Oh, was hoping to add something else, but guess that's it for tonight after all - will do more tomorrow

Update on Visa


The graph of Visa (since my purchase) is *really* starting to look like my cash graphs now lol

So was surprised to see that my poker money is actually still up 2% ...

Something else that was super interesting to see today, about Amazon - even though it dropped 9% after Trump got elected, it looks like it's already about bounced right back?

Guess ...

LESSONS:

1. Short-term: Wonder if maybe the day-to-day swings of stocks can be especially wide, because of all the activity of short-term investors, like day traders, looking for the most minute of edges? So guess it's 'normal' for decent stocks to gain or lose 2-4% a day, for several days ... and then go in the opposite direction just as fast?

2. Long-term: Will have to remember that while there's some similarities between investing in stocks and poker, guess stocks aren't fully a zero sum game - so if one buys stocks with the long-term in mind, or ETFs or index funds, they should all provide a return over time?

3. Owning More than One Stock: Warren Buffett doesn't actually advocate diversification as a way to minimize risk - guess since he believes the focus should be on trying to find solid companies, which should each be able to do well? But after seeing Visa drop 2% today while the Dow is reaching new heights, it kind of feels like ideally it'd be nice to own may 5 or 10 different stocks, so if there's a lot of swings in the day-to-day, hopefully on the whole things may be a bit smoother?

Was able to get the garbage out early today, make a quick casserole, and the dishes are already done - so will be nice to have lots of time to work on stuff tonight. Night 2 of the Dancing With the Stars finale starts at 8pm, so that should be fun to watch as well lol ...

Decided to try to go back to keeping the dopey stuff to a minimum, to try and keep this thread a little bit cleaner - just a couple more things first though!

Really enjoyed watching this ceremony of Pres. Obama award the Medals of Freedom today - guess Robert DeNiro and Robert Redford are actors, but they also established popular film festivals, which help advance the arts. And Ellen's got her talk show on every day, but when she came out 20 years ago it hurt her career for several years, and now gay marriage is legal. And Bill and Melinda Gates have given away $38 billion with their foundation, trying to improve living conditions around the world.

Guess it's nice to see people trying to make the world a better place And nice to see them rewarded for their efforts too ... also, "actors, like the guy from Space Jam" LOL, so funny

Also, looks like Disney's got a 'Magical Holiday Celebration' on Thursday - here's a preview pic, with FloRida!

Hope the Disney special's better than the American Music Awards, which were kind of boring ... Lady Gaga should bring back the the flaming bustiers, etc lol ...

Learning Materials Update


Lately, have only been relying on two sites for info ...


1-3: www.zacks.com
4-5: www.realclearmarkets.com


The www.realclearmarkets.com site seems to have a nice selection of articles from around the internet, with all different perspectives - so hopefully there's enough there to cover all the important info of the day?

And have just been looking at the research reports on www.zacks.com, with the list pros and cons for each company - hopefully that's an okay way to learn a bit more about lots of different companies in a really short time?


Something haven't found too helpful have been articles that give advice on whether to buy or sell specific stocks - for example, there's a one writer on www.fool.com who's been writing articles recommending Amaya about once a month - here's some exceprts from the articles ...

http://www.fool.ca/2016/08/16/amaya-...-time-to-buy/#
http://www.fool.ca/2016/10/21/amaya-...g-back-at-you/
http://www.fool.ca/2016/11/22/amaya-...ut-a-takeover/

Was also seeing some interesting stuff for Amazon - they had an 'off year' in 2014, losing 20% while 'the market' was up 8%, so was seeing a ton of articles like this one ...

7 Reasons Amazon Stock Is Dead Money in 2015 (AMZN)

Can understand why people would be skeptical about what might be in store for the company next after having a down year, but here's Amazon's graph for 2015, 2016, so it looks like the assessment of Amazon's future prospects was way off ...

So, will see how relying on those two sources goes for now - my books haven't arrived in the mail yet, but have those as well ...

Online Library - Zacks Research Reports


Figured out how to download and save the Zacks research reports to my computer, and have put them online for easy access - they're downloadable, if anyone wants to save any of them.


Here's a couple of companies that seemed to have pretty decent growth over the long-term?

• Amazon (AMZN)
• Home Depot (HD)
• Honeywell (HON) (part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average)[/COLOR]
• 3M (MMM) - makes Post-Its (and a LOT of other stuff too )
• 
  Ross (ROST)[/INDENT]

And here's a couple that have done well in the long-term, that may have had a rocky last couple of years - maybe worth a second look, like Amazon in 2014?

Apple (AAPL): https://app.box.com/s/vg2vqybnggf8sxi42y96dxp0njdu3h5m (part of the Dow)
Disney (DIS): https://app.box.com/s/3cjhw7o9rw4holo2lwv1kpgnhxfqz32i (part of the Dow)
Fedex (FDX): https://app.box.com/s/q8cxpeotiesiozb3jfy7ehtnsdfc0pw6
Google (GOOGL): https://app.box.com/s/h7hx744b1sta2xy7a8bfcn056ij4mkvo
Starbucks (SBUX): https://app.box.com/s/17ckw3u8iyuflr0eax0dpzknvnx5shxc

May try to take a closer look at each of these tomorrow - just found out that Tax Free Savings Accounts can also be used to buy stock ... that really surprised me, since it's called a 'savings account' and not a 'stock account' lol Anyways, guess it'd be nice to find other stuff that hopefully looks promising ...

Looks like have ran out of steam - will have to also have to save the follow-up of the deregulation stuff for tomorrow

Never seem to get too much done when Survivor's on - and it looks like tonight's a double episode, doh!

Will try to do some stuff soon ...

Why Paying Attention to Signs of a Possible Impending Market Crash Might Be Helpful


There's supposed to be a couple of things that tend to do well when 'the market' as a whole isn't - like gold?


It's kind of hard to see the downswing of the Dow in these graphs, but it looks like while 'the market' had few gains 2001-2004, gold stocks were up like 600% for that same time?




And while the market had few gains between 2008-2012, gold went up 100%?




So maybe some alternatives if the market ever takes a terrible turn, for tax-free accounts? Maybe some alternatives too, besides gold?

Must have still been keeping an open mind about advice columns with recommendations - because saw a really interesting one today from US News!

http://money.usnews.com/investing/sl...o-buy-for-2017

It was great, because it had some smaller companies on the list of 'Stocks to Buy for 2017' - and the writer seem to try to find stocks with different risk levels?

The recommendation that had me really excited was this one for ULTA, which has *just* grown out of the 'Mid Cap' category:

Had forgotten that Mid-Cap stocks are supposed to tend to have better returns than Large-Cap stocks - because they have so much more room to branch out and grow?

Was looking at the company's website, and they look really good! It looks like they sell cosmetics like Sephora, but they've also got a hair salon, and a spa that uses Dermalogica products - and the prices are really reasonable. Bet it's a big hit!


And look at it's growth since going public! ULTA > Visa?

The writer also recommended Tinder lol - guess they're a Mid-Cap company as well. Looks like they've only been public for a year, but so far so good ...

The companies are so small, www.zacks.com doesn't have research reports for them - will have to check to see if there are any in the TD free library?

The US News writer also mentioned this:

Have seen a bunch of things written about healthcare maybe doing especially well under a Trump administration. There's this healthcare stock that's part of the Dow, that looks like another possibility?

There's a Zack's report for it too - the report says they make a lot of $ from Medicare/Medicaid and an aging population ...

UnitedHealth Group (UNH): https://app.box.com/UNH


Speaking of Zack's reports, am working on downloading the rest of the Zack's library of research reports So maybe after have finished that, may post links to the reports? Other than that, guess that's it for the next while - my books are supposed to be arriving from Amazon tomorrow, so will probably just burrow in and read a bunch of stuff for the next while

Warren Buffet’s portfolio consists of 44 publicly traded companies. The vast majority of them (32) provide dividends, a number of which provide annual dividends in excess of four percent. Below is a list of the 10 highest-paying dividend stocks in Warren Buffet’s portfolio.

This is the reason I want to invest in these Warren Buffett Dividend paying stocks.

Hey, another visitor? Hello friend!

Hadn't heard that Warren Buffett was especially fond of dividend-paying stocks - dividends were on my list of stuff to take a closer look at ... however the list is getting pretty long now Guess learning takes a while

Will have to try to bump it up in priority - guess if one can find stocks that are growing in value *and* giving dividends, that'd be like having cake and eating it too? Could see how they'd be awesome for someone who's managed to save up like a $1mil retirement fund over the years - so then a 4% dividend would pay out ... would it be $40k a year? And then if the $1mil's still growing in value too, that'd be a pretty sweet deal

Maybe are there other benefits too - like if the economy tanks, maybe dividend stocks might feel especially nice to have, if there's a return coming in from the dividends, even when the stock value might be shrinking?

Remember seeing something about dividends tending to be paid out by more established companies, so my Visa has a little dividend (just a tiny one), but Amazon didn't have any.

Will have to read up some more on dividends, sooner rather than later - am feeling a bit under the weather, so may be able to look over some stuff over the weekend ... thanks for the tip tearfulrevered!!

May have caught a bit of a cold, with the weather changes

Any bargains out there?

ScreaminAsian is banned for posting porn, but there are more of us reading, keep the good work Sam.

-If you want bargains come shop here you can prob buy half the Belgrade with your paycheck.
They even picked up Black Friday and all stuff, and are ofc doing/ advertising it stronger than, US sellers...

Everything is decorated for weeks now and the Orthodox calendar is even two weeks lagging after Westerlings'...

I swear im gonna choke someone with a garland.

Hey, a familiar face from the Promo thread - welcome, welcome PrsHarlequin!!

Really enjoy looking at photos from different parts of the world, to see all the beautiful sights and events - Belgrade looks beautiful!! Especially at Christmas time

You're so lucky to have an outdoor pedestrian mall ... and that bread must be good - looks like the kid in the corner couldn't resist trying a piece, lol

My investing books arrived in the mail, and one of them looks especially good - just in the nick of time, because this thread was starting to go downhill with all my scattered focus It's this book here ...

Am really liking how organized the book is, and how the writer seems to know what might be helpful for beginners to learn, and explains things in simple language?

Am not feeling so great, so was going to maybe take a nap for a little while lol Then may try to go out to the store to get a highlighter pen, and try to take some notes and stuff this afternoon - will be so nice to have a little 'textbook' to help with the learning in a more organized way


Still downloading those research reports from Zacks too - may be able to post some of those first?


Hope everybody's having a really nice weekend!!

Found a version of Jose Feliciano singing live - 24mil views!




Okay, taking my nap now

that is a mischaracterization, i was creating art please gfy


hot tip:
steve wynn is a billionaire casino owner as i'm sure you know. he's been very vocally supportive of republicans for a long time and trump seems like he's seeking the advice of billionaires. WYNN is up 16% since the election

lol

Wanted to create a blog filled with cat pic and vids - it would have been so epic!! Was reading the rules of this section up top though, and it looks like it's only one blog per person, so this thread is it for me and the cat thread won't be possible ... that's very sad lol ...




Hadn't noticed the WYNN stock, but saw Sheldon's doing really well this year and about fell off my chair - people must be having lots of fun in Vegas this year Although it's unfortunate people are having fun at Sheldon's The GPL finals are supposed to be starting in Vegas in a couple of days - am still watching the GPL ... the quality of poker's amazing. Go Nationals!!

Goodness, dozed off again ...

Still haven't made it to the store Wanted to get some cold medicine too - guess should best get going, before the Home Alone/Home Alone 2 marathon gets started on tv

Whoops!

Credit Card Rewards


Speaking of Visa and credit cards, looks like there's a big dust-up with the Airmiles program - guess the airmiles are going to be expiring from now on, after 5 years?

Gosh, it seems like have been saving them forever - and *still* only have about enough to pay for a free bus trip to Mississauga? Guess that means with my spending habits, it's unlikely will ever save enough miles to ever actually go anywhere - or ... maybe that means, am hardly saving miles at all?

Was looking around at all the other reward and cash back credit cards to see what else is available - it may be time for one of these

Guess it's only 1% cash back like everybody else - but they email coupons for free stuff every weekend, like donuts, soup, sandwiches ... also tea, coffee, cookies ...


There were also these super cute little cards at BMO! It sounds like there's an option to donate some/all of the cash back to the charity, and get a tax receipt? Guess for me that wouldn't be much But maybe something'd be better than nothing?

Got my highlighter pens, so can get going with the reading

Textbook Summary - 'Stock Market Investing'


Was relieved to see this book cover some of the same things had found myself on the internet - and in kind of the same order too even ...

• While stocks seem a bit risky/scary, they provide the best return over time
• A return is any amount the stock grows in price over time, plus dividends
• 'The Market' - is a group of 30 big companies, like McD's, and Coke
• Money's made from finding stocks that grow over time and/or are selling cheap

Then in Chapter 2, author spends a gigantic amount of time looking at big investors, and their approaches - looks like there's Warren Buffett, and then there's others too ... Benjamin Graham, Phlip Fisher, Peter Lynch, William O'Neil, Bill Miller?

Chapter 4 takes a closer look at trying to find stocks that will provide good returns, and also tries to look for signs of impending downswings.

And Chapter 6 talks about (online) research materials (and what to look for?)


New Stuff

The two things that are new are:

1. Looking at all those statistics, like P/E ratio
2. And how to set up an organized worksheet, to keep on top of things

What's interesting, is that the author starts looking at the statistics by *page 20*, in the middle of Chapter 1. While this thread is already practically on page 20 from cat photos, but have yet to take a closer look at the P/E ratio


Guess the statistics are important, because there's been times like during the internet boom, when the graphs of share prices went through the roof for companies that had yet to show any profit? So maybe the stats are the more reliable way to measure how a company's doing?

Have been dragging my heels with the stats - but guess they're important, so will try to look at them tomorrow in the book



Once that's done, can start posting the library of research reports (from Zacks), and practice taking a closer look at the stocks to give the stuff from the book a try

Surprised to still be up - guess the cold medication helped with the congestion ... forgot Trump was in Home Alone 2 Guess that's enough for today

May play the Storm to keep me from falling asleep while reading my book Guess that'll only help if i don't wind up busting within the first two orbits of play, or what have you

Oh my goodness!

Feel like taking a nap, but am running really lucky in the Storm, so am still playing - guess that could change at any moment though, so will see ...

Looks like there was a little bit of overlay in the Storm today Am not super fond of that extra long registration period - it kind of feels bad to see people signing up for a tourney have already busted out of

Oh well, going to have a little rest now ...