After having a quiet Q2, the number of purchases just in July are adding up. This post will document 3 recent purchases in my portfolio, couple of which borderline on speculation.
The first purchase is a microcap gold exploration company and the other two are focused on copper.
The following is a 3rd party contribution
Index trading online enables traders to invest in major national indices such as the French CAC40, the German DAX30, and the British FTSE 100. The 3 major Wall Street stock indices are the DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average), the S&P 500 (Standard & Poor’s 500) and the Nasdaq.
The Dow usually gets most of the attention, but the S&P 500 is more important to traders and is generally considered the most representative of the U.S. economy, as it is made up of 500 leading companies.
Founded on March 4th, 1957, the S&P 500 represents about 80% of U.S. market capitalisation. It is the most accurate tool for investors to monitor the overall health of the U.S. economy and is widely accepted as the best gauge of large cap equities. Worldwide indices are highly correlated and U.S. markets are usually the leading indicators of global economic forces, with European and Asian markets often following their performance.
The following is a 3rd party contribution
In most business startups financing is usually a concern. Entrepreneurs are faced with a hard time trying to bring to life what they have envisioned for their startup. It can be disheartening when you compare all the beauty and greatness dreamed of and the limitations in access to funding.
However, just because funds are scarce doesn’t mean taking money from any source. Some sources of capital are incompatible with your business model and can wreak havoc to the startup.
There are institutions and individuals with zeal to see entrepreneurs transform ideas into success stories. In this article, we will point out some of the best sources of finance for an events business.
Family and friends
Apart from serving as a source of low-cost capital, they will also provide the required social proof for outside investors. When pitching this group, make sure you communicate the idea clearly enough to make them believe in you.
Even when they can’t provide large sums of money, they offer a valuable ingredient in startup funding. Most professional investors will be keen to see if the people closest to you believe in the proposed business. If they do, that could mean money flowing in towards your course.
A new purchase in Baby R2R‘s portfolio this time. Regular readers may be aware that I started a two-part portfolio for Baby R2R earlier this year. The first part is related to her education fund that is invested in index funds and I make regular monthly contributions to that fund and dollar-cost average over time. The second part of the portfolio is what I call her Nest Egg Fund.
The idea behind the Nest Egg Fund is simple and straightforward. Contribute $100/month and let the investment compound over the next few decades. Instead of going with a taxable account in her name, I have earmarked a portion of my tax free investment account, so that I can avoid paying dividend and capital gain taxes.
Dividend growth investing is a popular model followed by the investing community to build assets. Companies which not only pay dividends, but raise them year after year have been shown to perform better overall for investor returns. On the flip side, it is also important to keep an eye on the dividend cuts, which could signal troubling times ahead for a company. This post captures the announcements of changes in dividend amount for the week – both increases and cuts.
Note that only $2B+ (Midcap+) companies are included in this list.