DISCUSSION POST 1:

Saddened by the death of her favorite aunt, Shannel (age 35) was extremely surprised to learn that she was named her aunt’s only heir. A personal note in the will said “For your own shop.” Shannel and her aunt often visited antique shops, and Shannel’s dream was to own such a shop as a way to occupy her time in early retirement. She is expecting to receive approximately $50,000 and hopes to invest this money for her future shop, but she knows very little about stocks or investment strategies. After discussing financial planning topics with Shannel, the following issues became clear. First, the $50,000 is all the money she has saved for her goal. Second, Shannel is very cautious financially and is fearful of investing all her money at once because she has heard conflicting reports concerning stock valuation. Use your knowledge of common stock classifications and investment strategies to answer the following questions.

Questions

1. Which type of stock or combination of stocks would be appropriate for Shannel? Develop your answer in terms of Shannel’s risk tolerance, time frame, and goals.
2. What role should cyclical and defensive stocks play in Shannel’s portfolio?
3. Given Shannel’s fear about current stock valuations, what investment strategy would you recommend for her? Why?
4. Provide Shannel with four reasons to consider using a buy-and-hold strategy.
5. What other personal finance factors should Shannel consider before investing in her antique shop?

DISCUSSION POST 2:

Stock market volatility is arguably one of the most misunderstood concepts in investing. In simple terms, volatility is the range of price change stocks and bonds experience over a given period of time. If the price stays relatively stable, the security has low volatility. A highly volatile security hits new highs and lows quickly, moves erratically, and has rapid increases and dramatic falls.

Because people tend to experience the pain of loss more acutely than the joy of gain, a volatile stock that moves up as often as it does down may still seem like an unnecessarily risky proposition.

Have you been watching the stock market lately? Do you invest in a 401k plan or buy stocks in some other manner? How does the wild swings in the stock market and daily news cycle make you feel about stocks and bonds and investing overall? Is investing a good idea? Tell us what you think.