Can you Afford a Ford....Stock?

-By: Brittany L. Reid

Considering the recent recession, one may wonder if taking interest in the Ford Stock Price is a wise investment.  The Ford Stock Price is the price or value of stock in the Ford Motor Company.  Before one can consider investing in this automotive corporation, it is important to have a basic understanding of the stock market and how it affects one’s finances. 

                  In the stock market, people buy shares of a company so that when the value of the company rises, investors receive a profit.  When the stock prices continue to increase over a long period of time, buyers refer to this as a Bull market.  When the stock prices decrease, it is a Bear Market.  So now, the question is whether or not the current economy has resulted in the Ford Stock Price being a Bear Market, or a Bull Market.

                  The cause for the current state of Ford’s stocks can be traced back about eight years.  In 2004, Alan Mullaly was brought into the Ford family.  He made wise decisions concerning the financial aspects of the company while simultaneously brainstorming to reconstruct some crucial areas of the corporation.  In the early stages of the recession, Mullaly opted to drive Ford down a different route than its competitors by providing the company with billions in finances as a safety net.  Chrysler and General Motors, in contrast, gassed up their engines by accepting federal bailouts, which ended up giving them car trouble.  Alan Mullaly was later appointed as the chief executive and president of the Ford Motor Company in September, 2006.  Since then, the Ford Stock Price has continued to maintain fairly high value.  This can be attributed to the company analyzing various benefits of smaller, more energy-efficient vehicles, as well as investigating various methods of cost reduction.  The company’s Ford Motor Credit branch is also a top contractor of auto-financing.  However, comparing Ford’s business in the United States to its global competition highlights other defining factors for whether or not it is a good investment.  China, South America, and Europe are just a few of the leading contenders that serve as healthy competition for the company. 

                  In conclusion, the Ford Stock Price has had relatively moderate to strong buys over the past few months.  One might say that the stock is in the green zone.  It’s not a Bear Market, but it is not quite a Bull Market either.  In the end, when it comes to the stock market, whether or not one decides to invest in a company depends on the stock buyer’s personal research and analysis of the corporation.

FOX- 25 YEARS AND COUNTING

-By: Brittany L. Reid
        
           It began with a new television station's struggle to find just the right type of entertainment to bait its audience hook, line, and sinker.  Who would've thought that the wrong content would be what they were looking for....or perhaps we should say the most unorthodox content?  The year was 1987 when FOX, a novice network practically out of the womb, premiered a show about a family of underdogs that would slowly begin winning the hearts of Americans.  A shoe-salesman, his fashion-forward wife, his ditzy daughter, and his wannabe-player son would spend the next few years taking the television audience on a journey of the rarely acknowledged every day life of the unconventional family.
            The context of this show, “Married…with Children,” would begin a tradition that seemed to be the key for future hit shows on FOX.  The network would go on to syndicate programs with the pitch of the "underdogs struggling to achieve."  FOX would utilize real life scenarios in both factual and fictional settings, and play on the opinions and sympathies of America to debut the oddest elements of television programming, from attacking animals, to focusing on taboo subjects like drugs, sex, sexual orientation, and more.  The network would become renowned for cultivating shows like “The Simpsons” (following a similar foundation of “Married…with Children,” but in an animated format), “Beverly Hills 90210,” “In Living Color,” “Malcom in the Middle”, “American Idol,” and more.  From reality competitions, to pushing the patience of the FCC, the network became its own type of Underdog, one that would go on to even make fun of itself in the programs it featured throughout the years.
            While it's only been a quarter of a century since the debut of this network, there is no doubt that FOX has become an integral part of the American family, simply because everyone has someone in their family with that same attitude as FOX: the reckless, over-dramatic, leap before you look type of relative who takes chances and somehow, always seems to still come out on top.  Now, at the brink of young adulthood, the network celebrated its 25th Anniversary on Sunday, April 22, 2012, with a look at its history.  Such a nostalgic sendoff allowed the audience to see how it has grown with FOX over the years.  It is only natural to wonder just what the next 25 years will have in store for the underdog that always seems to be.....as Charlie Sheen would put it, “WINNING!!!!!”  

THE WORD, IS BIG BIRD!

-By: Brittany L. Reid

       
          It looks like the “Bird is the Word” for the 2012-2013 season.  Big Bird, one of Sesame Street’s mascots, recently garnered national attention when Republican Governor Mitt Romney mentioned cutting government funding to PBS as part of his fiscal plan to help manage the debt crisis.  The social media world went insane with YouTube videos, Memes, and even fake Twitter accounts expressing their opinions on Romney’s statement.

            But the six-year-old bird remained as innocent as a child when he responded to the issue on an October 7, 2012 Saturday Night Live skit.  “I feel like I’m famous now,” he said.  “It’s so weird to think that just a few days ago, I could just blend in like every other perfectly normal 8-foot tall talking bird!”  If Big-Bird is feeling the publicity now, he’ll feel even more famous next year.  Or at least…his Muppeteer will.

            The man behind Big Bird, Caroll Spinney, has been providing the voice and motion for the walking puppet since Sesame Street’s debut in 1969, and he’s still going strong.  The 78-year-old Muppeteer will give insight to his life as the lovable, yellow fowl in a documentary set for release some time in 2013.  The film is titled, “I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story,” and is produced by Copper Pot Pictures.  The film comes following the success of the 2011 documentary “Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey,” which chronicled the life of Elmo’s puppeteer Kevin Clash and was Directed & Produced by Constance Marks.

          For more information about Caroll Spinney's upcoming documentary, visit Copper Pot Pictures' website at www.iambigbird.com. 

Reid Wins at Georgia Golden Olympics

This post features an article that I recently wrote and was published in my local newspaper.  The paper was printed and distributed on October 2, 2012.

REID WINS AT GEORGIA GOLDEN OLYMPICS

By: Brittany L. Reid