Stock Market Technical Analysis for 5/13/08

Here's a video review of what happened today in the stock market for those of you who follow the hour by hour activity. A pretty flat day...Thanks to the folks at StockTock.com for this.

Is Starbucks Right in Blaming the Economy?

The last time I talked about Starbucks (SBUX) was in early March of this year and I thought it was time to revisit the company's stock to see if it's improved since the announcement by the company that it would refocus on the customer experience. I'm one who believes that stock price is proportionate to the level of service that a company provides. Looking at the chart for Starbucks, my assumption is that consumers and investors aren't impressed... There's an interesting conversation going on over at the Starbucks Gossip blog about a recent news release which reported that the company blames the weak economy for the decline in earnings. Many of the people leaving comments don't believe that the economy has anything to do with the decline. They believe that investors have lost faith in the company and are pulling out. What do you think?

Learn About Oil and Gas Investing

Lately I've been seriously interested in oil and gas investing. I know that there's a great deal of money to be made as I look at the current gas prices! Although the future is probably going to be in solar power and there will probably be many new ways to use energy, I think we're still going to depend on oil and gas for many things. I just found out about a company called Lone Star Securities that deals with oil and gas investments. They've been helping investors with oil well investments for over 20 years. Browsing through their website, I learned a few things... In essence, there are two ways you can invest in oil and gas: 1. Purchase regular stock in an oil and gas company 2. Direct participation in an oil well(s) and receive a share of the income I didn't know that option 2 was available - which is good to know. What is also interesting to note is that direct investors are entitled to substantial tax deductions and there are no income tax deductions. I also like the idea of receiving a monthly revenue check. If you're interested in oil and gas investments, I recommend reading Lone Star Securities' online ebook, "Understanding and Investing in Oil & Natural Gas". As with any kind of investing project I investigate, it's going to take some time to learn the industry and to find those companies to invest in who do business with honesty and integrity. I'll be reporting my findings here as I go along. Stay tuned!

Investing Tips For Young Adults and Beginners

It wasn't until the last few years that I really got into investing and the stock market. I wish that I had been taught all this when I was in my 20's. I think it's important for young people to learn investing and when I have kids I'll definitely start teaching them at a very young age! In a search for investing tips for beginners, I came across this video at YouTube that was produced by Financially Free by 30 who offers investing tips specifically for young investors... Related Posts: Give Stocks to Your Kids For Christmas A Book For Beginning Stock Investors

Investing in the Airline Industry Revisited

One industry that I play close attention to is the airline industry - not so much in terms of investing, but more about the customer service aspect of the industry and how service affects stock prices. Awhile back I asked if you would invest in the airlines and I still stand by word that all airlines think about is the bottom-line - meaning I still won't invest in them. However, I was curious to see whether or not the airlines would be a good investing choice, so I did a search to see. I came across this Motley Fool article that says Warren Buffett is skeptical about making money with the airlines. That's enough of a reason for me to say, "No, thank you!" to investing in the airlines. Although a majority of people do use the airlines to travel and it seems as if some airline companies are doing well (particularly United Airlines), it's still a pretty volatile industry and is closely tied to economic activity. Then you have news of airline cancellations, as American Airlines experienced this week, which caused a huge drop in stock price. AMR Corporation (AMR), the parent company of AA, closed at $9.87 today. Here's a snapshot of what the stock looked like this past week... The only way I would invest in an airline is if they made a 180 degree turn-around and put customer service (that includes internal customer service) as priority #1.

The Inflation Issue: Protecting Your Money Through Diversified Investments

It's been awhile since I've kept up with my finance blog readings, so I thought I'd take a look at the recent Carnival of Financial Planning. With so much talk about a recession lately, this interesting post by Dorian Wales of The Personal Financier: How To Protect Your Money From Inflation. Dorian offers six ways to protect your money and each one of them I agree with. It all goes back to diversifying your investments. So, how do you go about picking the best investments for you? There are some questions you should ask yourself which are outlined in this other post I came across over at The Retirement Blog. Have an investing tip to share? Email: maria[at]salondemaria.info

Credit Repair: Resources and Tips

In the U.S. part of having a good, sound financial portfolio is making sure your credit is in shape. After all, you can't get good loan rates if you want to make real estate part of your investment strategy. Because I know that there are many people out there who are up to their ears in debt, I wanted to share some information and tips to help get the credit situation back up to par... Back in my early 20's I made the mistake of taking on too much credit and not being able to pay back some of those loans. There were car loans and unnecessary credit card purchases which put me in the hole thousands of dollars. Toward my late 20's I finally shaped up and decided to work on my own credit repair. I did it all by myself which took quite a few years and I still have yet to get everything cleared up! I recently found out about a credit repair company called Ovation Law that helps people with credit report repairs. However, before hiring any company to help you out, make sure to check out these tips to protect you from credit repair scams. If you're thinking about fixing your credit on your own, here are a few tips from my own experience: If you want to dispute an item on your credit report, make sure to send a certified letter to all three credit bureaus. Have a calender to keep track of when you sent out the letters. The credit bureaus have to investigate and respond back to you within 30 days or else they have to remove the item in question. Be persistent.