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.
|
Investment Chat Group based on BUS-123, Introduction to Investments
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: | Jordan Krantz from Capital Group / American Funds discussed some of the opportunities in the mutual fund industry for what are typically referred to as "wholesalers." These individuals support the "retailers" who are the financial representatives who deal directly with the clients. Wholesalers go by various names such as "Support Specialist" and answer questions from the Stockbrokers, Financial Planners, Investment Advisors, etc. who may want to use the products of the mutual fund company for their retail clients. Jordan also described how his company and the industry as a whole attracts people from all walks of life who often have degress in fields other than finance. Last, Jordan described the unique system that Capital Group uses to make the investment decisions and has resulted in consistently superior results over many decades. Here is the Zoom Recording of the day's club meeting. Thank you very much, Jordan! |
| 5 Oct 2023: | Just in time for our study of Valuation Models, we were blesed to have Don Nuding of The Value Line showcase their very popular and powerful stock research service. All enrolled students at Southwestern College have online access to The Value Line. It is also available at many libraries. Don dazzled us with the incredibly powerful online tools available. We also learned that there is a position for everyone in the investment services industry. Don Nuding is a Library Specialist. You see? Even bookworms are needed in the investment industry. Here is the Zoom Recording of the day's club meeting. Don't miss the recording of this presentation! Thank you, Don! |
| 12 Oct 2023: | What a mess! My apologies, once again! We were supposed to work on the Discounted Cash Flow Model using The Value Line. I was going to join the meeting from Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico. My flight was supposed to arrive in Zihuatanejo at 7 am giving me plenty of time to get to my room and set up for the meeting. However, I am still sitting in the Tijuana airport. The flight has been seriously delayed and it appears that we won't arrive in Zihuatanejo until 12:30 pm at the earliest. I asked a few people to log into the meeting room and apologize on my behalf. What a mess! I am so sorry. See you next week (unless something else screws up). |
| 19 Oct 2023: | Our portfolio is holding up given the volatility. (That's a fancy word for, "Aye! I lost a lotta' money!" This week, we used The Value Line and the Discounted Cash Flow Model to research several stocks. In a down market, it isn't hard to find some real gems. However, does anyone want to buy when the markets are falling? Well, history tells us that when the markets are falling is the best time to buy! As Warren Buffett says, "Investing is simple ... but it ain't easy!" Zoom Recording |
| 26 Oct 2023: | Daniel Snyder from SeekingAlpha.com demonstrated how SeekingAlpha.com has evolved from an investment blog website into a powerful investing and trading research platform. Check out the presentation, especially the automated quantatative analysis on thousands of stocks that is done every day. Very cool! And the best part is that students get a 30% discount on the yearly subscription service. Zoom Recording |
| 2 Nov 2023: | Southwestern College Insurance Professor William Greenwald discussed the world of insurance and the Affordable Care Act and specifically Covered California. He also introduced 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! Documents: Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) Flyer - Covered California Health Insurance Brochure Zoom Recording |
| 9 Nov 2023: | We introduced the BetterInvesting.org Stock Selection Guide (SSG). This tool has been around for many decades. Lately, it has been updated to take advantage of the tremendous advances in computing technology. The SSG is a visual tool. It is used to identify companies whose sales, pre-tax profits, and earnings per share are growing substantially. BetterInvesting's goal is to grow your investments 15% per year. Pretty impressive! (Ah, I am happy with 8% to 10%.) Zoom Recording |
| 16 Nov 2023: | Bit of a hodge-podge today. We investigated Starbucks using our Discounted Cash Flow Model and the BetterInvesting.org Stock Selection Guide with data from The Value Line. Both models suggested that Starbucks was potentially a good buy for us. (It was interesting that none of us wanted to buy their coffee because it was just too darned expensive but the stock might be a good purchase as an investment.) We also took a look at books to read. Last, we discussed how for those of us who get involved in investing, eventually we will come across scammers who will promise "get rich quick" schemes of 300% or even 3,000% return. (Remember, if we get 10% a year over the long term, we will be very happy. We are investors, not speculators. And speculating is just another word for gambling.) Zoom Recording |
| 30 Nov 2023: | Our last week! We discussed a variety of topics including index funds in general and the outsized influence of just seven stocks on the S&P 500 index. We showcased the bond yield curve and showed how it is inverted. This has been a very reliable indicator that a recession in on the horizon. We shall see! We also demonstrated a restricted stock that is now available to the general public. Very dangerous! Before, these types of securties were only available to "accredited investors," also called "sophisticated investors." These investors could lose $50,000 and it would not be the end of the world for them. Last, I thank everyone for a great semester and we look forward to seeing you all next year! Zoom Recording |
Fall 2023 Portfolio -- 10 stocks starting with $10,000 each1 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.) 29 September 2023: Not much change from last week. This is actually pretty good given the softness in the market. 6 October 2023: Again, not much change. Hang on. It's probably going to be a very bumpy October. 13 October 2023: Up 1% from last week. Not bad given there are now two going on in the world. 20 October 2023: The Volatility is Real! October rears its ugly head. But we only slid about 1% for the week. Not bad! 27 October 2023: Another dreary week. Another 2% drop. Just keep telling ourselves that it could be worse! 3 November 2023: What a difference a week makes! We are almost back up to $100,000. Not bad! 10 November 2023: Hey, hey! Things are looking up! We are finally above water! 17 November 2023: Whoa! Up 4 1/2%! You folks are on fire! Darned ULTA... 24 November 2023: Up over 5%. Pretty darned good. Remember it is a marathon, not a sprint. 1 December 2023: We ended up on a high note. Up 6.2% for the semester. Well done! |
The Industry is Actively Recruiting Women and Minorities, Bilingual, and Ex-MilitaryThe Financial Industry Wants Diversity - Great article from the Financial Times magazineBut 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
|