Category: Investments – Ben

Types of Investments – Foreign Currencies

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As I talked about in one of last weeks posts, there is more than just one type of investing. Not only do people invest in stocks, but some invest in foreign currencies. Investing in foreign currencies is super similar to investing in stocks, but there are a few things you should know:

  1. Investing in foreign currencies is a bit more complicated than you might think. Because the value of both your countries currency and the currencies you invest in is always changing, you have to understand that if the value of one of the currencies you invest in, say the British Pound, appears to go down it may actually be because your currency, maybe the Euro, went up and the British Pound actually didn’t change one bit.
  2. World events are just as important to the stock market as they are to foreign currencies. Usually, if something happens to the economy in the country/countries where the currency is used the value of the currency will change. One good example of this happened  a while ago when the value of oil plummeted. As a result the Canadian economy didn’t do as well as it once did, and the value of it’s currency dropped quite a bit.
  3. Investing into currencies is slightly more dangerous, in my opinion, than investing into the stock market. There are less things that could impact a companies stock price than there are things that could affect the value of a currency, but this is just my opinion, some people believe that it is the other way around.

That’s all for now, Ben

Investing – More than Just Stocks

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Hey there! Guess what, there is more than just one type of investment. I’ve talked about stocks for most of my posts, but there are a lot more options for investments. Some other common ones include real estate, bonds, precious materials, foreign currencies and a whole lot more. Basically an investment is the act of buying something, hoping the value will go up, and eventually selling its and ideally making a profit. So technically you could invest in pencils if you really wanted to, but I wouldn’t recommend it!

That’s all for now, Ben

The Nintendo Stock

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Hello all! Many of you have probably heard about the recent release of Pokemon Go in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the States. Although it hasn’t come out in Canada yet, I still know that it is an awesome game. It will revolutionize the way games are played because there is nothing else in the world like it. So how does this have any relation to the stock market? Well, the Pokemon company is owned by Nintendo an if you have been paying attention to the Nintendo stock in the past week and a half, you would have noticed that it has recently been rising very quickly. These are the types of things you should look out for when you’re trying to find a great stock to invest in.

That’s all for now, Ben

P.S. Sorry about the absence of investing posts in the past few weeks. I’ll definitely be creating posts much more often now.

Diversifying your Portfolio Pt.2

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Hello! I talked about diversifying your portfolio in an earlier post. To see it click here. Today I’d like to talk more about diversifying your portfolio. Particularly throughout different industries. Those who invest all their money into one industry, maybe the fast-food industry for example, will make lots of money if the demand for fast food goes up, but they’ll also lose a ton of money if the demand goes down. It’s a whole lot safer to invest in as many industries as possible. All of the stocks I own are involved in different industries, including the social media industry and the electronics industry. Let’s go back to the fast food example. Say a person named Jonathan has $1000 he’d like to invest. He notices that stocks in the fast food industry have been going up steadily for quite some time. He puts all of his money into 10 different fas food companies. The next day he finds out the his portfolio is only worth $250. All of his stocks went down because of the discovery of an unhealthy ingredient found in the food restaurants like McDonalds and KFC serve. Now let’s say Jonathan had invested $ 100 into the fast food industry, $100 into the electronics industry, $100 into the entertainment industry etc. He would have lost $75 from the money he’d put into the fast food industry but maybe overall he gained money from all his other stocks. This is the reason why diversifying your portfolio is extremely important.

That’s all for now, Ben

Foundations of a Great Company – Nike

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Nike.png

Company Name: Nike Inc.

Ticker Symbol: NKE

Founders: Bill Bowerman, Phil Knight

CEO: Mark Parker

 

Nike Inc. was founded in 1955 by track athlete, Phil Knight, and his coach Bill Bowerman. In its first year the business made only $8000 but in the second year it made over $20 000 and has been growing steadily since then. In 1966 Nike opened its first retail store. By 1971 Nike was using the famous “swoosh” logo. Today Nike is worth $96.71 billion and has over $20 billion in assets. Their revenue in the past 9 months equals more than $24 billion! In the 9 months before that Nike made $22 billion, which demonstrates how quickly they grow. Nike has $8.6 billion in debt but that’s nothing based on its immense size. In the past 10 years or so Nike entered the technology industry, since then it has partnered with Apple to create iPod Nana Nike Technology and has also created Nike Fuel Band as well as the app Nike+. This was an intelligent move for Nike as the technology industry has been growing steadily for years. The Nike logo itself is brilliantly designed. The “Swoosh” hasn’t changed much since it was first introduced, and for good reason. People from all over the world can easily recognize the famous logo. Nike has even introduced customizable shoes on their website http://www.nike.com. Although the Nike stock has been going down recently, overall it has grown a lot. Just look at the chart below.

Screen Shot 2016-05-21 at 13.32.12

If I were you, I’d definitely find the money to invest in Nike.

That’s all for now, Ben

P.S. Have a company you’d like to suggest for the next Foundations of a Great Company blog post? Tell us below now and your idea could be featured in a new investing post.

 

Finding the Right Investment

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Finding the right investment can be difficult. There are a lot of companies to chose from. When you’re just starting to invest, long term investments are usually the best. The only problem is long term investments usually involve investing in blue chip companies, which can be quite expensive for a beginner investor. Try saving up your money and investing in big companies with somewhat low stock prices such as Microsoft, Mattel, Starbucks, and Nike. Don’t go for big investments like Google and Amazon unless you have thousands of dollars to do it. When you’re looking for a great stock to invest in, think about the companies you already love. Do you think  they’ll grow. If you like the company and you’ll think the company will grow more in the future do some research. Find out things like how much debt they have and where their CEO went to university. Companies that you like are bound to be liked by others too. One very important thing to do is to never invest in an industry you have very little knowledge about and aren’t interested in. It’s always safer to invest in an industry you know a lot about and are interested in. Even the top investors refuse to invest in something they know almost nothing about.

That’s all for now, Ben

I’m a $hareholder Kit

The I’m a Shareholder Kit is an investing book written by Rick Roman. The book  covers lot’s of stock market terms. Although I’ve gone over a lot of them in previous posts, it may still be helpful to read. Each page covers a different aspect of the stock market, and some of the content in the book I haven’t covered, so it may be useful for you to read the book. The way the information is worded is a bit childish but it does get the message across in a simple way. I would recommend this book to any kid who’s interested in the stock market. It’s probably the best kids investing book I’ve read in a while.

That’s all for now, Ben

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Nestle

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Okay,  so this is going to be a short post but I just wanted to talk about the Nestle stock. On April 18 2008 the stock was at just over $500. Screen Shot 2016-05-06 at 17.44.11.png

As you probably noticed by the picture above, the stock dropped a LOT just months after that. How much exactly? Only about $450. Screen Shot 2016-05-06 at 17.44.21.png

As you can tell, April 2008 would have been a HORRIBLE time to invest.

That’s all for now, Ben

 

The Time has Come – The ACTUAL, Last, Basic Investing Post

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Ok. It’s time for the actual last basic investing post. Again, don’t worry, this isn’t my last investing post. It’s just my last basic investing post.

April 1, Don’t Be Discouraged

April 7, Get to Know the CEO

Getting to know the CEO of a company you’re considering investing in is highly important.  Here are some things you should learn about a CEO before investing in their business.

  • Name
  • Age & Birth
  • Birthplace and Where they were Raised
  • Education (University education is the most important.)
  • Previous Occupations
  • Accomplishments
  • And Other Qualification as CEO

April 12 2016, Long Term Debt

Companies with debt can be more dangerous to invest in than companies without debt.

April 15, The Proxy

A Proxy is a way for investors to have a say in the company. When you receive your yearly Proxy report you get to vote on who will be on the BOD (Board of Directors). These people do things like decide who the CEO of the company will be.

April 16, Foundations of a Great Company – Microsoft

April 14, Investment Knowledge

April 27, Drips

Drips are a simple way to get more stocks at a cheaper price by buying them directly from the company.

 

If you didn’t understand my summaries of the terms above or in my previous post, go to the original post by clicking on the link above the summary.

Below are some great resources for investing. Check them out.

Investopedia.com, This website offers the definitions to 100’s of stock market terms. If there is anything you need clarity on head over there to see a video about the term.

Barchart.com, I use this website to find stocks that I can CONSIDER investing in. Afterwards I do all my research to find out if it is or is not a good investment.

The News, I’ve talked about this before. The news is a great resource for finding stocks to consider investing in and information on the stocks you own. To see my original post on the news click here.

The Stocks App, This is an app that comes with every iPhone and iPod Touch Apple sells. I’m currently not sure if Microsoft or Android device have a similar app but it is a great place to quickly check on your stocks and things like the Dow Jones.

StockWars, This is a stock market simulator app that I used to prepare for the real thing. I’d recommend using it. It’s 100% free, fun, and easy to use.

Every time I find a stock to consider I print and fill out the below information. I’ve done a ton of these. They are an easy way to collect info on a company you’re considering investing in.

Stock Report For:

________________________________

 

General Information:

Company Name:__________________________________________

Ticker Symbol:________________ Index Traded With:____________

Industry:_________________________________________________

Sub-Industry:_________________________________________

Year Founded: ________ Founders: __________________________

________________________________________________________

Important Information on Founders: ___________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Company Headquarters: ____________________________________

Number of Locations (If Applicable): ___________________________

Area Served: _____________________________________________

Products/Services:_________________________________________

Number of Employees: _____________________________________

Subsidiaries: _____________________________________________

Company Website: ________________________________________

 

CEO Information:

CEO Name: _____________________________________________

Age: _____________ D.O.B.: _________________________________

Birthplace: _______________________________________________

Education: _______________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Other Qualification as CEO: _________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Previous Occupations: _____________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Other Details: ____________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

 

The Business & it’s Products

Target Audience: __________________________________________

Locations Available: _______________________________________

Company Partnerships: ____________________________________

Past Company Events: _____________________________________

________________________________________________________

Product Analysis:

Product 1:

Strengths: ______________________________________

Weaknesses: ____________________________________

Product 2:

Strengths: ______________________________________

Weaknesses: ____________________________________

 

The Numbers:

Stock Price: $ _______ Shares Outstanding: ____________________

Market Cap. $ ____________________________________________

Long-Term Debt: $ ________________________________________

Revenue: $ ______________________________________________

Assets: $ ________________________________________________

Notes:

 

 

I know it looks like a lot of information but when you invest you need to know everything about that business to decide if it’s a good investment or not.

That’s all for now, Ben