Facebook and General Motors

This week Facebook became a public company with a lot of hype and Berkshire Hathaway bought 10 million shares of General Motors. This represents different styles of investments. Also, at the end is some quotes on leisure for your enjoyment.






Vanguard



The economic recovery continued to move at a slow and sporadic pace; however, longer-term risks seem to be casting shadows on its durability. For the first time in seven months, the Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators did not show growth. The Federal Reserve revealed that some of its members are concerned about long-term obstacles in the form of upcoming fiscal negotiations in the United States and the financial struggles in Europe. The latest reports showed encouraging signs for the housing market and the manufacturing sector, while consumers slowed their retail purchases. For the week ended May 18, the S&P 500 Index fell 4.3% to 1,295 (for a year-to-date total return—including price change plus dividends—of about 3.86%). The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 13 basis points to 1.71% (for a year-to-date decrease of 18 basis points).





Facebook and General Motors



Facebook went public last Friday with much applause and hype. An initial list of investors purchased the shares at $38.00 per share. When trading started when the normal investor could purchase the price was $42. By the end of the day the price was just above $38 per share. The type of investor who would purchase this stock would be momentum investors who believe that the price is on a short term upswing or someone who invest on the potential for future growth instead of the current financial condition. It is interesting that this past week General Motors announced it would stop buying ads on Facebook.



Berkshire Hathaway purchased shares of General Motors. This is an example of a value investor who looks at the financial condition of the company relative to other companies to find the best value for the longer term. This is the opposite type of investor than someone who invests in Facebook.



Each investor needs to know what type they want to pursue. I prefer to have a combination of both as each will do well in certain investing environments. I think that Berkshire Hathaway made the better investment.





Thoughts on Leisure



If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles.

Doug Larson



The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off.

Abe Lemons



Middle age is when work is a lot less fun and fun is a lot more work.

Author Unknown



Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.

J. Lubbock



Golf is played by twenty million mature American men whose wives think they are out having fun.

Jim Bishop



Don't play too much golf. Two rounds a day are plenty.

Harry Vardon



There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want.

Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes



Our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.

William Shakespeare



Choose a work that you love and you won't have to work another day.

Confucius