Investing in the Stock Market

This past semester, I took a class about investing in the stock market. The April Question of the Month was to come up with a question for one of the weeks in May, and since I just taken this class, I wanted it to be about investing. My question is, "If you had $10,000 to invest, would you go for high-risk, volatile stocks, blue-chip stocks, or mutual funds? Would you invest some in each? If so, how much?"

Each of these has their pros and cons. The higher-risk stocks can have huge payoffs, or huge losses. Basically, what you are doing is gambling on that particular company being successful. For example, if you had invested in Apple when it first came out many years ago, you were (correctly) guessing that Apple would later be a dominant figure in the technological industry. If you were incorrect though, you would have lost everything you had invested. The rule of thumb when investing in high-risk stock is to not invest more than what you're comfortable "kissing goodbye."

Blue-chip stocks are stocks that have a very solid history, such as consistently pay out "dividends" (a dividend is a small amount of money that the company pays each stock-holder based off the number of shares the stockholder owns), or remaining a steady company even through hard times. The disadvantage of blue-chip stocks is that since it is low-risk, there isn't as much chance for big gain.

Mutual funds are a different kind of stock. Basically, it is like a company that invests in a whole variety of stocks in a certain industry. For example, say there is a mutual fund that invests in computer stores. That mutual fund would have some stocks of Best Buy, Circuit City, and so forth. It is well diversified, meaning that if one stock plummets, then the gains of the other stocks will keep your mutual fund balanced.

-Kate

Zopa!

Hi everyone!! Kate, congrats on being the first place winner for the Teen Entrepreneur Contest for the Indiana Fever! Also, thank you for your suggestion for the Aware Teens site. We are not able to create a rollover directly above the icon, but if you go out there now and rollover the icon, a title will pop up in the left hand corner beneath the icon.

Winner for the April Monthly Contest is Kate! This means Kate will make our blog post and question next Monday. (Kate, could you e-mail me at CourtneyK@forumcu.com so I have your e-mail to send you access information?)

The question this week is, what do you think of Zopa? This is basically people to people lending and borrowing. You can find out more on FORUM's website by clicking here. Once you are 18, or if you are already 18, would you consider being a member of Zopa?

I hope everyone has a great week!!

*Remember to use your first name and login user id to receive 2 points.

No comments??

Well, I have to say I'm disappointed I didn't hear from anyone last week. What is everyone up to? You're probably all outside because it has been so gorgeous! I don't blame you. I went for a long walk on Sunday, and it was beautiful! I think I even got a bit of sun, and a few of my freckles came out.

I wanted to remind you that you have one week left to do the April Monthly Contest if you'd like to participate. I will decide the winner by next Monday.

This week, I'd like to get your input on our Aware Teens Site that is coming soon. I gave you a sneak peak of what it would look like before. If you click on the link now, it is basically finished, but we have not put it on the FORUM website yet. So, I would greatly appreciate feedback and suggestions before we put it on the website. And, of course, you'll get your 2 points for giving me feedback!

I hope you all have a great week!

Thanks!
Courtney

Teens and Money

Hi everyone! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty laid back and relaxing :). Okay, so this week I'd like you to read an article called "Teaching Teens about Money."

If your parents read and implemented this article, do you think you would benefit from it? Which points did you like or dislike? Or, do your parents already have their own methods of teaching you about money that you would like to share?

*Remember to use your first name and login user id to receive 2 points.

financial advice...

Kate, thanks for your answer last week about the differences between credit unions and banks. That was very well informed! A few other differences include:

Credit Unions
-lower fees
-you are a member
-insured by the NCUA
-return profits to members in the form of lower loan rates and higher savings rates

vs.

Banks
-higher fees
-you are a customer
-insured by the FDIC
-return profits to a small group of stockholders

So, have any of you gone to a FORUM branch this week for any of the activities? If you have, or if you do, let me know what you think!

Okay, for a question.... what is one piece of financial advice you have been given through the years that you think is important, and why?

*Remember to use your first name and login user id to receive 2 points.

National CU Youth Week

Hi all! How are you this week? I have been very busy! ...as you might be able to tell since I usually post on Monday, not Wednesday!

So, just an FYI....FORUM is having National Credit Union Youth Week next week (April 21-25) with several activities going on all week long:

• Coloring Contest (for ages 0-8) Winner receives a coloring set
• Penny Guessing Game (for ages 8-12) Winner receives the Bee Movie DVD
• Short Essay (for ages 13-16) Winner receives $100
• Student Survival Account (for ages 16-24) every person who opens this account receives $10

So, if you or any of your siblings want to participate, stop by any FORUM branch!

Okay, so the April Monthly Contest is:
Come up with a neat topic idea for the blog, and if you win, you can be the guest blogger some time in May. For participating and giving a topic idea, you'll receive 2 points. For winning, and being the guest blogger, you'll receive 6 points.

And the Question of the Week is:
Give me three major differences between credit unions and banks!*Remember to use your first name and login user id to receive 2 points.

summer jobs...

Thanks for your feedback on the extra question last week! I appreciate it.

Jeremy is the winner for the March monthly contest! So, I will deposit 5 points to your rewards account. However, we will not be able to use your ad copy in May, because we are promoting a different item in the place of Aware. I will use your ad copy on a secondary FORUM website page in the coming months, and let you know when it's out there!

So, my question for all of you this week is about having a summer job. Do you plan on having a job this summer? Doing what? How much do you plan on making, and what will you do with the money? (If you don't plan on having a summer job, tell me what your summer plans are.)

I had a summer job beginning at the age of 14. I worked at The Old Custard Stand for 3 summers in a row with a $.50 raise each summer. I started at $5.50. The money didn't seem like the best, but there were definitely perks (free custard for me!).

*Remember to use your first name and login user id to receive 2 points.