Trading on the LA fires? Read for background...
Disclaimers:
The terrible fires in LA are still out of control and many, many people are affected, and the true scope of the tragedy is yet to be known. My question is not meant to be cavalier or disrespectful in any way to those affected.
I know that a sound investment strategy usually does not include betting on hot tips or timing the market, so you can assume for this question I am only talking about a small percentage of my (or anyone's) portfolio that is reserved as "mad money" for high-risk investments.
I have long believed that the only chance a retail investor has to make short term money on an individual stock (other than by luck) is if they either:
- have inside information (which is illegal), or
- can anticipate or "guess" something significant and trade on it before anyone else does.
Every time something big happens in the world, I always think way too late about what stocks might be affected (positively or negatively) because of it.
With due respect, which stocks do you think will have significant short- or medium-term movement, and in which direction, directly due to the LA fires?
Construction? Insurance services? Fire detection and prevention products and technology? Home builders? Lumber? Entertainment and Motion Picture industry? Hotels? Clothing and apparel? Something else?