Blogger Jamboree #1: If You Could Only Invest In One Company, Which Would It Be?

Being the super smart and sexy blogger that I am, I came up with an idea that I thought was pretty cool. I call it The Blogger Jamboree. The concept is pretty simple. I email 10 different bloggers and ask them a question on money, or investing, or whatever. I take their relatively short answers and combine them together for a post.

I do plan on making this a monthly feature around here, switching up the bloggers that I ask. While I’m sure you all read many blogs, I think that getting differing opinions on one topic can make for some interesting reading.

Thanks to every single one of the bloggers that took time out to respond to my unsolicited email. I got 6 out of 10 responses, which I’m pretty happy with. I realize that bloggers are busy, so I hold no grudges to those that didn’t respond.

This month’s question was: If you could only invest in one company, which would it be? My comments are in italics after each response. In order of when I received the responses:

Andrew Hallam (www.andrewhallam.com)

For me, it would be Berkshire Hathaway.  It’s the closest stock I know to an index fund.  Owning everything from International Dairy Queen to GEICO to Benjamin Moore Paints, it’s an index fund on steroids, in my book.  I see it as an American mutual fund, minus the expense ratio.  I love that Buffett pays himself only $100K a year, and that the culture is going to remain intact when he’s gone.

Agreed. You gotta love Buffett. It’ll be interesting to see how the company performs when Buffett dies, but I think it’ll be fine.

Mike Piper (The Oblivious Investor)

My own. I’m big on extreme diversification via index funds and/or ETFs. If I were completely unable to diversify, the only way I’d be comfortable investing is in a company over which I have complete control.

This is a pretty common answer and one I should have seen coming. Even though guys like Mike write a lot about investments, deep down they’re entrepreneurs who crave control. I can’t say I really blame them.

Len Penzo (lenpenzo.com)

If I could only invest in one company I would make sure I invest in the most important company of all – my household.  After all, my regular readers know my mantra is that all households should be run just like a business!   As CEO of my household, would you expect any other recommendation? 

Make sure you always pay yourself first, setting aside an affordable percentage of your paycheck for your savings and retirement accounts before you do pay for anything else – be it bills, the groceries, or a night on the town.   Remember, most companies that fail to reinvest their profits rarely grow and ultimately go the way of the dodo.   Your household is really no different.

Good advice from Len. Sometimes I get away from the basics and it’s a good reminder to get your own financial house in order before investing.

Michael James (Michael James On Money)

I’m a big believer in indexing and so I would never own just one stock.  If you permit ETFs for your “stock”, I’d probably make it VTI.  If that’s not allowed, then I would find a good company that is quite widely diversified, such as Berkshire Hathaway (BRK).  Among Canadian stocks, I’d pick Bank of Montreal (BMO) mainly for reasons of stability.

I don’t consider these stock tips.  I think it would be crazy to pile all of one’s money into any one stock.

I like the choice of a Canadian bank and for full disclosure I own shares of BMO. Another pick for Berkshire.

Mike (The Financial Blogger)

If I had to invest in only one company, it would be mine! Investing in my online company has been showing the best yield by far compared to any of my other investments! Each dollar you invest in yourself is a dollar that will generate a tons of profit if used wisely. As compared to one of my favorite stock on the market (RIM), I can’t control what the market thinks of RIM but I can control how much money my company is generating for me

Another vote for investing in themselves. I think we have a winner… Finally, last but certainly not least:

Saj Karsan (Barel Karsan)

Here is my stock:

New Frontier Media (NOOF) generates margins that suggest it has a competitive advantage over its competition. At the same time, it trades at a very low valuation, with a P/S ratio of just .26 when you subtract out the company’s large cash balance. The recession has depressed earnings temporarily for the discretionary products the company sells, which is allowing investors the opportunity to buy the stock cheap. More of my opinion on this stock is available here.

One of my favorite things about Saj is that he finds these gem companies that no one has ever heard of. New Frontier is just one example.

Thanks to each blogger for taking time and participating. Look for one of these types of posts every month.

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