Review of the Market (Oct. 19, 2009 - Oct. 23, 2009)

On the 22nd anniversary of Black Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average started to fall from 10,092.19, fluctuating throughout the week, eventually ending on 9,972.18. The S&P 500 opened the week at 1,088.22 and dropped slightly throughout the week, coming to a close at 1,079.60. The NASDAQ fared just about the same as the S&P 500, in terms of weekly fluctuation. It opened at 2162.41 and declined very little, closing at 2,154.47.

Decline in Newspaper Circulation

With constant stress on the new age of technology newspaper seems to be the only media that is really taking a hit. Internet usage is at its all time high, and thus newspaper is more applicable online than it is stop at a stand. The convience of typing in the article in paper you want is much more efficient than reading and reading article by article. Circulation is down 10.6% in a six month span. The same span that dropped newspaper circulation last year. It looks as if the newspaper age is certainly dying off. However, it does not seem that everyone will go completely efficient. The newspaper sells not only stories, but a lifestyle. People fall into the routine of getting their coffee, buying a paper, and going to work. This is truly all that the paper has going for it. However, once the next generation gets into the workforce I expect that newspaper circulation will be at its all time low again and again. The age of technology is here and is moving with a full head of steam.
Source: http://http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2009-10-26-newspaper-circulation_N.htm

Review of Our Portfolio (Oct. 19, 2009 - Oct. 23, 2009)

We started the week of October 19, 2009 by purchasing 975 shares of Netflix stock at $54.44 a share. This equaled out to a net cost of around $54,140.58. Our fees and commissions for the week totaled out to be around $1,061.58. We have not sold any stocks at the moment. All of our stocks, except Capital One Financial (COF), decreased in value over the week. At weeks end we had lost $934.43 because all of our stocks have decreased in value. We chose which stocks to invest in by choosing, what we thought, were the highest risk/highest reward stocks available. No stock splits or dividends occurred during the week of the 19th.

Netflix coming next month to Playstation 3

Netflix consumers will soon be able to instantly stream movies and television episodes to the television via the Playstation 3. This new announcement pairs the most popular and fastest growing home entertainment brands in the U.S. This new partnership of Netflix and the PS3 solidifies the PS3 as the most complete home entertainment system. Netflix members will be able to instantly watch unlimited TV episodes streamed to their TVs and computers via the PS3 for the same price as usual of $8.99. Other PPV options may cost you $3.99 a movie. Watching just 3 movies would pay off for Netflix members using the PS3. "The PlayStation 3 system has always been about more than just gaming, and it will soon be the only platform in the industry to offer consumers such a variety of convenient options for enjoying movies and TV shows," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, SCEA. The pairing of Netflix and PS3 will enable PS3 owners to enjoy an unparalleled experience watching their favorite movies and TV episodes.

Review of the Markets

The week of 10/12/09 to 10/16/09 was fairly good for the S&P 500. The value ended at 1087.68 on the sixteenth. This was a rise from 1076 beginning on the twelfth. Also, by far the best day of the week for the S&P 500 was Thursday where it rose above 1096. The Dow Jones did also very, very well this week. The value at the beginning of the week it was at 9885.75 and by the end of the week it rose to 9955.19. For the Dow Jones Thursday was also great. They rose above 10000 for that day. The NASDAQ also had gains this week. It started off at 2139.13 and ended at 2156.80. The NASDAQ had great gains and it also had its most substantial gains on Thursday where it peaked at 2173.29. The stock market in general all had gains this week.

Review of Our Portfolio

This week we purchased three stocks. The first was Capital One Financial. We lost a total of $2482.20 off of this stock. However, $770.22 was off of commission and fees. We decided to purchase this stock because it was one of the highest risk stocks on the market based on prior research and we thought it would help our chances at winning the game. Our second stock was Hasbro. We purchased this company because of the upcoming toy and Christmas seasons. We thought this stock would go up a little, but instead it went down $558.40. However, $571.00 was off of commission so we actually gained around ten dollars on the stock back. Our third stock we purchased was EMC Corporation stock. This was also purchased on the basis of it being one of the highest risk stocks on the market. We found this information on the Internet and figured that if we were going to win we would need to put a lot of money into high risk stock. However, we lost a total of $1011 on this stock alone, but $358.00 was lost due to commission and fees. Our total equity right now is $95557.79 with a buying power of $108845.58. We also acquired $69.39 from dividends total this week.

Rising Oil Prices

Could the rising oil prices possibly stunt the current stock rally? The stock market is currently on the rise. However, the rising oil prices might stunt that stock market rally. The price of oil has been on the rise because investors have been anticipating a stronger global demand as many factories come back to life. The price of a barrel of oil has jumped to over $78 which is a 76% jump in 2009. The amazing 20.4% jump in the stock market cannot overcome that kind of a jump in oil prices though. The rising oil prices weren't a problem for the stock market in 2007 until the price per barrel reached $80 which is the level historically that energy prices start negatively affecting consumer behavior. If the price per barrel of oil reaches $80, people should begin to worry about the stock market rally. People have been pleased how their stocks have been increasing, but the rising oil prices might spoil the current stock market rally.

Movie-Related Toys Helps Hasbro Succeed

Hasbro's third quarter profit rose 8.8%. This is largely due to toys created by Hasbro relating to major blockbuster movies, such as, Transformers 2, and G.I. Joe. Hasbro's gross margin rose to 57% from 55.9%. Recently, Hasbro's stocks fell 1.17, or 4%, to $28.35. Overall sales for Hasbro dropped during the third quarter, due to unfavorable foreign-exchange rates. This happened at a poor time, just as entertainment and licensing revenues had began to rise. On a more positive note, Hasbro brought back 1.1 million shares, for $32.4 million over the period.

The article can be viewed at: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091019-708117.html

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