Wall Street - Hello 2020

My Twitter posts about investing don't get much attention. Maybe it's because I'm not a hot shot Wall Streeter or hedge fund manager.

That's fair. I worked for over 5 years on Wall Street as an assistant and then executive assistant. I pay attention though. I read. I dig, research, create Excel spreadsheets, and dive into financial statements.

Before I give you a reiteration of my prognostication for water, clean energy, marijuana, and AI/robotics, I'll tell you a true story.

My dad talked about the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 for as far back as I can remember. He became a seasoned investor (by Wall Street standards), although he may not have been as savvy as he let on.

In 1999, I was living in NYC and every day the news mentioned some ordinary person who'd just made a killing investing in dot-com stocks. Taxi drivers, hairdressers, shoeshine boys retiring with millions, ok? MILLIONS.

I was happy for them, but filled with angsty wonder at how they made millions and my father lost so much. What did they know that he didn't?

I marched my fat ass down to Strand Books (8 miles of books) by South Street Seaport and parked myself in the Business & Investing section. I browsed through 3 stacks of books up to my knees for hours until I found an investing "bible": The Art & Science of Successful Investing by Todd Leigh Mayo. It's two inches thick. I picked it up, thinking I'd never read it, thumbed to a random page and was WOWED at how clear the writing was. Every word was solid gold advice that was at once useful and practical and compelling.

I bought that book and another that I've since forgotten, and I recommend Mayo's book to anyone interested in putting their hard-earned money to work for them in the safest way they can manage.

AT&T was about to spin off a tracking stock for AT&T Wireless (ticker AWE). My coworker and I wanted to make some fucking money and we talked about AWE. I didn't know jack about telecom, so I didn't want to put the money at risk.

Three investing seminars all said the same thing: If you'd invested $10,000 in the Dow Jones in 1967 and held it until 1997, you'd have $300,000 (gazillion dollars).

My only question: Where the hell do I get $10,000 to invest in the first place?

Enter the online discount brokers. One ad said investors could get started with $250.

WOO-HOO! I can do that! I opened an account and sent $10 or $20 every paycheck until my account balance had $250. I read Pour Your Heart Into It by Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks about how he came upon Starbucks as a marketing consultant, visited the baristas in Italy, and fell in love with coffee culture. He had a vision of Starbucks growing from a 2-guy shop in Seattle to a global powerhouse.

Dude. That's power and vision. The rest is legendary.



My coworker and I were at work after hours, and I placed my first trade. I let out a cheer. My coworker said, "What are you doing over there?"

I said, "I just placed my first trade!"

She asked, "What did you buy?"

"Starbucks!"

"How much did you buy?"

"Seventy-five!"

"Shares?" She peered around the corner at me.

"Nope. Dollars worth. I got three shares!" I can't overstate how excited I was.

She belted out a laugh. I mean, a long, loud laugh.

"I'm not rich," I said, still incredibly proud of my start.

She got quiet and came closer. "I'm not rich either. Show me what you're doing."


 

I  no longer hold SBUX (sadly), but I kept at it at my own pace with money I felt comfortable putting at risk, because the education I was gaining was shrinking my risk. Knowledge is power. The less you know, the more empowered Wall Street is to take advantage. The more you know (I mean REALLY know), the more empowered YOU are to avoid getting taken for a ride.

My prognostication:

Water. Global water scarcity is a definite real problem looming in the near future, and already a real problem in many places. There is an ETF for global water, but I'm liking ticker WTR as the second largest water supplier/utility in the States. That holding is up double digits from the time I purchased. Still long the position.



Clean Energy. Solar, wind, etc. There is an ETF for clean energy. If you don't want to learn how to read financial statements and all that dry stuff, go for the easiest route to diversification and low expense ratios with an ETF (exchange traded fund).

Marijuana. People are going to continue demanding medical and recreational weed. The government will cave in and regulate it. Example Canopy Growth. (I made over $1000 on a single trade. Sadly I sold it before Constellation Brands bought them out). One opportunity made, another lost. That's life.
Aphria (APHA) is way down. I'm not sure what their individual chances of success are, but at under $6.00 per share lately, there's some room for upside movement.



AI/Robotics. I seriously can't foresee my profession being replaced by AI or robots, but I've been wrong before. In the event it happens and I lose my livelihood, I expect to profit anyway.




The extra: Waste management and recyclers. The plastic crisis is for real. We can't give up plastic until we give up petroleum, which isn't going to happen overnight. The best we can do in transition to clean energy and natural packaging products is to find better ways to dispose of plastics or recycle them.

I'm not qualified to sell investment advice, so you'll have to do some research on your own. Get your eyeballs on The Art & Science of Successful Investing as a primer. It's got all the basics down in plain English.

That's all.

Make 2020 a magical year!

Mackenzie