Common $ense

Invest in that Texas tea, baby.

We’ve all had that indecisive feeling in our stomachs. That gut-churning uneasiness that comes with potentially life-changing decisions.

Sociology…or maybe anthropology? Maybe Italian…or some kind of Spanish?

Alas, it is Thursday, September 20. Do you know what your schedule is?

Don’t be alarmed if I sound like the scary announcer guy before the evening news asking if you know where your children are. With the shopping period for classes quickly coming to a close, I’m taking my own advice and trying to make some last minute changes to my class roster. I feel sort of like Patriot’s coach Bill Belichick shuffling his line-up - but minus the ugly sweatshirt and the cheating.

At Penn, this is the last prime opportunity to change up your schedule for the rest of 2007. I argue the same is true with your portfolio.

While yesterday’s top story at The Daily Pennsylvanian was about students urinating on the statue of Ben Franklin, elsewhere around the world, slightly more important things were on people’s minds. Fortunately I am here to let you all know what is going on outside the Penn bubble.

With the Federal Reserve’s greater-than-expected interest rate cut on Tuesday, investors are far more optimistic about future economic growth. This renewed optimism is raising stock prices faster than Wharton freshmen’s undeserved sense of accomplishment.

Leading the pack are industries that thrive from global growth, such as mining companies and the energy sector. Despite its political incorrectness, I stand by my endorsement of oil companies as excellent investments. If you are so against what they are doing environmentally, take the profits you make from their stocks and donate them to whatever charity you wish.

Given Penn students’ fascination with defecating in public spaces, maybe some fertilizer companies might be more your style. Monsanto (Ticker: MON) and Potash Corp. (Ticker: POT) have been printing money off of demand for their agricultural products.

Whatever you do, don’t be lazy. Reassess your game plan, both academically and financially. The time for fourth quarter adjustments is now. Don’t be caught flat footed…or with your zipper open.

Common $ense appears every Tuesday and Thursday.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 at 8:16 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.