The current mottos circulating in reports are “Analysis belongs to everyone” (though there is a funnier unofficial alternative version going around: “Analysis belongs to crap” [kakille]) and “Information is an investor’s basic right” (Tietoevry shares?).
There would be demand once again for that mission to improve Hesuli today. Information is indeed available, but companies are stagnating. Scoundrel-level acquisitions are being made for a few companies, such as Purmo and Innofactor, where other shareholders are treated unfairly. Trading volume is once again like a dry spell.
The slogan would especially have work to do in Sweden—with the location modified—where paid analysis is known as “paid love.”
I’m starting to feel a bit envious here on the forum, when others are just fishing, having saunas, drinking beer, and picking berries in nature, while I’m stuck at the office, hoping in my mind that Hesuli (and the other ”stars” in my portfolio) will one day truly take off.
There was an article in Hesari today about the Trump shooting, and I was left wondering about the content… perhaps some of you understand it better:
»One of the local police snipers was finishing his shift when he noticed someone sitting at a picnic table nearby. The person sitting there saw the officer leaving the building, and the officer reported his observation to his colleagues at 4:26 p.m.
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Crooks fires the shots from a roof that is connected to the warehouse building from which the first officer was previously departing.«
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» On July 6, Crooks searched for information on how far away Lee Harvey Oswald was when he shot President John F. Kennedy in 1963.«
The correct answer is approx. 81m (266 ft) and James Earl Ray shot Martin Luther King from a distance of only approx. 63 meters.
Edit: In the interest of fairness, let’s also include the distance of the Trump assassination attempt; although I couldn’t find an exact measurement, a range of 121-137m can be found on Wikipedia (Eng.):
Now that stock market listings, or at least intentions, are starting to surface again, it is good to revisit this ‘Vartti’ from June about the IPO market, IPO returns, and whether they are starting to happen now.
Try to take it easy for a second , soon we’ll be spending all our time here on the Forum. In fact, these are good and interesting openings; I would have thought many of these company threads would have been open already