Southwestern College Investment Club

Fall 2023 - Thursdays from noon to 1 pm, Pacific time
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.
The direct link is: https://wonderprofessor.com/zoom

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 2023
SWC Investment Club, Spring 2022
SWC Investment Club, Fall 2021
SWC Investment Club, Spring 2021

 



Fall 2023 Meetings

24 Aug 2023:
Our first meeting was pretty well attended considering it's the first week of class and students are just getting their bearings. We discussed the purpose of the group and chose our 10 stocks that we will follow throughout the semester. 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,If we become an official club, it means we can get money for pizza. Very cool! If we don't become an official club, then no pizza. Oh, well But everything else is exactly the same. No biggie. See on the next Thursday, August 31st!
Zoom Recording
Students from BUS-123, Introduction to Investments, who missed the noon meeting can still watch the meeting above and send me an email saying that you watched the meeting and give one or two sentences about what you thought and you can still get the 2 extra credit bonus points.

31 Aug 2023:
Well, I am completely and totaled embarassed and motified. I completely forgot about the Investment Club today. I don't know how I could have done this. I am so sorry. I don't know what to day. This will not ever happen again. I have entered the meetings for the rest of the semester in my mobile phone and my phone will scream at me on every Thursday morning. Please forgive me.

7 Sep 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: Finished Introduction to Investments; Introduction to Mutual Funds
We reviewed our portfolio. Ooops! Ulta and Nvidia brought us down below $100,000. We then finished our Introduction to Investments and covered our Introduction to Mutual Funds. Next week? Introduction to Stocks! Exciting Stocks! Sexy Stocks! Risky Stocks!

14 Sep 2023:
We started our discussion of stocks. Exciting stocks! Sexy stocks! Risky stocks! Our portfolio is holding its own. Kinda' volatile but Canadian National Railway is doing really well. (Check the portfolio's progress below.)
Zoom Recording
Here is the presentation file that we used in today's session. Next week, we will jump headfirst into the deep end and start looking at valuation techniques. Get ready for a Sip from the Firehose!

21 Sep 2023:
We reviewed our Fall 2023 portfolio. Ooops! Novo Nordisk split two for one but Yahoo didn't bother to change our portfolio to reflect that we now have twice as many shares while the price has fallen in half. We are going to have to do that manually.

For our discussion of the day, we introduced the Discounted Cash Flow Model using dividends and data from The Value Line.
 The two spreadsheets that we used are from 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.)
  Here is the link to the full access of The Value Line for Southwestern College students.

Here is the presentation file: Discounted Cash Flow Model and The Value Line
Here is the Zoom Recording of the day's club meeting.

28 Sep 2023:
This week Jordan Krantz from Capital Group will come visit us and discuss their investment products. Most people know them as the company that manages the American Funds. They have been around for over 90 years.

5 Oct 2023:
There is a position for everyone in the investment services industry. Don Nuding, a Librarian, will be showcasing our favorite stock investment research service, The Value Line. We are blessed to have an online subscription with The Value Line here at Southwestern Community College. You don't want to miss this presentation!

26 Oct 2023:
Daniel Snyder from SeekingAlpha.com is scheduled to showcase their online investment research environment.

2 Nov 2023:
Southwestern College Insurance Professor William Greenwald will discuss the world of insurance and the Affordable Care Act and specifically Covered California. He will also discuss Health Savings Accounts, small business health plans, and other insurance opportunities for new professionals. Over the next 10 to 15 years, 50% of all insurance professionals will be retiring. There is a ton of opportunity out there, Dear Students!





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

We will start with 10 stocks and follow their progress throughout the semester.

 28 August 2023: We're off! Hmmm. Not such a great start. Wasn't Nvidia supposed to help us?

 1 September 2023: Aha! We are up over 1 1/2%. A great bounce back!

 8 September 2023: Hmmm. The stocks that are sensitive to an economic downturn are holding us down. Ulta, Disney, and Winnebago.

 15 September 2023: Oh, pooh! Still underwater. But not so bad thanks to Canadian Railway!

 26 September 2023: Ouch! Down 5% after the recent "volatility!" (Had to manually redo Novo Nordisk because of a split.)


 


 


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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