Do you know what kind of companies you invest in?

[TheInsider]

Most pilots have some sort of investments. How do you know if you are not investing in companies similar to those airlines you rather not work for? Some examples are: GO Jet, Mesa, Republic etc. I am talking about companies with bad labor relations (Mesa) or aggressive expansion (Republic). The managers of these "bad" airlines attempt, or have attempted to maximize the return on behalf of their investor/owners, sometimes at the expense of their labor (or perceived expense). So, how do you know that YOUR investments are not in companies that "exploit" their labor at the benefit of maximizing return?

 

[Raoul Duke]

Give me a break, get a life and quit worrying about my investments. I tend to try to identify companies which are likely to have an increase in stock price.

 

[kf4amu]

There is no real roadmap or checklist for this, but there are many guidelines and minimum requirements that have to be done before investing.

I spent many hours and continue to spend many hours reading books written by or about successful money managers. Ben Graham, John Bogle, Peter Lynch, Warren Buffett etc.

As you read about different people, you get a sense of the common themes amongst all of them. You find out that all successful investors adhere to very similar philosophy's, but they may go about it a little differently.

How you end up accomplishing the goal is up to you, but there is no magic checklist to guarantee success.

I've found in my short investing career that the conference calls are just about the most valuable research I can do. How executives answer questions is a HUGE indicator of their mindset. How they say it is 50 percent of the answer, what they say is the other 50 percent. Also many times analysts will ask questions about issues I was not aware of, and I can go research that subject further to satisfy my curiosity.

Read all the K's and Q's, listen to EVERY conference call, and use Google and Yahoo Finance to read as many articles as possible about the company.

For instance, Google "Mesa Airlines" and the 16th link is about an executive destroying evidence. That would raise an eyebrow and require further study.

Also once you are done researching a company you are interested in, you have to research all of its competitors. You may find one you like better. Think the employee morale at SW is it's reason for financial success? If the financials check out, and you think they are the best of breed at their particular niche, go for it. Think employee morale doesnt matter and the management can keep squeezing blood from the turnip? Well there are a plethura of other airlines out there for you, so find the one that does it the best.

You can always call the company's investor relations department and ask those specific questions. Their responses will help you determine how they feel about their employees. Ask detailed questions about morale. Once you do it a few times you will gain the knack for sniffing out the bull******************** canned P.C. answers from management and be able to form your own opinion.

 

[TheInsider]

Give me a break, get a life and quit worrying about my investments. I tend to try to identify companies which are likely to have an increase in stock price.

You didn't get my point as I am not asking for personal investment strategies.