The financial world feels closer to us than ever. Finances are one of the leading topics on the news, and we continuously feel its impact. It seems that everything is impacting the economy, from cryptocurrency skyrocketing at the end of 2017 and crashing a year later to the real estate bubble to a meltdown in the Saudi Arabia oil market. Despite the apparent volatility of the market, everyone is talking about opportunities to invest, and you probably feel left out.
So where are all these investment opportunities hiding?
The truth is, they are around you all the time. If you buy a new car, you capitalize on an investment opportunity. Stock prices are a little like cars. Some will generally have a solid price with little fluctuation such as Google, Amazon, Apple, and some are more speculative such as Tesla or Bitcoin. The key is to understand the current and future market trends.
How do you fit in?
Remember how your elders used to say, “Listen before you speak”? Investing is like that. Financial information is all around you, but you must pay attention to it before you act. For starters, did you ever notice that ribbon at the bottom of your TV screen with numbers on it when you watch the news? That’s the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ticker showing the daily market prices. That’s how much everyone’s work put together is worth -- so if it’s “in the green” or has a plus sign in front of it, that’s how much more your work is worth.
Why aren’t you feeling it? In one word -- mediators.
Cutting out the middleman
Intermediaries traditionally handle financial investing. But the truth is, you do not need anyone to tell you how to start investing, just like you do not need anyone telling you what car to drive or who to vote for. If the information is there, why not do it yourself? Why pay someone to tell you how to invest, especially if they have a history of losing everyone’s money except their own? Does Lehman Brothers sound familiar? It went bankrupt, but the CEOs and the board are living better than you ever will.
Taking back control
Everyone can learn how to invest. Warren Buffett earned a reputation for making sound choices based on a simple formula -- understanding intrinsic value of assets and recognizing the role emotions can play in trading.
When you understand what people need and want and for how long (long or short), you are well on your way. From there, you need to balance be wary of the “hype” and other dubious temptations that tend to reel in investors.
If you followed the Saudi crisis, you might panic if you invested in oil. But you know Saudi Arabia is the largest exporter of oil and we are dependent on oil, so you could guess the price of petroleum will eventually drop -- the “law of supply and demand.” You know you must be patient because it is a highly valuable commodity to our society. But things could change and another innovation or discover can take its place.
Bottom line: Pay attention to what people use daily to make their lives more manageable and bank on that.
