5/11/11

Final Stock Report

Thanks to the investments in the stock market we have done in school, I have learned a lot about the stock market. This information is critical to be successful in life, and is very useful if you know what you are doing. If you do not do some research before investing though, you may cost yourself a lot of money.

You must be incredibly careful when picking stocks, and you must know how they work. When I made my investments, I tried to make careful choices on what stocks to invest in and make sure I can know whether the stock is a bull, or a bear (going up or down). I made investments in three stocks: Apple, Google, and Nike. I invested in Apple because the share value was high, I could see and predict patterns in the rise and falls in the price, it was releasing new popular products soon, and because the company had high product quality. I invested in Google mainly because it had a high share value, and it is probably the most used search engine in the world. I invested in Nike because they are a popular brand of running shoes and because the shares were cheap and I was almost out of spending money. These were the stocks I would be investing in for a couple months.

After further observation of the market, there are some changes I would make to my investment decisions. If I were to change my stock decisions, I would not invest in Google or Nike. Google was a unpredictable and incredibly expensive stock, and in the end, cost me a lot of money. Nike was also hard to predict, and any rises in price were not rewarding enough to make up for recent drops. Instead of investing in these stocks, I would invest even more in Apple. Apple was a predictable and well priced stock that has been rising in price over the past couple years. Since its products are of high quality, it could be expected to do well.

It is crucial to know how a stock works and when value may go up or down. When you have invested in a stock, watch the news. Certain events may affect the price of your stock (for instance, a new product release, problems at a manufacturing plant, etc.). Also, be sure you know how your stock works. Look for patterns in rises and drops and try to predict good times to sell or buy. Remember not to take large risks if they are worth the risk and if there is a good chance of rewards. Jumping headfirst into a risk may cost you lots of money, and a risk that is much more dangerous than it is rewarding is probably not worth it.

Now knowing all of this information, I feel confident with investing in stocks in the future. This was a very important lesson, and I am sure this will pay off someday.