I would probably invest in stock. Contrary to what might be popular belief, I like stock. I think that stock, used properly is a great investment strategy. But what's been done recently with stock is not, I believe, socially acceptable.
In my perfect world, stock would only be bought and sold by the individual companies. The physical stock market can exist, but there wouldn't be the middle man mutual funds. When a person buys stock in their companies, they would choose those companies based on their own personal values, not because that's the most popular stock on Tuesday.
Supposing that I had an extra $1000 lying around, this is what I would do. I would research all my favorite companies and decide which one I support the most. It would have to be one which is located in the US and which gets all or most of it's raw goods from the US. No, I'm not geo-phobic (is that even a word? If not, my definition is a person afraid of a global economy); I just believe that my money should promote job growth in my country of residence because more jobs in-country means a better economy which means that in 5 years when I might need a new job there will be one available. Ideally, my company of choice would be a global company, hiring people in multiple countries and using those countries source material. But anyway, after choosing my company, I base my wanted rate of return on their statistics. For example, let's say that I want to earn 10%. So, I will leave my $1000 worth of stock alone until it hits that 10% growth at which time I will decide whether to "let it ride" or sell off $100 worth of stock, so that I still only have my initial $1000 investment at risk. Hmm...my math may be off...I was never good at these problems in accounting, which is why I was rejected from the Comm School. In any case, seeing as how I know I made money (whatever the amount) and I know that I'm willing to risk losing all of my initial $1000 investment, the actual amounts don't mean much to me.
My only rules, since ethics are most important in my stock choices, are that I will refuse to invest in the housing market (outside of buying a home to live in). Everyone needs a place to live--I REFUSE to artificially buoy prices to make a quick buck. I also refuse to dally in the goods market (beef, gold, wood, OIL, COAL,...any source material) because again, these are things that artificially raise prices. I also would choose to instantly sell my stock for whatever the price is, if my company does something that I find to be unethical. For example: I refuse to invest in Wal-Mart because I do not agree with it's hiring practices. I believe that for as much money they make in a year, they should be able to offer some kind of insurance to their employees, even if it's the most rudimentary.
In my perfect world, stock would only be bought and sold by the individual companies. The physical stock market can exist, but there wouldn't be the middle man mutual funds. When a person buys stock in their companies, they would choose those companies based on their own personal values, not because that's the most popular stock on Tuesday.
Supposing that I had an extra $1000 lying around, this is what I would do. I would research all my favorite companies and decide which one I support the most. It would have to be one which is located in the US and which gets all or most of it's raw goods from the US. No, I'm not geo-phobic (is that even a word? If not, my definition is a person afraid of a global economy); I just believe that my money should promote job growth in my country of residence because more jobs in-country means a better economy which means that in 5 years when I might need a new job there will be one available. Ideally, my company of choice would be a global company, hiring people in multiple countries and using those countries source material. But anyway, after choosing my company, I base my wanted rate of return on their statistics. For example, let's say that I want to earn 10%. So, I will leave my $1000 worth of stock alone until it hits that 10% growth at which time I will decide whether to "let it ride" or sell off $100 worth of stock, so that I still only have my initial $1000 investment at risk. Hmm...my math may be off...I was never good at these problems in accounting, which is why I was rejected from the Comm School. In any case, seeing as how I know I made money (whatever the amount) and I know that I'm willing to risk losing all of my initial $1000 investment, the actual amounts don't mean much to me.
My only rules, since ethics are most important in my stock choices, are that I will refuse to invest in the housing market (outside of buying a home to live in). Everyone needs a place to live--I REFUSE to artificially buoy prices to make a quick buck. I also refuse to dally in the goods market (beef, gold, wood, OIL, COAL,...any source material) because again, these are things that artificially raise prices. I also would choose to instantly sell my stock for whatever the price is, if my company does something that I find to be unethical. For example: I refuse to invest in Wal-Mart because I do not agree with it's hiring practices. I believe that for as much money they make in a year, they should be able to offer some kind of insurance to their employees, even if it's the most rudimentary.
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