An old fan contacted me about my last post, enjoyed the investment information and asked for my opinion on other potentially lucrative investment advice. So, I figured I could make a list of "Top 5" companies I've been following so far this year.
I would say that the entertainment industry is a really good investment to be in, even during the bad times like a depression, recession, bubble pop, financial failure, or another form of tragedy or hardship. When things are rough, humans turn to comfort and various escapes from their harsh reality. Drugs, alcohol and the world's oldest profession are common escapes, but for those that don't take risks or can't afford them, they turn to entertainment options like music, movies, and especially video games. People will always need entertainment, and they'll always find ways to pay for it. And there are many public video game companies that are worthwhile long-term investments, even overseas, like in Japan.
1. Nintendo of Japan (today: 25,600 JPY)
Usually I don't follow Japanese companies because I don't have many contacts there. So, I use various tools to measure trends and statistics across several social media sites and internet sites to determine the future popularity and potential sales of new hardware or software. Based on what I've seen, Nintendo is going to do very well this year with the Nintendo Switch and many of their exclusive games. I double-checked my suspicions by calling up several call centers, and learned that practically every retail store is completely sold out on pre-orders as well as their suppliers. And, they were still receiving thousands more in requests. It even reached a point where they will need to cancel pre-orders because of the shortages (and because their own employees and VIPs want some themselves too.)
The NS will be much hotter than most anticipate and the Nintendo stock is very low right now. It's a very safe bet to get into the company right now, and I'm confident that the stock will surge once word gets out that Nintendo will need to increase production levels. I wouldn't be surprised if they doubled it. So, I would get in on this investment right away. It's going to go nuts this year.
2. Best Buy (today: $48.00 USD)
Normally, I would tell you to STAY AWAY from shitty retail stocks. Stay away from all of them. BUT, in this unique case involving the Nintendo Switch this year, you'll see a spike in Best Buy stock. Keep in mind, that this will just be temporary. So, you're going to go in and out on this one. Normally, you do not want to invest long-term in retail stocks as they are slowly being consumed.
Invest in Best Buy sometime soon, but then follow Nintendo announcements. Once they make a statement about their pre-order or production numbers, you'll see their stock surge. This will also follow suit with BBY. Wait until it peaks out, and then dump your stock before it slowly drops over the proceeding one or two weeks. This will net you a short term profit, but I figured I would mention it due to my high confidence in Nintendo this year.
2(b). Twitter (today: $14.40 USD)
Speaking of shitty things to invest in, Twitter has been at an all-time low this month so it's a good time to buy a lot of their stocks. Twitter is actually horribly overvalued, but rich assholes and clever stock-brokers have been manipulating this market for a long time, and they are going to continue pumping up this stock.
I'll be getting another short-term gain from this company, but Twitter is not something I want to long-term invest in. They have a high market cap, but little actual value. Smart people will invest in this company to take advantage of the stupid people who think Twitter will actually be profitable in a few years. So, buy now, wait for it to go up another $5-8, and then sell it all.
3. Gameloft (today: $14.98 USD)
Although I don't know a lot of people working for Public Japanese Companies, I definitely have contacts and listen to people from Activision Blizzard and Vivendi. =]
I've been told to invest in Gameloft as soon as possible. I suggest you do the same. You may have missed out on the Gameloft takeover by Vivendi, but there's another opportunity now to make a little bit off Gameloft right now still. There is tons of chatter in the office places about Vivendi making some major investments into them, so it appears that there's a really big push coming to strengthen the company and expand.
4. Glu Mobile (today: $2.25 USD)
I mostly ignored this company, mostly for personal reasons: I didn't like their game library and offerings. But, word is that they have been talking to a lot of different franchise companies, and they have had successful negotiations on various IP licensing. They're moving into sports franchises, which is going to be really hot on mobiles this year and next. Card games too will be very popular on mobile for the next few years, so this is a very positive trend for the company. Once they get their name out there some more, I'm sure that other sports franchises will be more interested in working with them as well. So, now I'm actually investing in them that now I have more confidence in their future.
5. Zynga Inc. (today: $2.78 USD)
Ah Zynga, the prancing fool. They've made a lot of foolish decisions, but I think someone in management is finally learning their lesson, and trying to correct their mistakes. They still have strong revenue from their highly addictive games (Zynga Poker is trending big), but now they are finally making deep cuts, laying off staff, and significantly reducing their operating expenses. This is a very good indication, and it means that they are significantly undervalued at the moment. I won't be surprised if they can reach $4 again in the near future. This is another solid investment to be in right now.
