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