Sklar Technology Partners - June 2020

JUNE 2020

7462 Old Hickory Drive, Mechanicsville, VA 23111

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www.sklartechnology.com

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804-730-2628

DON’T FEAR THE STOCK MARKET 4 Lessons From Investing on My Own

back down, I haven’t lost anything. Then, if the stock rises to 50% of the initial value, I take out another 25%. Then, when it reaches 100%, doubling in value, I take out everything that I paid for the original stocks. All that’s left is free money, and I let it ride. Now I don’t have to worry about what happens to the stock. Lesson 2: Don’t Get FOMO About Stocks A lot of novice investors make the mistake of seeing no-name stocks rising suddenly and jumping on the bandwagon. They’re trying to get on board early with the next Apple, but these stocks ultimately drop back down into nothing because they’re speculative stocks. Spec stocks, as I call them, are for companies that claim to have a solution to some problem, but they don’t have any real value. For example, I sent someone a referral code for the trading app I use, Robinhood, and got a free $3 stock. I checked out this stock and decided to invest $250 into it. The next day, this random company announced they were going to start testing potential vaccines for COVID-19. Overnight, my stocks doubled in value, shooting up to $500. I followed my first rule and took out the profits. Here’s the thing: That stock still wasn’t worth anything. The company didn’t have a vaccine. In fact, they hadn’t even started testing yet! But other people saw the potential value and poured their money in. That caused the stock’s price to skyrocket. Then more people notice and put their money in, causing the stock price to rise even faster. They had a fear of missing out, or FOMO; they were afraid of missing out on a good stock. Smart, savvy investors realize that there’s no real value in the stock that’s making it rise so much, so they pull out. The stock

This has been a historically disruptive year for the stock market. Between uncertainty over oil prices and the impact of COVID-19, the Dow Jones Industrial Average spent a while doing its best impression of a yo-yo. This was the third major correction we’ve been through since I started trading stocks on my own, and I was really impressed with how disciplined I was through the whole thing. In December of 2018, we had a massive correction. I had just started trading on my own, and this correction really freaked me out. The stocks were going down, I was losing money, and I panicked. As soon as the market climbed back up to where I was breaking even again, I sold everything and I got out. I didn’t know what I was doing, and I needed to learn more. Later on, I realized that when I was panicking, I shouldn’t have been selling — I should have been buying more stocks.When the market corrected earlier this year, I did so much better. Here’s what I’ve learned about trading in the stock market. Lesson 1: Don’t Sell Stocks, Take Profits You can’t time how the market will behave. In February, we saw a record-breaking fall one day followed by a record- breaking high the next. You can’t be dumping all of your stocks and rebuying them every time the market flip flops.When I buy stock, I have a strategy for when I will sell, regardless of what the market does. It’s important to take profits My favorite stock so far has been Shopify.When I bought stock in Shopify, my plan was to hold those stocks until they gained 25% in value. Then I would take out just that 25%. So, when the stocks rose from $100 to $125, I took out the $25. That way if it drops

goes down just as quickly as it went up. I’ve seen this happen a number of times.

Spec stocks aren’t inherently bad. I do have a few spec stocks in my portfolio because I see potential in them.What you don’t want to do is jump on a spec stock when it’s already climbing. By then it’s already too late to get any real profit. Don’t be greedy and jump on speculative stocks. Invest in real companies that will stick around. Lesson 3: Buy Low, Really Low People tend to freak out in these corrections, but Warren Buffett has become extremely rich because he understands their opportunities. If you’re buying stocks when things are going well, then you’re buying at a less-than-optimal time. I’ve learned to have some money set aside so when the market drops, I can buy more stocks. Earlier this year, I broke my “stock budget” into four chunks. My plan was to put in half of it when the market went down to the bottom. If it went lower after I invested, I would put in another quarter of what I had set aside to invest. I held the last quarter

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Unsure of How to Lead Your Business Through a Crisis?

IT PAYS TO HAVE WOMEN IN BUSINESS

‘The Agony of Decision’ Has Answers

When business coach and scholar Helio Fred Garcia published “The Agony of Decision: Mental Readiness and Leadership in a Crisis” back in 2017, he had no way of knowing that a pandemic would break out just three years later. Now, his book about how to make tough calls under pressure is more relevant than ever for entrepreneurs.

SoWhy Aren’t There More of Them?

Have you heard of the women’s leadership gap? In a 2018 article, the Center for American Progress described it with these statistics: Women make up more than half of the U.S. population, earn more bachelor’s and master’s degrees than men, and almost match men in the number of law (48.5%) and medical (47.5%) degrees they earn. And yet, they’re extremely underrepresented in company leadership. For example, while 45% of legal associates are women, they make up just 22.7% of partners and 19% of equity partners. This is concerning for ambitious women, of course, but according to a 2016 study from the University of California Davis, it should be a big worry for business owners, too! The study found that companies with at least some women in top leadership positions significantly outperformed companies with predominantly male leadership. As Forbes summarized, “According to experts, the longer we take to close employment gender gaps, the longer that trillions of dollars — and our country’s future workforce — will be left at stake, too.” UC Davis surveyed 400 of the biggest public companies headquartered in California. Surveyors tallied up the women on these companies’ leadership teams and compared their median returns on assets and equity. The results were eye-opening: The 25 companies with the most female executives and board members had overall returns at least 74% higher than the 400 companies overall. Specifically, their median return on assets was more than double that of the rest of the pool, and their median return on equity was over 75% higher. This study wasn’t an outlier. According to Forbes, the McKinsey Global Institute found that “if every country could narrow its gender gap at the same historical rate as the fastest-improving nation in its regional peer group, the world could add $12 trillion to its annual gross domestic product by 2025,” and the Credit Suisse Research Institute reported that the more women a company has on its leadership team, the greater its excess returns are for shareholders. So, what is the secret sauce that makes women in leadership so successful? No one knows for sure, but Inc. Magazine speculates that women have an edge when it comes to emotional intelligence, problem-solving, and trust- building. Whatever the root cause, the results speak for themselves: It pays to have women on your team.

“The Agony of Decision” teaches that when your

company is on the line, it’s quick thinking — more than smooth communication, effective execution, or even expertise

— that can save it. The book offers a framework to guide you through the decision-making process, helping you identify and weigh each outcome, then choose the right one. Answer that first big question, Garcia teaches, and the rest of the tumblers will click into place, allowing you to lead your company forward. To prove it, he weaves his personal experiences and decision-making scaffolding with notable stories of past business failures and successes. As one Amazon reviewer writes, “Helio Fred Garcia provides a thorough discussion of the do’s and don’ts of crisis response with both current and historical events (remember Exxon Valdez or Tylenol?) that clearly demonstrate the right way to respond … and the gateway to disaster.” With more than 30 years of experience mentoring massive international companies and nurturing business leaders at top American universities under his belt, Garcia is the perfect person to give voice to these tough lessons. His prose is self-assured, knowledgeable, and easy to read, which makes “The Agony of Decision” a surprisingly comforting book for an entrepreneur going through hardship. There’s a reason BookAuthority named it one of their best crisis management books of all time! In the last few months, the coronavirus has proven to be the ultimate test of crisis management. If you’re in the process of figuring out how to lead your business effectively through the turbulence and could use a decision-making toolkit to help you when the phone rings with bad news, “The Agony of Decision” might be your ideal summer read.

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THE BEST FATHER’S DAY GIFT 3 Ways Dads Can Spend More Time With Their Kids

What’s the perfect Father’s Day gift? It’s not a new watch or a state-of-the-art fishing pole, and it’s certainly not a “funky” new tie. If you ask a dad, he’ll probably tell you that what he wants most this Father’s Day is to spend more quality time with his kids. This month, we have a few suggestions for helping dads spend time with their kids all year long.

and all the pizza ingredients you’ll need from the grocery store. Make one big pizza together or set up a toppings bar and let everyone make their own personal pizza. It’s a simple way to enjoy a fun, memorable family dinner.

‘Date Nights’

Homemade Pizza Fridays

If you grew up with siblings, then you’ll remember how valuable that one-on-one time with your parents was. Kids today still want that connection, even if they act like they’re “too cool” to spend time with Dad. Plan some one-on-one time with each of your kids where you turn off your phone, step away from work, and enjoy some activity or event together. Catch a movie, see a concert, or play Dungeons and Dragons, if your kid is into that.

Cooking homemade pizza with the kids doesn’t have to be a huge production. All you really need is a good pizza stone. If you want to make your pizza dough from scratch, you can, but you can also buy premade dough

Make Time for Adult Children

Getting your teenagers to spend time with you can be hard enough, but dads with adult children know the true struggle of finding that quality time. There are plenty of ways dads can spend quality time with their adult children. You can visit a new local brewery, take a hike, go on a walking food tour of your city, or even go horseback riding. Struggling to coordinate schedules? Video chat apps like FaceTime can also help bridge that distance and keep your family close.

Father’s Day is only once a year, but there are over 360 other days for you to spend time with your kids. Don’t wait to enjoy that quality time. Look for ways to make it happen each day.

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Grilled Basil Chicken and Tomatoes

Ingredients •

in case the market went down even lower. If the market didn’t drop again, then I’d keep that money. I don’t buy for the sake of buying. I buy with strategy, when the market is in a correction. I commit to a few stocks and stick with it. Lesson 4: Get Educated One of the things that helped me the most in learning how to invest was subscribing to The Motley Fool’s newsletter. This is a financial and investing advice company that does a ton of research then emails out weekly stock tips, which are based off the profit earnings (PE) ratio. I’ve invested in some of the stocks they’ve recommended and received a nice chunk of change in return. This helped me learn to identify good stocks on my own. The last few emails I got from Motley Fool included stock recommendations that I had already bought on my own. These are the lessons I’ve learned from two years of obsessing over the stock market. Now, I’m not a financial advisor, and I don’t know your financial situation. This is what I’ve learned in my experiences trading stocks on my own, but I’m not suggesting everyone should be doing this. This is nice if you have spare cash, but it’s not a long-term strategy. Talk to a professional about your retirement plan. Investing in the stock market can be a great strategy to build your finances, but if you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s easy to act in a panic and suffer big losses. Be smart about it.

2 tbsp olive oil 1 clove garlic

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1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves

8 Roma tomatoes

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 oz each)

Directions 1. For marinade: In blender, combine olive oil, garlic, salt, vinegar, and basil. Cut 2 tomatoes into quarters and add to mixture. Cover and process until blended. Halve remaining tomatoes for grilling. 2. In bowl, combine chicken and 2/3 cup marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Reserve remaining marinade. 3. Heat grill to about 350–400 F. Lightly oil grates. Grill chicken until internal temperature reads 165 F, about 4–6 minutes per side. Grill tomatoes until lightly browned, about 2–4 minutes per side. Discard remaining marinade. 4. Serve chicken and tomatoes with reserved marinade.

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7462 Old Hickory Drive Mechanicsville, VA 23111 www.sklartechnology.com 804-730-2628

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Inside This Issue Here’s Why You’re Bad at Investing The Secret to Leading in a Crisis Is a Lack of Women Holding Your Company Back? What Dads Really Want

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Grilled Basil Chicken and Tomatoes Perfect Your Pushup With This Guide

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The Perfect Pushup

TIPS TO STEP UP YOUR GAME

elbow pushing outward. ( Pro tip: While form should be your main focus, the faster you go, the easier pushups will be.) Once you master this style of pushup, you can begin to increase the difficulty. Get on the Floor After a quick stretch and warmup, start your pursuit of the perfect pushup by limiting the distance your elbows have to drop. Try doing pushups with your hands placed on the seat of a stable chair and your legs stretched into a pushup position behind you to train your body for the form you need on the ground. Next, get into a standard pushup position with two yoga blocks underneath your chest. As you drop to the ground, watch your body for proper form and remove the blocks as you progress. Practice Rest days are essential to any fitness routine, but when your rest days are more frequent than your fitness days, your body isn’t going to adapt and grow. Keep practicing and tweaking your pushup technique. Set small goals, such as not dropping your hips, and make plans to meet them. Asking a friend to monitor your form is a helpful way to improve too.

Have you ever noticed how military personnel can drop to the floor and crank out 30 pushups effortlessly? Believe it or not, so can you! All it takes is a little practice. Follow these tips to perfect your pushup. Focus on Form There’s a variety of pushup forms, and they vary both in difficulty and in which muscles they target. However, there is one pushup form that sets the foundation for the more technical and challenging moves. For the standard, military-style pushup, keep your torso lengthened in a straight line and your hands directly underneath your shoulders. When you drop to the ground, keep your body rigid and drop in one fluid motion, with the bend of your

With a little patience and plenty of practice, you’ll be doing pushups like a pro in no time!

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