Southwestern College Investment Club

Spring 2023 - Thursdays at noon
We live stream our meetings using Zoom at the Zoom Meeting Room.
Lord willin' and the tech don't crash, sessions will be recorded and posted to this website by that evening.

Come join us!



Welcome to the Southwestern College Investment Club!

Each week, we invite someone from the financial and investment services industry to come and discuss their segment of the industry and their position. We also ask them to relate their experiences and how they got their start in the industry. Alternatively, we choose and discuss an investment topic from one of our professors.

Everyone is welcome to attend our meetings onlines. Membership is limited to current Southwestern College students.
However, we want to emphasize that everyone is welcome!
If you have a specific topic or position within the industry you are interested in, please feel free to ask about it.
We hope to see you at our next meeting!

Questions? More information? Contact:
Professor Frank Paiano: fpaiano@swccd.edu


 


Investment Chat Group based on BUS-123, Introduction to Investments
GroupMe Investment Group

BUS-123, Introduction to Investments, free textbook!
Introduction to Investments: A Free Manual for Building Wealth
PDF version (laptop/desktop) - Mobile-friendly version

Archive:
SWC Investment Club, Spring 2022
SWC Investment Club, Fall 2021
SWC Investment Club, Spring 2021

 



Spring 2023 Meetings

 2 Feb 2023:
Our first meeting of the Spring 2023 semester was a mixed bag. We need at least 10 enrolled students and we only had 2 come. We also had visitors, one from New York and another from Charlotte, North Carolina. Therefore, we decided to start right in on our Introduction to Investments for the Investment Club. (We usually do this the second meeting.) Everyone can review the recorded session.
Zoom Recording - Presentation: Overview of Investment Universe
Remember we need at least 10 members along with a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and the ICC Representative to make a club. If we don't get 10 members and a slate of officers, we will just be an unofficial group.

 9 Feb 2023:
Well, we only had a few enrolled students and a few non-students. If we don't get 10 students and the officers, we won't be an official club. Tell your friends about us! We will see how many attend next week. If the attendance stay lows, we might decide to go all online.
 Zoom Recording - Presentation: Introduction to Mutual Funds
 We created our portfolio of 10 stocks. Chect it out below! We also then did a quick overview of mutual funds, investments for the masses.

 16 Feb 2023:
It appears that we will be an unofficial club this semester. No matter. Nothing really changes except we won't get money for pizza. Oh, well. If we can rustle up 10 enrolled students next week and cajole some to be officers, we still might get some pizza at the end of the semester. Tell your friends!
 Zoom Recording - Presentation: Introduction to Stocks
 Today we reviewed our portfolio. Not bad for just a few weeks. Up 2%! We then had a quick introduction to stocks. Exciting stocks! Sexy stocks! Risky stocks!

 23 Feb 2023:
Well, it's official. Our Club will be an Unoffical Club for Spring 2023. No biggie. It just means no pizza at the end of the semester. We will meet online only going forward and I promise we will have someone from the industry next week. We meet on Zoom at wonderprofessor.com/zoom. Our portfolio is looking kinda' weak because Moderna has dropped precipitously. (Check the portfolio's progress below.)
 Zoom Recording - Presentation: Discounted Cash Flow Model and The Value Line
 We introduced the Discounted Cash Flow Model using dividends and data from The Value Line.
 The two spreadsheets that we used are also in the chapter 4 section of BUS-123, Introduction to Investments. Here they are:
  Pretzels Unlimited
  Johnson and Johnson using data from The Value Line
  (Note: If you are unfamiliar with how to use Google Docs, check out this Chapter 1 Study Guide presentation.)
  (Psst. Here is the secret link to the full access of The Value Line. Shhh. Don't tell anyone, okay?)

 2 Mar 2023:
We reviewed our Spring 2023 portfolio. We are actually holding up pretty darned well considering the turmoil.
 Zoom Recording
 We continued our discussion of valuation models and The Value Line. Luis showed us his Discounted Cash Flow Model calculations for Colgate. The model was suggesting that we could get 8% or 9% from Colgate but not much more than that. We then went on to look at several other companies including Visa and Mastercard, Green Brick Partners (a builder based in Texas), and a very speculative company called Harbor Diversified. We saw how very large companies like Colgate, Visa, and Mastercard are much safer than smaller companies such a Green Brick Partners and Harbor Diversified. But we also noted that the smaller companies offer us a much larger potential capital gain ... or capital loss. "Do you want to eat well or do you want to sleep well?"

 9 Mar 2023:
This week we were very blessed to have Don Nuding from The Value Line give us a presentation.
 Zoom Recording
Don is a Librarian with The Value Line. He showcased the new AWESOME Value Line website. It's a Sip from the Financial Firehose! Thanks to the efforts of Professor Maria Martinez-Sanabria, we now have online access to The Value Line. We will be using it in the BUS-123, Introduction to Investments, class starting next week. We have already used it extensively in our Investment Club. (Check out the previous two sessions, February 23rd and March 2nd above.) Please use this valuable service and tell us what your experiences were. Onward and upward!

 16 Mar 2023:
This week we were once again very blessed. Linda Robins, the President of the Golden West Chapter of BetterInvesting.org visited us. She discussed the goals, ideals, and benefits of this 71-year-old nationwide community of like-minded investors. She also showed us the Stock Selection Guide, BetterInvesting.org's visual tool for valuing stocks.
Zoom Recording
We saw that BetterInvesting.org offers a 90-day free trial of the Stock Selection Guide and also can help us find an investment club in our area that we can join or help us start our own investment club investing real money! Very cool! "Earn while you learn!"

 23 Mar 2023:
Hey, hey! We are only down 2%! Pretty good considering how volatile the market has been. This week we used The Value Line, the Discounted Cash Flow Model, and the BetterInvesting.org's Stock Selection Guide to thoroughly analyze Starbucks. It was a mixed decision. Some of the members would buy it but others said, "No, thanks."
Zoom Recording
Next week is Spring Break. Have fun everyone! On April 6th, we will have a guest speaker. Professor William Greenwald will discuss Health Savings Accouts (HSAs) and investing. It is the intersection of health care and investing and can help you save on taxes and be very profitable at the same time. Very cool!





Spring 2023 Portfolio -- 10 stocks starting with $10,000 each

 9 February 2023: We're off! A great start thanks to Tesla.

 17 February 2023: A bumpy week but we are holding our own.

 24 February 2023: Volatility strikes! We are down 2 1/2%. But it could be much worse.

 3 March 2023: Coming back! Tesla is our big winner so far but others are contributing, too.

 10 March 2023: Ouch! Down 5% after the recent "volatility!" American Tower and Disney have really dropped.

 17 March 2023: It's been a roller coaster week! We are actually up for the week. Only down a bit over 3% now.

 24 March 2023: Not bad! We are now just 1% down. Could be worse! Thank you Green Brick, Microsoft, and Tesla!


 


 


The Industry is Actively Recruiting Women and Minorities, Bilingual, and Ex-Military

The Financial Industry Wants Diversity - Great article from the Financial Times magazine
But Fortune asks, "When we will see some results?" The numbers of women and minorities are still very meager
The United Kingdom has their Diversity Project Anyone want to emigrate to the UK?
The Brokerage Industry is Looking for Women! The Future is Female! (And it's about time...)

Here is a list of the Career Opportunity webpages of various financial and investments services companies.
All feature photographs of women and minorities.
The industry is serious about changing. They need you!


Securities (a.k.a. Financial Investments)
Vanguard
Capital Group (a.k.a. The American Funds)
T. Rowe Price
Fidelity Investments  Woman CEO!
Charles Schwab
Dodge & Cox Funds
Wellington Management  Soon to have a Woman CEO!
Franklin Templeton  Woman CEO!

Insurance Providers
TIAA  Black Woman CEO!
Geico Insurance
Farmers Insurance
State Farm Insurance  Check out the hair-do!
Wawanesa Insurance
AIG Insurance

Banks and Credit Unions
US Bank
Wells Fargo
JP Morgan Chase
Citigroup (nee Citibank) Woman CEO!
Mission Federal Credit Union Woman CEO!
San Diego County Credit Union Woman CEO!

Real Estate Financial Services
CMG Financial
Rocket Mortgage
Guild Mortgage Company Woman CEO!
C2 Financial Corporation
First American Title Insurance
Old Republic Title Insurance
Stewart Title Insurance

There is a Future for You in the
Financial and Investment Services Industry!

Please consider pursuing a career in the industry. The financial and investment industry is enormous. The industry is always looking for new, energetic individuals. There are numerous career path opportunities. From banking to real estate finance to insurance to brokerage firms, there is a place for you. In fact, the industry is actively seeking bilingual speakers and women. Going forward, they understand that diversity is essential to the success of their businesses. They simply love ex-military folks. (The financial industry is highly regulated and who better than those who have already lived and worked in a structured, regulated environment?)

Here at Southwestern, we offer an Associate in Business Administration with an Emphasis in Finance. We also offer a Certificate of Achievement in Financial and Investment Services. Either of these will help you land a position at a bank or credit union, an insurance company, a real estate finance firm, a brokerage or other investment management company, or any of the many other finance-related and investment-related companies.

You don't believe us? You think you need a four-year degree from a prestigious university? Aha! You are wrong! The dirty little secret in our industry is that a degree from a prestigious university is not a guarantee that someone will perform well as a financial adviser with the general public. The recruiters will tell you that they have no reliable method for predicting how someone will do in the industry. Someone with a certificate from a community college might surpass a whole room full of graduates from the Ivy League universities.

We have our own predictors. Are you a positive, optimistic person with a sunny disposition? Do you like to socialize? Do you enjoy meeting new people? Do you want to help them succeed? Are you not afraid to ask someone if they need your help? If they say, "No," are you still willing to go to the next person and ask the same question ... and then go on to ask twenty-seven more people? In short, are you a go-getter who refuses to give up? Will you never give up?

If you can answer, "Yes," to all or most of these questions (especially the part about never giving up), we guarantee you will do well in the industry. You might bounce around from one position to another for a bit but you will find your place. Talk to a counselor about our programs. Or better yet, please contact either Professor Suganya Sarkaranayanan or Frank Paiano above via email.

We wish you all tremendous success in the future and we look forward to talking to you about a potential career in the finance and investment industry.

P.S. Did we mention that salaries in the financial and investment industries are well above the national norms? Hmmm? Think about it seriously, Dear Students. The investment industry needs you!

Speaking of diversity, this past year, Walgreens now has a Black Woman CEO. Ladies, Minorities, We Need You!


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