Once you start getting interested in finances, it is inevitable that you will eventually start researching individual stocks.
All the financial pundits and mathematical experts will tell you not to invest in individual stocks. I get it. It’s the age old active versus passive investing argument.
If you buy one stock and it goes under, you have lost all your money in that stock.
However, if you buy a passively managed index fund, then if one company fails, it is replaced by another and your money is still out there working for you.
Although most of my stock portfolio is invested in index funds like the VFINX, I too own single stocks.
It’s the thrill of the chase that gets be going after these companies. I love researching companies. Some of these businesses have more drama behind the scenes and among the management than Gossip Girl!
So sit back and relax while I bring you some stock gossip. You can stop flipping through that latest Cosmo or Barron’s article for just one second, put down that New York Times crossword puzzle, pause that rerun of Billions, book mark your spot in The Wall Street Journal, while Greenbacks Magnet presents to you Stock Splits and Misfits.
Cause you know, everyone just loves juicy gossip. XOXO đ
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DECIDE TO GO ROGUE
Just between you and me, I am especially fond of these two stock holdings. I will let you in on which two stocks I enjoy individually owning: Apple and Berkshire Hathaway. The year was 2013. I wanted to have a little fun and invest some money. Therefore, I decided to buy shares of Apple and Berkshire.
For those who may not know, Berkshire Hathaway is the most expensive stock in the world priced at 321,600 as of 01:56 EDT PM 07/02/2019. For some added perspective on this stock, in 2011 it was priced for the low, low cost of $115,750; therefore, this one stock has almost tripled in price. That is incredible!
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) is the holding company of famed investor, Warren Buffett. Notable companies under the Berkshire umbrella include Geico Auto Insurance, Helzberg Diamonds and The Pampered Chef. Buffett, long a critic of short-term trading, has kept the A shares at a high valuation in order to decrease the volatility that comes from short-term trading.
Unless you have over $300,000 lying around in your personal bank vault, then you will have to stick with buying the B shares of this stock.
In January 2010, Berkshire’s B shares (NYSE:BRK.B) underwent a 50 to 1 stock split, bringing its price down from around $3,476 to about $69.50 per share. That is a huge discount! To get a piece of the Buffet pie, I will gladly pay this price. Unfortunately, I bought when prices were higher; I paid about $75-$100 bucks a share. However, I still came out ahead as now the stock is going for $213 a share. Not bad. That’s a pretty good haul for just pressing the buy button.
A stock split or stock divide increases the number of shares in a company. A stock split is an issue of new shares in a company to existing shareholders in proportion to their current holdings. The price is adjusted such that the before and after market capitalization of the company remains the same and dilution does not occur.
IS A STOCK SPLIT GOOD OR BAD
According to Nerdwallet, when you had to split something as a kid, that generally didn’t feel like a perk. But when you’re an investor, splitting can be a good thing. Stock splits are a way a company’s board of directors can increase the number of shares outstanding while lowering the share price.
WHY WOULD A COMPANY SPLIT ITS STOCK
A stock split is used primarily by companies that have seen their share prices increase substantially and although the number of outstanding shares increases and price per share decreases, the market capitalization (and the value of the company) does not change. Simply put, just like the value of the $100 bill does not change if it is exchanged for two $50s.
However, not all stocks are created equal. That is why I do my homework first before buying ANY STOCK. There are some misfits out there that you do not want to buy. Basically, you get what you pay for. It kind of reminds me of The Misfits from the Jem and the Holograms cartoons.
If you read my Meet Miriam page, then you know it’s one of my favorite cartoons.
And because July fourth is around the corner, here is a shout out from The Misfits themselves!!!
SPLITTING THE APPLE
And last but most certainly not least, I give you Apple! I purchased stock in Apple (APPL) in 2013, when it was going for around $60 a share. Fast forward to 2019, and the stock is over $200 a share! I got in just in time.
It just so happens that the year after I purchased 5 shares for my birthday, in 2014, Apple split the stock. It all went down on 06/09/2014 as Apple did a 7 for 1 split.
My 5 shares turned into 35 shares overnight!
All this happened simply because I did some homework and took action. Calculated risks can pay off. Remember that fortune favors the bold. In the illustrious words of Jem, “outrageous!”
As you may know, I am on a mission: financial freedom.
Therefore, I started to study the self-made.
How did they get so wealthy? What did they do? What do they
do with their 24 hours we are given in a single day?
Today we talk all things J to the L-O! Hello!
Letâs go!!!
STARTING OUT
Jennifer Lynn Lopez was born on July 24, 1969 in Castle
Hill, New York City. Growing up in the Bronx with her parents and siblings she
watched how hard her parents worked to make a living as Puerto Ricans living in
the richest country in the world.
She knew that she had a responsibility to do well because
her parents gave and sacrificed so much.
She was quoted in an interview as saying, âI had to do well.
I couldnât let them (her parents) down.â
Jennifer says she was always training for something. And dance become her go to activity.
DANCING TO THE FRONT
In 1991, Lopez began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on In
Living Color, where she remained a regular until she decided to pursue an
acting career in 1993.
These are HER lyric from âJenny from the Block.â Let J. LO tell you her story.
From In
Living Color and movie scripts
To On the 6
to J. Lo to this headline clips
I stayed
grounded as the amounts roll in
I’m real, I thought I told you
I really been on Oprah
That’s just
me
Nothin
phony, don’t hate on me
What you get
is what you see
If you have ever seen the Janet Jackson video âThatâs the way love Goes,â then you will see a young Jennifer Lopez dancing and talking to Janet. She performed as a dancer for her while as pursuing her dreams of acting.
I love the lyrics to that song and how it starts out.
Like a moth
to a flame
Burned by
the fire
My love is
blind
Can’t you
see my desire
That’s the
way love goes
So you could say like a moth to a flame, J. LO gravitated towards acting. Haha
You also may remember her dancing with Puffy or P. Diddy, as
he goes by now, in the music video âBeen Around The World.â That was in 1997.
Havenât seen it. No problem.
I have the footage right here thanks to Youtube đ Enjoy!
HER BIG BREAK STARRING AS TEJANO MUSIC SUPERSTAR SELENA
In 1995, the world lost Tejano musicâs biggest star Selena Quintanilla. Due to widespread reports of unknown causes of events that surfaced, her family decided to tell the world her story. That became the 1997 film Selena.
Movie poster reads: A story of a girl who had the spirit to believe in a dream and the courage to make it come true.
The film that made Jennifer Lopez a star: Selena.
Released in Summer 1997. Based on the life of Tejano superstar Selena.
After an intense media frenzy, auditions for the role of
Selena sparked applications from about 20,000 Latinas from around the globe,
one woman was selected that stood out from the bunch: Jennifer Lopez.
The role of a lifetime was won to play Mexican-American music star Selena.
Jennifer Lopez in the film playing Selena.
Fun Fact: People Espanol was started because of Selena.
The real J. LO. She too likes to wear white.
Jennifer Lopez as Selena.
Fun Fact: Selena favorite lipstick was Brick by Chanel, she did her own makeup and her favorite shoe store was Payless. Favorite pizza: Pizza Hut thin crust double pepperoni.
One of my favorite scenes from the film.
If you watch Selena perform, you not she is doing tons of cardio.
Fun Fact: Selena would walk around her neighborhood EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
And don’t take no crap from anyone.
The real Selena Quintanilla Tejano singer and superstar
The album that put her on the map. Selena Live!
Nominated for a GRAMMY in 1994 Selena Live! Best Mexican/American Album
Selena won her first career GRAMMY for Best Mexican-American Album for Live at the 36th GRAMMY Awards in 1994, marking the first time a female Tejano artist won the category.
She was gone less than a year later.
Awards/Accomplishments. In 1987, Selena became a spokesperson for Coca-Cola. Selena won the Tejano Music Award for Best Female Vocalist running every through 1986 to 1996. Received 8 awards at Lo Nuestro Awards, 34 Tejano Music Awards, Kuno’s People’s Choice award, and first Tejano artist to win a Grammy.
Always smiling, laughing, and joking around. That was Selena.
Selena Quintanilla 1971-1995 May she forever Rest In Peace.
The movie Selena would make Jennifer Lopez one of the highest paid Latina’s in film.
It was estimated that she received a $1 million payday for
the film.
Her life and BANK ACCOUNT has never been the same.
A STAR IS BORN TO SING
Just keep your head
down and work. Success comes when you work harder than everybody else. â
Jennifer Lopez
After wrapping the film, Jennifer Lopez decided her next
ambition would be recording an album. She set her sights on making this goal
happen.
She got a record deal and worked with music super producer Tommy Mottola of Sony.
In an interview she said that people did not believe in her
project; therefore, she had to put some of her own money into it.
You get what you give.
What you put into things is what you get out of them. â Jennifer Lopez
That pet project would become her first album: On the 6.
As reported by Insider, Lopez’s debut single “If You
Had My Love” was released in May 1999, and it immediately landed on the
Billboard charts. In fact, “If You Had My Love” became the first
debut single to top the Billboard Hot 100 since Britney Spears’ “…Baby One
More Time” a mere four months earlier.
One month later in June, her debut album “On the
6” was released, effectively solidifying Lopez’s status as a Latin pop
artist. Certified by the RIAA, “On the 6” is 3x platinum, selling
3.42 million units worldwide.
She never looked back.
AINâT IT FUNNY HOW THINGS WORK OUT
When Jennifer Lopez was at her peak, in 1999-2002, she was deigning clothes, singing, dancing, performing, acting, starring in hit films, on the cover of magazines, and putting out perfume fragrances.
The iconic green Versace dress! GRAMMYs 1999.
Caused a sensation and put her on the top of the map. Every news outlet had a picture of THAT dress! A great way to get people talking about you, if they weren’t already.
One of the things that sticks out was when she started going by the name J. LO. She put out an L.P. of the same name. She said her mother loved that name and would say it over and over…J. LO J. LO.
However, what made her a household name was the infamous video
with Ja Rule âIâm Realâ that was in constant rotation on MTV and BET Total
Request Live (TRL).
Fun Fact: Jennifer Lopez Says She Personally Chose That Juicy Couture Tracksuit for Her 2001 “I’m Real” Video with Ja Rule
Here is the video just in case you have not seen it.
She also did the song âAinât it Funny.â Again featuring her
partner in crime (of making sweet music that is) Ja Rule. Together this pair
made magic happen. They just had great chemistry when working together.
Ainât it funny dropped off the J. LO album on June 20, 2001.
Here are some lyrics for you.
J to the L-O
Hello
Well now you know where I got that from, which I state at
the beginning of this post. đ
Here is the chorus
Ain’t it
funny
Baby that
you want me, when you had me
Love is crazy,
I’m glad I can smile and say
Ain’t it
funny
Then came âJenny from the Block.â This song dropped on
September 26, 2002. One of her HOTTEST
music videos! If you had no idea what she was capable or of who she was, then
this video stopped all doubts.
The lyrics go like this.
Don’t be
fooled by the rocks that I got
I’m still,
I’m still Jenny from the block
Love my life
and my public
Put God
first
Then can’t
forget to stay real
To me it’s
like breathing
Ah yes, she
says to stay real or Iâm real in this song. An obvious
reference to her song Iâm real with Ja Rule. đ
Here is the chorus.
Don’t be
fooled by the rocks that I got
I’m still,
I’m still Jenny from the block
Used to have
a little, now I have a lot
No matter
where I go, I know where I came from (from the Bronx!)
The Age newspaper said the album was a “declaration” of love for Affleck.
The many looks of J. LO.
J. LO is Pretty in Pink.
During an interview,
Lopez said “I wrote a lot of songs inspired, in a way, by what I was going
through at the time that this album was being made, and he [Affleck] was
definitely a big part of that.”
Magazine Covers of Jennifer Lopez.
ON A WORLD TOUR WITH A MIC IN HER HAND
“I have to work,
for my soul.” â Jennifer Lopez
Nearly two decades since the release of “On the
Six,” Lopez has dropped seven more albums, and has a ninth album slated
for release this year.
Lopez has embarked on five tours, and that has undoubtedly added to her net worth. Her first tour, aptly titled “Let’s Get Loud” was in 2001 and she walked away with a reported $765,000 in earnings, according to Money Nation.
A decade later, in 2012, J. Lo set out for her first worldwide tour, the Dance Again World Tour. After 78 shows, this would be Lopez’s highest-earning tour, and she pocketed $50,362,300, according to Money Nation.
If you look at the difference in her first tour in 2001 and
her one in 2012 ($765,000 to $50,362,300), you will notice it took over a
decade to earn this type of money.
What does that tell me?
That building wealth TAKES TIME.
It took me 6 years to go from saving $1 a day to $50 a month to $15,000 a year!
I make a goal and then chart a course to get there no matter how long it takes.
Just like Jennifer Lopez.
Between her current residency in Las Vegas and worldwide
clothing line, J. Lo is hardly short on funds.
On January 20, 2016, she debuted at Planet Hollywood Resort
& Casino her “All I Have” residency, dazzling fans with sequined
pieces and elaborate sets.
On August 13, her shows reached an incredible milestone: $1
million in ticket sales, the highest grossing show in Planet Hollywood’s
history, according to Billboard.
Between June 2016-June 2017, Lopez made $38 million dollars,
consequently landing her at the #11 spot on Forbes’ Highest-Paid Female
Celebrities of 2017. She’s also already made an estimated $47 million in 2018,
according to Forbes.
Given her newly announced acting project, anticipated 9th
album and a just-released makeup line, Jennifer Lopez will likely only see her
cash flow increase.
All I have to say about JLO is this: Veni, vidi, vici. Latin
translation: “I came; I saw; I conquered.”
Well Jennifer Lopez came, saw, and conquered show business.
In the illustrious words, and famous favorite saying of Selena: âYou go girl.â
I have learned a lot from Jennifer Lopez. That with hard work, drive, passion, determination, consistency, and persistence you can achieve great things.
However, what I have learned most of all…is that she is still Jenny from the Block. đ
For more posts I have written about the self-made you can
check out my other posts