Hey friends!
OK so what the hell, over 650 of you signed up for Better Have My Money, what is wrong with you people. In case you’re a first time listener, this is basically just me, a newbie to stock land, bumbling my way through and learning lots while trying to get that coin.
And I mean newbie like I have been buying stocks for two seconds, this isn't expert financial advice, consult someone who knows what they are talking about, I'm clueless etc etc, blah blah. Por ejemplo:
Mel was not the only person to ask this: it's basically that Australians are more likely to say shares, and Americans are more likely to say stock (I'm Aussie but live in the US, so this newsletter is Americano focused). Or as my mate Katie described it: "stock is like 'sand' and shares are the grains of sand."
Last week I wrote about how to buy stock, and why I am putting money in skincare. Today I'm talking about my newest purchase — and my buyer's remorse. Next week I am super keen to focus on weed stocks — both the Canadian market and what's happening here in the US market with companies beginning to talk about listing.
My biggest problem now is that I am finding all these money moves I want to make but I am out of cash. Now trying to decide how much money I should be regularly shifting into my stocks account (although also means I'm like 'no, I don't want to buy this jumpsuit, cause I'm gonna need that cash when Spotify floats'). Do you use a percentage or set amount or does it shift constantly?
Biggest personal news on my own stocks front was that I bought two Netflix stocks. I mentioned last week I'd been wanting to buy some, but they just kept jumping. They briefly dipped down to $285 — the whole market dipped after Trump declared a trade war — and I grabbed them at $288 (aka by the time I bought them they were basically the same they'd been that morning, but I needed something to push me over the edge and click the button ya know?). It felt like bidding on eBay when there is two minutes left on the auction and you're madly refreshing to see if someone else is going to beat you.
If I had bought Netflix shares on the same day I bought my very first shares, on Feb 8 (yes LESS than one month ago) then I'd be up $120. Plus, I probably would have bought three cause it was cheaper so I would have been up $180, up 20%. It's OK, I'm not bitter (I am bitter).
So for me, and obvs this is very personal, playing with money on the stock market is a fun thing and I'm OK taking risks. Plus, I only have a very small amount of money to play with, not millions. I'm not buying $2500 in one stock, I've bought it across four different companies. If I was being completely responsible, all my money would probably be in Exchange Trade Funds (ETF). But this isn't my super responsible money.
I have a superannuation account (what Aussies call their retirement fund) and I have three 401ks (yes I know three is bad, will get on to fixing that), and I have other money in long-term savings. Number one rule of finance is surely there is no such things as a get rich scheme. But I am trying to look high-growth companies because I see this money as something that might help me save for a house deposit in a few years — not my retirement money.
Speaking of this, it's why I'm having some regrets about buying my UPS stocks. I bought UPS when it dropped massively. That's the specific reason I bought them — the stock market crashed, UPS plummeted more than most (helped by Amazon announcing it was going to launch its own delivery service) and I was madly googling "what stock to buy when the market crashes" and several places suggested UPS. And, like with skincare, I thought 'hey online shopping isn't going to get less popular, UPS will surely keep growing'.
See that recent cliff fall? That's when I bought. UPS is a blue chip stock, meaning it's been successful for decades and is a household name and one of the most powerful names in its industry. So long-term steady growth is probable. However, it's not like buying Amazon a decade ago, ya know? Right now it's just been floundering, and I've been wondering if I should cut my losses, sell it, and buy weed stocks or something that is more likely to be high-growth (or high-fail). Stay tuned.Shout out to Elizabeth Warren, who wants to force public companies to release any information about allegations of sexual harassment and settlements in the workplace. As a shareholder (lol), I want to know that info.
I loved getting feedback from readers last week, with lots of people asking me questions — what are the tax implications of buying stocks? My dad says I should just buy EFTs? How much of my savings should I spend? What the eff should I do with my 401k? Who owns Glossier? (wait that was me). I'm going to delve into lots of this in future editions, stay tuned, and also just reply to this email if you've got any questions/suggestions/topics/good money gifs.
Here's my portfolio:And this week, in light of Greta Gerwig's stunning Lady Bird getting robbed at the Oscars, maybe chuck some pennies towards Women in Film, an organization that works to get more women behind the camera.In other news, someone retweeted this into my Twitter feed the other day.
And my name, no joke, was BLUE CHIP.