Pursuit of Excellence

As a reminder the articles below are just my opinion and observation, and I recommend using guidance by the Lord, your own sound judgement, and or financial counsel if you make any investing decisions. Below are short summaries for this week’s articles:

http://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2016-03-28/the-next-perfect-banking-storm

• The next financial crisis could happen on January 1, 2018. There are two new rules slated to go into effect that will constrain lending ability and force banks to lend to only the best borrowers. “The leverage ratio set by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and International Financial Reporting Standard No. 9, defined by the International Accounting Standards Board”. What these two rules will do is in essence remove the internal measures that banks have been using to assess risk, and force them to uniform under a standard. Businesses with lower revenues and higher leverage will need more capital from banks and with the requirement of having more in loan loss reserve, it’ll be harder for these businesses to get much needed capital. “It’s increasingly difficult for banks to help spur global expansion, no matter how low — or negative — benchmark rates are. But it’s about to get a lot tougher. Banks will tighten their belts and as they deleverage, so will the world. That means more bankruptcies, lay-offs and fewer jobs, which sounds very much like a recipe for a global crisis.” The opportunity appears for those businesses that don’t fit into banking standards but are able to lend funds to businesses and consumers. This article also highlights in my opinion the concept of paying yourself with interest. I’d prefer to borrow from myself and owe myself with interest. The borrower is slave to the lender.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-even-more-attractive-than-chipotles-free-guacamole-and-chips-2016-03-23

• By the author’s opinion, Chipotle is a great stock that can be bought at a seriously discounted price. He recommends buying a few shares and setting it aside. Other than the healthcare outbreaks, Chipotle had a sharp drop in first-quarter profits, and the chain had another norovirus outbreak in Boston. Here’s five reasons the author suggests Chipotle could be a good buy: people aren’t really concerned about the health issues at Chipotle, sales are already recovering, the big margin hit and first-quarter losses will reverse, Chipotle’s safety protocols seem to be working, and Chipotle has decent long-term prospects. By this article, Chipotle has the potential to operate 5,000 stores in the US and abroad, and they’re currently developing more restaurant concepts. In my opinion, when you invest in a stock be sure to follow the fundamentals of investing. Don’t invest emotionally, and be sure to have an exit strategy, if you’re not going to buy and hold forever.

http://ziglarvault.com/5-questions-ask-trying-find-someones-personality/

• When investing in a business, you’re ultimately investing in the person in charge. If you have access to the direct person in charge, then you’re going to need to know the person. A business doesn’t sell widgets to inanimate objects. A business sells a product to people. A business is personal. At the end of the day the funds of a business will pay for the business owner’s personal needs. So the question is, what is in the person’s heart? At Church of the Highlands, we learn that we are better together, and that relationships are spiritual. A relationship should be more than surface deep. Here are five questions to ask that will help you learn about a person’s personality: How would you describe yourself? What is your biggest accomplishment? Have you read any good books lately? What is your dream job? and Who is your personal hero? In my opinion we should be investing earthly riches to be able invest in the heavenly riches.

Please let me know if you have any prayer requests.