I was so excited this morning after reading an article in the business section of the Sacramento Bee.\u00a0 It was describing how Wal-Mart\u00a0is having a positive impact on the environmental practices of companies it does business with, particularly\u00a0in China.\u00a0 Apparently, if you want to partner with Wal-Mart, you’re going to have to be eco-friendly.\u00a0 Nice.<\/p>\n
I was excited because Nathan owns a share of Wal-Mart and when a company does good things, it usually ends up being reflected in the stock price.\u00a0 Eventually.\u00a0\u00a0Besides, being eco-friendly really is a good thing for the planet.<\/p>\n
Nathan chose to invest in Wal-Mart for this very reason.\u00a0 He liked their focus on socially conscious practices.<\/p>\n
I handed Nathan the article to read.\u00a0 I deliberately don’t tell my kids what the article is about because reading the newspaper, especially the business section, is a skill.\u00a0 Heck, sometimes I have to read an article several times before I get the gist.<\/p>\n
But Nathan got this one right away.\u00a0 “I knew it,”\u00a0 he said.\u00a0 “They’re doing good stuff for the environment.”<\/p>\n
And then he looked a little sad.\u00a0 “Let me see what it’s at now,” he said as he left his Facebook page to check the latest share price.<\/p>\n
“It’s at $54.\u00a0 I’ve got a ways to go.\u00a0 I bought one share at $50 plus the transaction fee of $12.95.\u00a0 So it’s going to have to go up to $63 before I break even.”<\/p>\n
Okay, these are the times when I wonder what kind of guidance I gave him when he wanted to buy in.\u00a0 I’m very aware of the fees and that in making a purchase, they need to be taken into consideration.\u00a0 Especially if only a few, or in this case, one share is being bought.<\/p>\n
Since I’m the one who sits with the kids at the computer when we make our purchases, I can only wonder what planet I was on to allow him to purchase one share which, in effect, plummeted as soon as the purchase was complete.\u00a0 I felt really, really bad.\u00a0 Some guidance I was.<\/p>\n
But, it was a good lesson.\u00a0 Although the fees have since gone down to $7.95, it’s still an important factor in making purchases.\u00a0 A factor that neither one of us is going to forget the next time we decide to own a little piece of a company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was so excited this morning after reading an article in the business section of the Sacramento Bee.\u00a0 It was describing how Wal-Mart\u00a0is having a positive impact on the environmental practices of companies it does business with, particularly\u00a0in China.\u00a0 Apparently, if you want to partner with Wal-Mart, you’re going to have to be eco-friendly.\u00a0 Nice. I was excited because Nathan owns a share of Wal-Mart and when a company does good things, it usually ends up being reflected in the…<\/p>\n