Stocks? Which to invest in?? for My Econ class?

[Chris]

I also frequently use the market watch virtual stock exchange games! they are a good tool to get you thinking about how news and current events affect stock prices. plus for someone who is learning to invest its nice to experiment without risking your hard earned dollars!

Well today (1/30/14) the market kinda took a crap....but this was somewhat expected. We just got a new federal reserve chairman/woman. and when this happens the market always tests the new individual. and seeing this decline was nothing too out of the ordinary. it also makes a great time to pick up some stocks!

Now i am in no way telling you i am a licensed trader and dont take my advice as gold, but i am currently doing a project for one of my classes and i'll share with you some on the things i did for my virtual portfolio!

I bought amazon and have done quite well with them! actually even with their 10% drop today, i/m thinking about picking up some more of them. I like what they are doing with offering TV stations. i see a potential in that for the long run.

I bought Target. my thoughts...although the current news with their security issues, they are a huge reailer and i dont see them going anywhere anytime soon. plus with all the negativ media, their share price dropped so i thought it was a good time to buy.

I also bought VXX futures (futures on the SP500) this measures volatility and resembles the VIX index. from my experience, when the market is doing good, i dont have a positive return on this, but....when markets take a dive (like today) this was my biggest winner! and this is due to the fact that when market conditions are poor, volatility in the market increases. this is considered the "fear" of the market.

Also, I bought TIF (tiffany and Co) Overall, ive had pretty good success with them too.


Just remember you want to keep your portfolio diversified. diversified as in with companys in different sectors, but also consider adding some fixed income or even some stocks traded on foreign exchanges.

Like i said, im a student working on something for a class similiar to yours and i know the feeling of being overwhelmed with potential options and not knowing where to start. id recomment reading the wall street journal when you can. see whats in the news and start thinking about how news releases affect companies and whats going on in the world! good luck!