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Today we are watching…
1. Nintendo (#nintendo)
The Great Lockdown is a winner for vices. The population is going square-eyed playing Nintendo’s ‘Animal Crossing,’ a feel-good game that’s catapulted Nintendo’s share price almost back to its pre-corona highs. The Nintendo Switch, an aging handheld console needed to play the game, has sold out. The company’s stock price now rests on how well it can navigate supply chain bottlenecks to get one of these devices into the hands of everyone in quarantine who wants one. ‘Animal Crossing’ is the hit. It’s seen over 1.9 million sales and looks like a classic in the making. Will it be a catalyst for support for Nintendo’s share price?
2. Moody’s (#moody)
Investors love this credit ratings agency. It’s not for its stock market performance, but for the service it literally provides. Moody’s analyses the financial strength of different companies. If a company has a flimsy balance sheet and it looks unlikely to service its debt (a huge red flag), it tells investors by lowering its credit rating. Moody’s now says that ethical ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance factors) takes greater prominence when deciding a rating. It makes sense. If you’re business is vulnerable to monsoons and melting ice, there’s a higher chance something terrible could happen, and you might not be able to pay your debt. Look at your portfolio. How would you score your own companies?
Staying Bust During Market Closures
Anyone out there? American markets took the day off on Good Friday, as did many exchanges around the world on Easter Monday. With no action on the indices, what’s a trader to do?
Well, out goes the noise. There are no momentary mega-risers or flash crashing mega-fallers to distract you from your investing analyses. Some will hit the Invstr feed with hot topics and questions, how long the rally will run. Others will unplug completely, crunch numbers in silence, and return to markets with conviction next week. One thing’s for certain, now’s the time to extend an advantage over market rivals.
Investing is not a zero-sum game, there’s plenty dollar to go round. However, to make more than the average investor, you need an ‘edge’ that the average investor doesn’t have. You need to know something he or she doesn’t know. You need a stronger gut, more practice, experience, and you need to work harder flat-out.
Most buyers and sellers are active between 9:30 a.m. and 4.00 p.m., official trading hours on the New York Stock Exchange. Others start at 8:00 a.m., catching pre-market, and they don’t go home until the bulk of after-market moves are made at 6.30 p.m. Commendable, but what if they took it a step further.
What if they didn’t take leave on days like today, studied companies at night, and traded them during the day? What if they took investing as seriously as athletes take their training? It won’t matter what your rivals do in the pre-market if they’re already ten years behind you. Down to business!