Fantasy Football
- The average season-long fantasy football player spends $286.84 on league-entry fees, while the average daily player (DraftKings, FanDuel) spends $272.52 on related fees.
- The average player spends nearly 8 hours a week on fantasy football and 4.31 hours a week of work, or $1,186 in lost productivity if you factor in the U.S. median wage.
- 89.6% of season-long players expect a positive ROI this year, while 92.41% of daily players expect a positive ROI. Nothing wrong with a little confidence! Can we say confidence bias?
JUST LIKE MANAGING A GOOD STOCK PORTFOLIO…
1) Depth and diversification are key. A good fantasy team is made up of a number of different players, each playing a different role. A good stock portfolio also has different stocks playing different roles. You’ll have your growth stocks (ones you expect to grow in value) and your value stocks (less price appreciation but lots of dividends). You’ve invested in different industries, just as you wouldn’t have a team full of RBs.
2) You have your core players and ones you can easily trade. Your fantasy team is made up of several core players (what up Peyton!) and then your TBD players. Some weeks you’ll pick up a new player and give them a start or two and depending on how they do, you’ll either drop or keep them. Your core players, though, are your winners.
They’ve proven themselves time and time again and you’d never trade them. A good portfolio will have your winners and then stocks that you’re testing out. Don’t be afraid to buy a couple of stocks and then trade them out when they don’t live up to your expectations.
3) Perceived value. We each learn how to notice and pick up undervalued players when we see one. It earns us ultimate bragging rights. Conversely, we’re quick to trade a player while he’s still ‘hot’ when we know he’s going nowhere but downhill. Stocks are the same way.I’m always on the lookout for quality stocks that have taken a hit by the market. Perhaps some big investor has been trash talking them, or the company made a dumb mistake. It doesn’t mean they’re not a good company – rather, just that they are a good buying opportunity for me!
4) Study before setting your lineup. We all do research on our players, view their match ups, and review their projections before deciding what mix of players to use. Before picking a stock, I sit down and do my homework. Who is a company playing against? Is it the likes of the Patriots (an Apple or a Google) or the likes of the Jaguars? How has the stock performed in the past under pressure and in a competitive environment?
5) Don’t follow the crowd. When everybody is hyping up a certain player or promising huge points this week, you know not to be a sucker and believe it all. You know to stick to your guns with the research you did in #4.
6) Come game time, all the research and preparation only gets you so far.Just like a football game, the stock market is an animal all on its own. No one can predict what will happen, and there will always be upsets and shockers. However, success often comes to those who prepare.
1) Depth and diversification are key. A good fantasy team is made up of a number of different players, each playing a different role. A good stock portfolio also has different stocks playing different roles. You’ll have your growth stocks (ones you expect to grow in value) and your value stocks (less price appreciation but lots of dividends). You’ve invested in different industries, just as you wouldn’t have a team full of RBs.
2) You have your core players and ones you can easily trade. Your fantasy team is made up of several core players (what up Peyton!) and then your TBD players. Some weeks you’ll pick up a new player and give them a start or two and depending on how they do, you’ll either drop or keep them. Your core players, though, are your winners.
They’ve proven themselves time and time again and you’d never trade them. A good portfolio will have your winners and then stocks that you’re testing out. Don’t be afraid to buy a couple of stocks and then trade them out when they don’t live up to your expectations.
3) Perceived value. We each learn how to notice and pick up undervalued players when we see one. It earns us ultimate bragging rights. Conversely, we’re quick to trade a player while he’s still ‘hot’ when we know he’s going nowhere but downhill. Stocks are the same way.I’m always on the lookout for quality stocks that have taken a hit by the market. Perhaps some big investor has been trash talking them, or the company made a dumb mistake. It doesn’t mean they’re not a good company – rather, just that they are a good buying opportunity for me!
4) Study before setting your lineup. We all do research on our players, view their match ups, and review their projections before deciding what mix of players to use. Before picking a stock, I sit down and do my homework. Who is a company playing against? Is it the likes of the Patriots (an Apple or a Google) or the likes of the Jaguars? How has the stock performed in the past under pressure and in a competitive environment?
5) Don’t follow the crowd. When everybody is hyping up a certain player or promising huge points this week, you know not to be a sucker and believe it all. You know to stick to your guns with the research you did in #4.
6) Come game time, all the research and preparation only gets you so far.Just like a football game, the stock market is an animal all on its own. No one can predict what will happen, and there will always be upsets and shockers. However, success often comes to those who prepare.
9 Questions To Ask when buying stocks:
1. What Does the Company Do?
Warren Buffett famously says he doesn't invest in what he doesn't understand. If the greatest investor of the past 60 years is brave enough to acknowledge that he doesn't understand all companies, we should all probably take heed. This first basic question is a simple one, but that doesn't mean it's easy. To answer the question, there are plenty of places to look, including the company's Web site.
2. Is the Company Profitable?
This is also a simple question, which can be made more complicated by all sorts of variations on a company's earnings. Investors can read the quarterly and annual earnings reports to check out how much net income the company reported, in dollars and in per-share earnings. Later down in this column we'll address ways to mine for red flags in earnings.
3. What Is the Company's Earnings History and Outlook?
A quick scan of older news stories and the company's past quarterly statements help answer this question. Does the company have a history of steady earnings growth? Are earnings volatile? Remember, all trees don't grow to heaven: If the company is a maturing tech company, can it sustain the heady growth of its days as a spry, young growth company?
4. How Richly Is the Company's Stock Valued?
It's wonderful to find a company whose earnings are growing exponentially, but the other side of the equation is the value the market pays for that growth and the prospect of future growth. There are several basic methods of determining a company's valuation, including price to earnings and price to sales. These numbers can be easily found online (including under the Key Stats tab on TheStreet's stock quote pages). Price-to-earnings, or P/E, multiples aren't the perfect gauge, but investors do need to consider how much they are paying for a stock.
5. Who Are the Company's Competitors?
Companies don't operate in a vacuum. For every Coke (KO - Get Report), there's a Pepsi (PEP - Get Report) -- and a host of other competitors as well. Companies are constantly trying to take business from one another. Investors should know where their companies stack up: Does this company have the biggest market share in its industry? Is it a small but growing niche player in a competitive industry? Is it an industry dominated by one company, or is it a fragmented industry where even the biggest player controls less than 10% of the market -- such as in the supermarket business? Also, investors should increasingly pay attention to foreign competition, where lower-cost competition can put pressure on profit margins.
6. Who Runs the Company?
Unlike professional money managers, individual investors don't have the ability to drop by a company's headquarters and chat up the management before making an investment decision. However, that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of ways to find out about the leadership. Any company worth its salt will have a Web site that lists the senior managers, how long they have been with the company, their background and the company's history. If the company's executive suite has a rotating door, that may not reflect positively on the company's stability. Beyond the company line on the executive suite, investors should research articles about the executives. Often, trade publications from any given industry are useful in digging into a company.
7. How much wood can a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
8. Are There Any Red Flags That Call Into Question the Company's Integrity?
This is where the 10-Q and 10-K filings come in handy. First off, every company needs to detail the risk factors that may undermine its prospects. Second, the explanations of the company's accounting practices and operating assumptions on matters ranging from depreciation rates on its assets to assumed rate of growth for its pensions tell you a great deal about whether the company is getting too aggressive.
9. Is the Company's Competitive Position Sustainable?
Run-and-gun investors looking for short-term gains might not need to answer this question, but serious-minded long-term investors do.
Warren Buffett famously says he doesn't invest in what he doesn't understand. If the greatest investor of the past 60 years is brave enough to acknowledge that he doesn't understand all companies, we should all probably take heed. This first basic question is a simple one, but that doesn't mean it's easy. To answer the question, there are plenty of places to look, including the company's Web site.
2. Is the Company Profitable?
This is also a simple question, which can be made more complicated by all sorts of variations on a company's earnings. Investors can read the quarterly and annual earnings reports to check out how much net income the company reported, in dollars and in per-share earnings. Later down in this column we'll address ways to mine for red flags in earnings.
3. What Is the Company's Earnings History and Outlook?
A quick scan of older news stories and the company's past quarterly statements help answer this question. Does the company have a history of steady earnings growth? Are earnings volatile? Remember, all trees don't grow to heaven: If the company is a maturing tech company, can it sustain the heady growth of its days as a spry, young growth company?
4. How Richly Is the Company's Stock Valued?
It's wonderful to find a company whose earnings are growing exponentially, but the other side of the equation is the value the market pays for that growth and the prospect of future growth. There are several basic methods of determining a company's valuation, including price to earnings and price to sales. These numbers can be easily found online (including under the Key Stats tab on TheStreet's stock quote pages). Price-to-earnings, or P/E, multiples aren't the perfect gauge, but investors do need to consider how much they are paying for a stock.
5. Who Are the Company's Competitors?
Companies don't operate in a vacuum. For every Coke (KO - Get Report), there's a Pepsi (PEP - Get Report) -- and a host of other competitors as well. Companies are constantly trying to take business from one another. Investors should know where their companies stack up: Does this company have the biggest market share in its industry? Is it a small but growing niche player in a competitive industry? Is it an industry dominated by one company, or is it a fragmented industry where even the biggest player controls less than 10% of the market -- such as in the supermarket business? Also, investors should increasingly pay attention to foreign competition, where lower-cost competition can put pressure on profit margins.
6. Who Runs the Company?
Unlike professional money managers, individual investors don't have the ability to drop by a company's headquarters and chat up the management before making an investment decision. However, that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of ways to find out about the leadership. Any company worth its salt will have a Web site that lists the senior managers, how long they have been with the company, their background and the company's history. If the company's executive suite has a rotating door, that may not reflect positively on the company's stability. Beyond the company line on the executive suite, investors should research articles about the executives. Often, trade publications from any given industry are useful in digging into a company.
7. How much wood can a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
8. Are There Any Red Flags That Call Into Question the Company's Integrity?
This is where the 10-Q and 10-K filings come in handy. First off, every company needs to detail the risk factors that may undermine its prospects. Second, the explanations of the company's accounting practices and operating assumptions on matters ranging from depreciation rates on its assets to assumed rate of growth for its pensions tell you a great deal about whether the company is getting too aggressive.
9. Is the Company's Competitive Position Sustainable?
Run-and-gun investors looking for short-term gains might not need to answer this question, but serious-minded long-term investors do.