APTT, SoftBank, ECB, Uber, Grab, WeWork and irrational competition.

Didn't AK say he is going to be less active blogging?

Yes, I am currently holidaying in Neverwinter.

See:
Winter Festival and Hell Pit.

The "Hell Pit" event has started but it seems that the first week is pretty easy.

So, it isn't taking up as much time as I thought it might.

Anyway, a reader wrote me a very long comment on APTT.

It is obvious to me that he put in a lot of effort researching APTT's business and prospects.

Of course, he also put in a lot of effort writing the comment.

It is only good manners that I reply.

The reply became a bit too long and I decided to blog about it instead.

Read the reader's comment: HERE.






AK replies:

Hi Verseun,

During "Evening with AK and friends" last year, I explained in greater detail why APTT was possibly a good investment at much lower unit prices after Mr. Market reacted negatively to its huge reduction in DPU.

This was in response to my blog titled:

Gobbling APTT as its unit price plunged.

I believed that APTT's ability to fund further investment in broadband infrastructure using internal resources would see them becoming stronger versus their competition in the broadband space (i.e. telcos).





I explained that the unlimited data plans offered by the telcos in the area were really untenable in the long run compared to what APTT was able to offer.

APTT's broadband infrastructure has much lower OPEX in comparison.

The investment to upgrade would be huge but like I said APTT had the ability to fund it without taking on additional debt with the huge reduction in DPU.

Even now, I could see APTT selling backhaul capacity to the telcos in the future.






However, I also said during "Evening with AK and friends" last year that it depends on how long the competition stays irrational in Taiwan.

In an era of easy money (think SoftBank) and negative interest rates (think ECB), we could see business entities able to and willing to burn cash for extended periods of time (think Uber, Grab, WeWork etc.).

Why invest in money losing Grab or Uber and not in money making ComfortDelgro?

WeWork has become WeWorked.

How do we work these cash burning businesses?






Anyway, in a nutshell, I agree with your conclusion.

However, I have said that investing in APTT is relatively speculative.

It should be a good idea to keep the position small so as not to lose sleep over it.

See:
Sell into the rally and stay invested.






Of course, all of us have different ability and willingness to take on risk.

We are all wired differently and should do what gives us peace of mind.

Peace of mind is surely priceless.





Of course, please remember that AK is mental.

Read:

How much passive income is enough?

and maybe also:


UBER and GRAB why you so like that?

Year end holiday update. (Winter Festival and Hell Pit.)

This is just an update to let readers know that AK might be less active here in ASSI after this blog for the next few weeks.

AK will be going away to a faraway land on a holiday for 6 weeks!

That sounds expensive, doesn't it?

Not to worry.

This won't cost AK any money at all.

It is all going to be free!

What?

Where?

How?

From today till early next year, AK will be pretty busy holidaying in Neverwinter, doing adventurous and heroic stuff which is only possible in virtual reality.

Yes, I know!

Bad AK! Bad AK!

AK the Wizard.
Vanquishing evildoers!

AK the Paladin.
Saving innocent folks.

Neverwinter is having their annual Winter Festival which is probably the most rewarding event in their calendar.

This event runs for 3 weeks from 13 December into the new year, ending on 3 January 2020.

This year, however, before the Winter Festival, Neverwinter will have another event that will also run for 3 weeks.

This is a new event that will run from 22 November to 12 December.

Two big events back to back for a total of 6 weeks!

Delirious!

The new event is "Hell Pit" and it challenges adventurers to solo content that will get progressively more difficult.

There is a long reward list but the ultimate reward, in my opinion, for those who succeed is a legendary mount, the Golden Warhorse!







After adventuring in Neverwinter for three years or so, AK still does not own a legendary mount as the drop rate is abysmal.

Well, to be fair, AK has only been a Neverwinter VIP for less than a year and, so, for most of the three years in Neverwinter, AK wasn't trying.

Many adventurers who are less patient simply buy a legendary mount from other adventurers in the Auction House if they want one.

It is all about luck or what adventurers call RNG (i.e. random number generator) and some people are just very lucky to get a legendary mount despite the terribly low drop rate.

The less popular legendary mounts go for about 5 million Astral Diamonds (ADs) and the more popular ones go for as much as 20 million ADs or even more in the Auction House.

AD is one of the more important in game currencies in Neverwinter.





AD can be earned (relatively slowly) through playing the game since Neverwiner is a F2P (free to play) game and everything we need or want in the game can be obtained simply by playing the game.

AD can also be purchased by spending real life money (which AK has never done before and will never do, of course).

For those who are more business minded, AD can also be earned at a faster pace by selling stuff in the Auction House to other adventurers.

Currently, 5 million ADs is worth almost US$ 70.

Imagine people paying 20 million ADs for the more popular legendary mounts.

Talk about paying lots of money for virtual assets.

Bitcoins, anyone?

Mind boggling!






To be honest, adventurers don't really need legendary mounts in Neverwinter but if AK can get one for free, why not?

A legendary mount allows us to move at 140% our usual travelling speed.

If we are attacked while on a legendary mount, we fall off only if we are hit 6 times or more within 5 seconds.

So, unless we encounter relatively large mobs, we don't have to waste time fighting random mobs while moving around in a zone.

Legendary mounts also have combat powers which mounts of lower grades do not have.

AK would very much like to have a (free) legendary mount or two.

Yes, please.

At the moment, I have five characters in game.

Lots of time and resources have gone into nurturing one rather powerful end game DPS character.

So, I am pretty confident that I will be able to get a Golden Warhorse as a reward.

The other two DPS characters were very recently created during Neverember's recruitment event last month in October which I talked about in this blog:

3Q 2019 passive income: Numbers.

Not very powerful, they serve mostly as caddies or what adventurers call "pack mules" (i.e. they exist mainly to carry stuff for my main characters).

When I created them, I purposely did not choose new classes to avoid the temptation to play them more.

They are adequate for some crafting, also some farming for gold and AD in addition to being caddies but they will never be upgraded to end game standards.

The last two characters are a tank and a healer.

They have been around for far longer and are more powerful than the two relatively young DPS characters I mentioned earlier but tanks and healers are not exactly DPS gods.

(DPS = Damage per second and means a character that does damage.)






AK is always plotting in Neverwinter. :p

Wouldn't you like to be adventuring (and plotting) in Neverwinter too? ;p


It is free to play and lots of fun.

Watch the following video and see if it is something that you will enjoy:






Wishing all readers a fun filled holiday season. :)
-------------
UPDATE ON THE UPDATE:

I have just found out that I would not be able to get the Golden Warhorse by successfully completing only one Hell Pit event.

If that sounds like there is going to be more than one Hell Pit event to you, well, you are right.

The Hell Pit event is apparently a recurring event that will return every few months.

I will have to successfully complete five events before I can get my hands on the Golden Warhorse!

This is more like a MMORPG.

The grind!

Well, I guess I was being too generous (or naive) to think that the world of Neverwinter has become more generous in handing out rewards. :p

There is no free lunch in this world, real or virtual. ;p





Related posts:
1. Spent money and will spend more time.
2. Is AK blogging about Neverwinter?