I hope you’ve been enjoying the throws of back-to-school and back-to-work over the last few weeks.  And, oh yes, there’s that stock market that seems to keep going up, although the volatility can be unnerving at times to many. Keep an eye on the Federal Reserve’s rate announcement later this week – pay attention to the commentary that comes out!

That said, the conversation I had most with Charisse Says members over the last two weeks involved Nike stock (Ticker: NKE). Now, you all know that I love sports, so this is right up my alley. Oh my!

If you are unfamiliar with why Nike has been the topic de jure, just know that the stock took a nosedive after Nike aired its 30th anniversary commercial featuring Colin Kaepernick right before the start of the 2018 NFL season. If you haven’t seen the full ad, it’s worth a look. And, in case you haven’t been following the Kaepernick controversy over the last two years (no judgment), I’ll sum it up briefly – NFL San Francisco 49ers quarterback Kaepernick took a stand against racial injustice in the U.S. during the 2016 NFL season, he was not signed with another NFL team in 2017 or 2018, and he’s used his platform (and now that of Nike) to take a stand. Our nation has been polarized around this situation – it has all the workings that have always created difficulty for Americans – race, class, gender, and who has the authority to be a ‘patriot’ of the U.S.

And, guess what? Conversations like these eventually play out in the realm of money and power. As consumers and investors, we play a critical part in this circle as well.

So, it’s no surprise that many Charisse Says members and I traded questions that spanned from, “Charisse, should I buy Nike stock?” to “Should I sell my Nike stock, or anything NFL related?”

Fun times, right?  Considering that I bought another pair of Nike shoes on September 10th, and I made sure I had Nike stock in my 401k, you can probably tell where I shake out. That said, I want to share a few pieces of advice that I gave others over the last few weeks:

• Your financial house should be in order to take action. Ask yourself whether you have the money to take advantage of headliner news (like Nike’s ad) that effect stock prices?

• Take a long-term perspective. Always evaluate whether the long-term investment opportunity outweighs the short-term hit. Said another way, if you think a short-term dip in a stock-price will have little effect on the long-term performance of a company, then you are usually positioned well to take advantage of an opportunity to invest.

• Consider whether you will have regrets for NOT making an investment decision. Look at the below stock chart, which reflects Nike’s stock performance since the stock fell on 9/4. You will notice that the stock has re-bounded since the day it fell, and compared to the S&P 500 (the light blue line) over the last two weeks, the stock is up ~5% vs ~1% for the index. In real dollars, Nike’s market value went up $6 billion, and I would say they made a good bet!

Source: Yahoo Finance

• Don't be consumed by fear. Many people read and hear the news, but are trapped into inaction by fear, and thus won’t push the buy or sell button. Here’s a lesson I learned very early in my investing journey at JPMorgan – try a little bit, and you can always do more later. You should know that you do not have to take all of your action at one time. If you want to wait things out a bit, take a little bite at the apple in the beginning, and I bet you’ll probably get another opportunity down the line.

Before I go, I want to give a few shouts of gratitude:

• Thanks to my hubby – we celebrated 5 years of marriage earlier this month, and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner to journey along the path called life, and support my crazy self (including writing this blog).  

•  Thanks to my Momma – she celebrated another year of life on Friday and I would not be where I am without her. Make sure you celebrate those loved ones in your life. She’s fantastic!

• Thanks for the support to my Toigo family. I am a Toigo alum, and if you’ve never heard of Toigo, now’s the time – Toigo’s mission is to foster the career advancement and increased leadership of underrepresented talent by creating mechanisms for greater inclusion from the classroom to the boardroom. I spoke at an event they hosted in Chicago on Friday night, and I received so much love from the Charisse Says members who are Toigos.

Have a great week!