Numbers Don't Lie

I have a confession to make.
I like reading and studying up on the stock market and the economy.
As you may know, I write for the stock market advice site The Motley Fool. When I first started writing for them it was a painfully stressful experience. I admit, I knew only about as much as your average non-investor knew about the stock market. (Which is to say I knew "buy low, sell high," and not much else.) There was a steep learning curve this past year!
But I've actually come to enjoy and appreciate what I now study and write about each day. I now understand why it is important to be able to understand the numbers. It isn't always about how much money you can making buying and selling stocks. Sometimes it goes much deeper and broader than that.
For instance, I recently wrote an article about energy drinks and soda. If you were to believe everything you read on Facebook or Pinterest, (or anything Mayor Bloomberg says), you might think that Americans are drowning in their soda addictions. Not true! The numbers don't lie! And the numbers show that soda sales are on the decline, and they have been going down for 3 years. Energy drinks, on the other hand, are increasing. So much so that companies not yet on the energy drink bandwagon are scrambling to get on it- case in point, Pepsi/Mountain Dew just launched "Kickstart" a morning energy drink.(Because that's what people need- Mountain Dew for breakfast.)
I've written several articles on fracking (more professionally called "hydraulic fracturing"). Again, if you believe what Matt Damon/Hollywood has to say on the subject, you might think that fracking is ruining the environment. Truth is, that about 4 years ago major changes were made to the fracking process. It is much much safer now. And it is done more efficiently. And as a result, several different industries are benefiting from it. And so is the economy overall. Don't be fooled thinking government did much to help the economy. Look at the way the energy industry has started to go up, and you'll see that the rest of the economy followed. And it all ties back to an increase in LNG and fracking.
The numbers don't lie. The numbers fascinate me. Sure, there are days when reading up on this stuff can put me to sleep, but for the most part, I like it.



Hey You! Check out my new novels, "You Heard It Here First" and the sequel "This Just In!"