Talking Stocks

Moving on from my last blog post about technology, I am going to blog today about stocks and the stock market, another interest of mine.  The most important thing to remember about the stock market, in light of recent events like the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropping significantly for several days in a row, is not to panic and sell when there is a big drop.  Hold on for the long term, invest in companies that have good products and services that you believe in, and -eventually - watch the gainful returns come in!  

Regarding particular stocks, I have a bit to say.  Some of the favorites that I follow are Visa (V), Apple (AAPL), Starbucks (SBUX), and Tesla (TSLA).  These stocks span across different categories of companies, from payments to technology to discretionary food service, and finally to automobile companies.  The stocks I just mentioned are not "cheap," ranging in price from $66.85 per share (as of today's close) for Visa to $220.03 per share for Tesla Motors, but they are companies that I believe in with good products.  Hopefully they will be around for the long haul, and I can accumulate gains from them in a buy-and-hold strategy.  

As will all investors in the stock market, I do not always pick winners (I wish I did, but no - that is not the case).  Groupon (GRPN), the Chicago-based daily deal and e-commerce website, has been one such dud that I thought would do well when I first looked into it about 2 years ago.  However, the price has dropped from over $10 per share about 2 years ago, to a measly $4 per share in today's market.  All I can say is that, ouch! - that stock price drop hurts.  At this point, though, it is best to hold on in hopes that either A. the company turns around its business and starts creating returns for investors, or B. Groupon is acquired by another big tech firm, such as Google or even Amazon (although I think the share price would have to drop even more for this to happen).  Roundy's (RNDY), another Midwest-based company (this one with headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) in the grocery store/supermarket business, has done dismally with its stock.  Roundy's is considered a small-cap stock (with a market cap. of only $107 million or so), and includes the Mariano's brand that has been expanding in the Chicagoland region.  It is clear the Wisconsin part of the business is not doing as well as the Chicagoland/Illinois part, and in that lies the crux of the problem with this stock.  From where RNDY was about 2 years ago, just a smidge above $10 per share, to where it is today at a dismal (and I mean dismal) $2.24 per share, it all just shows red ink and a net loss for many investors like myself.  Roundy's should and needs to turn around as a company.  Maybe, it can spin-off the Mariano's part of the business into a separate stock.  Now, that would be nice.

Moving on, in general resources regarding the stock market, there is a lot out there to research.  I prefer Google Finance.  There are databases that you can access through your local public library such as Morningstar (a good one), and ValueLine as well.  Valuable periodicals that follow investments include Forbes, Fortune, and Bloomberg Businessweek - a personal favorite of mine when researching stocks and the investment field in general.  Following investment companies, stock-picking and watching individuals, investment commentators, and the such on Twitter is also recommended.  I tend to tweet and re-tweet about investments, stocks,  and businesses under my Twitter name, BTrzop23, quite a bit as well - so check me out on Twitter (a shameless plug, lol)!  I believe that doing all of this reading and research gives one a certain edge regarding the stock market.

So, that is all for now.  Thanks for reading, and...Happy Investing! :-) 

-BTrzop

http://btrzop.blogspot.com

New Topic: Let's Talk about Tech!

Now that I work at the "tech help desk" of a local library, I feel inclined to write about technology and the technology industry as it now stands.  I am definitely a "fan" of tech - from Facebook to Twitter, with a little Pinterest and (the new) Windows 10 and Apple iPhone 6 in there as well.  I tend to periodically check some great tech websites like www.theverge.com, www.techcrunch.com, and www.mashable.com just to name some of the sites.  When it comes to Apple or PC, I use both...although I am definitively more comfortable on a Windows-run PC than an Apple MacBook with iOS - whatever version of the operating system on it.  I have even dabbled at using Ubuntu, which is a form of the Linux operating system.  Lately, I have stuck to learning the "ins and outs" of Microsoft Windows 10 on my laptop, which came out very recently (July 29th).  

Besides using a laptop, desktop, and iPad tablet, I constantly am using and exploring my Apple iPhone 6.  I really did pay too much for it, but it is definitely quicker in processor speed and sharper in image than my previous cell phone, the iPhone 5.  This all proves that I enjoy tech in its many forms.  

Lately, I have also begun to delve into my old mp3 collection from college and post-college on my external hard drive.  There are really some gems in there, including the Incubus song "Nice to Know You" and Eric Clapton's song "Tears in Heaven," among many, many others.  I am really impressed at how far music and tech has come along from vinyls (some of which I do own - think Beach Boys and Tom Petty for starters) to cassettes to CDs to mp3s, and finally to streaming music on smartphones and tablets.  I enjoy listening to Spotify as I prepare for work, while Sirius XM satellite radio beams music and political/financial talk radio to me as I drive to work.  Here, you can see the intersection of technology and music in my life.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  

I have to say that another interest of mine, analyzing stocks and the stock market, has been helped by my use of technology.  Google Finance, which can be found at http://finance.google.com, is one of my favorites.  Google in general is a great resource, from Drive to Gmail to Finance, and back around to Google News (which collects news information on a variety of topics and categories, which can be customized to you the user).  The recent financial news that Google's "non-core" businesses will be part of the new "Alphabet" Company is a welcoming development.  It caused Google stock to shoot up in trading (the stock can be found at ticker symbols GOOGL and GOOG, depending on which share class one is looking for), and for it's shareholders that is a good thing.

There are other areas I could talk about regarding tech, but I feel this is enough for now.  I hope the readers out there have enjoyed this tech blog post.

-BTrzop

(http://btrzop.blogspot.com)