Last updated on March 24th, 2024 at 01:29 am
If you’re anything like me you’ll be astounded at the range and availability of different financial products there on the market. From bank accounts, building society accounts, stocks, shares, bonds and property there’s so much to choose from and so many pros and cons to each one. As if that’s not complicated enough you also have to consider if you want to tie your money up with a company; it’ll increase your rate of return but you’ll not have access to your money for 5 years or more. It’s enough to make you just want to spend your savings on a holiday for the kids and get some Disneyland Paris tickets.
But while you and the kids are enjoying yourselves will you get the familiar guilt of wondering whether you should be saving for the long term? When your good lady is shopping in Paris you’ll be thinking of the bills and the lack of cash to pay them with. You might idly wonder whether Disney is a good company to invest in.
On the plus side it is the largest entertainment company in the world, it’s in the Fortune 500, it has a proven record high profits and it has a diversified portfolio that shields it against occasional brand failures. Their purchase of Marvel with its impending new Spiderman film series will guarantee positive stock movement in the near future. The main caveat against Disney is that its success is cyclical. With the end of Hannah Montana there will inevitable be a slight downturn though once a replacement series has been developed the stock will rise again.
A more recent shot in the arm was on 8th April with the announcement that Disney is investing $4.4 billion in a new resort in Shanghai, China. This will be their second amusement park in the most populated country on the planet.
But this is an article about the worst places to invest your money, a brief collection of companies to avoid if you want to improve your assets and get a good return on your money.
Stocks and Shares
Argos
It’s been a bad year for Argos-to-Homebase owner Home Retail, 40% down at 193.6p. It was removed from the Footsie following consecutive quarters of poor trading: sales down 5.1% in the second quarter after an 8.1% fall in the first quarter.
Orexigen Therapeutics Inc
This health care pharmaceuticals company is currently the worst performer in the United States’ Russell 3000: 68.43% down, probably due to the disastrous news in February that the FDA wouldn’t licence the Contrave diet drug.
Akamai Technologies
The internet speed and reliability service has been down 22% on the S&P 500 since December 2010.
Expedia Inc
The travel services company isn’t faring much better, it’s been down 21% since winter.
Property
If property is more your cup of tea then you need to be careful where you invest. According to the Forbes magazine, California is starting to look promising but Florida is definitely somewhere to avoid. Check out this best and worst cities link for more information.
European New Builds
You need to take special care if you intend to buy new build Spanish property. It is estimated that there are 100,000 houses in Spain which are not legal constructions and so far at least 20,000 of these properties have destruction orders on them. New property here can be an investment but only if you ally yourself with a good legal representative who knows his property law backwards.
And finally…
Should I invest in the company I work for?
Absolutely NOT. I have encountered a number of employers who have encouraged their staff to invest in the company shares only for the company to go bust taking the employees jobs and savings with it.
Guest blogger, Greg Coltman, is not a financial expert but keeps his head aloft the murky fiscal waters with an ironed copy of FT and buoyancy aids in his briefcase.
