Tag Archive for 'Netflix'

Imagine this: You go into a broker’s office, and you say, “You know what? I’m going to invest in some companies, but I’m not going to look at any P/E ratios. I’m not going to read the company’s annual report.”

The broker would undoubtedly spit coffee onto his $4,000 suit.

You continue: “No, I’m going to buy a stock based on how much calcium is in the company’s cereal.”

The broker would probably faint face-first right onto his $50,000 antique desk.

But that’s exactly what Molly Helgren has done. Molly is an executive assistant at PEAK6, WeSeed’s parent company, and she’s put together a WeSeed Portfolio — a pretty successful one, mind you — using this exact thinking.

If you want to know a little more about Molly: She’s 23, she’s a huge Cubs and Bears fan, she never misses an episode of Lost, and she spends her free time traveling and playing with Jack (her black Labrador).

Most importantly, if she could have any super power, Molly would talk to animals. (We tried to convince her that flying would be much cooler — to no avail.)

Every week, we’re going to run Molly’s Portfolio picks to show how an everyday person — with some common sense, and a little digging here and there — might do pretty well in the stock market.

And hey, maybe you can, too.

Here are her WeSeed picks and thoughts for the week of Sept. 14 ­– Sept. 18.

Monday

FedEx (bought 100 shares) – Their prices are much more reasonable than UPS. They seem to be the industry leader, especially with DHL out of the picture. We use them almost every day for shipping expenses at the office.

Canon (bought 100 shares) – I think they make a really great product and I love my digital camera.

Netflix (bought 100 shares) – I’ve been a customer for over a year and I’ve been very satisfied with their service. It never takes longer than one day to get a DVD I’m waiting for and they always arrive in good condition. They make it so easy and convenient that their envelopes have prepaid postage and you can drop them in any mailbox. Sometimes I’ll watch 10-12 movies in a month just because they come so quickly.

GM (bought 200 shares of GM) – Bought 200 because the price is so low. My family has owned GMC Yukons for many years. Not the most economical car for city driving, but it makes life pretty easy when there’s a foot of snow on the ground in mid-January. (Editor’s note: We think this might not have been the best move…)

Tuesday

Imation (bought 100 shares of Imation)– They make all of the blank CDs and DVD I’ve been using for an ongoing project here. I’ve been very pleased with the way things have turned out so far.

Pepsico (bought 100 shares) – I love the new G2 version of Gatorade.

Safeway (bought 100 shares of Safeway) – They own Dominick’s, which is the grocery store I go to. Their prices always seem to be reasonable compared to other stores in my area.

Wednesday

Apple (sold 100 shares) – The stock was up $4.13 from the previous close. This was a big jump — I’ve been watching for a while, and it hasn’t gone up more than 1.00 or so each day. I still have 200 shares of Apple in my Portfolio, but I wanted to see if it would be worth selling some while I knew it was up a lot.

Kellogg’s (bought 100 shares) –  They’ve been doing a lot of marketing recently to to point out that their product contains calcium and other vitamins. I like that they make the 100-calorie servings of their cereals, too.

Walgreens (bought 100 shares ) –  There’s a Walgreens every couple of blocks in Chicago. I go to mine for everything from medicine to hair products, and sometime even food if I don’t feel like walking to Dominick’s.

Thursday

Fossil (bought 100 shares) – I’ve had my Fossil watch for many years and it has never failed me. I’ve never even had to replace the battery. I think they make a really great product that’s stylish and comparable to designer products while still keeping the price reasonable.

Expedia (bought 100 shares) – Their site is the first to come up when typing in flight options in Google. I’ve used them several times for price comparison for different airlines and even for coordinating overseas flight.

Williams Sonoma (bought 100 shares) – I recently purchased some stuff for my apartment there. The also have great pre-made recipes for baking and cooking. I’ve tried their oatmeal raisin cookie mix and their sangria mix, and both were delicious.

Shutterfly (bought 100 shares) – With the holidays coming up, I bet many Shutterfly users will be making photo gifts on their site. I’ve made books and calendars with their site before and they always turn out great.

Whole Foods (bought 100 shares) – The new whole foods in Lincoln Park is really remarkable. There is no other grocery store in the city like it. There are restaurants inside, a winery, it’s gigantic, and everything is state of the art. More and more people nowadays are starting to eat organic and use only green products in their homes. Whole Foods is the most convenient place to get all of your green shopping done.

Friday

Starbucks (bought 100 shares) – With winter (UGGHHHH!!!!) quickly approaching, they will have more of their specialty drinks like the pumpkin spice latte and peppermint cocoa. I love them both! I think coffee in general is just more enjoyable when it’s cold outside.

Whirlpool (sold 100 shares of Whirlpool) – I had bought these back when I first opened my account and I’ve slowly been losing more and more money. Last week, I was down over $1,200 on this position, but with the rally in the market on Wednesday the price inched up to the point where I was only down about $595. I figured cutting my losses in half was good enough and I didn’t want to take the chance of it going back down, so I sold today while it was up $1.27 from yesterday’s close.

All in all, I made about $10,000 this week! That puts my total earnings at almost two percent of my whole portfolio value. The longer I’ve been doing this, the more I’ve been challenging myself to make smart, informed decisions, and it seems to be paying off.

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