4th Blog Post

My strategic approach throughout this semester has been to buy and hold. I have not sold any of my stock in hopes that it would steadily increase throughout the semester. I have continued to review my stocks weekly to analyze change. Throughout the semester, I became more invested in researching the companies I chose to find factors that may have influenced stock prices. For example, Nordstrom’s stock was minimally decreasing throughout the semester, but by the end of the term, the stock was the highest performing within my portfolio. Now at the end of the semester, I have noticed that the stock price growth of Nordstrom was 16.95%. This is the highest growth in all of my stocks, which is interesting because it had been one of the lowest performing stocks earlier in the semester. 

I think there are numerous reasons that drive stock prices to increase or decrease. Specifically when analyzing Nordstrom stock, I have been following the stock price with regard to drop the Ivanka Trump line. Although the stock has been down compared to last year, it is finally illustrating a growth over the last few weeks. Because of the amount of publicity that Nordstrom got when they decided to drop the line, it may have drove the stock price down because of their bold move. In a wider observation, retail industries have also been taking a hit as more consumers are moving online for their shopping needs. I think a lot of retail industries  --Nordstrom included--are dealing with the balance between brick and mortar stores and online presence.  

Overall, my stock portfolio increased by 0.02%, so very minimal growth over the course of the semester. I am still satisfied with my growth because throughout most of the semester, my portfolio illustrated a loss. Even within the pass few weeks, my portfolio grew from a loss of 2.19% to a gain of 0.02% (growth of 2.21% since last blog post).

Throughout this portfolio project, I have learned how important is it to invest in companies not for the sole reasons that you enjoy the products and services. It is important to invest in companies after you have evaluated financial statements and analyzed the growth of the company. I have also observed that certain industries will demonstrate highs and lows throughout the year. For example, I choose to invest in both Gap and Nordstrom, which are both within the retail industry. For the majority of the term, both stocks have shown similar patterns with growth and loss during the same time evaluation. I find this interesting as different industries can be affected by different factors, and it is important to have diversification in your portfolio.

If I were to change anything about my strategic approach, it would have been to start investing more money earlier and research constantly. As the semester continued, I increasingly spent more time analyzing my stock prices, but I would have liked to pay more attention earlier in the investments process. I look forward to continuing to analyze the stock in my portfolio in the future.