Fools were out and about this week in an investing world jampacked with actions and ideas. Here are three articles you might find useful as you decide how to invest your money.
A Fool's Takeaways on Life and Leadership With Louis Zamperini
Motley Fool co-founder Tom Gardner says his interviews with Louis Zamperini -- the subject of Laura Hillenbrand's new book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption -- are an "absolute highlight" of his 18 years with The Motley Fool.
"[M]ore than a hero, Louie is a role model for how to plan, how to survive, how to fail and learn from failure, and how to live life as a learning adventure, filled with faith and love," Tom wrote in the comments section of the wrap-up article.
Of course, Tom was able to gather investing lessons.
"The fact that [Zamperini] gave up skateboarding at 81 and skiing at 91 I think shows the importance of not only taking risks, but further taking measured, manageable risks," Tom said in the article. "So when I come across young investors who are brand-new to the concept, I say, 'Pick a company you admire and put $200 into it. Get skin in the game, commit to two years, and learn about it. Read about investing and learn how it applies to the company you own.' From there you just want to get better and better. For all the sweet tooths out there, I say, 'Start with the dessert of action.'"
2 Special Situations I'm Watching Closely
Motley Fool Rising Star Jim Royal scouted out two "special situations" worthy of investors' attention. First, let's cover the gist of what Jim means by the term. "Such special situations are created by transactions that transform the business -- spinoffs, reorganizations, and recapitalizations, to name a few," he wrote. "But the value created by such transactions often isn't reflected in financial statements, so agile investors can get a jump -- and a good price -- on these stocks before they appreciate to full value."
Jim sees potential in ConocoPhillips'
Some of These "Overbought" Companies Are Quite Attractive
If everybody had the same approach to valuing stocks, and investors all came to the same conclusions, the stock market would be a lot less lively.
Fortunately, that's not the case. Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian took a look at two stock-analysis strategies -- fundamental and technical -- and how relying on the latter could lead investors astray.
Fools will be familiar with fundamental analysis, which Selena describes as "where an investor assesses a company's health, competitive strengths, and growth prospects, poring over financial statements." On the other side, technical analysis "involves focusing on stock-price movements and looking for trends, among other things, while largely ignoring the actual businesses behind the stocks," Selena wrote.
For technical investors, "oversold" stocks go on the buy list, while "overbought" stocks go on the avoid/sell list.
Selena highlighted three stocks that could be considered "overbought" but that she finds quite attractive: Level 3 Communications
Read the article to find out more about these stocks and why Selena says it's "silly" to think of stocks as overbought or oversold.
