Update

Currently our stocks are doing well.  We have made some decent investments.  Apple is making us most of our money.  We earned $4,000 from apple and it helps to balance out the fact that none of our other stocks have gone up.  Even though most of our stocks have gone down severely, they are all currently going up and we are hoping that they will increase to above the price we bought them out this way we can sell them and make our money back.

What’s going On!2 (Apple Company)

At the moment, Apple shares is to its highest, 552.00, and increasing, it would be a good idea to buy more, because it is still increasing fast. The apple stock, when we bought them, they were in lower price, around the 400. Now, basing on their new release on IPads, it seems the stock value have gone up. Interesting that now, the 52 Value price is at its highest, since the release of its new product. Factor, to determine in buying a stock would be how it is doing, and its background. Also its demands by the people.
-Steven S

Starbucks Corporation (Coffee)

The current stock price for Starbucks is $51.61. It's 52 week low is $33.72 and the 52 week high is $52.47. Starbucks isn't a franchise, so no one can own a store on their own. We would not purchase this stock as the price is too high. The biggest challenge that Starbucks faces would  be other coffee companies, such as Dunkin' Donuts. Since Coffee is easy to grow and distribute, I believe that it would be a finite resource. Starbucks participates in fair trade, along with Dunkin' Donuts and Green Mountain, among others, although this would not influence my choice to not buy the stock.

-Alexa M.

Automotive: Honda

The current price of Honda is $37.60 with the 52 week low being $27.52 and the 52 week high being $41.23. Even though recent news claiming that car companies are attempting to use natural and cleaner gas or electric power, I don't see it effecting Honda too much since it's a popular car. Honda is a popular company and even if it goes down, I do not believe the stocks will stay down for long. We did not by this stock because we do not want to chance it.
- Alexa M.

Dunkin' Donuts

The current stock price is 31.31 dollars. The 52 week high 31.92 dollar and the 52 week low 30.66 dollar. Dunkin' Donuts requires a minimum $750,000 in liquid assets and a net worth of $1.5 million to buy the franchise. I would not purchase the stock because it's at it's 52 week high. Dunkin' Donuts has competitors such as Starbucks; but right now the company seems to be doing well. Coffee should be considered a finite resources based on its availability. The largest companies participating in fair trade are Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks. This doesn't really influence my decision to buy the stock, rather how they're doing in the market. 




                                                                                                                                       Denis

Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc.

Peet's Coffee is currently at $68.37.  The 52 week range is between$41- $70.  Peet's coffee is not a franchise and all the stores are owned by Peet's.  I would not purchase this stock especially when they have such big competition like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts.  The biggest challenge a coffee company faces is competition form another company.  Another challenge they face is trying to make their company unique and making people want to go to theirs over the competition.  Peets coffee is a specialty coffee house and uses higher quality coffee and roasters than most companies but are more expensive.  Peets participates in Fair Trade with their fair trade blend which helps this country in Costa Rica called Tarrazú.  They have framers and other families by having them grow the coffee they need and buying it from them at a higher price to help the economy.   This does not change my mind on if i was going to buy this stock or not.

Some people would consider a finite resource.  I do not agree with this because even though coffee is not grown in the U.S. it can be grown in many other places and it is renewable resource.  Even though we cannot grow coffee buying it is easy and can be grown in many other countries.

-Alex

Green Mountain (Coffee)

Green Mountain is currently 52.33, its 52 high is 115.58, and its 52 low is 39.42. Green Mountain is not a franchise because it is simply a company selling its coffee. Although not clearly, it seems that it is franchise which could be bought for a price, not clearly show because it is mainly selling it's coffee beans. I would not buy the stock at this current because it has been going down (Decreasing). The New York Times had recently had a report on the company based on its drastically drop. The company has a fair trade and will increase slowly, however at the moment, the NYT reports that it has been taking too many risk. However the coffee business is very god since many people buy and demand coffee. This is one thing that could effect on a decision on buying it.

-Steven S

JVA Stock

     The current stock price of the Coffee Holding Company is $12.50 per share. During the peak high of the year, the stock had almost reached a price of thirty dollars whereas the yearly low was down to just a few bucks. The company is not a franchise, which is why it's shares would not be as expensive as more mainstream companies. The stock seems to be rising greatly, but that means that it may start falling soon, so there is no good long term reason to start investing in this stock.
     The main problem that coffee companies face is a great amount of competition amongst themselves, and each company tries to find one way to diminish the reputation of the other. Coffee can be considered an infinite resource because in can always be grown, however, in third world countries, it could be considered limited because it is difficult for them to buy and circulate the resource. Of the coffee companies, many of the major franchises participate in fair trade such as Dunkin' Donuts, Green Mountain and Starbucks. For now, we will not risk any more investments and keep safe with the stocks we have.

-Daniel Lutsker

Automotive: Ford

The Ford Company's stocks 52week low is 1.55 and it's high was 4.59. A recent news is that of Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Alan Mulally getting big rewards for a turnaround that avoided the government bailouts. If they were able to avoid the bailout, it means they are doing pretty good. At the moment it is 2.88 per stock but it seems that it is going a normal level which not too much decrease or increase. However at the time i would not think we would buy this as a stock. 


Steven S

Volkswagen

In mid-2008, Volkswagen experienced a very sharp spike for a sort period of time. Its investment in the Porsche was the main cause for this gain. Recently, the stock has gone down due to credit fraud within the company. Recent headlines show that Volkswagen will be going up despite the EU's economic problems. However, the information about the credit fraud must clear up before the stock rebounds. Based on data from this year, the stock's steady increase had shown promise in the beginning of the year, but because of the stock's recent drop in this month, it would not be a good idea to invest at this moment. In all, the risk is not worth it and the stock seems like it will predictably keep coming down.

-Daniel Lutsker     

     

Automotive BMW

BMW is 68.80 euros; the 52 week high is 73.84 and the 52 week low is 43.56 euros. With the recovery of the United States economy and the sharp sales in BMW's for some reason which rose revenues by 14% in 2011. Therefore, I assume the company should be doing relatively well this year. Right now the stock is close to it's 52 week high and is going up, so I believe it will go down soon. We wouldn't buy this now, but would buy it when it's closer to its's low.

By: Denis Shor

Fiat

Fiat is a major car company in Europe, but the stock for Fiat is very low.  The 52 week range for Fiat is between 3.28- 7.80 Euro which is equivalent to about 5.03- 10.34 dollars.  The stock is currently at 4.67 Euro which is around $6.17.  The stocks in Europe are not doing so well so I predict Fiat to go down more than it is going to go up.  They are also not coming out with anything new for a while since they just released a new car, the Fiat 500.  I do not think it will drop much maybe 1 or 2 more percent.  This risk relates to us because if we could buy the stock we would wait till it is at its lowest this way we can make the maximum profit when we sell the stock.  This relates to other companies that we can buy because if we wait for the stocks to be low enough we can purchase them at a very good price and then sell them after they increase so we can make a maximum profit.

- Alex

EE Bonds

The current interest rate for EE bonds is .3%.  The advantage to getting an EE Bond is that in the end you will earn more money but the problem is that you need to wait a long time to get your money back.  An I bond has a fluctuating interest rate, which can be both good and bad.  In the end if the interest rate is high for the I bond you can make much more money but if the interest rate is low you will not gain as much as an EE bond.  We would go with an EE bond because the fixed interest rate would make sure we get a certain amount of money while a fluctuating rate would not guarantee us anything.

AT&T (Blue Chip)

 The cost of AT&T is around 31.28 dollars a share.  The 52 week high is 31.90; the 52 week low is 27.20. AT&T has been currently going up, which seems that it will increase more. I choose this stock because it looked like a good opportunity. They have many new and good business, with their products. Eventually it will drop since it's increasing and we will be able to see for a good price. This will allow us to have a good earning. 



Steven S

Walt Disney Co. (Blue Chips)

The cost of stocks at Disney are currently at $42.70 a share. the 52 week high is $44.13, while the 52 week low is $28.19. It is currently doing decent in the market, except for friday, March 2nd, where it dropped -0.07%. Compared to it's competitors, it is doing very well. I believe this stock will be doing very good, as Disney products are always in high demand. Disney shows attracts the attention of the children, while channels such as ABC, run by the Walt Disney company, attract a wider audience and allow for even more revenue.

By Alexa M.

IBM (Blue Chips)

The cost of IBM is around $200 dollars a share.  This is very close to its 52 week high which $201.90.  Its 52 week low is $151.  IBM is going up currently so its is good for the economic climate but news stories suggest that is will be going down because IBM is behind in cloud technology.  They are not going moving forward with their technology as fast as other companies are and because of this it seems that the stock will go down soon.  Due to the fact that they are behind the game and are not advancing as fast as other companies i would not invest in IBM until they catch up to the rest of the competition.

-Alex Nuciforo

Intel [Blue chips]

 Currently the stocks of the 52 week price range is from 19.16-27.5 and the current price of Monday march 5 2012 is 26.92 which is near their highly priced stock of 52 weeks.Currently each stocks is worth 26.92. Since it is an electronic company, it is likely to increase since the overall DOW is up by 6%. Recent headline shows that its stocks will increase since the ipad is coming out and will have different type if technical issue. It will effect companies like NVDA , OVTI etc. The will be benefit our group since the ipad will come out and will increase both apple and intel stock. The forecast is 35 high while the median is 27.65 which is pretty good since the high is increased by 32.5% and the median is increase by 5.8%


By Tom Nguyen