Ask the Fool Low- or High-Priced Stock? As a new investor, I wonder: Fool’s School you mull how you want to invest: My Smartest Investment The Motley Fool Take QIs it better to buy stocks • What’s your investing time under $20 per share, like Fitbit, frame? When you buy stocks, you or higher-priced stocks such as What’s Your should only invest money you won’t Valuing Greatness Snack on Sherwin-Williams (recently near need for five years or more. $680 per share), that have been Investing Strategy? My smartest investment was buy- This Stock • How involved will you be? If ing shares of cloud-based communi- around longer and have good For best results when investing, you’re going to learn to study stocks cations specialist Twilio at $25 each. If you’re looking for a resilient track records? It seems you could don’t just buy or sell whatever you and then follow your holdings regu- The company looked like it had great investment during this pandemic, buy a lot more shares in lower- fancy on a whim, following hot tips, larly, great. If not, consider simple, people, great values and great inno- consider PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP). priced stocks and make more hunches, media mentions or your low-fee, broad-market index funds, vative services. — T.C.S., online It’s not simply a beverage company, money. — John S., online emotions. Instead, read up as many people assume; it also owns such as those that track the S&P 500 The Fool Responds: A combi- the Frito-Lay family of snacks and the You need to separate the on investing, consider your or the entire stock market. nation of great people, values and situation, develop a strategy Quaker Foods business. In fiscal 2019, Aprice of the stock from the • How risk-tolerant are you? Bank innovations — that’s a terrific start PepsiCo generated 46% of its revenue rest of your thinking. The price and then stick to it. accounts and certificates of deposit to finding a solid investment. You from beverages and 54% from foods. Begin by learning about various always want sound management, doesn’t matter all that much — (CDs) are low-risk, but they won’t It’s also very much a global company, investments so that you understand and while that can be hard unless it’s below around $5 per grow your money briskly; they may with 42% of revenue coming from their risks and possible returns. (The to evaluate, you can start by outside the U.S. in fiscal 2019. share, in which case you’re prob- not even outpace inflation. Stocks reading some of manage- “Investing Basics” drop-down menu are riskier, but some less so than To grasp just how dominant ably looking at a risky “penny at Fool.com is a good place to start.) ment’s annual letters to sharehold- PepsiCo is in the food and bever- stock.” Understand that huge, others, and sticking with solid, ers to get a sense of how candid For example, stocks tend to be established, dividend-paying compa- age business, check out some of its old companies can have low and communicative they’re being. brands: Pepsi-Cola, Lay’s, Doritos, more volatile than bonds, but they nies can lower your risk. Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson has spo- share prices: Wells Fargo stock outperform bonds handily over long Aquafina, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, • How will you invest? Will you ken at length about the company’s Pure Leaf, Tropicana, Quaker Oats, was recently near $25. Younger periods. And you shouldn’t expect use dollar-cost averaging, contribut- values, and its website lists 10 of companies can have high share Brisk, Smartfood, Ruffles, Cheetos, more than an average annual growth ing a set amount regularly to one or them, such as “Wear the customer’s Fritos, Tostitos, Rold Gold, Funyuns, prices: Amazon.com shares were rate of 8% to 10% in stocks over the more investments? Will you favor shoes” and “No shenanigans.” Life cereal, Cracker Jack, Rice-A- recently near $3,300 apiece. long term, though higher (or lower) large blue-chip companies, or look Innovation can help a company Roni, Sierra Mist, 7UP, Naked, Near Furthermore, a $20 stock rates are possible over shorter peri- succeed as it responds to a chang- East, and Walkers. Fully 23 of its for smaller and possibly faster- ing marketplace. Innovation can may be grossly overvalued and ods. Read up on great investors, too, growing ones? Will you diversify brands each generate more than $1 likely to fall, while a $300 stock and learn about different investing even help it change the marketplace billion in annual revenue. across different industries and dif- itself, such as when Apple intro- may be a great bargain, destined styles, such as growth investing and ferent kinds of companies? Will you PepsiCo isn’t resting on its laurels. duced the iPod. It’s exciting when It’s boosting its popular energy- to hit $900 in a few years and value investing. look for undervalued stocks? How you spot companies innovating at $2,000 after that. Focus on each Think about these questions as drink offerings, and it’s building a many stocks will you aim to own? this level, but don’t buy into them direct-to-consumer revenue channel company’s fundamentals; study at any price; aim to buy them when it to determine if it’s healthy and via its PantryShop.com and they seem undervalued. Twilio Snacks.com websites. growing, and if it’s trading at a stock, recently trading near $240 PepsiCo’s dividend recently reasonable, or even low, price. Name That Company per share, has risen sharply in a few yielded almost 3%, and that payout Don’t worry about the number years, and bulls expect much more I trace my roots back to has been increased annually for 48 of shares you buy, either — long-term growth. Bears see the consecutive years. (The most recent you can double or triple a the 1940s, when a retired high stock as overvalued, though, and increase was 7%.) The company’s point out that the young enterprise $1,000 investment whether you school principal met a retired market value was recently around is not yet profitable: Its revenue is $190 billion, and its forward-looking buy a single $1,000 share or 100 teacher living in poverty in a growing rapidly, but it’s plowing $10 shares. price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was chicken coop. After the prin- its cash into further growth. (The recently in the mid-20s; these suggest *** cipal formed an organization to Motley Fool owns shares of and has that it’s not a screaming bargain, but recommended Twilio.) What’s a 529 plan? — B.H., help retired teachers, in 1958 it’s not wildly overpriced, either. QOrem, Utah she founded me to address the It’s a tax-advantaged, usually needs of all older people. I launched LAST WEEK’S TRIVIA ANSWER Astate-based account you can I trace my roots back to 1972, when two guys noticed a storage set up to save for educational a lifelong learning institute in 1963. In business that had a waiting list for customers. They invested $25,000 expenses such as college. You the 1960s, I successfully pushed for each and opened a storage facility in California — and agreed to keep don’t have to use your own state’s legislation banning age discrimination in opening more facilities until there was no more demand. Today, based in Glendale, California, I boast more than 2,500 locations, and I’m still plan, either — you can research the workplace. In 1979, I launched driver- growing. I’m the world’s largest owner, operator and developer of other states’ offerings and choose safety programs for older drivers. My self-storage facilities, with a market value recently near $36 billion. I the best plan for you. Learn more magazine, formerly called Modern Matu- serve about 1.5 million customers, with roughly 1 million moving in or at SavingforCollege.com and out of units annually. Who am I? (Answer: Public Storage) CollegeSavings.org. rity, is read by tens of millions. You can join me even if you’re younger than 50. Who am I? Want to Invest? Email us at [email protected], and we’ll Want more information about stocks? send you some tips to start investing. Sorry, we can’t provide Send us an email to [email protected]. Think you know the answer? We’ll announce it in next week’s edition. individual financial advice. © 2020 THE MOTLEY FOOL/DIST. BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICatION 9/10.