Happy Holiday Stocks in Services Sector

For the past three months the top 5 stock winners in the services sector have been stocks congruent with holiday habits. Number #5: Amazon, AMZN (+28.16), the company that provides the meaningful, valuable service of online gift buying from the comfort of your home. Number #4: Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., CMG (+28.39), is the company that provides the meals shared by those close to you. Number #3: Southwest Airlines Co., LUV (+31.19), obviously offers the travel by flight option to their customers. Number #2: Expedia, EXPE (+32.09%), is the company that helps you book travel and other complimentary services, including flight travel. Lastly, Number #1: Advance Auto Parts Inc, AAP (+38.21), is the company that helps maintain regular maintenance on your automobile to get ready for road trips out of town.

After compiling results with careful analysis I can safely say that next year I will have an investment strategy in mind before the holidays arrive. During the next holiday season as I travel to see my loved ones, share a meal and exchange pleasantries…not to mention some great gifts, I will be enjoying some very we’ll plotted profits. The following screenshots are screenshots from the iOS application StockTouch. Screenshots in order: [1] Spiral Services Sector Sorting, [2] Market Cap Services Sector Sorting, [3] Winners Services Sector Sorting, [4] Activity Services Sector Sorting, and [5] Alphabetical Services Sector Sorting.

Contributing Sources:

data.cnbc.com/quotes

StockTouch iOS App for iPhone 5 and iPad

It Pays To Be On LinkedIn

Tell us a little about yourself.

If you don’t know who Guy Kawasaki is…you should. He is an idol of mine. He was a technology evangelist for a little company named Apple and he is known for bring them back from the dead…twice. He has created numerous software companies, written a few books and I aspire to be like him, a technology evangelist. But this sort of title isn’t granted to someone over night it requires experience, knowledge, passion, drive and most of all time. I have most of the attributes listed above and am working towards acquiring the rest. We all have to start somewhere and that’s why I just interviewed for a promising start-up application design company today.

While I was sitting in the parking lot, because I arrived about 30 minutes early from lack of sleep due to excitement, I browsed the UTD (University of Texas at Dallas) EMAC student group page on Facebook and found a ‘Good short read’ about interviewing tips, posted by Dave Yeti. EMAC is an acronym for Emerging Media and Communication and acts as an umbrella for all emerging media. One of the main goals of this program is to adapt messages to audiences and technological constraints while retaining (and amplifying) the benefits provided by existing and emerging media. In this short but sweet article posted on LinkedIn, Nicholas Thompson, Editor of NewYorker.com, discusses when to “…present yourself as a specialist and sometimes as a generalist” (Thompson, NewYorker.com).

 

Thompson talks about how that NewYorker.com is in the process of hiring and he is conducting a lot of interviews. He states, “If applying for a job at a place that’s growing fast…be more general.” And that’s what I did. I assured my potential employers that I can offer what many other people cannot, an umbrella of skills that could possibly help the growth of this start-up application design company that is growing fastidiously and vastidiously (okay so maybe the last word isn’t really a word, but you grasp what I’m tossing at you). I was confident, humble and feel I have a good shot at getting the position…fingers crossed. Thanks Dave Yeti and Nicholas Thompson, I might just owe you one in the future!

Also, if you’re not on LinkedIn, you should be. In 2012, I was in the top 5% of most viewed profiles among 200 million users and I only have a standard free account with LinkedIn. This is how I received information about the job opening at the app design start-up and it could work for you too!

Resources:

Yeti, D. (JUL 24 2013) Facebook: EMAC Student Group. Link: A tip for job interviews. Retrieved on July 24, 2013 from: https://www.facebook.com/groups/EMACstudents/607686182584762/?notif_t=group_activity

Thompson, N. (JUL 23, 2013) LinkedIn post. A tip for job interviews. Retrieved on July 24, 2013 from: http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130723022529-7070331-a-tip-for-job-interviews

Image credit: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbusiness-english.pl%2F%3Fp%3D344&h=0&w=0&sz=1&tbnid=45tJRi66Pe24iM&tbnh=192&tbnw=263&prev=%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Djob%2Binterview%26tbm%3Disch%26tbs%3Dsur%3Afmc%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=job%20interview&docid=wa2nhmcgjiOOKM&ei=PAjwUfDUNYuG9gT79YHIDg&ved=0CAUQsCU

The Top Grossing Summer Movies of all Time

Momma always said…

When I was barely a teenager, I remember going to the movies on hot summer nights with my friends, buying tickets to the PG movies and sneaking into “R” rated movies because we were not 18. At the time Forrest Gump was hot at the box office and my friends and I must have gone to see that movie ten times that summer. Granted, Forrest Gump, number nine on the top-10 list, was not an “R” rated film, it did however grant us enough time away from our parents to do “R” rated things in the parking lot…like sneak out to smoke cigarettes.

Wat iz this?

“Momma always said, stupid is, is stupid does” (Forrest Gump). Although I never understood what that “stupid” saying meant, I do understand that summer box offices usually fuel movie studios’ bottom line. In this entry I looked into the top-10 top grossing summer films of all times, in order to decide which publicly traded stocks might perform better due to the success of its children; the movie studio.

Because I like to stay up-to-date (haha), I found an article from 2011 at Marketplace.org entitled, “The Top Grossing Summer Films of all Time.” After viewing the list of ten, I then cross-referenced the movie titles at BoxOfficeMojo.com to figure out which movie studio produced the film. After figuring the movie studio, I then connected the dots to its umbrella, publicly traded stock. The results and recent acquisitions of certain film enterprises may surprise you!

Top-10 All-Time Grossing Summer Movies

Fox, Universal, Paramount, and Buena Vista were the only four studios in the top ten. Fox produced four of the all time movies, Universal: three, Paramount: two, and Buena Vista: one. In case you were wondering, Fox is owned by News Corp., Universal is owned by GE, Paramount is owned by Viacom, and Buena Vista is owned by Disney. It is evident that FOX is the big winner, not only with the highest number of box-office hits, but also because it holds the number #1 spot in the top grossing summer films of all times with $1.3 trillion dollars. What did you say? TRILLION? Yes, I said trillion and the movie was Star Wars (the original), according to Marketplace.org.

Disney will rock summer movies!

But wait, didn’t Disney just acquire the rights to the Star Wars franchise from Spielberg? Yes, they did. So here is my prediction, with this new acquisition, Disney will hold the market share in the future for top-grossing summer blockbusters.

Refute it I dare you. Haha.

Resources:

Jefferson, M. (May 30, 2011). Marketplace.org. The top grossing summer films of all time. Retrieved from Marketplace.org at

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/news-brief/top-grossing-summer-films-all-time

boxofficemojo.com

Hollywood.com

How do YOU use “ephemeral-humanized” media like Snapchat?

Stephen Colbert Report Interviewing Snapchat founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy

As Stephen Colbert interviewed the founders of new social media app he mentions a possible “sexting” use for the app and can be quoted as saying, “I can’t think of a better way” which obviously means that Colbert is a sex-crazed, dehumanized…genius. But lets not split atoms. The talking point here is the use of the new app Snapchat. It was rumored that Einstein destroyed half of his work because humanity was not ready to understand and utilize his discoveries properly. After all, look what we did when we learned how to split atoms.

When I initially found out about Snapchat I immediately thought of how easy it would be to sext with this application. Snapchat, plain and simple, allows you to take a picture and send it to a friend, but the important feature with this app is that when you send a picture your friend is only allowed to view it for up to 10 seconds.

However, after watching the always hilarious Stephen Colbert interviews Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy about their new app, the creators discuss giving the app a “human” aspect in its daily “ephemoral and transient experience” (Colbert Report Video footage from http://mashable.com/2013/05/02/stephen-colbert-snapchat/). This also registered with me because often times consumers adapt applications to their needs, which may differ from the original use the the creators had intended it to be used.

Finally, I will mention that in this application, there are different increments of time in which you can allow your friends to view, (from 1 second to 10 seconds) This feature has not been mentioned anywhere, which leads me to believe two things: One, the creators of this app may have intended for this app to be used for sexting, and two no one else reporting on Snapchat took the time to use the app. I believe that allowing your friends to view your pic in lower time increments, such as 1 second may insinuate sexual teasing…or maybe I’m a sex crazed dehumanized genius like Stephen Colbert.

Resources:

http://www.snapchat.com

Hernandez, B.A. (May 2, 1013). “Stephen Colbert asks Snapchat founders if their profit disappears too.” Retrieved from Mashable.com on May 12, 1013 from: http://mashable.com/2013/05/02/stephen-colbert-snapchat/

Artwork by Billy Simpson. Screenshot of Stephen Colbert report compliments:

“Stephen Colbert asks Snapchat founders if their profit disappears too.” Retrieved from Mashable.com on May 12, 1013 from: http://mashable.com/2013/05/02/stephen-colbert-snapchat/

Snapchat App button. Retrieved on May 12, 1013 from http://www.snapchat.com

Thank you Siri.

I was dictating a joke to Siri, so she could make a note that would say:

“The government created social media to keep better track of our lives, but their plan backfired. In doing this they made identity theft easier, only creating more work for themselves.”

Instead:

“The government has a big planned create social media but it backfired I’ll see the created social media so that they can make it easier to check it down the Diaz unmade underneath it easier to Witchmaker more work for them for it backfired”

Like this if you think Siri’s is funnier!

(Is Siri outsourced?)

TWX Probable Profits

Pay me money.

Well, I lost some money in the stock market after investing in Time Warner (TWX) after the release of the Ben Affleck flick, Argo. Once again I learned why staking your money for such a short period of time based on a small portion of the overall profit calculation for TWX is not a wise decision. But at least I’m learning, we are learning together. As we follow up on what we learned from this experiment it is crucial that we take into account our findings, so that we don’t lose money in the same fashion as we did previously.

Today we look at a few different sources as they announce their position on the TWX stock overall, we incorporate this information, if credible, into our own analysis to assess the probability of profitability, if any such exist. We may find that it may have not been a wise decision to invest in TWX for a month as I did previously. The Street and Market Watch list TWX as a buy option, whereas Zack’s analysis maintains a HOLD status. But who is Zacks and what is their supporting data leading to a HOLD status of TWX?

By simply scrolling to the bottom of Zacks.com I was able to locate the About Zacks link. The first thing my eyes were drawn to a was the following in bold, “Earnings estimate revisions are the most powerful force impacting stock prices” Len Zacks PhD form MIT, founder of Zacks research. Like every other investment research company they humbly brag about being a leading industry resource and then on the same page they give it to you straight, just as The Street does, “Zacks rank is completely mathematical. It’s cold. It’s objective. The Zacks Rank does not care what the hype on the street says.” Therefore if they take out the rumors and assimilate their equations with raw data to analyze prospective stocks by means of analytical analysis.

It appears that the stock market has been doing for years, what analytical social media data is currently mimicking. Analysis of purely analytical information is the market research for stocks as well as consumers engaging in social media. That was purely a tangent but relevant for another blog entry in the future.

The Street and Market Watch are confident on the success of the TWX stock due to recent success and upcoming proven profitable ventures. In a nutshell, as reported on The Street, TWX earnings growth has helped raise shares by 26.69% within the past year, it has improved it’s earnings per share by 10.3% in the most recent quarter, and the debt-to-equity ratio is somewhat low at 0.66. One last point The Street points out is “The firm exceeded the industry average cash flow growth rate of 6.52%” (TheStreet.com).Market Watch reports the upcoming money makers that TWX is about to release, “Time Warner is excited about its prospects in films, especially with the success of “The Dark Knight Rises” and the promise of a “Hobbit” franchise in the works.”  To sum up, judging TWX’ performance in the most recent quarter, the low debt-to-equity ratio, and promise in upcoming projects, Time Warner investors may have something to look forward to for the upcoming 2013.

So who do we trust for our information? The Street claims to use cold, objective numbers just as Zacks claims, and yet the two have different outcomes for the status of the stock. It comes down to trust and track record of the research firm. All the numbers and data used between each firm is constant, their analytical calculations differ. The one thing the stock market isn’t…predictable. Therefore, I can run numbers on trends, past successes, and predict future trends, but never actually pinpoint the success of a stock. The only assurance I have are my knowledge of a stock, the market, and know my limitations. This may sound vague but it is a great stepping stone to getting your feet wet. Baby steps.

Contributing Sources:

http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/87337/the-zacks-analyst-blog-highlights-heartware-international-thoratec-news-corp-walt-disney-and-time-warner

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11772433/1/time-warner-inc-stock-buy-recommendation-reiterated-twx.html

http://articles.marketwatch.com/2012-11-07/commentary/34964542_1_film-series-film-studios-time-warner

Money Image: http://nyaltnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/6551534889_9c8ae52997.jpg

 

Info: How to Create Your Own FREE Investment Portfolio Online

Shortlink this blog entry: http://wp.me/p29JVv-7D

If you don’t already know how to do this by now, it may come in handy. I’m talking of course about how to create a FREE investment portfolio online for your stock research and tracking. This week, to test performance among the major media companies in the stock market i will create a portfolio on and track the major 7 competing media companies with an inception date of 10/12/12. Therefore, whatever the stock opened at on that day, for the purpose of this experiment I invested in 1000 shares, and we will be able to track performance, compare stats, analyze, and report on these investments.

Two of the easiest to use free online portfolio tracking is CNBC.com and of course the awesome entity Google Finance, my favorite. Google Finance is much more user friendly and self explanatory, not to take anything away from CNBC, because they have a great UI as well, but I prefer Google Finance a hair more, I would say. Here we go:

CNBC.com (see below for screen shots)

1. Create Account if you don’t already have one.

2. Hover mouse pointer over INVESTING, move pointer down to PORTFOLIO

3. Create a New Portfolio

4. Name Portfolio

5. Enter information accordingly

_______________________________________________

1. Create Account

Create an account

2. Hover mouse pointer over INVESTING, move pointer down to PORTFOLIO

INVESTING –> PORTFOLIO

3. Create a New Portfolio (upper right box)

Create a new portfolio

4. Name portfolio

5. Enter information accordingly

__________________________________________

Google Finance (see below for screen shots)

1. Sign in/ up Google Account

2. Access Google Finance Application

3. Click Portfolio (left menu)

4. Click create new portfolio (upper right corner)

5. Enter Symbols

6. Edit by clicking ‘Edit transaction’ on menu bar

It should look like this for the current experiment this week, to test performance among the major media companies in the stock market:

Google Finance Screen Shot

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Image Screenshot Sources:

CNBC website screenshots retrieved via CNBC.com on 10/24/12

Google Finance screenshots retrieved via Google.com/finance on 10/24/12

Pace Yourself For The TWX Marathon, Do Not Freak Out

As I stated in the beginning, when I first introduced this blog, profits for publicly traded companies are interdependent on the success of its many umbrella companies. Which for this in this bloggers case is not necessarily a good thing. If you haven’t checked your stocks lately, Time Warner Inc. (TWX) is not doing so great. When you the reader and I sat down to discuss buying TWX the stock was at $45.01, and it is now at $44.02. Ouch! But don’t fret analysts suggest that we buy TWX now for a few different reasons. We will discuss, why The Street analysts support buyingTWX we will explore the reasons why Stockpickr supports the future success of TWX, and finally we’ll discuss other options for the skittish investor  with “The Walking Dead.”

The Street Wire, a blog on TheStreet.com, gives great detail in why you should buy TWX and I agree with the logic. “Compared to its closing price of one year ago, TWX’s share price has jumped by 38.74%, exceeding the performance of the broader market during that same time frame” (TheStreet.com). On top of the great share price, the debt-to-equity is 0.68 with a quick ratio of 1.11 (pertains to short-term cash flow). The companies P/E (profit/ earnings) ratio is 17.7, the net operating cash flow has gone up and “In addition, TIME WARNER INC has also vastly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of 14.61% All these numbers are promising and if you don’t know what they mean you need to get educated. Ask me for resources if you would like. I encourage engagement and also encourage you to buy. Why? Here are a few more reasons to be confident in TWX.

AMC’s “The Walking Dead”

If we have already forgotten what a powerhouse TWX is lets leave it up to Stockpickr.com to remind us of a few excellent companies under the TWX umbrella of holdings,”The firm owns a portfolio of television networks that include HBO, CNN and TNT, the largest combined film studio in the world in Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema, and a publishing arm that produces print names like People and Time.” I simply state to Stockpickr: You had me at HBO. But wait there is more and I didn’t even realize this, but Stockpickr stated that TWX pays a nice 2.3% dividend. Mainly though, we learn that the ability to share its content between networks will bring more benefits, “The biggest benefit to Time Warner today is the fact that the firm is able to share content between units to earn a higher return on every title in its library” (Stockpickr, 10/22/12).

I understand that you invested your children’s college fund on ‘Argo’ but my only advice is: Buy More. But if you don’t want to take a chance on TWX that’s your choice. If you haven’t heard about the recent success about the TV series on AMC entitled “The Walking Dead” it is worth giving a once over, “This year opened with about 11 million viewers (15.2 million overall), reports The Washington Post. And that was without help from DISH Network” (Daily Finance, 10/22/12). The DISH Network is such an important part of this statement because as of Sunday, October 21, 2012 AMC’s “The Walking Dead” was viewable to DISH Network subscribers which will brings the numbers in viewership up. So if you feel like you are the walking dead because of the slide in the TWX stock, then I have two pieces of advice. First, if you are going to panic during the marathon, just remember it’s not a sprint, so stop being a nervous Ned/ Nelly. Secondly, if you’re looking to diversify and buy into a few more options, then take a peek at the Daily Finance article posted here about the up and coming success of “The Walking Dead.”

Bottom line, do not give up on TWX, we invested for a month, and those the rules I have set in place and I am a man of my word, so I’m not quitting Ben Affleck and his ‘Argo.’ I’m not worried though, because reliable, knowledgeable sources like TheStreet.com, Stockpickr.com, and Daily Finance give us news, options, and awareness.

Accredited Sources:

• ‘Argo’ earnings calendar via BoxOfficeMojo.com retrieved on 10/23/12 from:

http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=argo.htm

• “The Walking Dead” picture via Daily Finance retrieved 10/23/12 from:

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/10/22/investing-profit-walking-dead-zombie-apocalypse/

• Link to Cramer’s Portfolio retrieved 10/23/12 from: 

http://secure2.thestreet.com/cap/prm.do?OID=019175 via http://www.thestreet.com/story/11742310/1/time-warner-inc-stock-buy-recommendation-reiterated-twx.html?puc=aol&cm_ven=aol&source=motleyfool

• The Street Wire. Blog via TheStreet.com. Time warner inc stock buy recommendation reiterated (TWX). Retrieved on 10/23/12 from: 

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11742310/1/time-warner-inc-stock-buy-recommendation-reiterated-twx.html?puc=aol&cm_ven=aol&source=motleyfool

• Elmerraji, J. Blog via Stockpickr.com. 5 rocket stocks ready to rally this week – views. Retrieved on 10/23/12 from:

http://www.stockpickr.com/5-rocket-stocks-ready-rally-week.html-0?puc=aol&cm_ven=aol&source=motleyfool

Release Schedule For Oct. 15th-19th

Potential Profit Calendar: October 2012

TWX is down $0.09/ share today. Boo! Well the show must go on. We just finished a huge weekend at the box office and it’s Monday so I will release the links to DVD’s and Films today. We are almost halfway through the month of October, if you couldn’t already tell from all the Horror film releases, and the rest of this month will be exciting for movie goers, but not so much for investors. For a large view of my Potential Profit Calendar (remember that TUE = DVD Releases & FRI = Theatrical Release) click below:

October Calendar

Like I said before, the rest of this month is not peaking any interest in my studio investment arena, so I will keep you posted on anything else that might be coming up. But for now, keep your eye on Ben Affleck’s ‘Argo’ and its predicted success. Here is a link to the trailer if you haven’t seen it yet.

Click to Watch Trailer

Below you will find a list of the upcoming film releases for this week, complete with a link for more information so you will have plenty of time to plan for your weekend.

Friday 10/19:

Directed by Rob Cohen, Starring Tyler Perry

Alex Cross  

Crime Thriller – Summit Entertainment – PG-13

Will the fourth installment compare? Go see it.

Paranormal Activity 4 

Horror – Paramount – R

My Sources:

Stock quote pricing, performance chart, and news retrieved via CNBC from:

http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/twx

DVD/ Film information retrieved from Box Office Mojo from:

http://boxofficemojo.com/schedule/

Movie trailers retrieved from YouTube from:

http://www.youtube.com/

Which #1 Studio Has Grossed $1.3 Billion In 2012, So Far?

Who is #1?

According to boxofficemojo.com, the movie studio with the most market share, at 16.1%, is Sony/ Columbia. This percentage translates to a $1.3 billion total gross from 22 movies in 2012. The highest grossing movie, thus far, for Sony/ Columbia is The Amazing Spider-Man, starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, with $262 million at the box office. In second place, we find MIB3, starring Will Smith, Josh Brolin, and Tommy Lee Jones, which grossed $179 million.

Previously, I invested in SNE, just before MIB3 was released on 5/25/12, and held it for a month. According to CNBC.com, SNE stock opened at $13.30/ share on 5/25/12. One month later, 6/25/12, SNE stock opened at $14.10, which amounts to an awesome 5.67% gain. Therefore, count a victory against the market for us! If I were to invest in a bond, sit on it for 6 months to a year, I might gain 3%, but we almost doubled that amount in one month with our reasonable, well-researched, and analyzed experiment.