- The Finance Gourmet

Is Disney Stock a Buy? A Quick Analysis

December 9, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

I don’t do a ton of individual stock analysis on Finance Gourmet because everyone’s investing goals are so different that when I’m saying Disney is a buy, I mean Disney is a buy for me based upon my investment objectives and existing portfolio. That might be totally different than other’s investing strategy. Is Disney a Good Company? Disney is a large, diversified company that operates in various industries, including media and entertainment, parks and resorts, and consumer products. However, Disney does not pay dividends, and in a world full of great companies, why would I pick one that doesn’t pay dividends? Like many other companies, Disney may choose not to pay dividends to reinvest its profits in the business or for other strategic reasons. Dividend policy is ultimately determined by a company’s board of directors and can change over time depending on the company’s financial performance and other factors. Is Disney the Biggest Media Company? Disney is one of the largest media and entertainment companies in the world. The company has a diverse portfolio of businesses, including its iconic theme parks, its film and television studios, and its consumer products division. Disney also owns several cable and television networks, including …

Market Monday 1-24-2022

January 24, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

Hey, Boys and Girls, here comes an interesting week for investors. The following article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. This is not a recommendation to buy or sell securities. As always, the best investment strategy for long-term investing is building a well-diversified portfolio based upon your time frame and risk tolerance and then leaving it alone except for annual or semi-annual rebalancing. But… Short-Term Investing January 2022 The week of January 24, 2022 looks fun. And by fun, I mean interesting. The Fed meets on Wednesday. Everyone expects it to raise interest rates to help tame inflation, while also reducing its bond buying to do the same thing. If that weren’t enough, a bunch of big companies are set to report their earnings this week including Apple, Microsoft, and McDonalds. At least we don’t have to worry about options expiring, that was last week. As I write this, the S&P 500 hit the 10% down mark necessary to call the move from January 3 to now a correction. Remember a correction is a 10% reduction, although most people will require the market to close beneath that level to call it a recession. A 20% reduction …

Best High-Yield Investing Strategy

July 17, 2022July 17, 2021 by Finance Gourmet

The high-yield investing strategy is typically thought of as buying high-yield stocks. High-yield stocks are those stocks that pay a high dividend. The flaw in this strategy is that too often the focus is on yield to the exclusion of some really great investing opportunities that result in high-quality capital appreciation chances as well. Buying those stocks, however, is the best high yield investing strategy. High-yield investing is not the same thing as high-yield savings. If you are looking for information on high-yield savings accounts, try here. Smart High-Yield Investing Let’s start from the beginning. Your best investing strategy for long-term goals like retirement and college investing is a well-diversified portfolio tailored to your goals and risk tolerance. Only after your main portfolio is set up in this manner should you consider other investing strategies. So, go out, get 10% going into your 401k, put a nice hunk of change into your kids’ 529 college savings plans, and fill out your emergency savings. Only after those are taken care of should you be looking at high yield investing. But, if you are going to look at investing strategies, I love what I call smart, high yield. High-Yield with Capital Appreciation …

No-Brainer High Risk Apple Trade Coming Up

September 7, 2018August 30, 2018 by Finance Gourmet

Apple has announced an event on September 12. Traditionally, Apple announces new iPhones and other “gadgets” in September, and expectations are high. So, what is an investor to do? If you are a long-term investor, nothing. Absolutely nothing. The event will generate some noise in Apple’s stock price, but the actual effects will take place over the months and years as Apple executes on its strategy, and how well the new phones are received. Short-Term Apple Trade What about a short-term investor looking for a little trade on Apple’s big event? In that case, it’s time to look into options and start pricing volatility plays. No matter what Apple announces there will be a reaction. In fact, there is a very good chance that there will be an OVER-reaction. That reaction will show up in a quick rising, or falling stock price. Check out our Zelle review. Now, if you don’t understand options, and don’t already have an options enabled account, this move is not for you, but if you’ve been to this rodeo once or twice before, there is money to be made here in a good volatility trade, coupled with the usual leverage of stock options. Buy Apple …

Is FAANG a Good Investment?

December 15, 2017 by Finance Gourmet

Even if you’ve never heard of FAANG, chances are you have heard of all the stock components and maybe even contemplated an investment in one or more members, but is FAANG a good investment or bad investment? What Is FAANG? Let’s start from the beginning. FAANG stands for Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google. As you can probably tell, these are very big, very well known, technology stocks. They are also frequent investments among investors who only invest in a few individual stocks, people often called Main Street investors (as opposed to Wall Street investors). One omission from the list is Microsoft, which is also a very large, very well known, technology company. Unlike the others, however, Microsoft’s stock is not well loved by Wall Street investors and analysts, in large part due to its sideways performance from 2002 to 2013. While its stock has recently done well, it still doesn’t have the same shine, or flair as the others. Perhaps this makes it a less “noisy” investment with fewer fair-weather, amateur, investors? That’s an article for another day. For professional stock analysts and investors, FAANG represents a quick look at the “new” titans of American business. Each of these …

Apple Watch Overreaction Buying Opportunity?

September 20, 2017 by Finance Gourmet

I don’t like giving short-term stock trading advice, because all of the wrong people end up taking it. Let’s start from the beginning. If you don’t have $100,000 of investable assets in a trading account (not counting 401k, IRA, or other long-term savings accounts), you have no business buying individual stocks of any kind. The ability to make a profit with small stock buys is severely limited. Buy Apple Stock on Watch News Apple recently announced the Apple Watch 3. The big deal for the Apple Watch 3 is that it can connect directly to cellular networks on its own without you having to have an iPhone to connect it to. This is another step in the direction of the watch itself replacing your phone, but for now, it’s mostly a novelty that appeals to Apple technology enthusiasts. Recent reviews have indicated that there are some issues with the Apple Watch connectivity. As a result, Apple stock is down over 2% today. This is a major overreaction, and a buying opportunity if you are looking to invest in Apple shares. The problem, is that the watch connects to Wi-Fi networks that do not have internet connectivity. This is the communication …

Apple Stock High Again

November 9, 2021February 14, 2017 by Finance Gourmet

February 14, 2017 Apple stock price hit an all new high. Yea! Cue the people who know me rushing to ask me if I should invest in Apple stock. I’ve written about this before, of course. I also wrote about that Apple earnings miss that made everyone freak out a while back. I took a look and saw that I wrote an Amazon stock vs Apple stock article. I’ll have to re-read that when I get a chance and see if I was right 🙂 As was the case when I wrote those finance articles about Apple, the reality is that there isn’t much different about Apple stock today, that wasn’t also true yesterday, and a month ago. So, just because there is a BIG NEWS story today shouldn’t change your investing strategy. Keep in mind, that this all new high isn’t the result of FINALLY breaking through a long losing streak. The last all-time high for Apple stock was back in 2015. It’s been a few years, but it’s not like this is a long suffering stock, or anything. Is Apple a Buy Here? For years, betting against Apple has been a sucker’s bet. The company seemingly could do …

Apple Stock iPhone 7

September 15, 2016 by Finance Gourmet

I write more about Apple stock than I ever mean to, but people just love to talk to me about it, so here we go. New iPhone New Apple Stock Moves Apple stock is one of those stocks that gets a lot of attention, and action, from people who otherwise don’t invest in individual stocks much at all. That is, among your own friends, chances are that there are people who own Apple stock, and nothing else other than some company stock, or maybe some ETFs or mutual funds. These investors are, not surprisingly, often moved by news, other than any sort of analysis. In addition to these investors, there are a lot of very experienced investors with Apple stock in their portfolio, and they both watch the fundamentals, AND try to guess how others will reaction to Apple stock. All of this adds up to a stock that likes to move A LOT based on any single news event or earnings report. For the last several months, Apple stock has not done well. There were concerns that the company could no longer innovate, and the momentum left behind by Steve Jobs had finally run out. But, last week, Apple …

Apple Stock and Changing Times

May 2, 2016 by Finance Gourmet

Apple Stock has gotten a bit of a beat down lately after finally experiencing what everyone knew would have to happen someday. It seems that Apple has finally saturated every market on earth, and there will be no matter automatic increases in number of devices sold in ever category. Of particular concern to most investors is the drop in iPhone sales. It turns out there are two major issues. First, is that in China, iPhones are no longer the must have item they once were. The other is the maturation of markets. Apple No New Products When you make a brand new product, or in Apple’s case, when you create a new product category, you get a sales trajectory that includes people buying it because it is new and different, and surely there is something that you can do with it. Of course, over time, this free pass sort of evaporates as people learn what they can and can’t do, and whether or not those things matter to them. Recently, Apple enjoyed great success with the iPhone 6, in large part because Apple finally offered a big phone. Naturally, Apple users ran out and bought the bigger phone. However, …

What Happens When My Stock Goes Down?

January 27, 2016 by Finance Gourmet

Yesterday I wrote about how Apple stock could be considered a dividend stock by some investors. Later that day, after the stock markets closed, Apple reported its first quarter results. (Apple, like many companies uses a fiscal year, instead of a calendar year. The first quarter for Apple runs from October to December.) The results were met with disappointment by the markets and the stock is down this morning. This triggered an email from someone asking if Apple was now a bad stock to own or buy, and that felt like the beginnings of an article I’ve been meaning to write for a while. Remember you should not be buying individual stocks until your retirement plan, college plans, and savings plans are fully funded and on track. What Happens When a Stock Price Falls? One of the most difficult things for non-professional finance people to grasp is the difference between actual losses and paper losses. An example can be helpful. Apple stock was trading at about $100 per share yesterday when I published the post about the dividend yield moving past the psychological 2 percent dividend yield mark. Although I didn’t buy any stock on that day, let’s pretend I did. …