To say we were scared is an understatement!
Watching Real-Time Stocks Is Addictive!
We are in no way stock market people. We don't even know anyone personally who plays the stock market.
The first few days were all about learning to use the Ameritrade website, researching potential stocks to buy and deciding which ones we thought were a good investment.
So much research goes into finding a decent stock we feel comfortable with. This is where having some insider trading would be beneficial- just kidding.
On the Ameritrade's website, we can watch in real-time the numbers change as the come in from trading. It really is quite addictive. Mr Golden D will text me throughout the with updates (curse me for downloading the app to his phone). I only check in three times a day for updates; over morning coffee at the start of the session, lunchtime and at the closing bell at 4PM our time. But he prefers to see all day long how the stocks are doing.
We each picked two and had one mutual one. So we have five different stock options owned.
We settled on five different ones to begin with:
- Core-Mark Holding Company Inc (distributor to convenience stores)
- Discovery Inc (Discovery TV)
- Gan Ltd (software company for online gambling)
- Royal Bank of Canada (financial institution)
- NextCure Inc (cannabis research)
It has been rocky to say the least with our picks.
My Picks: Core-Mark and Discovery Inc
His Picks: Gan Ltd and Royal Bank Of Canada
Mutual Pick: NextCure Inc
So why did we pick what we did?
- Core-Mark Holding Company Inc- this one was chosen due to the fact they supply convenience retail industry in North America. According to their NASDAQ company profile:
The Company's segments include the United States, Canada and Corporate. The Company's primary customer base consists of traditional convenience stores, as well as alternative outlets selling consumer packaged goods. The Company's traditional convenience store customers include various national and super-regional convenience store operators, as well as independently owned convenience stores. Its alternative outlet customers include a range of store formats, including grocery stores, drug stores, liquor stores, cigarette and tobacco shops, hotel gift shops, military exchanges, college and corporate campuses, casinos and hardware stores
We're hoping when the pandemic and quarantines are over and kids return to college, people are travelling more and getting out of the house on a more frequent basis that this company's stock will begin to rise as consumer buying increases.
- Discovery Inc- Their NASDAQ company profile says:
Television brands, such as Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, ID, Velocity and Eurosport. It is also engaged in extending content distribution across various platforms, including brand-aligned Websites, Web-native networks and online streaming
I learned earlier this year they are premiering a new streaming service in collaboration with BBC America this summer. Think Netflix but for nature here. They are also pulling all the BBC America shows currently on Netflix and other streaming services when their contract runs out in the early months of summer 2020.
- Gan Ltd- With the closing of casinos across the country people, hard-core gamblers and with the absence of pro-sports, we were looking to people having withdrawals and needing their fix.
NASDAQ company profile is:
GAN Ltd provides enterprise software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions for online casino gaming (iGaming) and online sports betting applications. The Company operates through two segments: Real money iGaming operations (RMiG) and Simulated iGaming operations (SiG). It provides its technology platform as GameSTACK Internet gaming ecosystem platform (GameSTACK), which can be deployed for simulated iGaming, real money iGaming and online sports betting
- Royal Bank of Canada- this one solely falls on Mr Golden D. He just had a feeling. I'm not so sure, but with this gamble of a stock, but I let him have it. SIDE NOTE: This one has done the worst by far to date.
Their NYSE company profile states:
Royal Bank of Canada is a diversified financial services company. The Company provides personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance, investor services and capital markets products and services on a global basis. The Company serves personal, business, public sector and institutional clients in Canada, the United States and approximately 34 other countries
- NextCure Inc- Their NASDAQ company profile is:
Nextcure Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, which is focused on discovering and developing immunomedicines to treat cancer and other immune-related diseases. The Company uses its functional integrated nextcure discovery in immune oncology (FIND-IO) technology to functional screening approaches for the identification of targets from multiple therapeutic areas
Of course we had to have some sort of cannabis stock in our portfolio. That just makes sense to us.
So How Are We Fairing?
We're giving it three months to see how each stock has performed. We are closing in on the three months mark right now and are considering our upcoming options: buy more, sell some or to just leave them alone.
As stated above, the Royal Bank Of Canada is floundering so we may sell it off.
The other four have their good days and their bad days. We are still undecided at this time. We still have to wait and see how it all plays out as the world comes out of quarantine hibernation and attempts to get back to normal.
How about you? Do you dabble in the stock market?
