Tag: Finding Stocks

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.

 

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The News, Your New Best-Friend (Sort of)

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The stock market is always changing. One minute a great stock could be at $3 the next it could be at $15, and a few more minutes later it could be at $1. You’ve got to learn to find great stocks quickly in the stock market and know when a stock will go up or down. To know when a stock price will change you have to look at a lot of different factors, but the most important of these is the news. If a news article is published highlighting the great ways you can get in touch with others using social media the stock price of companies like Facebook and Twitter will likely go up. And the opposite could happen too. If a news article comes out warning readers of the dangers of eating fast food, the McDonalds and Wendys stock price could go down. Try flipping through a newspaper or searching through a news website often to get a feel for what industries will be affected by the articles and to find great new industries to invest in.

That’s all for now, Ben

Check out some of these news websites. CNN, The New York Times, USA Today, and BBC News.

Apple

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Last week Apple announced several new products including the iPhone SE and a new iPad. If you look at the charts for the Apple stock, you’ll see that it has been steadily rising in the past month in anticipation of the announcement event. These kind of real life events are a huge influence on the stock price. It’s very important to focus on real life things when you’re looking for stocks to invest in.

That’s all for now, Ben

Foundations of a Great Company – Mattel

On By BenIn Investments - Ben1 Comment

Company Name: Mattel

Ticker Symbol: MAT

Founder(s): Harold Matson, Elliot Handler, Ruth Handler

CEO: Christopher Sinclair

Mattel.png

In 1945 Harold Matson and Elliot Handler started Mattel, a company that sold picture frames. Matson later sold his part in the company to Elliot Handler and Ruth, Elliot’s wife, took over Matson’s role. The company went on to sell dollhouse furniture and is now one of the biggest toy companies in the world. You may know them for their popular Barbie dolls or Hot Wheels cars. Last year alone they made $6 billion. The company even made it’s way into the S&P 500. The current CEO once worked as the CEO of Pepsi Co meaning he has plenty of experience. The company has about 31 000 employees and is still growing. Mattel has $1.8 billion in debt, but as of this post being published, the company is worth over $11 billion. With the money they made last year they could have payed off their debt 3 times and still have had some money left over. I actually thought this was such a strong company that I invested in it several weeks ago and it has gone up since then. I would definitely invest in this company if I were you, but don’t just take my advice. Even some of the worlds best stock traders are wrong about certain companies. You should always do your research before investing in any company.

That’s all for now, Ben

 

Getting to Know Your Quarterly Report

On By BenIn Investments - Ben1 Comment

Legally in both the United States and Canada, companies must create a quarterly report.  This quarterly report is available on every company website (as long as the company is public).
The report contains what expenses the company had to pay and what profits they made in the past 3 months. This report is very detailed and will definitely help when you’re considering investing in a company.

Sometimes the quarterly report and other investor information can be difficult to find on a companies website, so here are some from major companies:

3M,Google, Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Bed Bath and Beyond, Best Buy, Boeing, Campbell Soup, Coca-Cola, Dr.Pepper-Snapple Group, Ebay, Electronic Arts, Facebook, Fedex, Ford, Gap, General Electric, General Motors, Hasbro, Home Depot, Kellogg, Keurig, Mastercard, Mattel, Mcdonalds, Microsoft, and Apple.

Thats all for now, Ben