DEBT

According to the Institution of College Access and Success, the average loan for 2015 graduates was around $24,000. The average U.S household is around $130,000 in debt, with an additional $15,000 in credit card debt. This amount is staggering considering what this does to your financial opportunities. Large debt can get in the way of purchasing a home, car, or in worst cases, prevent you from getting certain jobs. A few years ago I had a minor amount of debt. I needed to pay it off in a short period of time.  After getting hired for a job overseas, I obtained a six figure salary including many benefits that average Americans don’t receive stateside. I immediately began to tackle debt and examine the many benefits of working overseas. I also have a large group of friends who currently enjoy working as expatriates. I want to share with you the benefits of this type of work, and how you can began looking for an exciting and reward career overseas.

BENEFITS

There are many different types of job opportunities for various experience levels. Chances are you already qualify for these jobs. There is a multitude of benefits to working overseas. Some employers will even fly your immediate family to the country you will work. I will highlight compensation, culture benefits, and tell you what websites to leverage while searching for these jobs.

COMPENSATION

Salary

Let’s face it, it’s all about the money right? Most of these jobs pay $100,000+. Most of my friends make way over this amount and chances are you will too. Making around 8,000 a month, $24,000 in student loans can be paid off as little as 3 months. How so? You might ask. What about housing, food, clothing, and transportation? This can easily be accomplished because many of these employers pay for all of your living expenses. This includes but it not limited to housing, transportation, food, and clothing. And if you don’t currently have a passport, they will pay for you to get one expedited.

Tax Relief

When working overseas you are not taxed the same as your stateside counterparts. The IRS, gives you a deduction called a Foreign Tax Credit, which limits how much you can be taxed. Also you stop having to pay into Social Security & Medicare at $118,500. This is known as FICA when its taken out of your paycheck.

Medical Benefits

Medical care is inexpensive; Most of these employers offer healthcare. My medical insurance was provided by Cigna International for example. Many employers overseas offer top quality health insurances for a reasonably small premium.

CULTURE

Money is nice but once your bills are paid and you are debt free, the opportunity to see new and exciting things is equally beneficial. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for an urban, beach or rural setting, you will have plenty of options to choose from.

Locations

There are many locations to obtain employment in the global economy.  This includes the Middle East, China, South East Asia, Australian, and Africa to name a few. The hiring firm in most cases will pay for your passports, flights, etc. This is an excellent opportunity to see the world on the company dime. There are various types of work for one to perform overseas such as engineering, logistics, education, management, manufacturing, and finance to name a few.

Communication & Becoming a Global Citizen

Don’t be intimidated by the language barrier, most people in other countries speak English. Working with the host country will also allow you to learn the local language, and experience their culture in ways that are only possible by living there, working with the people. The earth is a pretty big places, sometimes we tend to forget that and only are concerned about our personal issues. Our issues can be pretty small in the grand scheme of things. Working overseas will give you a global awareness and help you become a part of something bigger than yourself. People all over the world face challenges that we take for granted. Some people don’t have clean drinking water or shelter. Some families struggle to find food day to day. Working overseas to help built infrastructure can help some of the 896 million people living in extreme poverty globally.

RESOURCES

So if you have read this far, you are probably interested in obtaining a job in the global economy. There are many websites that can help you in your journey. I will profile four of these websites to get you started on your search.

• ExpatJob:

  Located at http://www.expatjob.net/  ExpatJob is an excellent resource to begin your search for a new and exciting job overseas. This website is user friendly and easy to navigate.

• ExpatCareers:

  Located at http://www.expatcareers.com/ Expat Careers is very similar the previous resource. It has a great user interface. It also has a few more jobs than the previous resource.

• USAjobs:

  Located at http://www.USAjobs.gov USAJobs specialize in government jobs overseers, this resource is helpful for military members consider separating or for people who are already in the industry and want to work for another employer.

• ClearanceJobs:

  Located at http://www.ClearanceJobs.com ClearanceJobs specialize in job opportunities for people who want or have a security clearance. Don’t worry if you don’t currently have a clearance. Some companies will pay for you to obtain a clearance. Once you have a security clearance its pretty much like having the golden ticket.

GO FOR IT

When weighting your options, consider taking a job overseas. You will be compensated with many benefits that most stateside careers cannot compare too. You will also have culture experiences that will benefit you for a lifetime. Many people have a fear of traveling or going outside of their country. Discard your fear and inhibition and consider a career overseas. It has worked out for myself and so many of my friends. I can also work out for you too.

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WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT?

150 Billion Dollars, that is the estimated value of the Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) market according to Tim Merel of Digi Capital. The industry will likely disrupt the cell phone market, and revolutionize the internet of things (IoT). Imagine getting visual telemetry information from your car or from appliances, and being able to interface with them and control them with a simple gesture.  It is no wonder why Apple’s newest cellphone, the Iphone SE is back to its original size of 4 inches. In the near future we won’t care about the size of the screen on our phone.  cellphones, at least iPhones, will be leveraged with whatever AR device apple is working on, in the same way that the apple watch syncs with the iPhone. The phone does most of the processing to reduce weight of the head gear. It is also no wonder that Apple is currently getting most of the patents for AR/VR. AR/VR will be leveraged in many ways to enhance how we learn and do business. VR isn’t new.  But then again what is? Alexander Graham Bell jointly invented fiber optics in 1880 with Charles Tainter. What’s new and innovate about Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality is how it will be implemented. The technology will leverage advances in HD resolution, social media, and the internet of things amongst other technologies. We have seen examples from high profile tech companies such as Microsoft, Facebook, and Sony using this technology. These firms and many more will be fighting heavily for that 150-billion-dollar market share. Alphabet and Apple have also shown lots of interest in this area from various patents filed and acquisitions of startups that have been developing the technology. For the value investor, now is the perfect chance to get in early or double down on some of these blue chip stocks before they begin to sky rocket again. As a technologist, VR/AR has me excited. There seems to be so much promise from this technology. Besides, my neck hurts from looking down at my cellphone so much so I look forward to a headset. As an investor, I have already seen significant gains based on my understanding of technology and by market analysis. I will be definitely looking to add more companies to my portfolio. From a shareholder’s perspective, I am glad I got in when I did with these firms, many of which will be frontrunners in this space, I also look forward to continued growth from companies that I currently own shares in, such as Facebook.

Basic Specification

With so much to be gained from this emerging technology, it is no wonders some of the biggest players are already positioned to compete in this space. There are 3 major tech companies that will come into this market swinging. Microsoft will have the HoloLens, Facebook has the Oculus Rift, and Sony will be releasing Sony VR.  Below are some basic specifications of their products.

*Note that FOV for HoloLens, MSFT doesn’t want us bumping into things so the FOV is limited.

Not a lot of information is out officially concerning these products. There are also other competitors that will compete in this space, namely, Samsung, Apple, and Alphabet. Google glass wasn’t well received. Apple most like will not release anything in this space until the end of 2016 or early 2017. And Samsung Gear VR has been out since November 2015, and is powered by Oculus. I decided to highlight Microsoft, Facebook and Sony because I feel as though these companies will have the majority of the market share.

Business Value

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality will add a significant amount of value to companies and change the way we all do business. Imagine how that will chance e-commerce for example. You will be able to virtually test out a product before you buy it online. VR can be leveraged in the education sector to further enhance learning in the classroom.  Students will be able to learn in new and creative ways that will catapult the US education system. Companies will use VR/AR for on-the-job training to keep cost down on having expensive equipment to train on, while providing virtual experiences that will be applicable to real world activities. Doctors will be able to learn with virtual cadavers. Engineers will more effectively test designs that are too costly to produce. These designs will be tested in simulations that mimic real life before they are produced as prototype. These virtual prototypes will be used virtual to keep cost down. Web 3.0 will be enhanced with VR/AR. Devices will be connected to the world wide web and be controlled through gestures making the interface more natural and intuitive. People will begin to ditch their cellphones and put on a headset to become more immersed in the digital world we live in. 

Examples of Usage

Elements of this technology are already being used today. If you pay close attention you can see how many tech companies are slowly incorporating them in to our daily life.

SOURCE: MICROSOFT.COM

Microsoft’s demo of its HoloLens was mind blowing to say the least. On April 2015, at the BUILD conference, we got a sneak preview of a lot of the features that the HoloLens may incorporate. Microsoft showcased a holographic start menu, that functions similarly to the traditional start menu. The menu allows users to customizes various virtual screens, opening popular applications such as skype, and checking emails all virtually. They also showed some recreational uses for the device by showing how you can play Minecraft with the HoloLens.

SOURCE: OCULUS.COM

Facebook acquired Oculus for 2 Billion Dollars in 2014. Since then they have been looking at various way to monetize it other than the obvious. Facebook is the largest and most successful social network with 1.5 billion monthly active users. Most of their revenue comes from advertisement, so think about how they can use virtual reality for advertisement. Typically, I hate ads, but some of Facebooks ads are so interesting at times I find myself clicking on something that later I found out was “sponsored”. Facebook 360 video is a great example of how they are already thinking ahead to Augmented and Virtual Reality. 360 Videos allow Facebook users to observe an environment by moving and tilting the users phone. It really makes you become immersed in the experience and I look forward to seeing how Oculus Rift will leverage 360 videos.

SOURCE: SONY.COM

Sony’s demo of Project Morpheus as it was called, got me very excited as a gamer. The gaming industry is a 100-billion-dollar market worldwide. On January of this year. Sony VR was showcased at CES in Las Vegas.

Competitive Environment

Microsoft will focus on business usage for of their devices. This will include and is not limited to products and service that you are already familiar with from Microsoft, such as Outlook, Office, SharePoint, Sway, PowerPoint ect. I also believe they will make the logical step of add Xbox One functions. This is so that they can  continue compete in the gaming space with Sony.

Facebook will focus on social experiences and advertisement. Facebook will find new and innovative was to allow its users to interact with their friends on Facebook. The 360 Videos have already shown to be interesting and will be leveraged with Oculus Rift. Most importantly, Facebook will use the technology to create a new advertising experience to compete with Alphabet as it has been doing. Facebooks focus on Facebook Videos has already had some success with completing with YouTube. Alphabet acquired a startup called Magic leap in 2014 for 542 million dollars. This shows their interest in the technology and I am sure they will be putting that money to good use. Magic leap focuses on Augmented Reality.  I am very sure they will be using this for innovative ads as well to compete in this space.

Sony will have unique top quality content for Sony VR. This is from Sony Pictures and PS4 games. Sony PS4 has already sold over 35 million units worldwide, According to Sony CEO, Kaz Hirai. Basically, the current PlayStation 4 has grown faster than any other PlayStation. With its popularity and loyal customer base, Sony will be in a great position to market towards a base it has already created as well as drawn in new customers.

It is also worth mentioning that Apple is acquiring a lot of the Intellectual Property for VR/AR. Patentlyapple.com highlights various patents that apple has been granted in this space. Maybe iTunes subscribers will be able to attend concerts virtually. I am also looking forward to seeing what SIRI actually looks like.

Analysis.

These technologies will be beneficial to everyone. It will generate billions for shareholders. This is the perfect time to get into these stocks before they blast off again. The stocks have already been beat pretty badly this year because of various factors in the world economy such as oil prices, slowdown in china and speculation of monetary policy from the federal reserve. The market has already been recovering from these influences. Table shows some data to consider.

*as of March 22,2016

Microsoft: Microsoft’s Price/Earnings is a little higher than the average P/E for the sector. But the entire sector has been beat down a lot this year. The firm has an upside of around 7% from its 52 week high. Buying now would be a great idea because that is what I will be doing but I am not expecting to see strong growth until around Q2 FY2017. I also believe there will continue be a lot of volatility.

Facebook: Facebooks P/E is very high considering the average for the tech sector is 25. Facebook stock is close to its 52-week high. This makes it extremely risky but I still consider this stock undervalued. I considered it undervalued when I purchased a bunch of shares in 2014 and I still consider it undervalued now. I will be purchasing more of this stock this year.

Sony: Sony has been doing a lot better since making the necessary changes for growth within its firm. From spinning off its TV business in 2014 and spinning off its semiconductor business in 2015, Sony is headed in the right direction. Sony is focusing on its core. I purchased Sony when it was 16 dollars a share and have experienced some excellent gains. Regrettably I sold too early. I let other convince me that the stock was running out of steam. Sony has lots of content from movie and games and with it VR headset coming out this October, Sony be giving Netflix and Microsoft a run for their money. The overall stock market in 2016 will continue to be volatile. Monetary policy from Japan’s central bank will also play a factor with this stock. I will be purchasing this one on the dip in small increments overtime.

Apple: Apple has a P/E that is way below average for the tech sector. Apple also has a 25% upside from its 52 week high. I will be purchasing more and more of this stock through the year. I see it getting back to its 52 week high around Q3 FY2016. I don’t believe we will hear anything about apple AR/VR until 2017. Out of all the companies I have profiled apple is the most attractive. I have continued to purchased Apple stock since I started investing in 2013. I am a value investor and I typically buy for the long haul. This will continue with Apple. After all it is the wealthiest company in the world.

Alphabet: Not sure why I haven’t every bought Alphabet stock. I think I may have some biases that prevent me from purchasing it. But if we look at the fundamentals the P/E is a little high and the stock is very close to its 52 week high. This is similar to Facebook; the only issue is that Facebook continues to take market share from Alphabet. This makes it a little unattractive for me to purchase. I might buy this stock for hedging purposes. I’m sure Alphabet has many products they may be released within the next couple years. The quote is so high that I will buy cautiously overtime to get in before 2017-2018, when I think the tech industry stock will begin to sky rocket.

Perspective

As a Technologist, I have always been wondering when and how the Internet of Things would really take off. When I observed the HoloLens for the first time, I was like, that’s it. It only makes sense that we will interact with our connected devices in the same way we interact with them physically. Gesturing is natural for users. Command and control of these device though cellphones are cumbersome and will eventually be phased out.

As an Investor, these technologies look promising for the next big tech boom. That is why a lot of these smaller companies, who are developing some of these technologies are being acquired by much larger firms. I will stick to large cap tech stocks for the most part. I am sure there will be a number IPOs around the next couple of years that I will watch intensely. If any of them look attractive to me I will purchase it and likely write and article about the company.

As a shareholder, I am excited about my current position with some of these firms. I will continue to purchase more or double down on my position because we will be seeing a lot of growth in the next couple of years. This will be in a relatively short span of time. It’s going to be a very interesting in the next couple of years so invest now and don’t miss the bus.

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“Fifty percent of Americans have less than one month’s income saved for a rainy day. Top personal finance advisors will tell you – and especially drawing from lessons in the economic crisis to have at least six months’ income saved, just in case”. – Business Insider

Additionally, after you have saved a nice cash reserve and paid down debt the next logical step is to start investing. While your building you cash reserve I advise reading the books on my reading list before you start putting your money into investments. Financial literacy is important and is only shameful if you aren’t doing anything about it. A few years ago, I lack financial literacy, although I knew the basics of saving. One day a mentor took me under his wing, taught me a lot and gave me books to read on the subject. I share the title of some of these books in a post called reading list. In the spirit of financial literacy, I want to share with you the different basic investment options. Considering the average student loan debt is around $24,000, There are many types of investments other than education. Today, I want to write about an option that doesn’t involve taking out a loan. I will discuss three of the most well-known investments which are bonds, mutual funds, and stocks. Different investments have different levels of risk translating different levels of expected returns. Understanding Stocks, Bond, Mutual Funds will allow one to better understand more advance concepts and investment vehicles.

BONDS

Bonds are a type of investment of which you give an organization a loan. This is referred to as a lending investment. The organization agrees to pay you back plus a certain percent back called “yield” at the end of a term. An organization does this to raise money without giving up ownership of their company. There are many different type of bonds. Three of the most well know are, for simplicity sake will call “Federal Bonds”. These are used by the federal government which finance federal programs. Corporate Bonds are used by companies for thing such as payroll or to invest in equipment or hiring more people. Municipal Bonds are used by states to improve infrastructure, such as buildings, roads, and schools. Bonds have the least amount of risk, so they have the smallest potential return of three that will be mentioned. But there is the risk of default meaning they cannot pay back their loan. They also can pay back the loan early which results in a smaller return.

STOCKS

Stocks are by far a better choice for achieving higher yields. But also are more volatile. Stock are a type of ownership investment of which companies sell ownership to raise money. They sell pieces of the company to investors. These investors are called shareholders. They are also responsible to for giving Financial reports to shareholder every 3 months amongst other responsibilities. There are two main types of stock. Common stocks are the majority of the type a company will issue. They represent owing rights, voting rights and variable dividends. These voting rights influence the direction the company is going. Dividends are money paid out every 3 months to people who hold shares. Preferred stock reflects ownership but don’t come with voting rights but have a fixed guaranteed dividend amount. One of the major issue with owning stocks is all the work the shareholder needs to do research wise. This involves reading financial reports that come out every quarter and staying up to date with information that effects the company. A way around this is through mutual funds.

MUTUAL FUNDS

A mutual fund is a large pool of money or “capital” that is managed by a fund manager. The fund manager chooses which stocks or other investments to place the money and everyone gets a certain percent back from how the investments did.  It is typically a mixed bag of investments that are diversified. Meaning they are in different types of business. The fund manager has a fee they are paid to manage the fund but are also compensated more if the investments do well.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

Many Americans take part in these forms of investment. It is a great idea to be informed because knowledge is power. These three investments types are the cornerstone of American capitalism. Being informed is the first step on making a choice that is right for you and your individual situation. Regardless of your choices these types of investments are going to affect your everyday life from when you’re a getting a loan, or just simple understanding how the company you work for allocated your 401k portfolio. As in most cases knowledge is power. Take advantage of the most common way people have built wealth, and Take control of your financial destiny.

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Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan was once quoted as saying, “The number one problem in today’s generation and economy is the lack of financial literacy”. I couldn’t agree more. I am often asked about what books I recommend for someone just starting to invest should read. I can’t stress enough how important reading is when you’re an investor. As an investor there is always data or information that is accessible for you to read and make choices from. Good investors know the fundamentals. They understand business concepts and leverage that knowledge in their stock choices. The following is a list of a few books that were helpful to me in the beginning. I will also do somewhat of a summary of what the book is about so that you will know what to expect. Although I do recommend purchasing these books, it is also worth mentioning that all of these books can be found online for free.

The Richest Man in Babylon – By George Samuel Clason

Sort of reads like The King James Version of the Bible. If you can get through the strange wording, you will find some nuggets of gold in there about investing and becoming wealthy.  It is a quick read, under 100 pages. It highlights time tested financial concepts to managing ones’ wealth, and making healthy financial decisions.

Rich Dad Poor – By Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter

This book comes strongly recommended. This is a book that the modern reader can relate too. It highlights that fact that even intelligent well educated people can be financially illiterate. The author had two father figure in his life that he uses as an example to highlight financial literacy and how it can be leveraged to improve one’s circumstances regardless of who you are and where you come from.

Investing for dummies by Eric Tyson

Don’t let the title fool or offend you. This is the first book I ever read about investing. I literally talks about everything you need to know. It also points to a lot of other resources and references that can be used to get you started investing. It also contains tax information which a lot of books sometimes don’t really spend that much time on. Eric Tyson covers a lot of topics therefore the book is relatively long. But if your serious about handling your own investments and want to become wealthy then the number of pages in a book won’t be a big concern of yours.

Reading all of these books will allow you to be well equipped to start handling your own investments. Even if managing your own portfolio isn’t your goal, it is still a good idea to be knowledgeable so that you can understand your stock broker. The stuff is not difficult to understand by any stretch of the imagination. It just takes a bit of time, commitments and consistency on the reader’s part to acquire the knowledge.

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Yesterday, one of my readers messaged me inquiring about ETFs. I recall that in the beginning there was so much that I didn’t understand and wished someone would make easy for me. A lot of investment terms can be esoteric, but with the right resources this stuff can be as easy as it truly is.

So what is an ETF, how does it benefit you, and which ETFs will I be investing in this year? I will address all of these questions in a straight forward way so that you can take advantage of this type of investment vehicle and integrate it into your portfolio.

What are ETFs?

ETF stands for Exchange-Traded Fund. ETFs are similar to Mutual Funds in a since that it is a large pool of money or capital managed by a fund manager or brokerage firm. The fund manager or firm takes this pool of money to buy or sell different equities. These equities can be, but are not limited to various bond types, stocks, commodities, derivatives ect. The gains or losses are distributed amongst everyone that has contributed to the fund via purchase of the ETF on the stock exchange. ETFs and Mutual Funds both have management fees. These fees are called expense ratios. ETFs are publicly traded on the NYSE during trading hours. An ETFs value is based on what the ETF is trading at during market activity throughout the day.  Mutual funds can be bought and sold after the market closes. The value of a mutual fund is based on the closing price of the equities the fund contains.

How does it benefit me?

Picking individual equities is extremely risky, it takes a lot of time and research. When you invest in a ETF or Mutual Fund the firm manages the fund and buys or sells the funds equities based on qualitative analysis. They read annual reports, quarterly reports and analyze other performance metrics. The research labor is outsourced for a fee but you get the benefit of the fund managers expert knowledge. ETFs typically follow an index or a composite of many stocks. This means you have the opportunity to have a relatively diverse portfolio, with lower amounts of money. Also ETFs typically will not jump around as much as an individual stock. We have all heard the saying don’t put your eggs into one basket. An individual stock will be more volatile and is more influenced by individual factors. ETFs are more liquid than  Mutual Funds. You can sell your ETFs in the same way as a stock during normal trading hours. This gives you greater access to your money. I don’t talk about ETFs as much or give them enough credit for my portfolio gains. ETFs are a way I personally hedge risk from my individual stock purchases.

Which ETFs should I start looking into?

When choosing an ETF you want something that is diverse, basically covering many different business sectors. You also want to check out the funds past performance. Also consider the management fees of the ETF. This is money that the firm will take off from the shareholders annually. Below are 3 attractive ETFs with relatively low annual management fees or what is commonly called expenses ratio.

NYSE: SPY (SPDR S&P 500 ETF) follows or indexes the S&P 500

Expense Ratio: 0.11%

More Information

NYSE: VFH (Vanguard Financials ETF) tracks financial sector stocks, as includes stocks that have financial services.

Expense Ratio: 0.10%

More Information

NYSE: XLG (Guggenheim S&P 500 Top 50 ETF) indexes the S&P 50.

Expense Ratio: 0.20%

More Information

These are ETFs that I myself will be purchasing this year. They are worth investigating. I have attached a link so that you may due your own due diligence to see if these ETFs are right for your investment portfolio.

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According to Forbes contributor Dan Munro, the annual U.S. Health care spending in 2014 hit 3.8 Trillion Dollars. If you have looked at any health care stock within the past few years such as Eli Lilly, Johnson and Johnson, or HCA you have seen significant growth. This is why firms such as these are part of my portfolio. With an aging population, and a decline of focus for preventive care I don’t see much changing anytime soon.

The Focus

But that’s not what I am blogging about today. I will be talking about actions I have done to maintain my health, different challenges I have face in the process, and how I have benefited tremendously by incorporation healthy activity into my lifestyle.

Diet Change

You are what you eat. Finding healthy food has been extremely challenging. September of last year I decided to do something radical. I lowered the amount of meat I consumed to 10% and have a mainly plant-based diet. I also eliminated anything that was made with milk from my diet. This was challenging in many different ways.

Cutting out Milk

You would be surprised what is made with milk, if you looked at the back of a package. I learned that a lot of my favorite snack foods said made with milk right on the package. Doritos and many other snack foods are made with milk, so I had to stop using those products. I believe since the rise of products like almond milk and soy milk, the dairy industry has switched from a retail focus to a wholesale focus. Generating more revenue from business to business sales. Regardless, I stopped consuming milk and for good reason because I have allergies to milk. Sometimes I would have stomach issues in the past and didn’t know what was going on. I would think, I don’t even drink milk. Later I learned that many products that I consumed in the past were made with milk. I cut them out and been feeling better every since.

Less Meat

This was extremely challenging because I love eggs in the morning. I love seafood. I love getting together during the holidays and eating with family. Meat is a central part of that. At first I was all about eliminating it completely but I started to notice issues. I was at times extremely tired. I used plant-based protein supplements to mitigate this problem. I also ate more cereal. Cereal has the B12 vitamin in it that many people who remove meat from their diet lack. I felt a rise in my energy level, it seemed higher than It was previously. I did more research though and found out that there can be other complications from not eating meat. I then decided to incorporate it at lower levels in my diets. I stopped eating some types meat altogether. Today, the rare times I do eat meat its chicken, eggs, fish, or some other lean meat.

Running Man

Daily exercise is critical to one’s overall health. I run excessively in my opinion. Throughout the week, I run 3 miles a day and after my run, lift weights. For me, running is fun, its peaceful, and helps reduce stress. I also come up with some of my best ideas while running. I read an article that said distance running is good for brain health and helps to increase neuron generation. Maybe there is something to that, I don’t know. If you’re a runner please send me a friend request on Nike Plus @ Ace_White, I love competition ;).

The Result

A change in diet, and an active lifestyle has been important for my overall physical and mental well-being. So many illnesses can be remedied with a change in diet and committing to exercise. Diabetes is one example but there are so many others. I know that some people have physical conditions that prevent them from working out every day. But for many of us, including myself, there really isn’t any excuse. I was extremely surprised how much these changes increased my overall happiness, productivity, and outlook on life.

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So, relatively speaking I haven’t been investing in the stock market that long. I began around the 3^rd Quarter  FY2013. But I still didn’t put much money into it because I didn’t feel comfortable. I didn’t know anyone who invested excepted for a few co-workers, and most friends and family didn’t invest. Pundits on MSNBC used a lot of terms that I didn’t understand and every now and then, there was the fear mongrelizing that kept me fearful. I also wasn’t as comfortable with my financial knowledge in the beginning. I eased into it more and more over time. As I read more books and learned more, my confidence level increased and I would began to invest more based on the fundamentals.

Learning

My first real investment came sometime before in the form of a rental property. This is in step with what the average Americans largest investment is in their portfolio, their home. Housing was something very easy for me to understand so at the time, real estate was my major focus. My strategy for stocks then started to follow what products and services that I enjoyed using. These were typically large cap firms. I found out that instead of moving my position and buying and trading frequently, I could just double down on firms that I felt as though the market was undervaluing.

Early Strategy

Market sentiment can change on a dime for a number of different reason. The Global Economy, oil prices, Greek Debt Crisis, Negative Interest Rate Policy, Central Banks, War and rumors of War; Hell, if a cow farts in India there is going to be some analyst somewhere that will relate that to something that will put people in a panic. Therefore, these factors don’t have much weight on my activity other then seeing it as a buying opportunity when the market overreacts to data. Keep in mind I don’t invest with money I need right away, I am a younger investor and I’m in for the long haul. I have this saying, “I’m not about to let them scare me out of my money”.

Review

So on this look back I want to take a look at the stocks that I ended up with after all trading activity beginning 2013 to present date. We will look at the returns.  What I think about the future of some of them will be covered in a future blog. My portfolio will be changing drastically in the near future, mainly because current market sentiment has put a lot of stocks in buying territory.

This following data was pulled the week of March 1, 2016

This isn’t all of my holdings. I also have retirement accounts, Mutual Funds, ETFs, Bonds etc.. I’m simply highlighting the individual stocks that I ended up sticking with after various activity in my trading portfolio.

Although everything in my trading portfolio has what I consider upward potential. I am most excited about FACEBOOK. I see a lot of continued growth for a number of different reasons. Back in my archived section ironically written in the beginning of March last year, I ranted about this stock. I encourage you to go and read all the past blogs that are located there. I talked a lot about what I think the future of augmented reality technology. I will be writing more about what I think  about this in future a blog on emerging technologies. I will also cover what firms will be best positioned to capitalize on emerging technologies change the way we all do business.

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The following are old post from last year.

Current Market Climate Sun May 6, 2015 3 :38 PM

Currently stocks are struggling to maintain high levels because of a mixed bag of economic data. Job numbers are down and there are growing concerns about the future growth of The America Economy. This is prompting some investors to sell off some of their equities. Additionally the chairwomen of the FED Janet Yellen expressed some concerns which I interpret as she expect some sort of correction in the near future. Oil is on recover and I expect it to rise but not drastically. And nowhere near 75, 80 or 100 dollars are barrel. Oil is one of those factors that tend to float all boats so I suspect that there will a bit of a rally after investors shake off these jitters from the economic data. My strategy will remain the same despite many of these events. This is because I believe in the long term economic future of America. I am young enough to hold out and see what happens. If there is a market correction at some point in the near future I think it will be a small one. This could lead to a small market correction considering the current climate. I will buy on the dip and keep it moving.

Earnings Season Sun Apr 26, 2015 10 :38 AM

On the 22nd of April, Facebook released its quarterly earnings report. Which can be accessed at http://investor.fb.com/results.cfm This is earnings season and many other publicly traded firms are releasing there reports, but I decided to write about Facebook because out of all my US equalities, It happens to be the one that I am most excited about. This quarters earnings were equally exciting. Revenue rose 42%. Also consider the current deflation climate of the US dollars as well that is effecting all US equities. Facebook is also spending more money as well. Most analyst have a target price of 80 – 105. Friday, the 24th it closed at 81.53. When it opened the 23rd after earnings, it shot up around 85, and there was a large sell off, on a lot of volume afterwards. Facebook is still a buy for me and it is grossly undervalued. firms are going to be spending more and more money over the course of time on advertising to people via the Internet. Most people I know, don’t listen to radio or have cable. They use some sort of streaming music, and have Netflix or Hulu. The trending is going to continue and grow. Facebook has been positioning itself to continue to grow, for example, going after market share of it competitors, such as Google. Hence, the 83% increase in spending in a year, done by Facebook. Facebook Video, is their push to take market share from Youtube. I think it will work. Google tried the same thing in reverse when they did the whole Google Plus thing, which I don’t know a single person who uses it. As many already know Facebook also owns Instagram, Whatsup App, and what always has been the most exciting acquisition , Oculus. Now its not like they have some monopoly on VR and VR is new. Microsoft, and Playstation have invested considerably in these technologies. Microsoft has the HoloLenz. Playstation has project Morpheus. VR is old tech, I’m one of the few people who had a Nintendo VirtualBoy as a Kid. (Yeah I was spoiled lol) To me it was awesome, but somethings are just before its time. Timing is everything in the tech world. In 2004, Microsoft released the SPOT watch, which was a small wearable embedded devices, which also functioned as a watch. Not too many people really remember, and it didn’t take off like they though it would. But now about 10 years later. The Apple Watch sold out in 6 hours. The watch has a price point from 350 – 17,000 dollars. 20 years after the release of the Virtual Boy in 1995, VR is back, and the timing is perfect. Facebook has already 1.4 Billions active users. Facebook also is very good at monetizing its acquisitions. I wouldn’t be surprised if they release something by the end of the year. Augmented and Virtual Reality will change e-commerce, social media and the way we interact with one another. As usual, it takes a little while for advertisers to shift. Advertising is already shifting from radio and television to streaming media and social media. As that happens there will be another shift from that to Virtual and Augmented Reality. Facebook is at the cutting edge and will be the benefactor of these transitions. Although it will be volatile in the next couple Quarters, Facebook is still a buy. It is also a stock I will not short like many did this past week. I will buy on the dips and hold out for the long haul.

The Oil Trade March 17, 2015

Oil nothing moves without it. Around the second quarter of last year 2014 Oil has been taking a massive hit. Ironically enough that around the time the Rockefeller divested from oil. After making billions for around 100 years. I guess maybe they could see the writing on the wall. Factors such as the North American Shale Oil boom, and the continued export rates of OPEC on its current level, and the strengthening of the American Dollar has made the price of crude oil to become very volatile. There are three camps on what will happen next. There are some people who think oil will bounce back up as quickly as it crashed. There are some who believe it will continue to crash. Lastly there are investors who believe it will hover around the current price for quite some time. You can classify me in the last category. I’m currently not directly invested in oil. Although I was shorting WTI and made a little bit, it was much too volatile for my liking. I think there is still a down side to this oil market and I’m just going to play the side line and observe for now. Consider how high the market has fall from there are is large potential for profit, but for me personally its just too much risk to trade this short term looking for the bottom of the market. Long term wise, I think it would be a good move for someone who is going to go long for 5 -10 years.

1.35 Billion Likes! March 3, 2015

Being an avid Facebook user. I was delighted with the opportunity to visit Facebook campus in Menlo Park, CA. They are located in the old Sun Micro System building. It’s kind of funny because they keep the old signs around all the campus because it reminds them that even a large dominate company can fade away to obscurity. I was able to see the Instagram office as well. The Oculus area was off limits much to my dismay. I witnessed a culture of innovation and free thinking that impressed me. I began investing in Facebook around the mid 2014 so the experience for an investors to see the interworking’s of employees and things of that nature is always great research. Facebook generates the majority of it profits from the information collected from its users and from ad agencies. The ad agencies have been favoring Facebook more and more lately because they see how powerful of a tool it can be to direct market to their target consumers. Facebook today has 1,350,000,000 active monthly users. This is growing every day and I don’t see it slowing down anytime so. With the increase in popularity of both virtual reality and augmented reality, Facebook will be on the front line to new and innovating forms of marketing. Facebook is up YTD 18 percent. I think once advertisers and the bulk of older investors began to become more comfortable with Facebook this will continue to rise once this trend is reflected into quarterly reports. Facebook in my opinion is undervalued I see it at 85 or 90 a share by the end of the year. For me it is still a BUY. Long term I like it as well, it’s not something that I’m going to short. With the launch of Microsoft HoloLens Initiative, this is just a preview of what’s going to be on the cutting edge of innovation. And just like people couldn’t see the magnitude of the use of smart phones, it will be that same with augmented reality.

One Million Percent March 3, 2015

If you aren’t investing you money, you have to ask yourself why? There are few legitimate reason why you shouldn’t be investing. The biggest one being massive debt with high interest rates. If the interest rates are in the double or triple digits, pay that down ASAP. Mortgage debt especially now with rates so low, you should be investing, definitely if your benefiting from that tax credits from being a homeowner, invest the money you get back from that. I have conservative expectations from my portfolios. I expect around 10% APY although I have done way better than that, it keeps the greed in check(lol). Ultimately, I’m a patriot. I believe in Americas finance system and views are very stable over the course of the long term. Warren Buffet over the past 50 years has a calculated Yield of over 1,000,000% . that is through many finance problems that have occurred in the past 50 years. Saving and Loans scandal, Dot-com crash, sub-prime mortgage crisis …everything. 1million percent. When you consider how low the APYs are for savings accounts and CDs. The market is such a better option.

All Hail The Queen! February 25, 2015

America is a democratic-republic, we have 3 branches of government with The President being the Commander and Chief as we all know. But if America was to ever become a monarchy, surely Janet Yellen would be its Queen. That isn’t to say anything but the fact that she is arguable, the most powerful person in the free would. Janet Yellen is the chair of the Federal Reserve. They control the money supply. The Federal Reserve isn’t any more federal than federal express. It is not part of our government it is a banking organization. Yesterday she spoke around 10am to the senate banking committee. This is one of those scheduled events on monetary policy that I said I follow and pay attention to like an investors. Yesterday she spoke about the current state of the labor market. She stated policymakers will raise interest rates when they are “reasonably confident” inflation will pick up toward the Fed’s annual 2% goal. The US Dollar has been deflating lately. Which means they’re probably going to be rising rates soon, but not until the end of the 3rd quarter, sometime this year. But she wasn’t really clear on exactly when the rates would be raised. These rates already at historic lows. The unemployment rate has been constantly falling since 2009 from its 10% highs to its current 5.7% low. So essentially, she isn’t going to do anything too sudden that will damage the constant rate of recovery that has been occurring. Investors seem to like her approach because the DOW was up almost 100 points yesterday. This is an excellent time to get into the market if you have not already. Blue Chip are mostly still going to rally.

SWOOSH! February 24, 2015

I have a few favorite stock picks. The ones that usually have the same criteria. They are typically have steady growth, and are not volatile and a product that I use a lot or favor. Although I have done well with some of my other pick, there is one that I favor over all. That is Nike’s stock. First of all if you look at the ten year chart the returns are over 300%, the 5 year is 150% this also doesn’t take in account the dividend yield. I also consider Nike very innovative a reverent. With apple push for Health apps and the recent trend in technology considering wearable devices, Nike will benefit handsomely for their current involvement and investment in these trending areas. Additional Nike has already shown promise in the 3D printing of some of it product line. I do own some under armor which has made a significant presence in the market. I prefer a lot of Nike’s merchandise over under armor. Also Under armor has not dividend yield. Like is stated earlier I have made more money with some other stocks such as my apple equities but, the beginning of last year was extremely volatile to say the least with apple. I am glad I held on but Nike has been consistent. I value consistency the most. My trading style has never been buy and selling daily or even weekly like a mad man. Nike is where I have felt the securest. I am a big advocate in investing in companies of which utilize and believe in their product. Nike is no exception. I kind of a sneaker head, so investing in Nike was a natural fit.

LIFT OFF! February 23, 2015

So, today is the big launch day for my person blog. On this blog I will discuss mainly US Equities. But I will also get into some of my many other interest. This will include but is not limited to computer programming, new and emerging technologies, video games, mainly on the PS4 platform, Running, I am a avid runner and I typically use the Nikeplus running app. I will also discuss some of my trading techniques. There are methods that have become successful for me and methods that cost me money. I want people to learn from my gains and losses. A lot of my friends have reached out to me and are always asking me what stocks should they get into? When should they get in the market? How factors such as recent Brent crude prices effect my trades and things of the nature. My site is not design to guarantee anyone returns. No one can guarantee anyone returns. I also avoid penny stocks at any and all cost. But my trades reflect more about long term investments. That is because time is by greatest resources as a young investor. I don’t frantically trade daily or even weekly, but I do watch my holdings daily and read news that effect my holding. I also analyze market trends. I take a close look at competitors and industry leaders. Most of my holdings are tech stocks, that is because I am a technique person. And Those are my interest. I am a programmer. My background is also Database, Applied security. Finally, I plan to comment on a lot events that happen in the market that are schedule, meaning unemployment rate, number of jobs increase. GDP, monetary practices by the federal reserve and quarterly reports. I hope that this website helps other benefit from the market in the same way that I have. If any of my readers have any question or concerns, please email me, to address subject matter that I haven’t covered. Like I stated earlier, My disclaim is follow my movements and my advice at your own risk, do your own fact checking as well. There is always risk when concerning any investments, so you can lose money. A lot more to follow soon.

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