Wall Street Stock Investing 101

Name 5 things that come to mind when you hear the words "Stock Market". I'm pretty sure within the 5 things money was one of them. Lots of money. Millions. Throughout history fortunes have been built in the infamous stock market, but it's always been this mystical black box to many of us. To be completely honest with you, it's not rocket science. Many of the worlds greatest investors have said the same... over and over again.

"All the math you need in the stock market you get in the fourth grade" - Peter Lynch

To be completely honest it's mostly true. Investing is 40% information, 40% perspective, 10% patience, 10% discipline. With that being said here are the basics of the game:

Investing is business. Point blank period. The market is the place where people buy and sell products or services, and the price is set on the basis of what people are willing to buy or sell that product or service. Every stock is a business, treat it as such. If the business has a bad owner, or bad management, the stock isn't likely to do as well. If sales of a business are down, the stock isn't likely to do well. If the price of doing business for a company drops? The stock is likely to do well. The entire market can be boiled down to real decisions we make on a daily basis.

Why the stock market matters:

This 30 minute video gives you a break down of how the economy works and within this is the importance of the stock market.

Some words to pay attention to and what they mean:

Share(s): Ownership within a company. The more shares you own, the more ownership you have.

Stock Price: How much everyone on the market thinks a company is worth.

Price/Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio): A company's share price to its per share earnings.

Earnings per share: The amount of profit a company makes divided by the amount of outstanding shares.

Yield: The percentage amount of income (through interest or dividends) you earn by owning a particular stock or bond.

Now to the how:

Best apps for investing:

Robinhood app: It is by far the simplest investment app I've ever come across. If this is your first time investing I'd recommend using this. Design is simple and easy to use. It's cheap. And there isn't all of this super investment mumbo jumbo.

Betterment: Betterment is the product/service you probably hear about as an ad before your favorite podcast. This is within reason. It is the perfect app for the passive investor. It uses technology to automate your investment decisions for you based upon your needs, and goals. If you don't know how to invest, and don't have the time to do so, you either you this app or you invest in an Index Fund.

Philosophy

Many people have different investment philosophies. Mine in particular is rooted in value investing. I look for good companies, who are valued at great prices. I personally look at investing in the same light as I look at products. I look for quality, a great brand, a fair price, and something that will bring me value in the long term. To me it's like buying sneakers, if I find a great pair of Nike's on sale, I'm coppin. I'm not in the game to make 1 million in a day, I'm in the game to increase my portfolio 10-12% a year.

Other folks buy stocks for different reasons. Some buy them for dividends, some buy them for short term growth, some buy them because of volatility. All in all, you have to make the decision for the stock you purchase. Just make sure it makes sense to you.

This weeks email comprises of unlimited bars to get your investing started. If you still need some help suiting up don't be shy, reach out to your boy. @CJoeBlack on all social platforms.

Keep stacking your paper,

Carl

Surviving Trump

How to get your money up and survive a Trump presidency:

It's going to be an interesting four years, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to get my money though.

Here are some of the commandments for surviving the next 4 years:

1. Change your spending habits:

Stop living the swipe life. As much as we say yolo, Monday always comes... Get it together!

A. Cash is still king: That night of swiping, all of those pending transactions hitting all at once on Monday? All of that could've been prevented if you took out cash and said "this is all I have let me spend it wisely." Leave your debit card at home, and carry an extra $100 for emergencies. To those friends or the inner me that says "spend more, swipe again" your response should be "if you ain't got it, you ain't got it." The theory is brilliant. Give yourself an allowance man. I promise it'll be lit. It's also a cool way to track your spending. Tracking is the fastest way to getting your life together.

If you hate cash, transfer money into another account and carry that card. Just separate your spending money from your income. Keeping them together is the quickest way to going broke.

B. Download Digit: Digit it's a dope ass saving app that takes away money little by little based upon your spending activity. It's like a mini angel that says "since you got it right now, lemme take a little bit for that rainy day; that day may be coming"

C. Freeze your credit cards:

No, I really mean freeze them! Fill a zip lock bag with water, put your credit cards in there, and FREEZE THEM! The worst thing you can do is have all of your credit cards hanging around waiting to be used. The next thing you know you're $300 away from your spending limit thinking  to yourself "how did I get here?"

D. Create a community:

If we're broke, we re broke together. If we're rich, we're rich together. We're rich forever.

It's 2017. You can't be the only one caking. Get your squad's money up too. Like they always say "you're only as strong as your weakest link." There are a few ways you can do this:

 Join/create a sousou.

Become accountability partners.

Set goals and bets against those goals.

Create savings competitions.

All of these methods can not only help you save, but it can help the homies save.

Bonus:

PACK A LUNCH OR MEAL PREP 'CAUSE THESE CHIPOTLE PRICES ARE WAY TO HIGH YOU NEED TO CUT IT.

2. Bring more money in:

A. Side hustlers anonymous: Everyone has a hidden talent that they don't realize can bring extra money in. Whether you're good at braiding hair, doing nails, an amazing writer, designer, you're nice at photoshop, or you love the gym and have extra time on the weekends there's money out there waiting for you.

Some apps that you can take your talents to (other than south beach) are:

Fiverr

Craigslist

TaskRabbit

B. Sell all that old sh*t you have in your house:

"One man's trash is another mans treasure"

If you haven't worn a pair of shoes, sneakers, dress, hat, or used a particular device in MONTHS.... then you have money sitting in the house. There are local folks that are willing to buy things from you through craigslist and eBay.

C. Make your day job your side job too:

If you're an analyst at work, take those talents and analyze something for a client and sell them your findings. Even if you're selling your opinions for $100 each, doing this once a week totals to an extra $400 a month. That can take care of the phone bill, wifi, and some of your student loans. Mind you, you can sell the same data and opinions to competing customers for same or double the price.

3. Spend your money and time like an investor:

Look at the last 10 purchases you've made. Ask yourself this question: Are these purchases going to increase my wealth or in any way increase my ability to build wealth? Was this lunch/brunch that I just spent a quick $40 on a networking brunch? Or did I just do this for the gram? Am I getting paid off of the gram? Is this party a networking party? If my friends want to party can't we just party at my place? Isn't this the reason why I got my own place?

Every decision you make lays the ground work for the next decision you have to make. Your life is one big snowball, and whether positive or negative, the snowball only gets bigger.

Buy things that last longer. If you spend $40 on dinner, it's because the dinner is for the week, not for the night.

If you spend an hour with someone it's either because of love or because you're building something that has monetary returns. Chillin' for the sake of chillin' is easy and addicting. If you want more money you have to make hard choices. Analyze each time and monetary decision like a business. Watch how your life changes.

And last but not least.... Taxes:

Yeah y'all wasn't expecting this I'm sure, but here are some bars:

Find a tax professional. Not a H&R Block tax professional; I'm talking about an accountant, tax lawyer, or you could even hit me up for tax advice (disclaimer: I don't have my law degree yet. any advice I provide to you directly, I would  follow up with a second opinion). Even if things aren't actionable, going down right path always helps. We leave tons of money on the table every year because we don't take full advantage of our tax code.

Some things to look toward:

If you don't have a business, start one. File for an LLC, and start performing monetary transactions under it. Small businesses (LLC's, S-Corps) actually pay lower taxes than you do (Personal/Ordinary income tax) when you get a check from work. Also, hit up HR to see if there's a way they can sub-contract you through your LLC instead of being personally hired. By doing this, you can give yourself a lower salary (you pay lower taxes) and with the left over money you will pay a lower tax rate (you pay lower taxes again). Also by having a business, you can write off a ton of activities and purchases. You can even write-off your rent and other bills by capitalizing on your home office deduction. 

This Link gives you a rough idea of what the tax rates are by type: Tax

If you already have an LLC and it's bringing in revenue, consider reclassifying your business into an S-Corp. it will increase your personal net worth and if you have partners, it will increase their net worth as well. It also lowers your personal liabilities to that business. Lastly, you also qualify for more business incentives since you're technically a "corporation with shareholders" now.

Don't forget y'all, just because you read this doesn't mean everything is 1,2,3. Everything in this post takes time, effort, and most importantly... consistency. Investing and growing wealth is tedious and slow. If you hear anything that's fast and fun, I promise you it's a scam. Until next time...

Keep stacking your paper,

Carl