Here's an article on the price of a stock. It's important to remember that for stocks valued at over $5, deciding whether to invest in a stock shouldn't be based on the price of the stock, but on where you expect the stock to go (fiscally). This article is actually pretty good at explaining how the cost of a stock fits in with the whole picture of a company.
Today we closed with a portfolio value of $108099.05. This puts us in first place in the region (with second place about $800 behind us) and 19th in the state.
Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) are the first time that a stock or company appears for trade on the market. Here's an article with more information. Also be sure to note that Thanksgiving is a market holiday.
We are currently ranked 2nd in the region (we're only about $50 behind the 1st place team) and ranked 25th in the state with a portfolio value of $106981.81.
Today, we reached a new team all-time high of $105107.19 and, we are ranked 5th in the region and 40th in the state. This is super-awesome!
P/E Ratios (Price to Earnings Ratios) are a good place to start judging the quality of a stock. Granted, they shouldn't be the only thing you use when determining when or if you want to buy a stock, but they can be a good place to start from. It is one way of valuing a company. A company with a lower P/E is cheaper than a company with a high P/E. This does not necessarily give you an indication of how well a company is doing, but merely the cost of the stock compared to the earnings of the company.
Given as the FEC has been in the news lately concerning raising interest rates, I thought that it might be a good idea to post an article that discusses the impact of interest rates on the business world. Essentially what it boils down to is that as interest rates rise, the value of companies tend to fall. They are inversely related.
As of today, we are ranked 6th in the region with $102803.91, which is really good.
Here's an article on scalable business models. In a nutshell, scalable business models refer to companies that are able to produce increasing amounts of revenue without a significant increase in cost. For example, your phone company lays out lines all over the country. Once these lines are up, an almost unlimited amount of people can use them. The only cost involved with the phone company is maintenance on the lines, which they would have to do whether they are serving 10 people or 10,000- the cost doesn't increase. They may charge you $40 a month for you to use your phone. For the sake of the example, we'll say that the first 25 people cover the company's costs for the month. Every person beyond that increases the company's profit without involving extra cost. The article may be able to explain this a little clearer.
Here's an article with a couple of pointers towards investing in general.
Here's an article on margins. As a sort of preface, a margin is essentially a loan that allows you to buy stocks and bonds. The problem with margins is that if you lose money and you bought your stock "on margin" you still owe the money. Current regulations limit margins to 50%. The percent refers to the amount of money that you pay out of your pocket. This means that if you have $100,000 to invest, you can invest up to $100,000 on margin. So, you'd have a grand total of $200,000 invested. $100,000 (i.e. 50%) of your investment is on margin, while the other $100,000 is actually money that you paid out of your pocket. The stock market crash of 1929 was due, in part, to loose margin requirements (at about 10%). For example, in 1929, if you had $100,000, you could invest up to $1,000,000. Obviously, if your stocks lost enough money, it could become impossible for you to pay back your loan, hence the Great Depression.
