Investing 102

[ErikLS2]

Greg,

I've been thinking about Coinstar and wondering what you like about them? There's a lot more to them potentially than RedBox (which will be going away eventually) and change counting machines. The question for me is can they capitalize on all this growth in other types of kiosks I seem to be noticing all over the place.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by ErikLS2

Greg,

I've been thinking about Coinstar and wondering what you like about them? There's a lot more to them potentially than RedBox (which will be going away eventually) and change counting machines. The question for me is can they capitalize on all this growth in other types of kiosks I seem to be noticing all over the place.

One word -- GROWTH


The founder of Coinstar is a family I know locally and used to do a ton of business with. Smart guys... and smart enough strategically to figure out how to leverage their footprint for expansion. Also the new LLC formed with Verizon to stream video should translate straight to the bottom line.

Just a hunch and worth poking a toe in the water. Just taking a bit of a flyer on this one.

While I preach DIVIDEND DIVIDEND DIVIDEND here... And have stuck to writing this thread for newbs or recently converted "investors". So what I do personally is a bit divergent from here and I hate to get into more complicated strategies and "gambling" discussions here. I can afford to dabble in stuff that has a LOT more risk in it even though I do so in a very minor way as a percentage of investible assets. Which is the way these kinds of things should be done.

So if someone was buying all the "normal" stuff -- and then wants to take a stab at something they just have a gut feeling/good feeling for... keep it REALLY low $$ wise. That way when they go south (which most do) it's a real ho hummer. If things go your way -- then if you care to -- you scale in on the way up. But often new companies - and new strategies can get HAMMERED in one hiccup of a quarter - or a new competitor emerges - or the strategy you thought was golden turns in to a dud.

The way to go broke - or get very discouraged with investing - is to go swinging for the fences. Everyone wants to be the first guy on the block to have bet big on the Google or Apple of tomorrow... but trust me... that is a real quick way to sink the boat. That's GREEDY... and foolhardy, and you'll deserve what you end up with. It's hard enough to make money and hold on to it without tripping yourself up.

Again -- I'm not writing these statements directly to the post with the question - but I'm writing to all that will read the question and the reply. So "YOU" is not "you" but anyone reading.

Personally I don't think I'd be doing speculative investing (gambling) until the portfolio was in the half a million dollar range -- and then the gambling portion might be limited to a couple $25K names. It's kinda like building a house -- you want a great foundation before you put up the walls.

[GregWeld]

Reading the business page and stumbled on this -- which is absolutely amazing!

Apple sells more per square foot of retail floor space than anyone by almost DOUBLE....

1. Apple Sales per square foot: $5,647

No. 5 on the RetailSails top 25 growth list
Revenue/net income (millions): $127,841 /$32,982

Gross margin: 42.4 percent

2011 stock price change: 25.6 percent

Apple is a relative newcomer to the retail scene, with its first store opening in 2001. The stores, which feature genius bars for providing advice and repairs, have become a mecca for its fans. It is not uncommon to see die-hard fans lining up outside the stores, sometimes for days, before a new product launch. In the latest quarter alone, Apple sold 37 million iPhones through all its sales channels. Broader signs of Apple’s success are that its global revenue rose 73 percent to $46.3 billion, and its $477 billion market capitalization, which is the highest of any public company in the world.


Maybe the guy that posted how bad the economy was and how the Internet and competitors were responsible for his crappy business should take a page out of this - what do ya think??

[GregWeld]

For those of you that really want to dig into researching a company rather than just the basic Google or Yahoo finance websites....

Try doing a stock search using this:

http://www.nasdaq.com/


Doesn't have to be a NASDAQ stock... and there's a HUGE bunch of info for you guys that want to really do your digging.... Too much as far as I'm concerned but many like this part of picking stocks -- so have at it!

[protour73]

OMG ......... I hang out these sites and soak up the car knowledge and the humor and always enjoy the camaraderie......until now. I never thought that I'd actually get something out of it that could actually benefit the entire family and our future!!!

When Trey first posted this thread, I looked at it, watched it, read it, read some more ...... and then it started to grow into the mega-thread that it is today and couldn't stay away from it. Up to this point I just kept saying to myself "This is the Year I'm finally going to do something. You know what? IT IS!!!!!

I've had money sitting in savings (cash) doing next to NOTHING right through the ugliness '07, '08, '09, '10.... now I need to put this cash to work.

I've also sat back for the last 5 years at my job and GAVE MONEY away, by not getting into the company 401K that gets MATCHED by the company. Through the bulk of the housing crunch I saw so many friends and coworkers getting their collective 401K azzes kicked, losing tons of cash, so I thought why jump into that alligator pit? What in idiot, right? sheeesh

Greg ...... what a friggin inspiration you are... because of your success!!! It's one thing to have someone run their mouth spewing investment advice and not know whether they had any real life success, but you have tons of facts to back it up. The others that have chimed in on a regular basis blend nicely so that it never became the "GregWeld" thread hehehe

I feel like this thread has really awaken some of the lurkers on Lat-G, even though there haven't been a ton of different people responding to this thread, if you look, the thread ...... at over 22,000 views, is the most viewed thread ever in the Off Topic Forums section. That speaks volumes to the interest that it has created.

SO, I digress ....... First, for the life of me since I started doing research on several stocks, I cannot find Total Return on any stock's Info Page. Div/Yield is the closest thing to it.

I've been looking at:

ATT (T)
Coke (KO)
Chevron (CVX)
Harris Corp (HRS)
McDonalds (MCD)
Rock Tenn (RKT)
Westar Energy (WR)

and I have a meeting tomorrow to finally get into our company's 401K - not sure which direction to go on this one, It's Fidelity I believe.

[pw2006]

Originally Posted by protour73

OMG ......... I hang out these sites and soak up the car knowledge and the humor and always enjoy the camaraderie......until now. I never thought that I'd actually get something out of it that could actually benefit the entire family and our future!!!

When Trey first posted this thread, I looked at it, watched it, read it, read some more ...... and then it started to grow into the mega-thread that it is today and couldn't stay away from it. Up to this point I just kept saying to myself "This is the Year I'm finally going to do something. You know what? IT IS!!!!!

I've had money sitting in savings (cash) doing next to NOTHING right through the ugliness '07, '08, '09, '10.... now I need to put this cash to work.

I've also sat back for the last 5 years at my job and GAVE MONEY away, by not getting into the company 401K that gets MATCHED by the company. Through the bulk of the housing crunch I saw so many friends and coworkers getting their collective 401K azzes kicked, losing tons of cash, so I thought why jump into that alligator pit? What in idiot, right? sheeesh

Greg ...... what a friggin inspiration you are... because of your success!!! It's one thing to have someone run their mouth spewing investment advice and not know whether they had any real life success, but you have tons of facts to back it up. The others that have chimed in on a regular basis blend nicely so that it never became the "GregWeld" thread hehehe

I feel like this thread has really awaken some of the lurkers on Lat-G, even though there haven't been a ton of different people responding to this thread, if you look, the thread ...... at over 22,000 views, is the most viewed thread ever in the Off Topic Forums section. That speaks volumes to the interest that it has created.

SO, I digress ....... First, for the life of me since I started doing research on several stocks, I cannot find Total Return on any stock's Info Page. Div/Yield is the closest thing to it.

I've been looking at:

ATT (T)
Coke (KO)
Chevron (CVX)
Harris Corp (HRS)
McDonalds (MCD)
Rock Tenn (RKT)
Westar Energy (WR)

and I have a meeting tomorrow to finally get into our company's 401K - not sure which direction to go on this one, It's Fidelity I believe.

Congrats Scott! Here are the 1/3/5 year total returns that I pulled from Schwab.

ATT (T)- 11.5%/55%/5.3%
Coke (KO)- 11%/76%/69%
Chevron (CVX)- 10%/85%/81%
Harris Corp (HRS)- <4%>/24%/<1%>
McDonalds (MCD)- 36%/98%/156%
Rock Tenn (RKT)- <5%>/155%/109%
Westar Energy (WR) 12%/82%/31%

[GregWeld]

There ya go SCOTT! See -- we're more capable than just what size carburetor you need!!




So when looking at these companies --- remember BALANCE --- and to COMPARE the names that you've listed with their competitors! Remember to try -- key word there "TRY" to find the best of breed in the sector that you're looking at. It always amazes me when I THINK (another key word huh!) I know who's doing what and who's best -- and then stumble into who's really kicking azz in a sector. It's not always who you think it is.

You're post is EXACTLY why I continue to try to just talk stuff out on here... even exposing things that most guys never really discuss... using myself as an example which is not to be self serving but I can really only first hand knowledge my own situation. I hate it when guys post up on a "how do I do "X" thread about something they read about once.... It's like "DUDE!" I don't want that kind of info -- I want someone that's actually done the install or used the part.

I'm so happy that we can spur each other on - collective skills... used to the benefit of all.