Picking Stocks? Look Around Your House
May 28, 2009 by Tisa Silver
Filed under Finance
Looking for something to invest in and don’t know where to start? Maybe you should start your search with what’s in your kitchen cabinet, your closet, your garage or what’s on the dinner table.
Why? If you believe in the product, then why not give the company’s stock a look? You can a learn a lot about a company from its products, dealing with customer service reps, or maintenance and warranties. Below is a list of companies who own several brands you may find around the house.
Gap, Inc. (Ticker: GPS) - Banana Republic, Old Navy, Gap, Athleta and Piperlime.
Photo by homard.net, courtesy of flickr
Yum! Brands, Inc. (Ticker: YUM) – Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, A&W All-American Food Restaurant, Long John Silver’s and Taco Bell.
Limited Brands, Inc. (Ticker: LTD) – Victoria’s Secret, Henri Bendel, Bath & Body Works, The White Barn Candle Co., La Senza and C.O. Bigelow
Brinker International (Ticker: EAT) – Chili’s Grill & Bar, Maggiano’s Little Italy, Romano’s Macaroni Grill and On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina.
Pepsi (Ticker: PEP) – Pepsi has several brands including FritoLay, Tropicana, Quaker, SoBe, Mountain Dew, and Gatorade.
Coca Cola (Ticker: KO) - According to the company web site, Coke has over 3,000 beverages and 450 brands including Fanta, Hi-C, Minute Maid, Mr. Pibb, Powerade and Nature’s Own.
This is NOT a recommendation to go out and buy the stocks of every brand you patronize. It is just one place you can begin looking. Knowing something about a company’s product(s) does not make the company’s stock a sure thing, but the knowledge may help you feel more comfortable about your decision to invest in it.
If you do choose to invest in your favorite brands, you can reduce costs and risk by finding a fund or an ETF that holds shares in each company.
