By Maxwell Scardetta
Contributing Writer
Investing 101: Mutual Funds
Mutual funds are a great way to invest without having to do a lot of the work yourself. A mutual fund is a company that pools money from many investors and invests the money in securities such as stocks, bonds and short-term debt. The entirety of the securities purchased by the mutual fund is known as its portfolio. Investors then buy shares of the mutual fund; each share represents ownership in the fund. The income generated from the investments within the fund is then paid out to the investors. The main advantage to investing into a mutual fund is that it gives smaller investors access to professionally managed and diversified portfolios without having to invest a high dollar amount. Diversity within the mutual fund is another attractive feature to the mutual fund. Typically mutual funds will invest in a wide range of companies and industries which protects you in case one of those companies fails. But before you buy shares of a mutual fund be sure to read the prospectus thoroughly. Within the prospectus it outlines the mutual funds investment objectives, risks, performance and expenses.
SIMM meets every Monday and Wednesday from 4pm-5:15pm in the Financial Services Lab (Swan 101). All majors and experience levels are welcome. Researching companies and presenting recommendations help you develop personal investing skills provide education that cannot be found in any other class. If you are interested feel free to contact Steve Zimmer at zimmersm11@bonaventure.edu
This Week
Long Fund: $264,405
Energy Fund: $259,811
GAINERS
PSX 3.3%
GLOB 2.8%
MO 2.8%
UPL 2.7%
LOSERS
HOG -1.3%
AAPL -0.8 %
IWM -0.8%
MET -0.4%
Trading Activity
BUY
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO)
Yahoo! Inc. operates as a technology company worldwide. The company offers search products, including Yahoo Search that serves as a starting point to navigate the Internet and discover information. They also generate consumer interest through; Yahoo mail, Messenger, Weather, My Yahoo, Finance, Fantasy Sports, Yahoo Answers, video sharing and Yahoo groups. Since March, Alibaba (BABA), which Yahoo! Inc. owns a quarter of, decided to go public in the U.S. on September 18th 2014. Alibaba is the most popular destination for online shopping in the world’s fastest growing e-commerce market (China). With transactions totaling over $248 billion last year, this makes them larger than eBay and Amazon combined. Yahoo! earnings from Alibaba in the first two quarters of this fiscal year totaled $557 million. They are expected to be one of the world’s most powerful tech companies after its IPO.
BUY
Ultra Petroleum Corp. (UPL)
Ultra Petroleum Corp., an independent oil and gas company, is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development, production and operation of oil and natural gas properties in the United States. The purchase of this natural gas stock will help us to diversify within the energy sector, our current holdings are conglomerates and oil based companies. We see natural gas futures prices to be bullish throughout the foreseeable future, and we are bearish on oil due to an excess supply available domestically. UPL also has convenient access to numerous refineries and transportation vehicles, allowing them to extend their maximum overall takeaway capacity.
scardema11@bonaventure.edu
