Should You Invest in “Sin” Stocks?

Do you love smoking cigars and cigarettes? Do you gulp down beer, whiskey, rhum, gin, lambanog, ethyl, isopropyl, etc.?

Do you adore gambling and playing the games of poker, slots, baccarat, bingo, blackjack, roulettes? Then I suppose you would definitely invest in companies that sell these products and services. Or, would you?

We always remind new investors to take a deeper look into a company’s fundamentals before deciding to buy their shares. But I seldom hear these days to consider asking themselves first if the company they are interested in are actually producing either clean or “sin” products.

You wonder why our government won’t totally ban cigarettes and liquor despite the more harm than good that they offer? It’s simple. The government earns from taxes paid by these companies. Continue reading Should You Invest in “Sin” Stocks?

Should You Borrow Money To Invest in Stocks?

Borrowing money to be used for paper investment is simply a gamble.

Investing in the stock market or mutual fund has risk associated to it – past performance does not and cannot be a guarantee of future returns. What more if you borrow and use it to invest/trade? What if you lose your job next month?

There are new investors who feel great these days because their portfolios are showing fantastic numbers in less than a year of investing. Ironically, some of these people have actually borrowed money to invest in stocks and mutual funds.

How did I know that they borrowed? Because they’re the ones who asked me that question. Continue reading Should You Borrow Money To Invest in Stocks?

Be An Investor Or Be A Loser

2012 is gone and done. Some of you may have earned a million and many a thousand bucks from your salary and bonuses from the past year. It’s something that you should truly be proud of.

Your hardwork paid off. Hats off to you!

But I have one question: Where is your million (thousand) bucks now?

It’s January 12, 2o13 and I hope you already made up your mind (and wallet) on where to put that hard-earned ‘2012’ cash of yours.  Continue reading Be An Investor Or Be A Loser