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Why Facebook Inc (FB) Is A Great Long-Term Investment Stock

The stock market is a terribly confusing place, and deciding where to go can be a perilous experiment especially for a beginner investor. Nonetheless, within the labyrinth, a few stocks pop up that hold a solid chance of being a forever investment, and are reliable through good and bad times. Facebook Inc. (FB) is a top contender under this respect.

facebook stock

In fact, difficult not to paint the stock in good light. In 2016, its shares were up 14 percent, which is approximately double the S&P 500 index 7 percent return in the same year. Since initial IPO in 2012, the Facebook stock has risen 213 percent, tripling the 69 percent return of the S&P 500.

Today, Facebook still manages to report stellar growth almost every quarter, owing to its dominance in social media usage, and ad spending. Facebook can continue to maintain the phenomenal run, and even gain more momentum in the future; here is why.

Facebook – Constant Innovation

Many investors have been expecting what would seemingly be the eventual slowdown of the social media giant’s growth, but they were recently disappointed. In its third quarter, after putting video first, the company has reported a 59 percent improvement in ad sales revenue. This accounted for $6.8 billion out of the total $7 billion in revenue.

Brilliant Founder

With an innovative and brilliant founder Mark Zuckerberg, and his proven track record, investors can rest assured that Facebook is in good hands as he knows where he wants to get his company. Keep in mind that such brilliant founders have tended to work exceptionally well for shareholders. For instance, companies such as Amazon.com (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG), Netflix (NFLX), and Tesla Motors (TSLA) have had brilliant and innovative founders and excellent results.

Mobile Mastery

In this quarter of 2016, over 85% of all its ad revenue was from mobile, which is an improvement from 78% in the year before. As more consumers transition over to mobile platforms from their personal computers, the FB stock is ideally positioned.

Powerful Edge

Facebook essentially has a great 1.8 billion monthly active users, and the number is still growing. Many users find Facebook very addictive. According to experts, internet users spend more time on social media platforms than on any other digital activities. As such, Facebook is a very important global business channel. Every new person who joins the network adds more to its value, making more people want to join. This is the network effect where a service becomes much more valuable when more people use it.

Monetization Potential

Facebook now owns Instagram its only rival, and Whatsapp Messenger. Instagram has over 500 million active monthly users, though it still doesn’t contribute much to the breakneck pace of growth of Facebook. However, the platform is now increasing the number of ads, and its contribution should see more growth.

Besides Instagram, company owns Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp Messenger, two massive messaging platforms. However, Facebook still hasn’t realized the monetization potential of these two and is strategically placed to dominate in the future.

5 Reasons To Invest In European Stocks

European stocks have too often been overlooked recently as a great investment option, especially when looking for an option that offers the potential for high returns while still providing a degree of diversity for safety compared to being fully invested in American markets. Read on for five reasons to be bullish on European stocks right now.

european stocks market

#1: European Markets Are Doing Great

Everyone is paying attention to the long winning streak of American markets that has been going on for several years now, however European markets have bounced back, as well. In fact, many of the European markets in the last 4-5 months have even managed to outperform their American counterparts. The market is strengthening and now is a good time to get in on that strong growth.

#2: Sometimes Regulation Is a Good Thing

European markets are known for generally being more regulated than many markets in other nations. While this can sometimes be seen as a disadvantage because it limits breakout potential, post-2008, and post-Brexit, the idea of having corporations proven in a system that is tighter and less likely to be shaken by a major economic catastrophe.

That degree of safety or perceived safety of the companies putting out stock can be seen as an investment positive in today’s markets and is often seen as a plus since there’s a degree of built-in shock resistance.

#3: Weathered the Brexit Shockwaves

While all kinds of “Woe is the world” headlines have been in the papers and news about the effects of Brexit and the initial hits to the markets, many people have ignored the fact that the markets have done just fine since then. Whether looking at Germany, France, or Britain, three of the largest markets in Europe, all of them have increased by double digits in value since riding out the initial Brexit shockwaves.

In other words, even with a major shocking event such as Brexit, the European markets have already absorbed that shock and are doing just fine.

 

 

#4: A Weaker Euro Means Opportunity

The Euro remains relatively weak as a currency and this gives additional opportunity. Buying European stocks while the currency is relatively weak means you will gain value, possibly significant gains in profits and value when the Euro turns around and strengthens once again. This is one of those stock buying opportunities that won’t be around forever. A stronger Euro will be great for investors who already bought in and be a new wall for those who waited too long.

#5: European Stocks Earnings Are Looking Great

One of the things that held back European stocks a bit in recent times has been lower earnings reports. However, the bottom of that slump is clearly behind them, and the earnings and returns reports are beating predictions in addition to showing a strong bull market strength that doesn’t typically appear during a short term or false recovery. When looking at the new earnings numbers, it’s hard not to get excited at where the markets are going.

There’s no denying it. European stock markets are offering quite the opportunity to those who are wise enough to take advantage.