Housing Rescue Bill - Your thoughts

[EricBess]

Your best bet is to go to whichever bank you use for everyday banking, and ask one of thier specialists for some advice. It is usually free, and they usually know what they are doing.

Yeah, the one time we did that, we asked for a semi-conservative account and ended up with tech funds that tanked. We got out as soon as we could, but we're pretty sure it was a pump and dump.

Believe me when I say that I've had many very bad experiences with investments.

 

[rokapoke]

Believe me when I say that I've had many very bad experiences with investments.

My high school economics teacher gave our class some advice that can't go wrong. He owns stock in two companies: Disney and Coca-Cola.

 

[DarthFerret]

A third option there roke would be Tico. A lot of people do not know that, among other things, Tico is the parent company of all Toyota brands (Cars, Forklifts, etc...). The thing that makes Tico a pretty safe bet, is that they manufacture pretty much thier entire product. From the base parts up to the finished product. They even own several of thier own dealerships and sales forces. They also finish consistantly in the top 25 companies in most reports (including Forbes).

 

[Mooseman]

A third option there roke would be Tico. A lot of people do not know that, among other things, Tico is the parent company of all Toyota brands (Cars, Forklifts, etc...). The thing that makes Tico a pretty safe bet, is that they manufacture pretty much thier entire product. From the base parts up to the finished product. They even own several of thier own dealerships and sales forces. They also finish consistantly in the top 25 companies in most reports (including Forbes).

Then why has their stock price gone from about $51 in Jan 2007 to $28 now?
I like stable companies too, but their stock price needs to be a little more stable. Now may be a good time to buy their stock..... ADM is the same way, but their stock price fall has been all this year ($48 to $25) and I am buying it up..... well not that much... about $80 a month..... I am a high roller

 

[EricBess]

If I invested in Disney, the next day they would discover that half their employees are on Megan's list... And if I invested in Coca-Cola, they would release a study strongly linking soda to cancer.

I had thought that buying a house was the only truely safe investment, now I'm convinced that there isn't one...

BTW - I'm hardly desolate. I've never lost more than I could afford. I've at least followed that good advice. This housing thing is going to be a real test, though. I really hope it does turn around long-term, but if I do need to move anytime soon, it's going to hurt for a while.

 

[mythosx]

If I invested in Disney, the next day they would discover that half their employees are on Megan's list... And if I invested in Coca-Cola, they would release a study strongly linking soda to cancer.

I had thought that buying a house was the only truely safe investment, now I'm convinced that there isn't one...

BTW - I'm hardly desolate. I've never lost more than I could afford. I've at least followed that good advice. This housing thing is going to be a real test, though. I really hope it does turn around long-term, but if I do need to move anytime soon, it's going to hurt for a while.

HAHAHAHHAHAHA! MEGAN's LIST!

No such thing as a truly safe investment. Coke is strong. Disney is meh. My family owns a ton of disney euro stock. It's not worth the paper its printed on.

 

[Mooseman]

HAHAHAHHAHAHA! MEGAN's LIST!

Yeah that was good.....

No such thing as a truly safe investment. Coke is strong.

Really? Depends when you bought it I guess.... It went from over $55 at the start of the year to $41 today..... and that was a climb from $35 in July....... in the last 52 weeks it has swung 31.41 to 64.19 and the low was last month......

What this shows is that timing the market is very tough.....
I am going to buy now..... about $1500 worth...... but what?
Coke? Disney? Pixar? Apple? Exxon? ADM? Index Fund? Spyder?
There is a lot out there and the best is to buy low and hold on to it for many years...... 10 to 20 years.....
But buying every month is cost-averaging for stocks I want a big position in.....
The Motley Fool used to be a good website to learn all about investing.... lately I just see a lot of ads for books/reports/picks......

HEy, wouldn't it have been great if Bush would have given everyone their SS payments to invest in the stock market? Who got all that money that was lost in the stock market crash???????

 

[mythosx]

For private stock investors you shouldn't think like institutional investers or traders.
The low in Coke is a great time to buy and to hold on to. Coke is a blue chip multi national product. You're not looking for big moves any moves at all since they won't be expanding. Your looking for dividends and long term growth. As low as Coke sinks you won't expect the to declare bankruptcy. Cokes dip in prices can be accounted for a shift from institutions from stocks to commodities. Base metals, grains, and oil prices are up, while the dollar is down. These factors all contribute in a shift in Coke prices. It isn't like some factory worker lost a thumb in production or anything.

I'm not sure what cokes P/E ratio is, but for a stock like coke that should be your leading indicator of when to buy.

The age of stocks not paying dividends should hopefully come to an end. People who don't understand investing are ok with tech stocks not paying dividends. They just like to gamble.

 

[DarthFerret]

Mythosx...I would not neccessarily say that about Coke. The same could have been said about Budweiser last year, and look what they have gone through recently. It has not had a huge impact on thier stock yet, however, the future is not nearly as secure as when it was held by the previous owner.

 

[EricBess]

All of which leads me to say that unless you have inside information (which is usually illegal - not the information, but playing stocks based on it), investing is stocks is akin to gambling in that there is always a risk no matter how conservative or "good at it" you think you are.

And as long as that is the case, I will know that any stock I put my money in will likely tank within days, no matter how safe a bet.

BTW, it isn't just stocks. Incredible Universe, Silo, and at least one other store, all went out of business within months of me purchasing an extended warrenty from them. I warned the Silo people when we bought the warrenty, but they said, "we are a national chain and nothing can possibly happen to us".

 

[mythosx]

Mythosx...I would not neccessarily say that about Coke. The same could have been said about Budweiser last year, and look what they have gone through recently. It has not had a huge impact on thier stock yet, however, the future is not nearly as secure as when it was held by the previous owner.

You have a valid point in Bud. But remember the difference between bud and coke is that coke is much more diversified. They own a slew of different international beverage companies and several fast food brand names such as a huge part of McDonald's the world's largest restuarant chain. They aren't going to go bankrupt any time soon. That said, the more the stock slides, the better the time to buy. Although Budweiser is probably the largest beer manufacturer in the world. They aren't diversfied enough to with stand cultural and economical changes that might occur in different regions such as China, which is now the world's hottest market.

 

[Mooseman]

Well, you have to have trust in the management at Coke to weather this storm and bring value to their shareholders.
Management is much more important than P/E, since P/E has to be anaylized from within the market..... ie. what is Coke's compared to others in that same market (Pepsi, uhm..... are there any others?)

 

[mythosx]

Well, you have to have trust in the management at Coke to weather this storm and bring value to their shareholders.
Management is much more important than P/E, since P/E has to be anaylized from within the market..... ie. what is Coke's compared to others in that same market (Pepsi, uhm..... are there any others?)

That's true to a certain extent. There are a few companies where they pretty much run themselves. Coke is pretty much one of them. That's why they only have tv spots like once a year.

 

[DarthFerret]

Moose, there are a couple of other soda companies out there aside from Coke and Pepsi. The only other one that is a major player is Dr. Pepper. They have been kinda a standalone company for quite a while now, even though they sometimes have to take up contracts with Coke and Pepsi distributors to get thier product on the shelf. Here in H-Town, we have all 3 of them.

As for the marketing, it depends on where you live (Geographically) as to who is the top dog in the soda industry. In 90% of Texas, it is Coke (and thier side products). I know in Colorado, it is about 90% Pepsi. Don't know about other states and other countries.

How did we end up on soda companies from the Housing and Rescue bill?

 

[Mooseman]

How did we end up on soda companies from the Housing and Rescue bill?

Because we're just talking.

My company went totally Pepsi last year, but I don't drink much soda, so I really don't care.
I think Coke is about 36% market share and Pepsi is about 16%.

 

[Spiderman]

Coke is the best!

The only Pepsi product I drink is Mt. Dew. I thought Dr. Pepper was part of them but from DF, I guess not?

 

[DarthFerret]

Probably in your area Spidey, Pepsico has a deal with DP to stock it for them. Happens alot as DP is not nearly as big as the other two. In fact, the company that puts out Shasta is even larger than Dr. Pepper.

I remember several years ago (15-20?) a news story about Dr. Pepper buying out 7-up. That is why there is 7-Up, Sprite, and Sierra Mist. Those are the big 3.

 

[Mooseman]

Now we have the investment bank bail out for $700 billion....
Should Congress write the Fed a blank check for all of it?
Should they oversee the bailout?
Should they say no way, no how?


I don't think just bailing them out is the right thing to do, it just perpetuates the irresponsible behavior that got them into this mess....... These businesses have to fail or the market forces don't work and we'll do this again and again..... this is already the 2nd time in 20 yrs that the Gov wasted money on bad finance companies..... when will the finance welfare program come to an end......

 

[Spiderman]

Hell no. Cut off the exec pay, like they're talking about. Heck, they should be contributing to this "bailout" - it's their company.

 

[DarthFerret]

From what I have heard so far it is not going to be a "blank check" bail-out. It has something to do with a government issued loan or bond or something. So far the information is not clear.