Job Shadow

Job Shadow

Next week I will be job shadowing a florist at Four Seasons Floral. I am hoping to observe what goes on behind the scenes in putting together floral arrangements and delivering the arrangements. I think being a florist would be a great job to have while going to college because there is no requirement for a professional degree. My job shadow contact has been out of the shop for a couple of days but will be calling me back soon.

Journal 9

Questions

1. What is your opinion of the topic of the video? Explain why.
I am not sure if insider trading is necessarily a bad thing. If your job allows you to be privy to such information then I don't think there is anything wrong with acting upon that knowledge. However, I think it becomes a bad thing when greed overshadows government official's jobs and they begin making decisions that affect the whole country in order to satisfy their personal financial desires.

2. What can you do about your opinion? How can you make your opinion count?
Probably the best thing I can do is research the isuue some more and then if I discover I am totally against the whole thing than I could write letters to our state congressmen and senators. If it were possible another effective thing to do would be to bring this issue to the media's attention.

3. What is insider trading? What was the information that caused Martha Stewart to go to prison?
Insider trading is the practice of using information that comes from a source “inside” the business but is not available to the general public to trade on the stock market. Martha Stewart recived some insider information from her stock broker about a previous investment. She reacted by selling that stock and avoiding huge losses. Because she profited from that information she went to jail.

4. What is Black Friday and when did it get its name? What is cyber Monday?
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving where many stores have very drastic deals to draw in large numbers of shoppers. The term "black" means that retailers are making a profit. Cyber Monday is the equivilant of Black Friday except it takes place over the internet.

Journal 8

Candy Stocks

Yesterday was a really great opportunity to experience a simulation of the trading floor at the stock market. When I first walked in the room I was overwhelmed by all of the noise and also really surprised to see so much candy on the floors and tables. At first I was confused about what I was supposed to grab off of the floor. I knew that the Laffy Taffy was money, so I got those, but I didn't realize that the chocolate bars were potential stocks until it was almost too late so in turn my team had a lot more money than we had stocks, silver, and gold.
Once the prices of the chocolate stocks were established, we were somewhat hesitant to trade at first. However, we eventually took the opportunity and began to trade some of our money (laffy taffy) for stocks (chocolate), gold, and silver. From the beginning our strategy was to diversify. Although we started out with a majority of cash, we soon traded about half of it for some gold and silver but mostly stocks. When Mr. Goodbar's stock prices went down because the CEO was embezzeling, we took advantage of that opportunity and bought a lot of that stock. When we got the hint that gold was going to plummet, we tried to sell half of our gold stock for a lot of stocks while the prices were still high. Overall, I thought the experience was very fun. It was hot and dim, but it was a good lesson in staying calm in a chaotic situation.

Game Standards

3.2 Students formulate solutions to economic problems
In the game, My Country, each player is alloted a certian amount of money to build a country from scratch. However, players must be wise with the way they spend their money. In order to successfully build a productive country, the player must make decisions about what type of buildings to build, if upgrading is an important thing to do, whether or not to hire more employees, and whether or not to start contracts among various other issues. The decisions of the player they could potentially make the player more money or cause them to go broke. To be able to advance to the next level, the player has to invest wisely and decide which type of bulding will make the most money.

3.1 Students explain how different economic systems are organized for production, distribution and consumption of goods and services.
In the game, My Country, there are different buisnesses such as taxi companies, buisness centers, and shoe factories. In order to collect goods and services from such companies, they must be built and invested in. For example, if you would like to begin a taxi service you have to have enough items to hire employees, then they distribute their services to various citizens and every eight or so minutes, the investor gets to collect their profits. There are also energy services, which in this case are windmills, that provide the country with power. Although I cannot collect money from the windmills, they allow the other buisness ventures to run, which in turn allows me to make a profit.

3.4 Students demonstrate an understanding of economic principles that influence individual financial planning.
In My Country, I have to budget my normal money and also my country dollars in order to make a profit. I cannot go in debt in the game, so I have to wait until I can collect the profits on my buisnesses and apartments before I can expand my country.

3.. Students evaluate the impact of technology and how it has shaped history and influenced the modern world.
Technology has allowed my country to make advances at a much faster rate than in the days where technology was not as prevalent as it is today. Windmills allow my city to have clean, efficient energy, engines and gas allow my cars to drive, and my buildings are able to be built much faster and more accurately because of technological advances in machines.Without technology, I would still use just nails and a hammer to build wooden buildings for my people and everything would take a lot longer.

4.2 Students analyze current events to better understand the world in which they live.
In My Country, right now it is Halloween. Halloween presents a prime opportunity for holiday themed sales and events. The increased money making opportunities that Halloween presents shows me that Holidays are very important to the people and buisness ventures in My Country.

4.4 Students explain how past events impact the present and the future.
A couple of days ago, I bought six windmills. That allowed me to buy build some buisnesses and buildings because I had enough energy production. That past purchase also allowed me to make more money through the buisnesses I was able to start and also buy more property and buisnesses in the future.

5.1 Students interpret charts, maps, and graphs to answer questions dealing with people, places, events, or environments.
My Country is viewed as a map that allows me to look at all of my buildings in relationship to one another, see events that are taking place such as building sites and also at the environments around my buildings. Also when I am looking to upgrade a building,it looks like a chart that allows me to see how my profits will increase and what other updates are avaliable. It also allows me to see the effects on the environment and how many people I will need to hire.

5.3 Students demonstrate an ability to organize and process information about people, places, and environments.
In My Country, I have to organize my buildings vs my buisnesses because buildings, such as housing, just bring you straight profit when you build them, however buisnesses require you to start a contract. I also have to be organized when I build buisnesses because I must also take into account that the workers at my buisnesses need somewhere to live. This means I also have to build them housing.

Journal 7

Journal 6

Occupy Wall Street

I am not totally supportive of Occupy Wall Street. I don't believe  it is the government's duty to provide the people with jobs. Instead of camping out on lawns they could be innovating and creating jobs for themselves. I also believe that nobody is entitled to anything - not insurance, not housing, etc. How can we have a productive society and global leaders when we just expect everything to happen for us.  While I agree our nation needs to be altruisic in nature, I do not believe it is the government's job to do so. Financial gifts need to come from the people themselves and not the government.  

Journal 5

Comments

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Journal 4

This week I decided to invest in the company Medtronic. Medtronic is a large cap leading medical technology company in the healthcare sector. Their 52 week range is 30.80 – 43.33 and yesterday they closed at 32.85. By buying shares at the lower end of their 52 week range, I am guaranteeing a good return on my investment as the value of their shares increase. They also offer a dividend of .97. According to analysts on stock scouter, Medtronic is expected to significantly outperform the market in the next six months. Medicine is becoming increasingly dependent on technological devices in all aspects of the healthcare industry which makes Medtronic a good company to invest in. I predict that Medtronic’s shares will increase by at least $3-4 over the next couple of months. The whole medical technology/appliance sector has experienced a slump over the past couple of months, but Medtronic has weathered the storm better than its competitors, Johnson and Johnson, Boston Scientific Corporation, and St. Jude Medical Inc. Medtronic is also introducing new “next-generation” cardiovascular devices in Japan today, which is more than what its competitors are achieving. They are also a good investment because they are a not only a nationally, but also a globally focused company.    

Journal 3

This week I invested in General Electric. Its 52 week range is 14.02 - 21.65 and yesterday it closed at 15.27. GE’s direct competitors ar, Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV, and Siemens AG. Overall, GE’s stocks have been the most stable compared to the other groups. Earlier in the year, the industrial goods industry took a hit and wile GE was impacted it took it better than its direct competitors. I am predicting that GE’s shares will increase $3-4 in value over the next two months. Traditionally, this time of year is when GE’s shares are at their lowest, making it a good time to invest.   

I also decided to buy some shares in Amazon with the ultimate goal of trading them. I believe that the release of Steve Jobs’ biography will be a catalyst for increased sales at Amazon. I plan on selling a week after October 24, the book’s expected release date. The book is already topping Amazon’s preorder list and I believe sales will increase when it actually comes out. Amazon’s main competitors are Barnes and Noble and Ebay. I believe the catalyst of Steve Jobs’ biography will have the greatest effect on Amazon because it caters both to e-books and hard copy books at a very competitive price. Its 52 week range is 151.44 – 244 and yesterday it closed at 221.51. Although it is on the upper end of its 52 week range, I still believe now would be a good time to buy shares and then sell them in about a month.

Journal 2

This week I invested in Nintendo (NTDOY). Nintendo’s 52 week range is 17.70 – 38.60. Yesterday Nintendo closed at the lower end of its 52 week range with a 17.85. I believe now would be the best time to invest in Nintendo because it has a lot of room for growth and I predict it will increase to 20.00 – 22.00 a share in the next two weeks. Nintendo specializes in gaming systems, namely the Wii which is very popular among children, families and even older adults. Nintendo’s competitors include Sony and Microsoft. I think Nintendo is a stronger investment than either of these companies because they are continually coming out with new games and are also creating an innovative gaming system called the Wii U which is projected to release in 2012.

I also invested in Caterpillar Inc. Right now their stocks are at their lowest point at 75.08 a share, but last year at this time they were about at the same point. The 52 week range for Caterpillar Inc. is 75.60-116.55. I am estimating Caterpillar’s stocks will increase gradually because they are in the farm and construction machinery industry and that industry is very limited by the weather. Now would be the best time to invest because I think I will see an increase in sales as companies update their old machinery in preparation for the new spring and summer season. Caterpillar’s competitors include CNH Global and Deere and company. I believe that Caterpillar is a stronger company because they specialize in both farm and construction machinery, making them a more diverse company.     

Journal Entry 1

This past week I invested in Starbucks on the stock simulator game. At the time, I bought the company only becuase I am familiar with and enjoy thier products. After doing some research, I have decided that Starbucks is a decent investment.
One of the tools I used to investigate my stock was the stock scouter on msn money. Starbucks has a 7 out of 10 rating, with its main faults being unsteady ownership and a higher price-to-earnings multiple than other stocks. Over the past 52 weeks, Starbucks' stocks have gone up gradually. They have not had any huge drops or rises. It is more steady compared to other coffee companies such as Caribou Coffee.

Vocabulary

1. Dow Jones - a compilation of 30 major companies that indicates how the stock market is doing
                         Today I looked at the Dow Jones and saw it was doing badly, but tomorrow it could go up.
2. Bonds - A debt investment in which an investor loans money to an entity who borrows the funds for a defined period of time with interest.
                 China bought bonds from the US which our government will eventually have to pay back.
3. Equity - the market value minus the intrest
                 I decided to invest in equity rather than bonds.
4. Dividend - money paid to a number of people (usually shareholders) by a company
                 I was extremely happy when Apple paid me this month's dividends.

5. Small Cap - stocks with small market capitalization $300 million to $2 Billion
                Today I invested in a small cap company because I believe it will grow someday into a large cap company and will pay me some sweet dividends.


6. Mid Cap - Stocks with a market capitalization between $2 and $10 billion
               I invested in a mid cap company because I didn't want to invest in a huge company nor did I   want to invest a small company.


7. Large Cap - stocks with a market capitalization higher than $ 10 billion
               Wal-mart is definitely a large cap company because it has a market cap of $185 billion.


8. Dow Number - the 30 companies are added together then divided by a Dow divisor which is subject to change
               The DOW calculation is not as simple as adding the companies value and then dividing by thirty. You must use the Dow divisor which may change from day to day.

9. EARNINGS – the amount of profit a company makes in a given time period, usually a quarter or a year

Macy’s earnings were better than expected this quarter, so their stock prices sky-rocketed.

10. PRIVATE COMPANIES VS. PUBLIC COMPANIES – private companies have shares that are held only by a select group of people while public companies allow the general public to buy their stock.

Today I tried to buy shares of Mars Inc. the candy company; however they are a privately held company, so instead I decided to put my stock in Costco, a publicly owned company.

11. GROWTH STOCK – a company’s shares that are expected to grow at an above average rate compared to the market

The S&P 500 is expected to grow 2.5% this quarter while Apple’s stock is expected to grow 2.9%, making Apple’s shares a growth stock.

12. Risk - a standard deviation of the return on a total investment
      I am expecting to get a good return on the money I invested in Exxon, but there is always risk associated with an investment.

13. S and P 500 (standard and poor's) - an index of 500 large cap stocks that are selected by a group of analysts to indicate how the market its doing.
      Today the S and P 500 went up 100 points, indicating that the overall market is doing pretty well.
14. Russell 2000 - the bottom 2000 companies in the Russell 3000 index. It is a benchmark for small cap stocks in the  US. 
      Today I thought about investing in a small cap company, but after looking at the Russell 2000 I decided not to because my potential stock was underpreforming compared to the Russell 2000.
15. Treasury Bond - a bond issued by the US treasury that has fixed interest and a maturity of 10+ years
       My grandmother bought some treasury bonds because she believes the stock market is too risky and she has faith her money will be returned by the government.
 

1.      WHAT IS THE RUSSELL 2000?

2.      TREASURY BOND

3.      INFLATION - In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time

4.      GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT - totl value of goods and services produced by a country in one year

5.      CURRENCY - system of money used in a country

6.      INFRASTRUCTURE - buildings roads etc

7.      ECONOMY - wealth/resources of a country in terms of goods and services

8.      ECONOMIC SYSTEM - system of distribution production and consumption

9.      SUPPLY AND DEMAND

10.  INTEREST

11.  ASSETS

12.  ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

13.  ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

14.  AMORTIZE - to reduce a debt by putting money aside

15.  ECONOMIC INDEX -

16.  DEPRECIATION

17.  GROSS MARGIN -

18.  EARNINGS PER SHARE - earnings returned on initial investment

19.  LIABILITIES

20.  OVERHEAD EXPENSE - ongoing expense of an operation

21.  OWNERS EQUITY - total assets minus liabilities

22.  PRODUCTION COST

23.  WORKING CAPITAL

24.  LOAN

25.  LOSS LEADER - merchandise sold at a loss to draw a market

26.  SCARCITY -

27.  OPPORTUNITY COSTS - loss of potential gain when one alternative is chosen over another

28.  EXPLICIT COSTS - easily accounted cost

29.  IMPLICIT COSTS - no direct payment but loss of some sort

30.  PRICE

31.  RELATIVE PRICE

32.  INCENTIVES

33.  PROFIT

34.  LOSS

35.  EQUILIBRIUM

36.  SURPLUS

37.  SHORTAGE

38.  MINIMUM WAGE

39.  PRICE FLOOR - floor that prices aren't allowed to drop below

40.  BEAR MARKET - prices are falling selling is encouraged

41.  BULL MARKET - prices are rising encouraging buying

42.  BOOM -

43.  BILL OF EXCHANGE - promissory note

44.  BUDGET DEFICIT - excess of expense over revenue

45.  CAPITAL

46.  SHORT SELL -

47.  SHORT COVER - after short sellbuy back

Anya's channel - 1st phonecast | ipadio | Talk to your World

Anya's channel - 1st phonecast ipadio Talk to your World

9/11

I believe there is an on going battle between Al-Qaeda and America. It is a more quiet and behind the scenes operation rather than full out and in the open. Yes, Osama Bin Laden, the original perpetrator of the 9/11 attacks is dead, but the US economy is still on extremely shaky ground. The difference between America winning or loosing this battle will depend on how the government deals with the issues posed by our financial situation. Al-Qaeda succeded in scaring the American public, but as a result the American people grew more united after the attacks. However, now there is a lot of polarization in the government mostly about the economy. If we can unite again, I think this is a battle America can win.   

My Cause

A cause I am interested in supporting and learning more about is the Acumen Fund - a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. I could speak with the the program's founder and chief executive, Jacqueline Novogratz.

Goals

From this class, I hope to learn more about the way common economics systems (capitalism, socialism, and communism) work and how they affect the average citizen. I would also like to better understand the stock market.