Halloween Investing
Instead of selling on a market scare this Halloween, buy on a business bump. As October 31st draws closer, investors anticipate one of the most commercialized calendar holidays of the year. From costumes and candy to pumpkins and potions, horror sells!
Halloween will put a spell on retail, and for investors to capitalize, simple stocks should be picked. Undiversified businesses with core exposure to the action will be the most impacted by it, so expect share prices to move if sales give investors the jump this hallows eve!
Here are some investment ideas that let you trick-or-treat your way the spooky season’s $10 billion commercial prize…
Creepy Cosmetics
For boys, girls, men, and women alike, green lipstick and unusual eyeshadow palettes are standard! Parents rushed off their feet this Halloween won’t dilly dally in expensive boutiques. They’ll lunge for cheap face painting kits in Walgreens aisles and large grocery stores like Walmart. However, cosmetics shopping isn’t completely slap and dash. When rubbing unusual smelling dye onto your child’s skin, trusting the brand is essential. Amazon will struggle to sell its thousands of third-party cosmetics products this Halloween if price and convenience are the only selling points on offer.
Food, Glorious Food!
Hershey’s, in particular. Nothing will petrify middle-aged couples more this Halloween than an evening knock on the door with no candy in the cupboard. Households up and down the country are stocking up on sugar, and consumer goods companies are set to make scary profits as a result. 30% of all spending at Halloween goes towards confectioneries, and that accounts for billions of dollars. Coca-Cola should do well with mass-appealing soft drinks, but Oreo-owner Mondalez could also be a perfect play ahead of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which has a number of confectionary stars nestled deep within it.
Crazy Costumes
Amazon and Walmart, fight! Budget costumes are a duopoly, meaning only two companies dominate their sales. Dads dressed as Batman and mums dressed as witches have historically relied on big-box retailers for their outfits, but e-commerce has changed that. This showdown will benefit Disney and AT&T (the owner of Time Warner!), too. How many Disney princesses will you count this Halloween? Or Marvel superheroes? The most popular Halloween costumes double up as the most popular Halloween movies, which again, are the property of only two sets of investors!
American Eagle Outfitters could pinch the premium market for costumes, but most bunting, lighting, and other party props will be bought under one roof. With price key, Target, Home Depot, and Walmart should be in winning positions to sell Halloween bits and bobs.
Deadly Days Out
Then come, excursions! If the consumer isn’t afraid of spending this Halloween, Comcast’s Universal Studios will benefit. Going head-to-head with Disney, the Orlando theme park takes this holiday period ultra-seriously. Kids under 13, turn up you dare to its ‘Halloween Horror Nights.’ Disney, on the other hand, has something for all the family, including a movie set, of course!
Our Last Words
As darker nights set in, many investors will see smoke and mirrors on the stock market. ‘The Halloween Effect,’ where stocks rally from November to April, has long been investing lore. Some stock pickers even call it their strategy, but others remain divided on whether it’s real or just a ghostly apparition.
All we know for sure is that Halloween is big business, and through investing, we can buy ourselves a piece of it! By picking brands we believe will bring their A-game to the holiday season and surprise the investing herd, we’ll have our money working for us. Until next year, we’ll be on the winning side this Halloween!
