Video Professor

Hydrate Your Wallet: Start Investing in Water

When I was a little girl, I thought water was free. I mean, it seemed so abundant, and it was a necessity of life. Little did I know that I should have listened to my father when he told me that nothing in life is free, not even water. But investing in water? Definitely, I found out. I had never heard of something as obscure as investing in water, though, so I looked it up. I needed information on this subject. I found a detailed article by Jon Markman on moneycentral.msn.com called “Invest in the Coming Global Water Shortage.” Scary but true. Here are some highlights from Jon Markman’s article about investing in water.

Not Making Any More Water

There is no more fresh water on Earth today than there was a million years ago. Yet today, 6 billion people share it. Since 1950, the world population has doubled, but water use has tripled, notes John Dickerson, an analyst and fund manager based in San Diego. Unlike petroleum, he adds, no technological innovation can ever replace water.

Although not widely appreciated, investing in water has been recognized by conservative investors as an opportunity – and it has rewarded them. Over the past 10 years, the Media General water utilities index is up 133 percent, double the return of the Dow Jones Utilities Index. Over the past five years, water utilities are up 32 percent – clobbering the flat returns of both the Dow Jones Utilities and the Dow Industrials. One of the long-term value drivers of investing in water, according to Dickerson, is that demand is not affected by inflation, recession, interest rates or changing tastes.

Virtually all of the U.S. water utility stocks are regulated by states and counties, which makes them pretty dull. Governmental entities typically give utilities a monopoly in a geographic region, then set their profit margin a smidge above costs. Just about the only distinguishing factor among them are the growth rates of their regions and their ability to efficiently manage their underground pipe and pumping infrastructure. Here are a couple of potentially more impactful ways for investing in water.

The central problem is that less than 2 percent of the world’s ample store of water is fresh. And that amount is bombarded by industrial pollution, disease and cyclical shifts in rain patterns. Its increasing scarcity has impelled private companies and countries to attempt to lock up rights to key sources.

Investors interested in investing in water can consider a number of variant plays. None are extremely exciting, but my guess is that, over the next few years, some more interesting purification technologies will emerge, along with, perhaps, a vibrant attempt at worldwide industry consolidation.

One current idea for investing in water is a Tennessee-based copper pipe and valve maker Mueller Industries, a $1 billion business with a trailing price/earnings multiple of 15 that is still not expensive despite a 47 percent run-up in the past year.

Another is flow-control products maker Watts Water Technologies, which is a little richer at a $975 million market cap and a trailing P/E multiple of 19, but is still owned by several leading value managers, including Mario Gabelli.

And possibly the most interesting is Consolidated Water, a $160 million company based in the Cayman Islands that specializes in developing and operating ocean-water desalinization plants and water-distribution systems in areas where natural supplies of drinking water are scarce, such as the Caribbean and South America. It currently supplies water to Belize, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas, and it has expansion plans. It is the most expensive, but it may also have the greatest growth prospects and the future of investing in water. Of all of these, it is up the most over the past five years, a relatively steady 355 percent.

Of course, there is one other benefit to water investing: When these companies say they’re going to do a dilutive deal, its not something to worry about.

Book a Cruise Online and Set Sail

I can barely remember a time when I didn’t book all my travel plans online. I just yesterday booked a trip to visit my sister, and it took me all of 15 minutes online. It is convenient, it is competitive so the best prices are accessible, and it is thorough. So, I am confident that airline tickets, hotels reservations and car rental reservations can successfully be made online, but what about cruises? I love going on cruises. I have been on two, and it is really my vacation of choice. But is it OK to book cruises online? Is it as reliable as other travel plans? I decided to look into the subject and find out if it is a good idea to book a cruise online.

The Bottom Line About Booking Cruises Online

Many cruise lines including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, NCL, Princess and Holland America will offer online pricing and booking, but even they still have some exceptions when you can only book your cruise by speaking with a person on the telephone.

Luxury and niche cruise lines like Radisson, Cunard, Seabourn, Silversea, Windjammer and CruiseWest simply do not offer online pricing and booking. You must speak to a live person to book these cruises.

Booking a cruise online that includes a land component can not be done. If you’re interested in an Alaska or European Cruisetour, or a Disney seven-night cruise and land package, you must speak to a live person for rates and availability. The reason you can’t book cruises online with these components is because they require a more complex reservation.

If you are a West Coast resident taking a cruise that departs from the East Coast, you may be entitled to a free hotel before your cruise. This is not available if you book cruises online. You need to call to see if you qualify for this feature.

Sometimes, cruise line reservation systems are unavailable due to scheduled or unscheduled technical issues. During these periods, you would need to speak with a Cruise Specialist.

If you are traveling with a group, you can not book a cruise online. You can book multiple cabins online, but you will get a better rate if you speak with a specialist from your cruise line of choice. Additionally, only a live agent can ensure that your cabins are near one another and that you are all seated together at dinner.

Do not book a cruise online if you think you may qualify for special discounts, offers or coupons. If you need a wheelchair-accessible cabin, special services or connecting cabins, or if you are booking multiple cabins, or back-to-back cruises, it is best not to book a cruise online.

Why Not Put Money Into the Planet? Environmental Investing 101

New technology is everywhere. From solar panels and wind turbines to recyclable plastics and hybrid technology, this year, green is the color of wealth.

It is almost silly to think about it, but an investment in an environmentally proactive company, is really an investment for the future. And what is great about environmental investing is that you can still make money. In fact, you can make a lot of money but you are also doing a small part to help our world get back on track. Putting money into a solar panel company in Japan means more production, and eventually a cheaper product for all of us. And I think you will be surprised to watch the smaller ‘green’ companies gain momentum as the green revolution spreads deeper into the American population.

We are wild about banning plastic bags today; maybe gas-guzzling cars are tomorrow? Environmental investing can help build a stronger foundation for companies that are just starting out. Going into the business of the planet is not a new idea, but it has never been so closely watched. When a new solar panel field gets erected, it is news, and when new turbines are put up, you can be sure that you will read about it somewhere. As more and more car companies turn towards hybrid technology, who do you think is reaping the benefits? The stockholders. So think ahead, think 10 years ahead, and see what environmental investing could mean for you.

Lets talk about deforestation, or global warming, we can even get down to the nitty gritty and talk about recycling centers and light bulbs. CFL light bulbs were barely viable at grocery stores five years ago. Today? Well, have you looked around? They are everywhere, and it turns out, old incandescent light bulbs are being phased out 100% over the next couple of years. So, to those who saw the potential and invested in CFL, congratulations, your money was well spent! Environmental investing can be profitable in all fields.

If we are talking about environmental investing, we should talk about companies. Investing in companies that have made an environmental pledge is almost just as good as investing in the technologies themselves. Ask yourself these questions (taken from allbusiness.com):

1. Is the company actively taking significant steps to reduce its carbon footprint? This can include purchasing carbon offsets.

2. Does the company get products from producers and manufacturers that follow environmental and sustainable practices? One way to look at food companies: Do the products come from sustainable agriculture and organic sources, or do the products come from large, polluting operations?

3. Are products made from recyclable and/or biodegradable materials?

4. Does the company actively invest in research that leads to more renewable energy sources?

5. How does the company dispose of its waste products?

For more information, look at the Green 50. This is a list of 50 companies that helping to further drive the green revolution in America.

Are Coin Investing Scams Really Common?

There are always scams out there trying to take advantage of stupid and gullible people. Taking advantage of people is a billion dollar industry, and people make it easy to take advantage of them. We are a lottery society in the sense that we are always looking for a quick fix rather than working hard towards and end goal. Through this thought process, coin investing scams were born. I don’t know too much about this phenomenon, and I didn’t think there was much to know. Turns out that thousands of people get duped by coin investing scams each year and some people lose hundreds of thousands of dollars. Everyone wants to get rich through an unknown scheme so they can appear to be smarter than everyone else and look down their nose at their peers, thus the appeal of investing in rare coins and getting a big payoff.

From what I have read about these coin investing scams, it is very unlikely that you will make any significant amount of money from investing in coins. People often get duped by slick telemarketers who convince them that the dollar is weak and that rare coins are a solid investment that will quickly increase in value. This is often not true, and most people just don’t know enough to make intelligent investments. In order to avoid coin-investing scams, it is important to do the proper research.

Most people have a built in distrust of telemarketers, and you should rely on that distrust. A coin telemarketer will not tell you the truth about his product and its earning potential because he or she has to sell it. Luckily, there are some independent resources that you can use to learn about coins you might consider buying and avoid coin investing scams. You can find coin investing publications, which might also be referred to as numismatic investing publications that are reputable. You can look up the American Numismatic Association, in Colorado Springs, Colo. This association can help you understand the grading and quality of coins. There are many different things to know when you are thinking of investing in rare coins. You can make money investing in coins, but almost exclusively if you are properly informed and educated about it. It seems almost impossible for the poorly informed or educated investor to make any money in investing in coins, and they are more likely to fall victim to coin investing scams.

You can also contact the consumer protection agency or the Attorney General’s office in the home state of a company you are thinking of buying from. These agencies can provide you with background information on any given company and inform you of any consumer complaints. Avoid any companies that seem at all questionable and save yourself any risk of getting caught up in coin investing scams.

Other advice includes avoiding pressure situations. Don’t let any kind of salesman try and pressure you into buying something, they’re product is suspect if they have to try and push it on you. Also be weary of any unsolicited contact from companies. If they send you something in the mail or contact you via phone, they are likely to be part of coin investing scams.

The Availability of Accounting Jobs

I recently had a friend who has a business degree and was seriously searching for accounting jobs in her area. I don’t know a lot about accounting jobs so I decided to do a little research and found a helpful article called “Tips to Find an Accounting Job” by Christopher Luck on ezinearticles.com at http://ezinearticles.com/?Tips-to-Find-an-Accounting-Job&id=122564. I sent it to her, and she thought it was very helpful. So, where is the best place to find an accounting job? The article goes as follows:

“Every time I have ever had to look for a job it has been difficult. It isn’t so much that there aren’t jobs out there, but it is a matter of finding the ones that are. To find accounting jobs, you will want to use three main resources: the Internet, the local paper, and an employment service or headhunter. Here are some tips that may help you in your search for that accounting job you want.

The first thing to do in getting your accounting job is to look online. There are a number of job sites on the Internet that can help you. Most of them will allow you to sort job openings by location. Then, you can search by keyword so you could type accounting in to find accounting jobs in your area. There are also job sites that specialize in accounting jobs, which may be of great help in your specific situation. So check out the Internet for your accounting job as a first step and you just might find yourself without a need to try any other steps.

The next thing you can try in your effort to land an accounting job is to check out your local paper. Many companies that have openings will advertise in the town newspaper and not online. That means you can find open accounting jobs in the paper that may not show up online. Check the classifieds and you should find under jobs that there is a section just for accounting jobs that can be a big help to you. The other advantage to a job you find in the newspaper is that you are going to be more easily able to tell where exactly the job is. Often, jobs online are not specific with contact information, plus there is always the chance that the jobs you are looking at on a website are being put there by an employment agency and not the primary company offering the accounting job.

Third, you can check with an employment agency or headhunter in your area. To find your accounting job, if you use a good company they should not charge you anything. The clients who seek to fill a position, but who do not want to have to deal with the interviewing process pay the companies. You should be able to find a good accounting job if you have the right qualifications and find the right headhunter or agency.

Finding accounting jobs doesn’t have to be difficult. Like with any job search, it is just about knowing where to go to find the openings in your area. Check online job web sites, your local newspaper, and finally local employment agencies and headhunters to locate accounting jobs that makes the most sense for you.”

Investing Lottery Money Should Almost be Mandatory

Have you ever dreamed of winning the lottery? Of course you have. If you haven’t, what’s wrong with you? It’s free money. And in most cases, a lot of money. Who wouldn’t want to be handed millions of dollars in exchange for a ticket that cost $2? You will eventually meet someone who thinks they are taking a moral high ground by saying they wouldn’t want all that money. They probably say things like “I like to work for my money,” or “I’m above that material greed where I want a lot of material possessions.”

Both of those statements are probably made by dishonest people who just can’t admit that in our society, things are easier when you have millions of dollars. You could do a lot of good with all that money. Investing lottery money can help you keep control of a large sum of money that was just handed to you. Avoid the temptation to go waste it on gambling, drugs, extravagant vacations or other lavish goods. There are a lot of horror stories about past lottery winners that apparently didn’t think that investing lottery money was a good idea.

Most lottery winners give money to their families, which is admirable, but a lot of people get sucked dry by others who come out of nowhere asking for money. Give money to those who are close to you and those who deserve it, but investing lottery money in something safe, where you can monitor it, is a much better idea. Find a safe mutual fund where it can gain interest or talk to some professionals about where to invest your newly found money. As a lottery winner, you should be able to afford accurate monetary advice. Here are some examples of what not to do if you decide that investing lottery money is not for you. There are also some tragic stories of what to be cautious of when you come into a lot of money.

• William “Bud” Post won over $16 million through the Pennsylvania Lottery in 1988. His brother attempted to have him killed in order to get his hands on the money. Post then proceeded to lose or spend all his money before dying while on Social Security. Investing lottery money is a good idea.
• Victoria Zell, who shared an $11 million Powerball jackpot with her husband in 2001, is serving time in a Minnesota prison, her money gone. Zell was convicted in March 2005 in a drug- and alcohol-induced collision that killed one person and paralyzed another.
• Evelyn Adams, who won the New Jersey Lottery twice, in 1985 and 1986, for a total $5.4 million, gambled and gave away all of her money. She was poor by 2001, and living in a trailer.

These stories were taken from an article in the February 27, 2006 edition of USA Today. It is inevitable that when people here of someone who has won the lottery, that person will be inundated with investment opportunities, requests for money and plenty of other bad ideas. Investing lottery money is a good idea, but make sure you do it in a smart manner and avoid the other pitfalls.