We have set down our own rules for investing:
1. Know Your Value
Understand the current worth of your portfolio and the amounts you are currently investing and make sure you are not over or under invested. Be aware of your contributions. If you are putting money aside for retirement (which you should be), make sure it is actually working for you.
2. Do Your Research
Know where you are putting your money and if you are getting assistance through a Financial Adviser, make sure you are asking questions. Research your investment options. Don't be intimidated into not learning about your own Financial Future just because the workings of Wall Street are not second nature to you...pssst....you don't have to be Gordon Gecko to make your investments work for you. You can find ways to wisely invest according to your comfort level, whether you want to actively manage your own portfolio, or if you would rather leave that to more capable hands (but that doesn't mean you should take a backseat to your own financial security). If you use a Investment Brokerage to do any active trading, understand their fees and always make sure to include the cost of fees into your buying and selling strategies (don't let the fees cut into your profits).
3. Stay Involved
Do not let Tax Time be the only time you check your Portfolio. There are plenty of Guides for Lazy Investors hanging around on the internet. Seek them out if you are interested in being more laissez-faire, but don't be so far removed that you are not following the first two rules...always know your value and always do your research. It does no good to have investments if you aren't able to capitalize on the Market's massive up swings...or staunch the bleeding when things start to go south. Warren Buffett's age old advice might be, "The best time to buy is whenever you have money; and the best time to sell is never." But, let's face it, most of us aren't Warren Buffett and we can't hope to become anything like him, if we aren't willing to stay involved in our own Financial Investments.
So, why is a dog blog focusing on Financials?
Simple.
The Companion Animal industry is BIG business. Americans love their pets and are forking over a lot of money for their creatures' comforts.
The American Pet Product Association (The APPA) has estimated that Pet Lovers spent a whopping $60.59 BILLION on their animals in 2015, which is up from $58.04 billion in 2014. The amount of money spent each year has grown steadily in a trend that suggests that this area of the Market is recession proof.
No one should be surprised by these numbers...we all love our animals and we all spoil them.
Investing in Animal related stocks seems to be a pretty wise financial strategy.
Common investment knowledge suggest that Consumer Staples (items that we ALWAYS needs regardless of the economy, like food & beverages or other everyday household items) are relatively safe investments because people will always need these items, therefore, money will always flow into these companies. Stocks related to Animal Care should also have similar overall resistance to Market fluctuations, because no matter what Fido needs to be fed and go the the Vet.
Animal Pharmaceutical and Animal Healthcare companies can be a good place to start researching. Companies such as Zoetis INC. (NYSE: ZTS) and VCA Antech (NYSE: WOOF) have steadily made overall gains and could be a welcome addition to any Pet Lovers Investment Portfolio. Springboard your research inquiries with this helpful link.
The Neogen Corp (NYSE: NEOG) deals directly with Pet Food safety and quality and is also likely to experience continued economic growth due to its position as an industry leader.
PetMed Express (NYSE:PETS) has been referred to (by this article) as the "Amazon of the Pet World" and Amazon is a pretty strong stock to own. While PetMed Express has shown a bit more fluctuations in its performance, the overall trend is upward and is worthy of researching.
At Mama & The Mutt, we like the good old-fashion ETF approach to investing. ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) allow investors to benefit from multiple stocks in a more succinct manner or at least spread investment dollars to bet on multiple horses in hopes of capitalizing on a series of gaining stocks and temper potential losses.
We are currently watching Market Vectors Agribusiness with the very appropriate NYSE symbol MOO as a potential investment ( However, this investment comes with a warning due to personally held concerns related to the environment being at odds with Monsanto being one the holdings and being at odds with our more Vegetarian/Vegan leanings with Tyson Food being another one of the holdings.)
Forgive that brief aside, and know that all of this stresses the importance of researching your options before making investments and doing what makes sense according to your own Financial/Ethical Values.
We would love for you to weigh in. Let us know your opinion on investors following their heart/conscience or strictly paying attention to the bottom-line.
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