Steven Truong [dot] Com

VISA STOCK GOING PUBLIC - IPO

A recent discussion came to my attention that VISA is releasing their stock publicly. The Initial Public Offering (IPO) is set to launch March 19th (according to the sources). In the discussion, there were brief talks about how MasterCard’s stock went from around $40 to $200 so some believe that VISA would be a safe investment to bet on. A lot of people just assumed that VISA (being such a well known company) was already a publicly traded company. This appears not to be the case. As a matter of fact, MasterCard didn’t jump on board till a few years back. Being a stock investor myself, I will have to look into this some more, but in case you haven’t heard the news and have thought about getting into the stock market for some time, this is probably a worthwhile thing to take a look at.

Some people argue IPO is hard to get into because all the major players and private investors get in first but the reality is, even if you don’t get the same prices they do, you can still get in early and profit from the initial rush. Like most fads, there will be people buying in just for the sake of buying in. Other than that, the initial surge of traffic is going to push the stock prices up QUICKLY during opening. You can try to click as fast as you can to lock it but even then you may lock in a a slightly higher rate. Don’t let this discourage you though because the stock will probably continuously climb within the first day or so, maybe even longer (this is merely a prediction; draw your own conclusions).

If the launch is successful and you manage to buy at a decent price, surely the stock will have a good increase in the beginning, particularly because VISA is such a huge and well known company. If you buy, let the stock price jump, and get out quick, you probably could still make a decent killing on profit (also dependent on how much you have to invest). This is assuming the stock isn’t worthwhile and you’re just taking advantage of the first movers advantage; something I’ve discussed about before. A safer bet would be buy in, let the stock go up, sell what you’ve invested to get your money back, and let the rest of the profited stock sit there and collect on increases (assuming it’ll continue to climb).

Keep in mind I am not telling anyone to jump in and buy stocks and the above is merely a prediction that may or may not be accurate. Like I said, I still have to do some more research on this myself. Do your own research and draw your own conclusions. Don’t just take my word for it. I’ve known about this for a few days now and this post was timestamped three days in advance because I’ve had other important posts to announce before this. However there is still time for you to do your own research and attempt to buy in before the 19th when the IPO is launched.

For those unfamiliar with stocks, you can do it yourself without a stock broker. A stock broker however can sometimes provide advice and insight onto something like this (although in this case I don’t think it’d be worth it but that is up to you). Stock trading always occur during the day, hence the term day trading. Essentially buying and selling stock actually occurs 24 hours a day. However the stock prices and shares don’t update at night. So while all the trading is still going on, you don’t actually have live real time updates on the actual worth until they open the stock market during daytime hours. For this reason, even when you buy stock, the price you see on your screen may lag and you may actually lock in on a higher rate (even during live day hours). This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing. It just means you’re in queue (waiting in line to get your stocks bought or sold). I am pretty sure with many people looking to get in on the VISA stock, this will be the case and you may be clicking online for awhile before locking at a rate, but like I said earlier, my prediction is with so many buyers, the stock prices will climb FAST and the sooner you get in, the sooner you’ll profit right off the bat. You don’t need to buy right at opening (although that is ideal) to make a killing. As long as you try to get in as soon as possible, there is still money to be made. Don’t think “it’s already started” so I might be too late. Formulate your own ideas and research before you decide something like that.

That said, selecting an online stock trading company to buy and sell stocks is crucial. These companies make money by charging you fees and a percentage of whatever stock you sell. This is why it is important to shop around and find a stock company that has low rates so you can make the most of your money, similar to shopping for car loan rates and mortgage rates. If you are the type of person who just goes in and gets finance right at the dealership without shopping around for car rates, you’re really ripping yourself off (by a HUGE margin sometimes), and the same goes with stocks or anything else for that matter. It’s an awful habit and most people just tell themselves its not that big of a difference or they don’t want to deal with the hassle. The truth is it’s not even a hassle, things like this go by quickly these days. The only truth to this is people like are plain LAZY slobs that are throwing their money away. Is it any wonder why the majority of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck or is practically in poverty? That said, be careful on the company you pick. While you want low rates, you also want a legitimate company as well.

With that said, I knew about the Google IPO several months before it launched a few years back as well. I was one of the few that wanted to jump on board on this and now Google IPO is hot cakes (it has dipped down a bit lately but compare to the IPO launch, its still a killing; and stock hasn’t even split yet). People who are unfamiliar with stock and have no idea what I am talking about, you can contact me for further details or google up some information on your own.

Unfortunately for me, I took some bad advice from a co-worker back then who was a major stock player and decided not to buy in rather than follow my own advice and go with it (I really should have known better because he lost all his money in stocks). Lesson learned the hard way. Now years later, I am a completely different person with several successful investments because I’ve learned (success is often create only after you’ve learned from your failures). The reason I bring this story up is I want you guys to be consciously aware that you should make your own decisions and if things should go sour, at least you went with what you believe and in the end, it’ll be a good learning experience. You never want to blame anyone else for your failures because reality is, you had a choice on whether you want to follow their advice or not, and whether you want to invest or not.

That said, good luck.

UPDATE: There seems to be no official source that could identify when the actually IPO will launch, lots are claiming the week of March 17th, some are claiming either March 19th or March 20th. Please check accordingly if you are getting in.