As I wrote my last piece about the seven upcoming stock splits, I started wondering if Amazon was positioning itself to become a monopoly. I started to consider its monopolistic behavior, such as the many ventures it has taken on such as: Book publishing, seller marketplace, streaming, grocery delivery, and pharmacy. If we are thinking about this using a synergy approach, then the combined performance of two or more divisions working together is better than working individually.
The definition of a monopoly as defined by Investopedia “is a dominant position of an industry or a sector by one company, to the point of excluding all other viable competitors. Monopolies are often discouraged in free-market nations. They are seen as leading to price-gouging and deteriorating quality due to the lack of alternative choices for consumers. They also can concentrate wealth, power, and influence in the hands of one or a few individuals.”
So what do you think? I want your perspectives before we dive into antitrust laws and the laws preventing monopolies.
There are seven upcoming stock splits that everyone should know about, especially for those who have been following these brands and waiting for the price to go down. Well this is your chance to grab a few shares of some major players at a really low price
Take Amazon for example, this company has been a trendsetter for some years now. It gives individuals the ability to sell their products online, authors an opportunity to sell their books without paying out of pocket for printing costs, and subscribers a chance to catch up on their favorite shop on Amazon Prime. Did I mention they also deliver groceries and have a pharmacy as well? Talk about your one-stop shop. With the new union in Staten Island, New York and potential ones in the future, only time will tell the continued success of this company. However, I assume they will be doing even more in the future. One thing they many want to consider is making sure they are not creating a monopoly and they are abiding by the antitrust laws.
Ticker- AMZN
Closed at- $2,447 on 6/3/22
Split Type: 20-for-1
$2447 / 20 = $122.35 (Price opening on 6/6/22)
Split date- 6/3/22
Sector- Consumer Discretionary/Staples
Next there’s Google. What can I say about this company? This successful company has allowed students to utilize google docs without paying a subscription fee, travelers to utilize google maps to plan trips, content creators to use google drive to upload large projects, Vlogers to connect with YouTube, and a host of other things. Of course there is a looming recession and inflation in full play, which all companies have and will make adjustments for, but Google always seem to come out ahead
Ticker- GOOG (Alphabet Inc)
Current price- 2,255.98
Split type: 20-for-1
Split date: 7/15/22
Sector: Technology
Next is Tesla. A company that a lot of other Electronic Vehicle (EV) makers try to compare to or exceed. When a company is the first to do something, they tend to be held at high regard when it comes to their business, brand, products, services, and other matters as well. Take the owner, Elon Musk for example. He’s at a stage in his life where he can tweet out information about Dogecoin and stock orders increase. Currently, he is in the news regarding a bid to buy Twitter. There has been much said, positive and negative. We will see how this all plays out.
Ticker: TSLA
Current price: $759.63
Split type: 3 for 1
Split date: Shareholders will vote on split on 8/4/22
Sector: Consumer Discretionary
Next there’s Nintendo. Many of us investors, parents, aunts/uncles, or family friends remember Nintendo from either having the first game set sold or buying some later version of it. Game sets have transitioned completely from Atari (Generally moving characters left, right, up, or down) to Game Boy, Super Nintendo, and Nintendo Switch. With having over 100 years, almost 200 years, in this industry, who would expect things to change now? Now things do change, as we have seen over the years with Nintendo. However, it can be assumed that Nintendo will be around for years to come. At least that is my hope.
Ticker: NTDOY
Current price: $56.09
Split type: 10-for-1
Split date: 10/1/22
Sector: Technology/Consumer Discretionary
Who doesn’t likeSpotify, or a streaming service with new and old school music at your fingertips? I know I do. The era in which I was born was heavily populated with cassette tapes. You know, the cassettes you had to fast forward and rewind to play your favorite song over and over again. This was the way of life, who could want anything more? Matter of fact, when I was around 8 years old, record players were a big deal, well in my household it was. My sister had a record player and my mother had an entertainment console, which connected her record player to an 8 track player. Luther Vandoss blared from her entertainment console every Saturday.
Now imagine years later and having music at our fingertips because of companies like Spotify and their streaming service. Now there are competitors, such as: Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon music and more.
As profiled on cnbc, “Kinetik Holdings Inc., formerly Altus Midstream Company, is an integrated midstream energy company in the Permian Basin. The Company provides gathering, transportation, compression, processing, and treating services for companies that produce natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and water. The Company operates approximately 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/day) of constructed cryogenic natural gas processing capacity strategically located near the Waha Hub in West Texas. The Company also has interests in four built, long-term contracted pipelines transporting natural gas, NGLs, and crude oil from the Permian Basin to the Gulf Coast. It has long-term dedications of approximately 850,000 acres for gas, crude oil, and water midstream services from 30 active producers in the Delaware Basin. The Company’s Midstream Logistics business also includes its crude oil gathering, stabilization, and storage services throughout the Texas Delaware Basin.”
“the world’s largest retail gaming and trade-in destination for Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo games, systems, consoles & accessories.” I remember vividly last year when GameStop’s stock was a Wall Street Bets sensation and people seemed to pour their money into this company without any evidence to support that the company was doing well. Even people who had never invested in this company was talking about investing. Some investors considered it a pump and dump. Now, Wall Street Bets’ agenda seemed to save GameStop and AMC from short sell companies who intended to push the price up so they could sell it. Now as far as GameStop and how it’s doing now, one must take in consideration of Analyst Colin Sebastian’s comments about “until the company ‘more clearly articulates new management’s business strategy,’ which will enable investors to better evaluate the company’s ‘intrinsic value and prospects for future free cash flow generation.’”
Ticker: GME
Current price: $137.21
Split type: TBD
Split date: Pending Shareholder Approval on 6/2/22
With the decrease in Netflix subscribers due to increasing streaming service rates and the inclusion of a lower package, which includes commercials, no wonder Peacock is becoming the preferred choice. Now, Peacock also has a lower package with commercials; however it’s about 1-2 commercials per break. The lower package costs around $5 a month, which is about $3 cheaper than Netflix.
Don’t get me wrong, Netflix has amazing content from The Last Kingdom, comedy specials (Earthquake, Dave Chappelle, and Mike Epps), and Blood & Water. However, in a society impacted by inflation regarding housing, utilities, food, and household essentials, it only seems right to find a streaming service with a bit of oldies, goodies, original content, and much more for a lower price. Peacock has recently added Bravo shows to its content such as Kandi and the Gang, Married’s the to Medicine, and the Real Housewives Franchise. These shows are up-to-date and are being released on Peacock about a day or two after being released with cable providers.
Disney’s prices have stayed the same for a while. I can remember one increase since 2020. They also have a package deal to include Hulu and ESPN, which perhaps makes it a option for those looking for such. The only concern I would have as a subscriber/investor is the amount of content being added and was it sufficient to meet the needs of families and their watching habits. Of course this concern is regarding Disney acting as a sole subscription service.
Prime also has great content and the ability to cross services from connecting to other providers (Such as: HBO, Stars, etc), offering Amazon.com benefits, and much more. The only concern would be the price if individuals care about it. For some individuals, price is nothing, but for all the rest of us, price plays a very important role in our subscription options and what we choose to pay for. The price has the ability to increase subscribers, as long as the content is adequate and engaging.
Call me bias if you want; however when considering a stock that has great stream service content, lower prices, and an ability to increase it’s subscriber capacity, I have to go with Comcast and it’s streaming service Peacock.
The stock and cryptocurrency markets have definitely seen better days, but for most people like my sister and I, this is a buyer’s market. Just meaning that this is the best time to buy things you have always wanted, such as Apple, Tesla, Airbnb.
Although this is a buyer’s market, please make sure you continue to research the stock you are about to purchase. I understand that some of you may want to buy the stock, which is now $0.30 a share. However, just a few months ago that same stock was $3- $5. With the pandemic still occurring, the decrease could be pandemic related or due to being overvalued. There’s no telling what the cause it, but it’s better to research and identify what caused the increase or decrease, so you don’t loose everything you have invested in that stock.
My ultimate Top Six Stocks and Top Three Cryptocurrencies, which I believe will excel for years to come, are listed below. These stocks have done well before, during, and are expected to do well after. Below I provide the company, tickers and
Top 6 Stocks
1. Apple (APPL)- INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SECTOR – Current price per share $168.64. Dividend- $0.88 per share.
Apple is well known for developing iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, computers, and technology to assist us with surfing the internet, designing flyers and books, and completing work or daily activities via the World Wide Web.
2. Airbnb (ABNB)- CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY SECTOR- Current price per share $166.53. No Dividend.
Airbnb is a hospitality hotel/hostel/vacationing in a home type of business. Consumers are able to stay in the homes of people who live or own property in the city, state, or country they live.
3. Ford (F)- CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY SECTOR-Current price per share $17.55. Dividend- $0.40 a share.
Ford is a car company that manufactures Ford vehicles. Interest in Ford has been increasing lately with the anticipation the company releasing its electric vehicles this yea.
4. Equity Residential (EQR)- REAL ESTATE SECTOR- Current price per share $86.38. Dividend $2.41 a share.
Equity Residential provides a way to invest in Real Estate without having to buy property, fix it up, and then resale it. There is nothing wrong with buying and reselling property. You just have the necessary resources to do so, which is why some people choose to invest in stock compared to the buying property.
5. ZipRecruiter (ZIP)- CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY SECTOR- Current price per share $21.43. No Dividend.
ZipRecriter is a web based employment database. It helps employers market open positions and jobseekers apply for those same positions. Employers can list information about their companies, reviews, and helpful information to assist individuals with researching opportunities. Individuals can upload their resumes, cover letters, and setup notifications for certain positions.
6. Discover Financial Services (DFS)- FINANCIALS SECTOR- Current price per share $124.14. Dividend- $2 per share.
Discover Financial Services is a credit card company. The company has cash back options, access to your credit score, and incentive programs for using your credit card or referring others.
Top 3 Cryptocurrencies
1. Bitcoin (BTC)- Current price per share $42,413.35
2. Ethereum (ETH)- Current price per share $2,923.36
One thing I know about investing is the importance of being able to discuss your investments with like mind individuals. Like mind, meaning those who are investing or want to invest in the stock market or Cryptocurrency.
Investment groups or investment discussion groups are really great to be a part of. They allow you to meet in person, virtually, by email, or text messages to discuss your investments and gain clarity to those investments.
Check out my new blog at EdwardsFamilyEmpowerment.blogspot.com which discusses investment discussion groups and social media stock groups.
There are many steps to Invest. Above, I provide my top five list on how to be successful in investing. The very first step is to research how to invest. This is the most important step. This step teaches you the fundamentals on investing.
Depending on your research methods, this may take you a long time to complete . However, we all know that learning never ends, so some of the processes can overlap each other. You can learn as you invest.
The next step is to setup your investment account so you can start investing. When doing so, you will have to provide the company you are working with your social security number. This is for tax purposes.
Once your account is set up, use the site to research stocks. This is the third step. You can also use Yahoo Finance, Motley Fool, and other reputable sites to research this information. In 2022, The Dream Stock Exchange will make its debut on the stock exchange ( https://dreamex.com). Dream “will focus on small business capital formation and diversity using the power of the American investing.” Make sure you check it out.
The next step is to create or join an investment support group. This group can be made up of friends, family, and even strangers. This will allow everyone to discuss stocks in detail and get others opinions.
The last step is to have fun. Investing should be fun and you should only invest what you can. Have fun, but not too much fun. You also have to be responsible while investing.
Here is my next article on investing that I wrote for Edwards Family Endowment. There are 2 other parts set to be released between now and the beginning of the year.
Here is my next article on investing that I wrote for Edwards Family Endowment. There are 3 other parts set to be released between now and the beginning of the year.
Recently, I was given an opportunity to write an article on investing. I decided to do it in 5 parts because there is so much information to investing. Feel free to click the link below to see my first article.
How long Should I Invest? This question truly depends on your financial goals. Some people have short term goals, while other people’s goals are long term. It’s good to have short term and long goals. This allows you to invest in your present and future.
When investing you may want to consider the taxes you have to pay on stock sold before 1 year compared to stock sold after 1 year. Your annual income and filing status also pays a part in how much you will be taxed for the year. Let’s look at an individual filing head of household bringing home around 53,701 to $85,500 a year. Say this individual brings home $69,600.5 (The median between $53,701 and $85,500). She has capital gains of $10,000, which brings her annual income to $79,600.50. Her short term taxable rate is 22% compared to a 15% long term taxable rate for an individual filing head of household, bringing home between $53,600 to $469,050.
As you can see, it pays to invest long term; however, there are those occasions where short term investments are inevitably. Some examples are reverse stock splits, trying to save some portion of your investment, and day trading of course.
Now I can’t tell you what you should do. All I can say is to do what’s best for your wallet.
These are a few long term and short term stocks that you should consider.
How do you create generational wealth when you don’t even consider yourself wealthy? Well everything and everyone has a starting place. You have to start somewhere to get somewhere else.
Let’s take Master P for example. Master P is the definition of a true hustler. He is a rapper, owned No Limit Records, makes movies, invested in Rap Snacks, has Rap Noodles and Chips , Uncle P’s Seafood and Fish Fry, promoted Stock BossUp App, and more.
His entrepreneurial spirit is seen within his sons Romeo and Hercy. Just listening to them and watching them is a clear indication they are creating generational wealth. They are receiving and passing down the torch of financial wellness to family and others, which is a true blessing.
Let’s break down generational wealth to get a further understanding. Generational deals with family lineage; A grandfather, his son, his son’s children, and his great grandchildren. Generational also deals with individuals who are born within the same generation, so baby boomers and Gen Z are examples of this. Wealth is having an abundance of something. You have more than enough of it whether it’s love, family, healthy relationships, and money.
Generational Wealth is either family lineage or a generation of people who have an abundance of love, family, healthy relationships, and money. For this article, we are going to focus more on the money aspect and how to get generational wealth by investing or creating a routine deduction from your bank account to go into your investment account.
Ways in which you can create generational wealth is by investing in businesses, creating a business, creating a custodial account, Investing in a 401K or 503B, Roth Account, life insurance, supplemental life insurance, and a Savings Account. Now there are definitely others ways to create Generational Wealth; however these are the areas we will focus on.
Investing in businesses and creating a business provides a way for you to get a return on your investment, especially if the business is very successful. You can invest in startup businesses, stocks, IPOs, and calls and puts. Do your research to identify the best strategy that works well for you.
A Custodial Account gives you the ability to invest in stocks, mutual funds, etc. for your child or individual under the age of 18 or 21. Just know that once you transfer funds into this account, it can only be used for trades associated with the individual you created the account for. You are not allowed to withdraw money or transfer money or stocks from this account.
401 k and 403b plans are company based retirement plans. A 401k is used for For-profit companies and a 403b is used for non-profit companies. These plans assist you with setting aside a certain amount of money from your pay check to go into retirement. Some companies will match your contributions between 3 and 6%. Also with these accounts, you do not pay taxes on the funds until you withdraw it.
A Roth Account is an individual retirement account. You can set up a certain amount of money to be taken out of your checking or savings accounts. Taxes are taken out this account immediately so you will not owe it in the future. Now if you work for the state or federal government, their retirement plan is a Pension. There is also an additional retirement account called deferred compensation. These accounts are very similar to a 401k or 403b plan.
When you are employed with a business on a full-time basis, they usually provide you with life insurance after you make it past your probationary period. The insurance is usually 1x’s your current salary. Some families need more than this to help sustain themselves for a year or two after a loved one has passed away. If this is the case, you may want to consider supplemental life insurance. You should work toward identifying how much debt you and your family will have if something happened to you today. This would help you understand how much additional insurance you will need to help you take care of these responsibilities.
The last account that everyone should own is a savings account. I’ve listen to Suzie Orman and have read Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Think and Grow Rich. Some of these books and individuals stress the importance of law of attraction, saving up to 6 months of funds to pay for monthly bills, and paying yourself before you pay other people. This is the same for a saving account. Try to save 3-6 months for an emergency. You can also have different savings accounts which you pay different thing from, such as bills, recreational activities, and emergencies.
My last suggestion is that you should add beneficiaries to your accounts so it will be easy for them to access your accounts if something happens to you. Most of the accounts above will allow you to add one or more beneficiaries.
The information above provides ways to create generational wealth. Of course, financial education is the number one thing that should accompany this information. Financial education starts at home. It helps you understand how to save, manage your accounts, and choose things that best fits your needs.
Feel free to check out my book: From 500 to Well Over 700: How to Save Big and Increase Your Credit Score. The link is provided below.
Lately, a lot of people have been paying close attention to the stock market, especially with the development of the delta variant. It’s truly hard to tell what the market will look like in the next few months because it truly depends on the variant, the state of this country, and the nations concern regarding inflation.
Many investors have been reacting to these concerns by selling things they may have been buying in record numbers last year. Some noticeable changes I have seen is the sell off of stock such as electric vehicles, marijuana, and Consumer Discretionary such as recreational activities, such as Airbnb and Las Vegas Sands.
Stocks that seem pretty stable or have been increasing regarding share price is technology such as Apple and slack technologies, consumer Staples/Discretionary such as Target, real estate, and financial services, such as Discover Card.
Now this isn’t to say that the stock above will always be on top or the bottom. It’s just to show how with the concern of the delta variant and inflation, these are stock that seem to be doing well or not so well at this time.
Let me ask you this, are you an investor? I’d like to think we all are investors. We invest our time, patience, experience, and of course our money. My question pertains to the latter and the stock market. The stock market can be challenging because there are many faucets to it; however, once to got it, you got it.
For instance, let’s take a look at the stock NIO. NIO is a car company in China that sells electric vehicles and has support from the Chinese government. They also sell batteries for electric vehicles and have perfected a battery swap method that should take 60 seconds or less. Some have deemed it as the Tesla of China. Many analysts are also saying that NIO will be able to compete with Tesla by 2024 or 2025. Elon Musk has kept his eye on the competition by tweeting in November of 2020 that “420 is better than 42”. In April of this year, he even congratulated the company on producing their 100,000th vehicle.
Just last year, this stock was $4 a share. I found it on the movers list at about $6 a share. There was something about this stock that caught my eye. After researching the company on brokerage companies’ websites, google, Motley Fool, and other websites, I determined this was an amazing stock. I even loved the company’s website. The cars they were developing seemed like something I wanted to drive. If this was the initial impression I had, imagine what others were saying. So I joined a Facebook Group dedicated to NIO investors. I even searched Twitter under $NIO for comments. Investors were engaged, wearing paraphernalia of the company, and quoting the company’s motto “Blue Sky Coming”. It was a NIO-demic during a pandemic.
Currently, on money.cnn.com reports this stock is around $50 a share with a 12 month forecast of $19.86 as a low and $92.23 as a high. Many factors could increase or decrease this forecast for the future, such as amount of deliveries for the month or quarter, semiconductor shortage, NIO Power Day, etc.
Other EVs to watch out for are: Li Auto, Xpeng, Nissan, GM, Ford, and long awaited IPO for Lucid Motors.
I have been following EQR, BXP, and DLR for over a year now (Pre-pandemic, pandemic, and quasi post-pandemic). The benefits of real estate is that they provide one of the highest dividend rates among stock. Some rates I have seen are as high as $3 a year, which could be more or less depending on the company you are looking at or the amount of shares you own.
Join us in talking about and investing in Real Estate on the Stock BossUp App. #realestatesector #realestate #stockmarket #stockmarketinvesting #stockbossupp
“Don’t nothing get straight, but straightenin. Don’t nothing get straight, but straightenin.” In the words of the Migos in a recent video, there has to be an understanding before anything can be “straightenin” out.
When I think about cryptocurrency and investing, there has to be an understanding of what you want to invest in, its past, its future, and anything that could affect the cryptocurrency.
Once you understand what you have invested in, you should be able to “straightenin” out conversations or even disagreements about what you have invested in. Have you ever been in a conversation with someone about something you are knowledgeable about and things started to go left real quick? Like Migos said “Don’t nothing get straight, but straightenin.” Straighten that situation out.
So let’s all get to “straightenin”. Love, peace, and happy investing.
Consumer Discretionary Sector deals with non-essential purchases, such as cars, entertainment, and appliances.
Las Vegas Sands (LVS) is a stock that deals with destination vacations in Asia and the United States . With restrictions being lifted, some people are ready to hit the reset button on life with a vacation being the starting point of that reset.
Other things individuals are purchasing are cars. There has been a big shift to electric vehicles (EVs) with Tesla leading the EV trend. However there are a few contenders who are said to be able to compete with Tesla by 2024 and 2025, which are NIO (NIO), Lucid Motors (IPO date TBD), Li Auto (Li) and Xpeng (XPEV). With most of these companies being based in China and China being the largest EV market in the world, they may be on track to increasing their lead in the industry very soon.
Feel free to research other stock in the Consumer Discretionary Sector to help you decide stock you would like to add to your portfolio.
Let’s work on diversifying our portfolios. Take a look at the materials sector. This sector includes companies who utilize raw materials to develop and create items to either use by themselves or with other products to work. Some material companies I would like to start looking into are: Nutrien (NTR), Rio Tinto Group (RIO), Vedanta (VEDL), and Sealed Air (SEE) #materials #stocks #investing #stockmarket
What stock would you like to suggest from this sector?
Thinking about investing in your future by buying stock on the stock exchange? That’s one of the best decisions you could have ever made. Why not put aside money you spend on Jordans, Nikes, McDonald’s and Discover Card by investing in buying stock? Or even open a collateral account for your child or relative to start them out early. The best thing about setting up an account is that you can step up a reoccurring withdraw to take out $50, $100, or the amount you choose to invest each month.
Setting up an account and buying stock is relatively simple. The thing that can be challenging is choosing a brokerage company. Choosing a brokerage company that meets your needs is like choosing a checking or savings account. You have to be very selective based on what you need and to avoid certain fees. Some brokerage companies have administrative, trading, and other fees; however, I believe most companies have done away with trading fees, which could have cost you about $6.95 per trade. This may not seem like much, but when it’s $6.95 to buy and $6.95 to sell that’s around $14 to buy and sell. To select a brokerage company that meets your needs, I suggest googling Brokerage Companies and researching Investopedia for information. Investopedia was my best friend when I learned to invest. Now, you also have access to an app called Stock BossUpp App, which teaches you how to invest and helps you gain practical experience.
Just think, if you had bought 100 shares of NIO (Electric Vehicle) last year when it was around $6, you would have about $4,200 now. I’m no mathematician; however that’s about a $3,600 increase. I know I could use additional income, what about you?
Now there is risk involved in investing such as losing all or some of your investments; however this is where research comes in handy. You can set up a Google notification system to send you emails when anything is mentioned in the investment community about your investments. This allows you to receive daily information about your investments. You should really consider setting up a daily notification system because things change really fast with stocks.
Suggestions to have you increase you portfolio value
Be an active participant. Don’t just let your money sit in a brokerage account. Sometimes doing nothing leaves you with nothing. Continue to read about your stock and what’s going on in politics, the environment, and so forth. This will help you identify when to sell, keep, or add more stock to your portfolio.
Diversify your account. Some people choose to invest in one type of stock, which is fine and their choice. However diversifying your account will give you different risk levels and investments. There are 11 different sectors and each stock belongs to a different sector, such as Utilities and Healthcare. Try looking at areas in each sector to invest.
Identify Your Investing Approach. There are different investment approaches, such as balanced growth, rapid investing, etc. There are also short and long term Investments. Know what you are trying to accomplish. This allows you to identify if a more volatile or stable approach works with your trading style.
Stop Trying to Keep Up with the Joneses. You have to do what works for you and your budget. Trying to keep up with the Joneses will leave you broke, frustrated, and without a lifeline. It does take money to make money, but it also takes knowledge and self-control to keep it.
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Melica Niccole 