I love paying more for anything as it must be better value, just...

I love paying more for anything as it must be better value, just like PC's, mobile phones, Ipads the more you spend the better the product.


So, rather than pay less for the latest Ipad, your preference is to pay more.
You are the retail industry's wildest dream.


"I'm so happy I'm still long CBA at $96, BHP @ $46, RIO at $144 etc, etc"

Oh, now I finally see the problem; after a career as a stockbroker, your problem is that you really don't know what you are doing.

Here's how it works:

If you believe a stock is worth, say, X, then you should not buy the stock at a value in excess of X, but only at a fraction of X (needless to say, the smaller the fraction the better).

Its deceptively simple, really.

Not sure about CBA (I suspect it could indeed be worth $96), but I am quite convinced that the "X" values that you paid for BHP and RIO are not nearly as high, respectively, as $46 and $144.

So, there's your problem right there: what you did is you payed a multiple of X, instead of a fraction, for those stocks.

It's all about buying at less than Intrinsic Value. And the further below Intrinsic Value, the more wealth one creates for oneself when the stock resumes trading at Intrinsic Value.

(Of course, one needs to know how to determine Intrinsic Value in the first place....)