Since the focus of this blog is investments, I’ll post about what fashionistas call as “investment pieces”. From a perspective of an investor and not a fashionista, do these things really exist?
Fashion pundits throw the term “investment pieces” as if they were Jordan Belfort – played by Leo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street – throwing money off a yacht.
How do fashionistas qualify an item as an “investment piece”? Continue reading Fashion: Is There Such a Thing as an Investment Piece?
The 2015 Australian Open Men’s and Women’s Singles Finalists are playing for the championship. Get a piece of the action by wearing their outfits. Don’t know where to buy them and how much they cost? This post will help you.
For two weeks, we have seen tennis players at the 2015 Australian Open wear the same outfits over and over again. There’s a reason for that. There’s also a reason why those clothes (or variations of them) are available in stores now. That reason is for you to buy them. That’s marketing for you.
Some outfits looked great. Some outfits looked hideous. At the end of the day (or tournament in this case), only the outfits of the tennis stars matter. That’s why they are paid the big bucks.
Federer and Nadal obviously got the best kits from Nike. Does anyone want to buy the outfits that handed Roger and Rafa early eliminations? Nah, I’ll pass on those. I’m buying what the winners were wearing.
Here are the outfits of the 2015 Australian Open Men’s Singles finalists, where to buy them, and how much they cost:
Novak Djokovic
Buy the shirt at Uniqlo for US$ 49.90. The white version which Novak also wore is also available for the same price. (see 9983:JP latest stock information)
Continue reading The Australian Open Finalists’ Outfits: The Sponsors Tell You to Buy Them Now!
This post is part of a series that is related to the ongoing Australian Open 2015 tournament.
Sharapova and Sugarpova initially seemed to be a mismatch, but the combination actually makes sense.
Health and sugar don’t match. In fact, in recent years, sugar has probably earned the unhealthy reputation of bacon. Look at what has happened to Krispy Kreme.
A sport star is a bastion of fitness and if ever one will associate himself with a sugary product, the terms used will be “fuel”, “power” or “energy boost” rather than “sweet, “sugar” or “candy”.
In 2012, when Maria Sharapova, a five time grand slam tennis champion, launched Sugarpova, a line of premium candies, many were perplexed with the move.
Sharapova is the world’s highest paid female athlete, and she makes most of that money off the court by hawking products from Tag Heuer, Nike, Porsche, Cole Haan and other brands. What makes Sugarpova different from all those other brands is that it is actually Sharapova’s own business. She’s selling the candies on behalf of herself.
Sugarpova is “premium” candy; in other words, more expensive than usual candies. A 5 oz bag of Sugarpovas costs around USD 5.99, many times more than usual candy brands. Not that these candies have something to be premium about. Most premium products boast using the finest ingredients, the finest manufacturing technique (finest being either ultra modern or handmade, but never the in-between), posh packaging, or luxurious buying experience. None of these are present in or claimed by Sugarpova. Sugarpovas are expensive because of Maria Sharapova.
There have always been premium chocolates, but never premium candies. Who would have thought of coming up with premium sour balls or gummy bears? Apparently no one has, which is why Sugarpova occupies its own niche. There must be candy that’s worthy of selfies, instagrams and facebook posts. Sugarpova fills that void.
In its first three months of release, Sugarpova had sold around 250,000 bags. It has probably sold more than a million bags by now. That’s major, considering that these candies have limited availability. In fact, here in the Philippines, there’s only one store chain that carries it.
I was lucky to get a bag here in Manila. The store I went to had only two bags. One is “Quirky Sour, the other is “Quirky”. Obviously, I didn’t have to ask what the difference between the two is… Actually I did. The sales lady said one was sweet, the other was sour. I went with the non-sour one.
Continue reading Sharapova and Sugarpova: Game, Set and Mismatch – But Both are Winning
In this post, I’ll show a job listing for an equity analyst position from a Philippine based stockbrokerage firm, and let’s see what traits the company is looking for.
Because I’ve passed all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exams, I would normally get emails regarding job opportunities in investment.
Here is a job listing for an equity analyst position at the stockbrokerage unit of a Philippines based bank. This is what they’re looking for in an applicant:
I think I have what they are looking for. I enjoy working as a doctor though. What caught my eye in the list is the requirement for being “persuasive”.
I always thought that if you’re an equity analyst, your work should speak for itself. I didn’t know that part of the job is to also “convince” people.
Here is an interesting excerpt from the book How to Get an Equity Research Analyst Job: A Guide to Starting a Career in Asset Management by Gillian D. Elcock – available at Amazon
“Conviction is very important when you are an analyst. You can’t be lukewarm about your stock. You can’t give up on your idea the moment someone presents you with a different opinion about the company…
In fact, as an analyst, you often have to persuade your fund managers to buy your stocks, to convince them that this is the right thing to do… Why should they risk their client’s money and their careers if you don’t even have the conviction to stand behind your own stock recommendation?”
Ok, I am convinced. The author really knows how to persuade.
– Finance MD
thefinancemd.com
In this post, I am not just going to calculate the discount from a run-of-the-mill Dunkin’ Donuts food promo (because that would be too easy), but also try to connect it to the concept of self-interest and the invisible hand. By the way, this is NOT an advertorial. This is a legitimate post y’all. I love donuts and I love promos more. Upon entering a neighborhood Dunkin’ Donuts (DNKN:US see latest stock quote), I planned to take out one – or maybe two – donuts home. However, I saw this poster.
The franchise owner for Dunkin’ Donuts in the Philippines is Golden Donuts Incorporated. The promo price for this box of donuts is PHP 199 (USD 4.51). If I buy the donuts separately, this is what I’ll have to pay:
Separately, the donuts cost a total of PHP 213, so there’s a savings of PHP 14 (USD 29 cents) or 6.6% with the promo. In my opinion, that small a discount is not really a good deal. Continue reading Deconstructing the Dunkin’ Donuts 3-3-12 Promo: How Much Did I Save and Why Dunkin Benefits More From the Deal
Stella Marquez Araneta is currently making headlines in the Philippines and not in a good way. See related post here.
From Filipino designers to Twitter users, it seems that many are expressing their disappointment – ok anger – with her. Will the angry netizens speak with their wallets though? Stella had married into one of the Philippines’ wealthiest families. The Aranetas are involved in many businesses in the country.
Aside from the Araneta Coliseum, which is part of the 35 hectare Araneta Center complex, what are the other business holdings of the Aranetas? Continue reading The Araneta Wealth
One of my earliest posts this month was about the “January effect” for stock investments.
It seems that there is also this kind of phenomenon when it comes to fitness. Here are possible reasons why people care more about their physical fitness during January:
Like investments though, the highs in January may not necessarily be sustained for the rest of the year, and Facebook has the answer. Continue reading Health and Finance: The “January Effect” for Fitness and the Associated “Failed” Statistics
Finance, M.D. thefinancemd.com 