How much do you get for having your money in the bank?

Probably nothing, niets, niente, nada, nista, intet, nic, ei mitn, rien, nicht, nada

And you get nothing only if you are lucky.

I recently got a letter from my Dutch bank saying how it will start charging a negative 0.5% interest rate on certain amounts.

ABN AMRO - negative interest rate - Source: Reuters

In any case, 0, negative 0.5%, it doesn't look good! Let's look at other options for investing from Europe (DAX) (EUFN) (EZU) (EUFN) (IEUR).

Investing is pretty simple. Investing fundamentals are always the same and it doesn't really matter whether you are from Europe or not. The most important investing fundamentals are:

Let's apply these simple principles to the biggest investing issues and opportunities for Europeans.

1) What am I already invested in?

Let's reverse engineer investing from Europe and start from what you are already long, already invested in, if you are from Europe. To protect yourself from whatever might await Europe and the euro in the future, you might want to first diversify away from what you already have.

Pension funds

Most Europeans are legally obliged to put part of their salary into a pension fund. Unfortunately, pension funds invest like pension funds. They should offer a safe but small yield over time.

A look at the largest investments of my Dutch pension fund ABP shows that I am long government bonds, some real estate in the Netherlands, and the largest global corporations.

European Pension Fund Investments - Source: ABP

Thus, most pension funds hold a globally diversified portfolio and what we should expect from it is a small yield, hopefully above inflation and management costs if we are lucky. But something should come out of it at some point in time.

Your government - social security

Alongside your private pension fund, when you reach 60, 65 or even 67, if you are still alive, your government will probably give you a pension in the form of social security.

However, demographics are not looking good in Europe due to the aging population, government debts are piling and who knows how will Europe look like in 20, 30, 40 years.

Europe Government Debt Levels - Source: European Commission

While things go well and are stable, all is fine, but when things turn bad, reality might not meet your expectations. Greek pensioners have not been happy with what has been going on there over the past decade.

Greek pension cuts - Source: Greekreporter

We don't know what will be the paying capacity of individual European governments down the road, but that is something, alongside most pension funds already owning government bonds, we are all long.

Home - possibly???

Further, you might be one of those that own a home. Therefore, you might be long European real estate already.

European home ownership - Statista

But then again, your home isn't likely to produce cash flows, which is what you want to get from investing.

Euro - if you have some money to invest

And the last thing you are probably long, the euro, the currency, sitting on your bank account, earns no yield and is surely losing from 1% to 10% on inflation depending on what you are buying. If you are saving for retirement or a home, the inflation rate is much higher.

The above basket of European investments consisting of European bonds, stocks, government exposure, real estate and cash could be considered simply being long Europe with no diversification. If a government gets into trouble, bonds will follow and governments get into trouble when economies slow down, thus the stocks you own would fall too. And, if governments get into trouble, the euro would too be in trouble and your pension fund too, and even real estate might be hit.

We can say that we Europeans are pretty long Europe and every investment is highly correlated, not diversified at all.

So, where to invest and what to do? I'll tell you how am I diversified and hedged (protected from downside) as a European living in Europe and you'll see how that fits your requirements, risk appetite and financial goals.

The core of this article on how to invest from Europe will be diversification and inflation protection. Given the environment, we can't know what will work and because of the money printing going on, inflation is a certainty.

2) Stocks - or better to say businesses

When compared to what you get from your bank on your cash, investing in stocks that represent a part of a business seems a very smart thing to do. The Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B) stock gives you a high dividend yield, but it gives you also a risk, 100% related to oil.

Stocks are always very volatile because the majority of people see it as a gambling place and not as an investment place. However, if you look at it from an investing perspective, you can be very well rewarded over time.

My message is simple, have part of your portfolio in good businesses that will keep delivering over time. One example is the Visa (NYSE:V) stock that I recently did. I'll make an analysis about oil soon so please subscribe.

If you manage to not worry about stock prices, but focus on the businesses that you own and the yield those businesses produce over time, you'll do good and much better than by keeping your cash in a bond or on your bank account.

3) Real estate

An option is to invest in is real estate, another asset class that is still comparatively cheap. The naysayers will immediately say how real estate prices can drop and you can lose your money. My answer is that it is definitely a risk, but not a certainty like it is the case with your cash. Plus, as it was the cash with stocks and the businesses you invest, the question is whether you are investing in real estate like a speculation, expecting it to go up, or you are investing in it for the cash flow it will bring you.

Real estate yields in Europe are still much higher than what bonds offer and rents are usually adjusted up for inflation.

Europe real estate investing yields - Source: Global Property Guide

On top of the yield, given the ECB is printing money hand over fist and it is impossible for it to stop printing because the European economy, European governments and even the population is desperately in need of free money, it is likely that the money supply will continue to grow and that inflation will continue to be present within financial assets. So, owning real estate is also a form of inflationary protection.

ECB bond purchases - Source: ECB

The money the ECB produces through bond purchases and negative interest rates flows towards a higher yield - thus into real estate and financial instruments like stocks.

The result of the above is that home prices in the Netherlands have increased 35% in just four years while prices in Amsterdam surged much more as there is limited supply within the canals and high demand thanks to demographics and tourism.

Real Estate Prices Netherlands - Source: CBS

Perhaps there will be some temporary downturns, but given the "whatever it takes" monetary policy, it is more likely to see real estate prices double in the next 10 to 20 years than to see them fall. So, real estate is a way to protect your wealth and get a yield.

I made a rational mistake of selling my real estate in the Netherlands in 2019, but that was mostly for personal reasons as we took the equity out to buy something new as we moved out of the Netherlands. More about that in my real estate video. We still have the cash, but it will hopefully be deployed during this year.

Just a warning here, investing in real estate has its risks and you really need to do it properly. If you do it properly, you treat it as an investment and you don't speculate. Thus, you focus on the yield from the property and you are happy with it, over the long-term, you'll probably do very well. Also, keep in mind the three core rules when it comes to investing in real estate: location, location and location. Add demographics, supply and demand analysis, tourism, students etc. and you'll get the picture of where to and where not to invest.

And, real estate investing has another little perk.

4) Mortgages or loans (for whom do you think those low interest rates are?)

Central banks are forced to keep interest rates extremely low because governments and corporations are extremely indebted, especially in old fashioned industries or countries where they try to do whatever to keep up with growth stocks or emerging markets.

My brother is looking to buy his first home in the Netherlands and the bank offers him an interest rate of 1.2% variable or a 1.47% fixed for 20 years. Those yields are insanely low where a fixed rate mortgage might give you another hedge against possible inflation given that your payments remain always fixed. If there is inflation of 5% to 10% in the future due to loose monetary policies, imagine how would you feel owning a 20-year fixed mortgage of 1.47%? (unfortunately, available only is some countries).

If you can borrow at 3% while the rental yield is 4% where the rental yield will only go up while your payment remains fixed forever, to me, that is a good risk versus reward investment opportunity.

Keep in mind there is always risk and you never know what can go wrong. The key to lower your personal financial and investment risk is to be diversified. Another way to diversify is to take a look at commodities.

5) Commodities

Commodities are resources where many are of limited supply while demand keeps on growing due to global economic growth. Global consumption of materials just hit 100 billion tonnes and there is not a sign that demand will stop growing in the future.

Global material consumption - Source: Guardian

Also, commodities should give you protection against inflation. Many immediately think of gold, an asset class with special characteristics but there are many other commodities you can invest in from copper, palladium, nickel to fertilizers or salt.

Whatever might be the commodity that best fits your portfolio, the key to understand is that commodities will always be volatile and therefore one has to have a clear strategy before exposing a portfolio to commodities.

If I take the example of gold, it has been extremely volatile over the past 10 years, going from below $1,000 per ounce, getting close to $2,000 in 2011, falling down to $1,000 and going up to above $1,500 now.

Gold price - Source: FRED

Perhaps the best strategy when it comes to commodities portfolio exposure is a constant balancing strategy. Let's say you put 10% of your portfolio in gold, for example, and when it becomes 12%, you sell 2%. In case it falls to 8% you bring it back up to 10%, etc. Given the volatility of the commodity, you'll constantly get a return from trading and give balance to your portfolio. In case gold is expensive while stocks are cheap, you might want to use the proceeds from one to add to the other.

In any case, it is likely that over the long term, a commodity will do better than cash by just preserving its value.

I personally don't have gold or other commodities, but I have businesses that produce them which is a way to combine being hedged with commodities and owning a business. Here is a discussion about investing in copper.

Investing from Europe - diversify and always mind the fundamentals

You cannot know what will happen, so you must always analyse the risk and reward of each of your actions. It is highly likely the euro will continue to lose its value due to political issues, constant money printing, the historical power of the dollar, the growth in other economies while Europe's demographics stagnate at best and most importantly negative interest rates and constant money printing.

We can only imagine how will European politicians and monetary policy makers react when the first real economic issues hit the global economy and push the European economy into a recession - I assume there is going to be a lot of money printing. The best way is to be prepared where if it happens you are ready, if it doesn't happen, you are still ok as you own good investments in the form of good real estate, good businesses and good commodities.

Now, don't diversify just to diversify and buy whatever in Emerging markets. Learn about your options and then invest in what you understand that is better compared to what you have now in Europe and in case Europe gets into a crisis, could be much better. Buying something, without a margin of safety or without good fundamentals just for the sake of diversification might be a costly thing to do. Remember, wherever you are, you have to apply common sense to investing.

For those that prefer watching, here is the video discussing the above.

For more insights into how to invest, how to take advantage of the situation and not be taken advantage of - please subscribe!

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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5 Ways How To Invest From Europe In 2020 And Protect Your Wealth - Seeking Alpha

To enjoy a comfortable future, investing is absolutely essential for most people.

Why invest? Investing can provide you with another source of income, help fund your retirement or even get you out of a financial jam in the future. Above all, investing helps you grow your wealth allowing your financial goals to be met and increasing your purchasing power over time.

Or maybe youve recently sold your home or come into some money, then its a wise decision to let that money work for you and grow over time.

You have many ways to invest from very safe choices such as CDs and money market accounts to medium-risk options such as corporate bonds, and even higher-risk picks such as growth stocks, S&P 500 index funds and REITs. Thats great news, because it means you can find investments that offer a variety of returns and fit your risk profile. It also means that you can combine investments to create a well-rounded and diverse that is, safer portfolio.

Click through the gallery above for strategies to consider when investing followed by the 15 best investments of 2020.

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The 15 best investments of 2020 Bankrate - msnNOW

Investors who owned stocks in the 2010s generally experienced some big gains. In fact, the SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) total return for the decade was 250.5%. But theres no question some big-name stocks did much better than others along the way.

One of the market leaders of the past decade was chocolate giant Hershey Co (NYSE: HSY).

Hersheys financial performance and its stock gains throughout the 2010s were mostly consistent and steady. In fact, the biggest headline of the past 10 years for Hershey investors was a failed takeover attempt by Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ: MDLZ) back in 2016.

In June 2016, Oreo and Cadbury parent company Mondelez made a $23 billion cash-and-stock offer for Hershey valued at $107 per share. However, the charitable trust set up by Hersheys founder more than 100 years ago to control the company and fund a school for underprivileged children rejected the buyout offer. The trust holds more than 80% of Hersheys voting stock. Reports later indicated Mondelez would be willing to pay as much as $115 per share for Hershey, but Hershey would not even enter negotiations for any bids under $125 per share.

Even with the trusts potential approval of a buyout deal, Hershey had a previous $12.5 billion buyout offer by Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co blocked by the Pennsylvania attorney generals office back in 2002 following local community protests.

Mondelez eventually abandoned its buyout bid in August 2016, sending Hershey shares tumbling 11.4%.

Hershey shares started the 2010s trading at around $36. The stock dipped as low as $35.83 in early 2010, its lowest point of the decade. From that point forward, Hershey shares marched steadily higher, reaching $50 by mid-2010 and $100 my late 2013. After more than three years of trading between around $85 and $110, Hershey broke out to new all-time highs in mid-2016 on the Mondelez buyout rumors. The stock climbed as high as $117.79 before dropping when the deal was abandoned.

Hershey finally broke out to new highs in early 2019 and made it as high as $162.20, its high water mark of the 2010s.

Though the stock has since pulled back below $160, Hershey investors did very well in the 2010s. In fact, $100 worth of Hershey stock in 2010 would be worth about $533 today, assuming reinvested dividends.

Looking ahead, analysts expect Hershey to struggle in 2020. The average price target among the 16 analysts covering the stock is $152, suggesting 3.7% downside from current levels.

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2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Here's How Much Investing $100 In Hershey Stock Back In 2010 Would Be Worth Today - Benzinga

It's Valentine's Day, and love is in the air. But so are big stock gains, with the benchmark S&P 500 and technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite hitting all-time record highs earlier this week.

A number of top money managers have said that you shouldn't fall in love with your investments, but that's a pretty hard suggestion to follow when there are so many great businesses you can own a piece of and call your very own for a long time. Below, you'll find seven stock market sweethearts that offer a combination of competitive advantages, superior branding, and long-term growth opportunities that'll have you swooning.

Image source: Getty Images.

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is pretty much at its all-time high -- and so what? Not only is Amazon responsible for close to 40% of the United States' e-commerce retail sales, according to eMarketer, but its cloud services business, Amazon Web Services (AWS), is growing at a significantly faster pace than its retail operations.

Why's this important? AWS generates substantially juicier margins than traditional retail sales, meaning that as AWS becomes a greater percentage of total sales for Amazon, the company's cash flow and profitability should soar.

According to Wall Street estimates, Amazon's cash flow per share is expected to nearly double between 2019 and 2022, placing the company at a significant discount to its average price-to-cash-flow ratio over the past five years. Assuming Amazon continues to dominate with its cloud offerings, considerable upside remains for its share price.

Image source: Getty Images.

Like Amazon, robotic-assisted surgical system developer Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) is a company that just continues to grow stronger over time. Although Intuitive Surgical earns quite a bit of revenue from the sale of its pricey da Vinci surgical systems ($0.5 million to $2.5 million per machine), these systems are costly to build and therefore result in only modest margins.

Rather, this company generates the bulk of its profits from selling instruments with each procedure, as well as servicing its systems. As more da Vinci systems are installed, these higher-margin revenue streams become a larger percentage of total sales. Translation: Operating margins should increase over time.

What's more, Intuitive Surgical is just scraping the tip of the iceberg on soft-tissue surgeries with da Vinci. Aside from prime market share in gynecology and urology procedures, there's a long-term opportunity to grow its market share in colorectal, thoracic, and general soft-tissue surgeries. In short, this is a razor-and-blade business model with an extremely long growth runway.

Image source: Getty Images.

Cannabis hasn't exactly been a top-performing investment over the past 10-plus months, but that hasn't stopped marijuana real estate investment trust (REIT) Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE:IIPR) from thriving. This REIT, which acquires medical marijuana growing and processing sites then leases them out for long periods of time, currently owns 49 properties in 15 states.

These assets have a weighted-average lease length of 15.6 years, with its $538 million in invested assets yielding an average of 13.2%. In other words, Innovative Industrial Properties should have a complete payback on its invested capital in just about 5.5 years.

Furthermore, the only high-yielding cannabis stock continues to benefit from vertically integrated multistate operators in the U.S. having limited access to financing. As long as cannabis banking reform is swept under the rug or kicked down the road on Capitol Hill, Innovative Industrial Properties' key advantage remains in place.

Image source: Getty Images.

While there's no denying that AT&T (NYSE:T) isn't the telecom growth giant it once was, there's also no overlooking its rock-solid business model or longer-term growth drivers. For instance, the rollout of 5G networks, while initially costly for the company, should lead to a steady wave of smartphone upgrades. Increased data usage is great for AT&T and its bread-and-butter wireless division, since data is where its juiciest margins lie.

Furthermore, AT&T is a content giant that should be able to utilize its purchase of Time Warner to its advantage. The addition of TNT, TBS, and CNN provides a lure to new consumers, especially streaming customers, while bolstering AT&T's ad-pricing power.

Sporting a 36-year streak of increasing its dividend, AT&T and its 5.4% yield are about as safe as it gets on the income front.

Image source: Getty Images.

It's pretty incredible how quickly Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) has transformed since the Great Recession. A number of settlements tied to the mortgage meltdown are now firmly in the rearview mirror, and BofA has done a bang-up job of reducing noninterest expenses to improve profitability. This has been accomplished by closing some of its physical branches and focusing on the next generation of consumers via digital banking and mobile apps.

Bank of America is also expected to benefit from the long-term normalization of interest rates. There's not a money-center bank that's more sensitive to interest rates than BofA. If interest rates wind up nearing their historic average, it should lead to billions in added net interest income for Bank of America. Following a $37 billion capital-return plan, announced in June 2019, BofA's capital returns could be robust if the fed funds rate finds its way back to 3%.

Image source: Pinterest.

Maybe it's apropos that a list of stock market sweethearts includes social-media giant Pinterest (NYSE:PINS), which is all about sharing your interests and things you like/love with the world. Last year, Pinterest saw its sales rise 51% to $1.14 billion, with global monthly active users (MAUs) rising 26% in the fourth quarter to 335 million from the year-ago quarter.

The Pinterest story is really all about international growth. In 2019, U.S. MAUs increased by only 8%, with the bulk of the gains coming from international markets, with MAUs up 35%. What's more, average revenue per user (ARPU) in foreign markets is really beginning to take off.

ARPU more than doubled on a full-year basis to $0.54 from $0.25. Pinterests' global ARPU level is still way behind rival Facebook, but it clearly demonstrates that advertisers are willing to pay up for eyeballs on Pinterest's platform, which, in turn, suggests that the company's ad-pricing power is improving.

With a turn to recurring profitability expected in 2020, Pinterest looks to be a solid candidate to "pin" to your portfolio.

Image source: Getty Images.

Historically, there's just never a bad time to buy into payment-processing giant Visa (NYSE:V). Visa is a dominant force in the U.S. that's responsible for more than half of the country's network purchase volume. It's also laying the groundwork to be a major payment-processing provider in markets well outside the United States. The 2016 purchase of Visa Europe significantly increased its global merchant network, and the company has the ability to continue growing its overseas market share as underbanked regions of the world, such as the Middle East and Africa, improve banking and credit access.

The beauty of Visa's operating model is that it's not a lender. Sure, this doesn't allow the company to double dip like some of its peers and earn interest while also lending money. However, it also protects Visa from credit delinquencies when U.S. or global economic growth contracts. This sole focus on being a payment facilitator and payment innovator is what allows Visa to charge higher.

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7 Stock Market Sweethearts You'll Want to Call Your Own - Motley Fool

Several years ago in this space I opened by saying, In case you hadnt noticed, today is Super Bowl Sunday, which is billed as the world championship of professional football. But the reason this is appearing on Page 2 instead of the sports page is that this is the one sporting event that can claim more non-sports viewers than any other.

That statement remains true today. In fact, given that the 49ers have returned to the grand stage for the first time in seven years, this years Super Bowl battle with the Kansas City Chiefs will be heavily watched in our town and throughout Northern California, even if no one east of the Mississippi has any interest at all in the outcome.

If you are not a football fan, but have been asked to bring seven-layer bean dip to the neighborhood party, what follows if for you. Its a little game we play in our home that keeps the kids interested from the National Anthem through the coin flip to the final gun and the obligatory bath of Gatorade for the winning coach..

What we have is a series of questions that relate directly to the game but dont require much knowledge about football itself.

Each question has a point value for a correct answer, with swell prizes at the end when the final point totals are tallied.

We let the kids play as one team, answering all questions ahead of time and them marking them off on a giant posterboard mounted directly above the living room television.

We light a fire in the fireplace, bring out the snacks and settle in for an afternoon of fun with our own version of that time-honored game Twenty Questions.

Basically, the alleged adults in our family put their heads together and come up with these questions and the points awarded for each correct answer.

The beauty here is that the kids are all on the same team, rooting for each other instead of against.

This years questions were released last night, which allowed for careful consideration throughout the 12-hour pre-game show that begins early Sunday morning.

The coin flip is the question that regularly kicks off this annual contest, offering a chance to earn valuable points before the game even starts.

Believe it or not, this is also a popular wager in Las Vegas, presumably because you dont need to know a lot about the 49ers and Chiefs to have a decent chance of coming up with the correct answer.

Given that there are four kids debating heads or tails, the possibility of a 2-2 split exists, which teaches them the value of negotiation and compromise, ideals theyve pretty much given up on after watching the United States Congress in action for the last several years.

Another chance to pick up points before the game starts comes with the length of the Star Spangled Banner. You can bet over 2 minutes or under 2 minutes.

Trust me, with all eyes glued to the TV and stopwatches running, this is perhaps the most exciting and stress-producing part of the entire telecast. Im serious. Try it and youll see what I mean.

Our kids routinely bet on the over 2 minutes, even though the historic average is 1:59.

The last few seconds, as The land of the free gets stretched out by whomever has been selected to sing the Anthem, is as intense as any fourth-and-goal with the game on the line.

This years game is in Miami, which lends itself to the question Will 49ers running back Raheem Mostert rush for more yards than the official high temperature in Miami today? A simple yes or no question with 30 valuable points on the line.

And just think, weve now introduced meteorology and scientific inquiry into an otherwise boring football game.

Other questions concern which team will score first, which team will score last, which quarterback will throw the first interception, will there be overtime and how many times the announcers will say It all depends on the spot when officials are measuring for a first down.

The festivities conclude in the early evening when we order a pizza, silence the TV and settle in for our own awards banquet.

This years prizes, which we vary from year to year, are as follows:

0 points: Uber to West Sacramento and back

50 points: Medium Jamba Juice

100 points: Trip to YoloBerry and two toppings

200 points: Dinner at Symposium

500 points: Weekend at Donner Lake

750 points: Hamilton matinee and lunch in San Francisco

1,000 points: Were going to Disneyland

And for those who do care about who wins this game, you should know that the final score will be 49ers 31, Chiefs 28.

You can bet on it.

Reach Bob Dunning at [emailprotected].

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Bob Dunning: Get everyone invested in the outcome - Davis Enterprise

Our countrys failings in comparison to other OECD nations have come as a major shock to Israels education establishment. The PISA results for 2018, announced in December, revealed Israeli students performing significantly worse than expected. Gaps between the strongest and weakest students across our country are more substantial than in any other participating nation. The gaps between Israeli Arab students and their Jewish peers are now the equivalent of three to four years worth of schooling according to the OECD. It is embarrassing how is it that in an advanced country, where our progress in cyber and tech are held aloft as a beacon, the performance in classrooms has fallen so far behind countries such as Estonia, with far more limited education budgets than our own? But these results do not reflect the reality I see when I visit our World ORT Kadima Mada schools in the north and south of Israel, nor the experiences of the hundreds of thousands of students we reach in more than 30 countries. For 140 years we have worked to bridge the gap between ability and opportunity. By unleashing the potential of young people, we assist them to lead fulfilling lives and have a positive impact on the world around them. And so at World ORT Kadima Mada, we are bucking the Israeli trend. Our Kfar Silver Youth Village near Ashkelon saw matriculation rates rise by 43% in three years higher than the national average and benefiting among others our Bedouin students who would otherwise not progress in their education in such a successful way. Our YOUniversity Excellence Centers across the country welcome more than 8,000 students a year. Aged six to 18, they come from secular, Charedi, Orthodox and Arab backgrounds. The subsidized science and technology after-school courses, with innovative hands-on education provided by highly-trained instructors using the most modern equipment, give students choice and the chance to be part of an elite learning group. Successful education takes many forms inside and outside the classroom. Karam Abo Mosa was a Bedouin student at our Kfar Silver Youth Village. He credits the school as being key to earning his bagrut because the teachers fought for him. He didnt speak Hebrew and initially struggled to integrate with Jewish students when he arrived. Now he is a successful, ambitious young man and the first Bedouin to attend the Derech Eretz Mehina ahead of entering the IDF in March. Students such as Karam represent the possibilities for our education system and our country. Israels Ministry of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galil, works closely with us to improve the educational opportunities available to children living outside central Israel. Last month ministry CEO Ariel Mishal acknowledged the equal opportunities we provide in the periphery. We picked Kadima Mada for a reason, he said. They gave the best offer of how to give the children the best opportunities, the best instructors. We know now that the children who go to the excellence centers stay there. They want more. In all the places we see the benefit. We are helping children fulfil their dreams. Over the past 12 years, we have invested more than $100 million in working to reduce gaps in Israels education framework. We are in the frontline in changing how Israel thinks about education and with it we will help improve the countrys performance in the international league tables. Avi Ganon is Director General and CEO of World ORT, a global education network driven by Jewish values which celebrates its 140th anniversary in 2020

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World ORTs investment in Israels education system is reaping rewards - The Jerusalem Post

In order to adapt to the rise in e-commerce deliveries and tap into growing global e-commerce demand, FedEx (NYSE:FDX) management has made some costly decisions over the past several months. These decisions have included investments in a residential delivery system, seven-day delivery service, and the purchase of TNT Express.

While the company invests in these areas, this shipping company has seen its financial figures under stress, which has led to some concern from investors.FedEx's second-quarter fiscal 2020 unadjusted earnings fell to $560 million, or $2.13 per share, compared to $935 million, or $3.51 per share, the same quarter a year before -- a total of $1.21 loss per share.

Of course, a few external factors are also at work to dampen earnings. Weak global economic conditions, Amazon'sholiday-season ban on using FedEx for shipping (only recently lifted), and the later timing of the Thanksgiving holiday all played a part in lowering FedEx's bottom line.

Image source: Getty Images.

To better understand FedEx's 3 recent investments and their effects on the business overall, let's take a closer look at each.

Put simply, e-commerce has changed the way people shop, and therefore how delivery services operate. According to Statista.com, e-commerce sales totaled $3.53 trillion in 2019, and that number is expected to keep growing in the years ahead. For a company like FedEx, embracing this transformation is essential to remaining relevant.

But while shipping companies must make changes to accommodate modern buying habits, this isn't always good for business. Residential deliveries generally cost more and are less profitable than business-to-business deliveries.

Over the last year, FedEx has grown its Ground network to adapt to increased e-commerce deliveries -- and that's led to lower operating margins and profits. According to FedEx's fiscal 2020 second-quarter report, its operating margin dropped from 5.5% to 2.2%, and profits fell 40%.

But these drops seem to be temporary: FedEx management expects its Ground network to see an increase in its marginal profits within this year. "In the fourth fiscal quarter, we forecast FedEx Ground margin [percentages] will again be in the teens," FedEx founder and Chief Executive Officer Fred Smith said during the latest earnings call on December 17. Later in that call, Alan Graf, executive vice president and chief financial officer, shared that the company's "year-over-year adjusted operating profit comparison should improve in Q3 and Q4 relative to Q2."

Investors should watch the next earnings report, slated for March 17, for signs of progress in this area.

The pressure to match Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) rapid delivery time has many delivery services upping their game -- and FedEx is no different. FedEx officially switched from six days a week of delivery to a full seven-day delivery service in January 2020.

However, that extra delivery day, coupled with the loss of Amazon volume and the shift in holiday sales to the third quarter, led to a 60% margin decline for the company when compared to the same quarter the year before. "Clearly, we didn't do the greatest job of forecasting our cost," Smith admitted during the latest earnings call.

While the initial cost of Sunday deliveries was high, the company stands to gain a lot once the program stabilizes. FedEx rolled out its seven-day delivery service a few weeks early to compensate for increased deliveries during the winter holiday. During the second weekend in December 2019, management saw signs of the program's early success.

"(W)e delivered over 14 million packages on Saturday and Sunday. We weren't even delivering any packages on the weekend a couple of years ago," Smith explained on the December investor call.

Beyond delivering more packages, the seven-day service will also speed up some of FedEx's regular shipping routes by one and two full transit days. Compared to UPS ground service, FedEx is already faster by at least one day in 25% of its shipping routes. Quick shipping routes are especially valuable for shippers and consumers of perishable goods and healthcare items, which provides FedEx with a favorable advantage against its competitors.

In 2016, FedEx purchased Dutch delivery company TNT Express for $4.8 billion to boost its international presence and cut network costs.

Unfortunately, the merger is taking longer than predicted. Much of this delay is due to a 2017 cyberattack on TNT's network, which significantly affected its operations and communications systems. Rebounding from this attack has cost the TNT division around $300 million.

Going forward, FedEx believes the amount of business it will gain through this integration (TNT currently ships around one million packages daily) will outshine these setbacks. As FedEx grows its intra-European parcel business, the company will benefit from a lower pickup and delivery cost.

"We remain confident in the long-term strategic value of the FedEx Express/TNT Express combination," said FedEx's President and Chief Operating Officer Rajesh Subramaniam in a press release.

In the short term, FedEx's numbers don't look great, and the company has continued to lower its 2020 earnings outlook. The shipping giant expects to earn between $10.25 and $11.50 per share on an adjusted basis for the year, compared to its previous range of $11 to $13 per share.

That said, investors may not need to panic just yet. Most of FedEx's profit loss derived from these so-called "home improvement" efforts, and these negative effects should be temporary.

As noted, FedEx has already seen some success from its seven-day delivery service. However, the benefits of growing its Ground network and integrating with TNT remain to be seen. Investors should pay close attention to both the third and fourth quarter earnings calls, to see if FedEx forecasted its Ground margins correctly. Shareholders should also watch what happens once the TNT integration is complete during the first fiscal quarter of 2022.

If management's predictions prove correct, then now may turn out to have been a great time to acquire FedEx stock. But if its predictions are wrong, then FedEx's share price will sink to even deeper lows. Much is at stake for the company while these upgrades play out -- so investors should expect the recent volatility to continue in the next several months.

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FedEx Hopes Its 3 Big Investments Will Pay Off - Motley Fool

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Teaching kids how to save is a valuable first step toward learning how to manage money. But it shouldn't stop there. While savings accounts are a safe bet and an easy concept to grasp, the real earning power comes from investing their hard-earned cash.

That's because kids possess a very powerful gift: time. The earlier your child starts investing his or her money, the greater the rewards are later. That's due to the magic of compounding, wherein the gains continue to grow, because each year money is made from the previous year's profits.

For instance, if $100 is invested in the S&P 500 and it gains 10% in a year, that holding will be worth $110 by year's end. After another year and another 10% gain, it's worth $121. After a third year it's $133.

According to CNBC's "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer, with that 10% average annual return, an investor can double his money in about seven years.

Kids will surprise you with how much they will understand. ... If you start with very simple things like relating it to products or services they use, you can explain the high-level concept of investing to most kids.

Tim Sheehan

co-founder and CEO of Greenlight

"The magic of compounding works best the younger you are, because that means you have more time for your money to grow," he told CNBC viewers on his show.

But can kids really grasp the concepts of investing?

Tim Sheehan, co-founder and CEO of Greenlight, the teen-focused digital banking company that provides parent-managed debit cards for kids, says they absolutely can. "Kids will surprise you with how much they will understand and how much they can do," he said. "If you start with very simple things like relating it to products or services they use, you can explain the high-level concept of investing to most kids."

Greenlight's approach to teaching kids money-management skills is working: To date more than 700,000 users have signed up with its app-based service, which provides customers three accounts in one: a spending account, savings account and giving account so kids can donate to a charity. Now the company is about to launch its investment account feature, encouraging kids as early as 10 years of age to research and invest in stocks with parental supervision.

Greenlight will soon release a built-in investing feature to its teen-focused digital banking app. To date more than 700,000 families use its app-based service, which provides customers a spending account, savings account and giving account so kids can donate to a charity.

Greenlight

"I think teens are interested in learning. They don't want it to be something they read from a book. If they can learn by doing, they will adopt it and they will actually learn the key things you want them to learn," said Sheehan.

"To build true wealth, you do that through investing," he said. "You don't really build wealth with a savings account. The earlier you begin to teach and prepare your kids, the more time they have to learn, ask questions and make mistakes in a safe and supervised way. And if you learn to do it properly and do it well," he said, "it can make life easier."

Greenlight is not the first kid-focused financial platform aiming to help parents introduce their kids to investing. In 2017 BusyKid partnered with Stockpile to become the very first chore/allowance platform that allows kids to use their allowance to purchase real stock. Today 45,000 kids are using the platform.

"We target kids 5 to 15," says BusyKid co-founder and CEO Gregg Murset. "That decade is the most crucial to teach kids and lay a good foundation for them. After teaching your kids not to lie and cheat, money skills are the best things we can give them, because this sets them up for a better future."

Murset is a certified financial planner and leading advocate for sound parenting, child accountability and financial literacy. As a father of six, he points to the strides his two teen sons are making in the world of stocks thus far. "One of my sons bought Disney stock because he likes Disney movies; the other bought Ford because he likes pickup trucks. They both know exactly what they are trading at, exactly what they bought it at, they both know what their gain is or loss is, and they like to rub it in each other's faces, which I think is fantastic. If you can start it at an early age, you really just start something growing within them that'll lend to a lot of good decision-making in the future.

"Imagine what they are going to do if they have some experience in stocks and investing in their teen years and they get their first job and get offered a 401(k) and have investment options and even a company match. They'll know what it's about. Imagine the impact that has 40 years down the road when they go to retire. Huge," said Murset.

He cautions, however, that pushing your child to invest in something they aren't passionate about is "a waste of time. I let them invest in small increments in something they care about or they think is cool."

Here are some additional tips from Greenlight's Sheehan.

1. Explore investing as a family to teach the keys to long-term wealth. Work with kids to pick stocks of companies whose products and services they understand and use. Encourage them to research the companies to understand what they do. Together, look at their performance now and discuss how it might change in the future.

2. Teach them that investing is about the long term. Encourage kids to invest only money that they don't need in the short term, because most successful investors take a "buy and hold" approach to investing. Share stories and books about successful long-term investors like Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch.

3. Start small and learn from mistakes. Show kids the power of investing with a small sum of money so they can make mistakes and learn from them without it costing a large amount. Some investing resources allow you to invest in fractional shares, lowering the risk and barrier to entry

4. Invest in something you care about. Encourage kids to invest their money in something they care about, as they will be more interested in following their investments and watching their money grow. You can also explain that many people invest in index ETFs and "index mutual funds which invest in all of the companies included in a specific index, like the S&P 500.

5. Make it a habit. When kids earn or receive money whether from gifts, allowance or chores encourage them to invest a portion of it, because it will help them build the healthy financial habit of saving and investing.

"We need to change the mindset of this next generation. Student loan debt is at an all time high, consumer debt is at an all-time high, national debt is at an all-time high. I think we really need to change the way we do this with the next generation or we're in big trouble," said BusyKid's Murset.

Sheehan agrees: "Raising a financially smart generation can lead to a healthier generation one with less financial stressors which allows everyone to reach their full potential. Imagine what that world would be like."

More from Invest in You:How to financially prepare your family for the worst-case scenario How to save a cool $1,000 without living on ramen or giving up caffeineThe secret to multiplying your savings

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It's not just about saving. Teach your teen to invest now to set them up for a financially healthy life - CNBC

20 years ago, scientists for Celera Genomicsand the Human Genome Project sequenced the human genome. To accomplish this task, 30,000 genes were sequenced. It was a very big deal, and it opened the door to a new wave of biotech gene therapies.

Fast forward to today, Seattle-based companyAdaptive Biotechnologies(NASDAQ:ADPT)is sequencing the human immune system. This is far more difficult than mapping the human genome. Forget 30,000 -- your immune system houses 100 million genes. And on top of that, the company is mapping more than 30 billion immune receptors. (Adaptive has data rights to 20 billion of those receptors.)

All of this genetic sequencing requires massive amounts of computational power, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning. And that's whereMicrosoft(NASDAQ:MSFT) comes in.

Image source: Getty Images.

In 2017, Microsoft and Adaptive signed a collaboration agreement. The companies are uniting to create a universal blood test that will allow doctors to read your immune system and find out what diseases your body is fighting. If you have cancer, for instance, your body is aware of the threat and your immune system is fighting the cancer cells. The idea is to have a blood test that allows doctors to hack into a person's immune system and find out what it knows. This will enable doctors to diagnose diseases early before symptoms develop. This early diagnosis would enable doctors to prescribe medicines that boost the immune system and cure the disease.

Adaptive calls this technology immunoSEQ Dx. Once Adaptive has mapped the immune characteristics of several diseases, it will be possible to look at an individual's immune system and determine what, if any, diseases the person's immune system is currently fighting. The idea is that your doctor can take a blood sample and screen for infectious diseases, autoimmune disorders, and cancer. CEO Chad Robins is forecasting the arrival of the universal blood test in six to eight years.

As part of the collaboration agreement, Microsoft invested $45 million in thebiotechstart-up.At a recent price of $30 a share, Microsoft's investment in Adaptive is now worth about $135 million. But Microsoft is doing more than just providing financing and equipment to Adaptive -- the software giant has also provided people. A joint team of about 50 employees built the AI from scratch. Co-founders Chad and Harlan Robins led the team from Adaptive; Jonathan Carlson, senior director of immunomics at Microsoft, and Desney Tan, the general manager of Microsoft Healthcare, headed up the software side. Speaking at a Geekwire summit, Tan said, "We really integrated ourselves as a single team. We've got offices in each other's facilities."

While the immunoSEQ Dx project with Microsoft might be the most exciting work Adaptive is doing, it's several years away. In the meantime, the AI engine is already producing diagnostic kits for the market. Using Adaptive's clonoSEQ technology, doctors can now test for minimal residual disease (MRD) in blood cancers. The Food and Drug Administration has already cleared clonoSEQ for a blood cancer called multiple myeloma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The company is submitting clonoSEQ to the FDA for chronic lymphoblastic leukemia as well.

Adaptive is also using immunoSEQ to create a diagnostic kit for research labs and biotech companies. According to Adaptive, more than 2,000 academic researchers are now using its technology. More than 125 biotech companies are using immunoSEQ, and this technology has facilitated 480 clinical trials.These revenue streams brought in $26 million in the third quarter, up 52% year over year.The company is estimating $85 million in revenues for the full year.

Adaptive also received $300 million in cash fromGenentech, a subsidiary ofRoche(OTC:RHHBY), last year. Genentech wants to use Adaptive's technology as the foundation of a new treatment paradigm for cancer. The idea is to tailor an individualized treatment for each patient based on what's discovered via the patient's immune system. The Roche deal could be worth over $2 billion to Adaptive if certain commercial milestones are hit.The alliance with Microsoft and the massive Genentech deal are a real validation of the underlying science.

In 2020, Adaptive plans to submit the first immunoSEQ diagnostic kits to the FDA for review. While the "universal blood test" is several years away, Adaptive will add indications one at a time. The company is starting with Lyme disease, celiac disease, and ovarian cancer.

As Tan said, "These guys are going to change the world, and we're thrilled to be a part of it."

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Why Is Microsoft Investing in Adaptive Biotechnologies? - The Motley Fool

Close to $10 billion was invested in privacy and security companies in 2019, an all-time high in the last decade up more than five-fold from $1.7 billion in 2010.

Seed and early-stage deals represent 44 percent of invested dollars ($4.4 billion) with Series C+ and larger rounds at 56 percent ($5.5 billion) of all dollars in 2019. The growth in funding year over year is attributable to Series C+ and larger rounds adding $1 billion.

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Some of the largest rounds in 2019 include:

Year-over-year deal counts are down by a quarter, but will lessen over time. Much of the difference in funding round counts are attributed to the seed stagedown 40 percentwhere we see the most reporting delays. We fully expect these numbers to go up during 2020, but not supersede 2018 round counts of 1,100. Reporting delays for funding amounts are less pronounced in Crunchbase data.

In our analysis over the last five years we found the five top countries for privacy and security investments include the United States, China, Israel, Great Britain and Canada in that order. For 2019, Israel jumps to the second spot after the U.S.

There were 85 venture backed privacy and security companies acquired in 2019 exiting at $4.8 billion. The largest exits of 2019 include Shape Security, a company providing defense against malicious attacks, which was acquired by F5 Networks for $1 billion. And Recorded Future a threat intelligence firm was acquired by Insight Partners for $780 million. The most active acquirers are Palo Alto Networks with five acquisitions and Akamai Technologies with three. Cisco, Fortinet, Mastercard, Microsoft, Proofpoint and VMWare all acquired two companies in this space.

Six venture-backed companies in privacy and security went public in 2019. They include California-based CrowdStrike, Cloudflare and Fastly. Also included are Denver-based Ping Identity, Boston-based Tufin and Mumbai-based Affle.

Leading investors in security companies include established venture firms Bessemer Venture Partners, Accel, Battery Ventures, LightSpeed Venture Partners, Vertex Ventures, CRV, Kleiner Perkins, Norwest Venture Partners and Scale Venture Partners. Growth-stage investors include Insight Partners, Goldman Sachs and ClearSky. Corporate investors are also active in this category with Bain Capital Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital, Intel Capital and Salesforce Ventures. TenEleven Ventures and ForgePoint Capital are uniquely placed as firms specifically focused on cyber security investments.

Crunchbase will be at RSA 2020. You can find us at How-To For Innovators on Feb. 24, 2020.

Based on Crunchbase data, companies exhibiting at RSA 2020 have collectively raised $3.8 billion in 2019.

Analysis is based on data in Crunchbase as of Jan. 28, 2020. For this report we look at reportednot projecteddata, which means that 2019 numbers will increase over time, relative to previous years.

Privacy and Security include the following categories: Cloud Security, Corrections Facilities, Cyber Security, DRM, E-Signature, Fraud Detection, Homeland Security, Identity Management, Intrusion Detection, Law Enforcement, Network Security, Penetration Testing, Physical Security, Privacy, Security

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Crunchbase converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date of funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events as reported. Even if those events were added to Crunchbase long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

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Almost $10B Invested In Privacy And Security Companies In 2019 - Crunchbase News