When I was writing that last post, I kept telling myself not to let it revert to a list format. But it just felt so unnatural, and I just have SO many things to say, so here’s a list of more things I’ve learned anyway:
- Obviously, the state of the economy affects business. But to be able to predict where the economy is headed, Edward Jones tracks everything. They have an online, shared portal that is updated often. It tracks everything from the strength of the Russian ruble to Latino unemployment rates in California. This way they can predict the market with more accuracy.
- They’re the only private financial services company in the country. This basically means that they do not have to release any information whatsoever about their profits, taxes, or growth. But all of their competitors do have to release those things, so they are in a really good position to understand the field.
- Being a private firm rather than a public company also allows them to make longer term strategic decisions because they don’t have to make sure that their value increases each financial quarter when the reports are released. Since there are no shareholders to appease, they can truly make decisions based solely on what is best for the company in the next ten years.
- I’ve decided that when I start interviewing for jobs I’d like to sample their cafeteria food. I’m sure nothing can top the food here.
- A huge fundraising opportunity is days where charities sponsor people wearing jeans to work. The American Heart Association made 8,000 dollars off of EDJ last Thursday because you could pay $5 to wear jeans. How crazy is that?
- If you’re in a left turn only lane, you don’t legally have to have your blinker on. (Sorry, that’s unrelated, but I just asked a policeman that yesterday because I’ve been wondering for a while. And I think that’s an important fact to be aware of.)
- The Canadian dollar is a remarkably stable currency.
- A common misconception is that the further below a 1:1 ratio with the USD a currency is, the poorer their economy is faring. But you have to look at the fluctuation of the currency over time to estimate the state of their economy, not just how it converts to the dollar. So, for example, the fact that you need 18 Mexican pesos to equal one USD does not mean that the Mexican peso is weak. What makes the Mexican peso weak is that in 2014, it was only 13 pesos to 1 dollar.