Friday, July 10, 2009

Money & Business

New Money by Katy Marquardt

The Angelina Jolie Stock Index, Decoded

August 19, 2008 11:32 AM ET | Katy Marquardt | Permanent Link | Print

I'm loving Investopedia's (somewhat exhausting) list of investing buzzwords. A few of my favorites:

Angelina Jolie Stock Index: created by Fred Fuld of Stockerblog, this index is made up of companies linked to the actress. Think stocks of movie studios and producers: Sony, Viacom, and Time Warner. "Because Jolie's films usually earn large box-office revenues, the companies that produce these movies should have higher profits," says Investopedia. There may be something to this: According to Stockerblog (via Seeking Alpha), indexes that track three celebrities—Gisele Bündchen, Heidi Klum, and Angelina Jolie—have outperformed the Dow over the past six months.

Aspirin-Count Theory: hypothesizes that stock prices and aspirin are inversely related. The theory, which has never been formally tested, says that as stock prices fall, more people are popping painkillers to get through the day.

Back Up the Truck: taking a large position in a stock. "Typically, when someone is willing to back up the truck on a financial asset, this implies that they're extremely bullish on that asset's performance." Lately, Bill Gates has been backing up the truck on Canadian National Railways and Mexican stocks, Ken Heebner is loading up on commodity stocks, and Carl Icahn is way into biotech.

Big Uglies: old companies in gritty industries like mining and steel. In other words: unsexy investments.

Drill-Bit Stock: shares that trade for less than a dollar. If you're intrigued by drill bits, check out Motley Fool's "Why We Love Wild Penny Stocks."

Gunslinger: a "high-strung portfolio manager who, looking for high returns, invests in very high-risk stock." Ken Heebner comes to mind.

One-Night-Stand Investment: a brief love affair with a stock. According to Investopedia, it's when you buy a stock with the intention of holding it for the long term, but in the harsh morning light, you panic and sell.

Vulture Fund: buys securities in distressed investments, such as high-yield bonds in or near default. "As the name implies, these funds are like circling vultures patiently waiting to pick over the remains of a rapidly weakening company. The goal is high returns at bargain prices."

Tags: stocks | stock market

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Reader Comments

Market Misperceptions

Interesting article. I work for Fisher Investments, and we have a forum-style website that discusses stock market misperceptions. Check it out here:http://www.fisherinvestmentsforum.com/stock-market-misperceptions

Interesting article about alternative stock indices.

Interesting article about alternative stock indices. I work for Fisher Investments and more financial news and information is available at MarketMinder http://www.marketminder.com

PR NO? Is it worth your credibility?

The first thing I noticed was the box office prowess of Angelina Jolie. Wanted did a bit well, but what about her other movie? Can she pull a dud to box office success single handedly? Wanted has been the worst perfroming summer blockbuster. It perfomed well in the forst week and has only made less than 150 million in the US. Not much for a movie that had a huge first weekend. She is actually box office poison. I am sure there other celebrities you could have used. Then again, you wanted to do some PR for Angelina, didn't you. Was it worth your credibility? How convinient for you to forget st John.

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Katy Marquardt, a senior editor at U.S.News & World Report, takes a contemporary look at happenings in the financial world and aims to help young investors get going with their portfolios--or just sound cool at cocktail parties. Have a question? E-mail Katy at newmoney@usnews.com

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