Winning

My wife has already commented on Tim Horton's contest/lottery so I won't here, but to say that I am 1 for 8 with the win being a free coffee. I didn't realize that the free coffee for was any size so by the time I ordered a medium Cafe Mocha and handed over the "coupon" (as they call it) it was too late to change it for a large. Grrr....

But on the topic of Tim Horton's, the company had its IPO (initial public offering in stock market terms), yesterday and I find it fascinating that stocks can go up in price on pure hype. Tim Horton's share rose $5 in one day. I think that is why I am so reluctant to "invest" in shares of a company. My friends have likened it to gambling. I think they were referring to the popular trend of day trading, where people buy and sell shares based on movement of price (sell high, buy low) and not on any public knowledge or long term investment. I agree that is gambling.

But long term investment in shares can also be high risk if you are not on top of your research and news. If you are investing in stocks, you have to invest time as well - and I guess that is what I don't have is time! (well, money as well for stocks)

Which connects me to my third thought for this blog - I am reminded of a board game I used to play - Stock Tickers. It is a fun game of rolling of the dice to mimick the stock market and you buys and sell shares between rolls. It is fun because you can split your stocks or it can go to 0. It is fun to play with risk takers cause they either win really big, or lose really big. Fun times! if any of you are big board game players, you are welcome to play any time (which reminds me that there is still a Wongs vs. Mattheis game of Scrabble to be played)!

PS - Winning - I guess I had that to connect the three thoughts, you can win in all three things.