Hamilton Agents on my back about putting in offers, any offers.

The situation I had predicted and feared 15 years ago has eventuated.

I see their share price is now over 600 USD and is now confessingly the largest holding in my US portfolio. Like the parking enforcement company, admittedly bought shares to try and counteract (take the edge off) my moral indignation towards these companies. We collectively keep perhaps unwittingly rewarding bad behaviour as a species (and I include myself in a lot of this) and stuff like this just reinforces that entities engaging in questionable behaviour are rewarded.

Many smaller businesses are also doing away with a website and simply using Facebook as their main and perhaps only “web presence”. Facebook have also been increasingly aggressive and obnoxious in throwing up a login wall while browsing public business pages. This was the situation a decade and a half ago I had feared and was labelled as a scaremonger for even suggesting this would eventuate.

I think I’m done folks, us web traditionalists and Open web advocates have lost the fight on this one. Have been curbing my use of the Internet outside of what is required of my job.

 

Quick shot of the still waters of Auckland Viaduct Harbour

Personal opinion only as a retail investor and an ordinary member of the public.

First learned of this company, Smart Parking Ltd while trawling through the ASX company listings.

This is a company that appears to predominantly generates revenue off of identifying contractual breaches of parking conditions at various business’ private car parking (retailers, shopping centres, etc) remotely via video / CCTV and then issuing the registered owner or keeper of the infringing vehicle a “Parking Breach Notice” (PBNs) with the view of hoping the recipient will pay up without challenging it.

Disclosure / Personal analysis:

Have “pilot bought” stock (Buying an initial parcel of shares with the view of adding to the Long position) into this company to help take the edge off of my personal moral indignation towards this company (similar to what I did with Facebook, now Meta Inc. a few years ago admittedly – as a counteracting mental analgesic).

This action is based off knowing how toothless the Consumer Watchdog Agencies can be on both sides of the Tasman and globally along with the public never seemingly bothering to kick up enough fuss (nor bothering to understand the rights available to them under relevant consumer / trading laws), as such, I don’t hold much hope of meaningful action being taken to curtail this company’s activities.

While I’ve never received a PBN from this company or others like them, I have gone and reported this company (in vain admittedly) to the Commerce Commission with a screenshot of the investor presentation where they seem to promote how many PBN’s they are able to issue as their key revenue strategy, but I only expect to hear crickets frankly (I reported this company prior to buying shares).

Known trading names:
Smart Parking Ltd., Smart Parking Technology, Smart Compliance Management, Smart Comply.

Stream of consciousness and other personal thoughts garnered throughout the week and which will be added to as the week rolls on. These thoughts are unrefined, unquantified, unverified, and raw. Any of these may be either be edited, deleted or otherwise spawn out into its own separate post particularly if new information comes to light…

• Upward pressure on House prices in Hamilton. Thought seriously about buying in Hamilton and have been looking around with the serious intention to buy, but can’t make the cash flow work in a way that is acceptable me. It needs to be at least cash flow neutral with a 50% deposit and with all ongoing costs factored in (council rates, insurance, maintenance), many just aren’t except old houses which frankly the majority I’ve seen need a lot of work to meet Healthy Home compliance along with preventative maintenance.

• From a personal conscience perspective, I still believe houses should be regarded as a place to live in, not as financial instruments of speculation. Talked to politicians in the lead up to the last election to express my concerns and the obvious damage it was inflicting on Society, but frankly was met with apathy, especially from the National Party candidates. Came away with the vibe that investing in houses is to be rewarded and encouraged (hence what I’m doing, although have concerns about it morally)

• If you’re intending to profit primary from capital gain (as oppose to eventually deriving an income from rent), isn’t it technically a taxable activity, regardless of how long you’ve held on to it?.

• A lick of paint and new cabinetry isn’t necessary going to prompt me to buy a place. I need to find out if the stuff in the walls is in good nick (does it need rewiring, re-plumbing?). Also, frankly, can see a lot of houses, particularly the older 1940s-1950s dwellings with clay tiles in Hamilton will need to have their roofs replaced. Also, the detailing of these ex-state houses of the era with a gable end I feel is a water ingress hazard.

• I’m also concerned about the quality of tenants a place will likely to attract. I sense I’m not going to get the same long term company exec type families as I can with Rolleston / Christchurch given the age of Hamilton properties.

• End up pilot buying shares in a morally questionable company that specializes in sending out inflated parking breach notices by way of remote video enforcement (ASX:SPZ). From a personal conscience POV, I would like to see the company crash and burn, and in fact had written to the Commerce Commission to express my concerns. But from a cold analytical business perspective, given the lack consumer watchdog teeth in many jurisdictions and the public apathy I’ve seen around the place, feel and fear these companies are going to thrive.

 

 

Older Stream of Consciousness thoughts can be found here.

I found the UI of the McDonalds App excrutiatinugly slow and even then it inexplicably hangs in a perpetual loop. Haven’t felt the effort was worth it for a discount off of their high prices for mediocre food offerings. This app I feel exhibits Bipolar-like behaviour and it’s a gamble as to whether the app will behave – half the time I’ve had to step out of the waiting line due to this app misbehaving.

Originally installed it and decided to try out McDonalds again after a long absence because they were running their weekly specials though it looks they’ve since stopped those and replaced it with some flashy but incredibly glitchy in-app game thing (their version of Monopoly)

Uninstalled the app. I feel this company isn’t respectful of my time nor appreciative of my custom (particularly if they are going to release such an obviously and incredibly unpolished app as this to the public) and I expect it will be a while before darken their doors again.

Unfortunately, I sense property prices may be on their (silent and sneaky) march upwards despite media reporting to the contrary and despite house prices still being ludicrous.

The real issue I have with inflated house prices is that it’s makes everyone’s lives difficult and apart from the issues faced with aspiring first home buyers (essentially whom we’ve failed to maintain the social contract with). It also presents issues elsewhere including

• For existing homeowners who may want to move to another property more suited to their current living arrangement, this includes (but limited to) when up sizing for a growing family, downsizing for when the kids have left home, when a marriage dissolution occurs, or moving to a place closer to their work. These costs include (again not limited to). Bridging finance, agents fees based off a percentage of the value of the property

• Takes money away from the productive economy. People will more likely end up prioritizing their spending towards keeping a roof over their heads.

Unfortunately, I can’t see this changing anytime soon. There’s still too much money flowing around that is looking for a home (pun not intended) born out from people who missed out last time, to investors trying to front run the market with the expectation of further rate falls, to increasing cost of compliance red tape surrounding corporates trying to engage in regulatory capture, Health and Safety, Anti Money Laundering and increasing provision to guard gainst all manner of increasing exposure to liablity events while we are trying to build new housing (everyone is mobilizing to arse cover).

I want the NZ National Party removed out of power. I didn’t vote for these clowns. I loathe to jump on the bandwagon, but after some thought pertaining to National’s policies and actions, I now have to reluctantly agree with the “Worst government ever” statement

The NZ National Party after having talked to the candidates in the lead up to our last election including through to their policies and actions to date are frankly the most uninspiring, disconnected and uninnovative bunch I’ve ever witnessed.

Crap traffic, crap transport planning. The thought of going grocery / supply shopping on a Saturday invokes a sense of CBF’d. You look at the traffic on Google Maps and know you’ll be dealing with congestion particularly the hassle of trying to negotiate a crowded parking lot with a one (or more) ton contraption.

Could do it on a Public Transport, but the thought of lugging all your groceries on buses is a hassle, particularly if they’re in large sacks. Plus you are effectively limited to going to one shop.

May be in this sense, the Dutch have it sussed with their cities. Mixed use zone planning. Be able to pop down the stairs and have almost everything you need within walking distance.

Yeah, I’m tired of this City (Auckland).

Takapuna Winter Lights Festival…

Traffic was jammed up for about a 2 km radius. Lucky I took the bus this time.

Personal opinion only as an ordinary consumer and occasional traveller.

I don’t believe there is a car rental ombudsman as such in Australia. There is the Australian Car Rental Conciliation Service run by AFIA (Australian Finance Industry association) which may be an option to take before lodging the issue with xCAT in your state or territory and prior to taking it to court.

AFIA I understand is an industry membership body and the Australian Car Rental Conciliation Service I understand assesses things according to their own “code of conduct” which may or may not necessarily align with Australian Consumer Law in all areas.

Read the ACCC PDF in relation to “Fair Trading in the car rental sector” to understand the rights and remedies available to car hirers under Australian Consumer Law.

It is also important to note car rental hire agreements do not override Australian Consumer Law provisions.

As an aside and to be honest, the car rental industry in Australia I feel in my opinion overall has not been overly upfront with some of their conduct. Some of these less than honest business tactics I feel are more pronounced with some of the independent franchises for some reason.

It is also important to understand that Car rental agents as friendly and helpful as they may appear are not your friends. Many of them are trained up as salespeople (coerced by management along with being offered monthly bonus incentives) to upsell extras to hirers and again the upselling aspect appears to be more pronounced with certain outlets run by independent franchises. It is important to carefully check the hire agreements to ensure they haven’t snuck on any unwanted adds ons.

Car rental horror stories examples (with a happy end for the car hirer concerned)…

• Post on Whirlpool – A case of a hirer involved with an at fault traffic accident where the car rental company tried to wiggle out of their responsibilities.

• Post on Reddit – SIXT Australia expensive windsheild replacement.

I’ve even had my own spat (though a lot more benign than the two examples above) with a large Dandenong based independent car rental franchisee (formerly Thrifty, now Sixt) whom I caught sticking on charges that were clearly outside of the written hire agreement and who I also caught writing their own 5 star testimonials.

Some of the stories regarding SIXT Australia I feel are pretty disappointing considering the network crows about being a division of the NRMA Motoring and Services group (I have my own thoughts about the NRMA brand and believe they’re now a far cry from their hay days having simply turned into another for profit focussed corporate these days, but that is for another post)

The Issue is that quite a few companies “try things on” in order to turn a profit (and hope people don’t challenge it or take it further) and rental car companies in Australia are no exception.

Many car rental companies I feel try to cut their headline pricing in order to get customers through the door and then attempt to turn a profit through upselling extra and at times with other less than upfront antics (suspicious damage claims). I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to learn that quite a few car rental places turn most of their profit through damage repair fees, selling extra “peace of mind” add ons and other ancillary revenues as opposed to the actual hiring out of a vehicle.

Switching back to 100% growth focus (from balanced) because stonks (a meme spelling of “stocks” / “Shares”) only go up apparently.

I can’t make heads or tails of anything frankly as a lay person.

We’ve been in the longest ever secular bull market starting around 2008 Global Financial Crisis and don’t understand why there is so much overflowing optimism.

• Something bad happens stonks go up
• Something good happens stonks go up
• Nothing particular happens stonks go up.

Fundamental analysis is dead and meaningless.

I think some of it can be attributed to easier and cheaper access to the stock market adding additional money flow into the market.

As an aside, I learn that my Facebook shareholding (now Meta Inc.) which I bought to try and take the edge off of burning disdain towards Facebook has since quadrupled in price since I rage-bought them. Yes, may be I should feel good, but I don’t. I’m jaded, just incredibly jaded to see their stock price so high.

Picture of southern lights

 

Lanterns hanging from the trees

Robinhood in reverse. Slashing and burning essential public services in order to give tax cuts to the landlords.

The optics surrounding this are not good and do not at all reflect positively on this National party led government – and I say this as (confessingly) a Landlord myself.

I’m far more concerned with seeing policy to support us living in a cohesive society and struggle to see how the carte Blanche slashing of important services (and capping wages of those working in those services) is in any way conducive to this.

And it was the National Candidates in the run up to the last election whom showed complete disinterest (compared to other parties, even ACT) when I raised the issue of housing affordability and the negative affects it was having on our nation and our society.

Update 5th February 2024: Have now tested negative. Apart from sleeping for much longer and a dry cough, symptoms are largely gone. Overall, for me, felt like a longer acting but milder version of the flu.

Symptoms initially appeared mid last week sometime but daily Rapid Antigen testing only began showing positive 4-5 days after symptoms first appeared.

So far symptoms have been rather mild (so far). More like a mild / low grade influenza with mild fever for only a day and a tickly / itchy throat for the rest of it,

That said, it’s appears to affect everyone differently and quite vastly so. Have had APAC Development team members at work being knocked out for weeks at a time.

As previously advised. Have shutdown the services originally operating off of the domain mana.nz. Services terminated…

• NextCloud (Cloud storage)
• Matrix Synapse (Chat)
• AW Web