Mourad Haroutunian, BA, MA
Mourad joined Profit Confidential as a financial writer. He has worked for several media companies across three continents, in many different languages, and on various platforms, all with a single factor in common: news. It was Bloomberg where Mourad fell in love with stock market writing, Proactive Investors where he became fascinated with U.S. and Canadian equities, and MT Newswires where he felt at one with speed and real-time reporting.
Addicted to online reading, Mourad has a passion for personal finance, world politics, and intercultural relations. He holds a BA and MA in journalism and mass communication.
Mourad likes to explore every corner in the cities he lives in or travels to by driving highways and walking down the streets and alleys. Away from the digital world, Mourad enjoys spending time with his little son and daughter.
Get to know Mourad…
What was your first stock market investment?
My first investments were really unforgettable moments in my life. I was closely watching a friend who had invested a bulk of his savings in an amazingly quickly appreciating blue chip. He bought the stock at $9.00 and saw it rising to $10.00, then swiftly plunging to $5.00 within a few weeks. At that time, I decided—with my below-zero stock trading knowledge—to invest $5,000, thinking the stock couldn’t drop further. I made a $50.00 gain in my first trade and you can’t imagine how excited I was. I decided to stay away a bit to see how things would be going. However, repeated chatter by my friend and others that the price would definitely go up to $6.00 prompted me to re-invest the $5,000. That was a catastrophe. The stock never went up again and I sold it a year later at $3.00, losing $2,000. The stock then nosedived to $0.30 on the heels of the 2008 financial crisis. The lesson: don’t listen to amateurish projections and more importantly, eradicate your stock trading illiteracy…
What is your investment philosophy?
Stick to the trading ABCs that most experts advise: invest only the amount of money that you would not need in the coming two years; every investment you purchase should not exceed five percent of your portfolio; when you are 25 years old, put 75% of your portfolio in stocks and the rest in low-risk securities; and flip that ratio when you are 75 years old (but make it 50%:50% when you are 50 years old). One more basic tip that I like: don’t wait until the share price goes down beyond 10%—sell it.
Advocacy group Understand Solar is projecting the rise of power alternatives like solar energy could send silver prices skyrocketing. Silver is essential to the solar market, the group said in a blog article posted on its web site on Sunday. Silver has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity…
Update February 17th, 3:20 PM: Tesla has reversed the changes on its website with regards to service plans. According to The Verge, customers can continue to transfer them when a car is sold. The original article below has not been updated. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock has been taking heat…
Elon Musk Bullish on SCTY Stock Elon Musk, the chairman of SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY) and its largest shareholder with more than a 21% stake, is averaging down his position in SCTY stock, which has lost 64% of its value so far this year alone. The renowned billionaire entrepreneur…
All roads lead to Rome. Whether the Federal Reserve decides to raise or lower interest rates, gold prices will benefit. That was the theme raised by Peter Schiff, a Libertarian financial analyst, stockbroker, and one-time Senate candidate, during an interview broadcast on Fox News on Friday. “Gold is…
Bombardier, Inc. (TSE:BBD.B), the Canadian plane and train maker, recently announced that it won a contract valued at CA$391 million. The news helped the troubled Bombardier stock breathe a sigh of relief. Bombardier shares gained as much as 7.7%, hitting a share price of CA$0.84 in intraday trading…
A global economic collapse might be on the horizon as AP Moeller Maersk A/S (CPH:MAERSK-B), owner of the world’s largest container shipping company, is powerfully ringing the alarm on international trade growth. This week, Maersk warned that it has been facing conditions significantly worse than the 2008 financial…
The drowning Bombardier, Inc. (TSE:BBD.B) is getting a helping hand from Quebecers, as the rest of Canada keeps its arms folded. The French-speaking province is mulling a further investment in the “jewel” of its economy, thus Bombardier stock can breathe air instead of water. Earlier this week, the…
The U.S. economy is on the verge of a recession and the world could be on the verge of an economic collapse. At least, that’s the opinion of David Stockman. In an interview on Bloomberg TV earlier this week, the renowned businessman and politician delivered a dire warning…
Gold prices are the best-performing asset so far this year, as mounting worries over global economic growth have spurred safe haven buying. As of today, gold and silver have rallied 12% and 11%, respectively. That compares to a 13% decline in natural gas and a 12% decline in…
Don’t roll on the floor laughing; you could see silver prices reach $100.00 and above. The projection was made by an outspoken leader in the precious metals mining industry in an audiotaped interview posted on the Money Metals Exchange podcasts page. “I know that at $14.00 or $15.00…
More bad news from Bombardier, Inc. (TSE:BBD.B) this week. Bombardier stock was stabbed in the back twice from its Canadian peer—WestJet Airlines Ltd. (TSE:WJA). The top executive of the Alberta-based airliner, while discussing his company’s fortunes with the press this week, downplayed Bombardier’s 100–150-seat “C Series” for the…
Although major U.S. stock market indexes have retreated between nine percent and 15% so far this year, renowned investor Jeremy Grantham sees no stock market crash in 2016. The co-founder and chief investment officer at GMO believes the stock market will recover from its recent slump and rally…
Former congressman Ron Paul slammed Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, accusing the presidential hopeful of being “owned by Goldman Sachs.” “They think he’s for the free market, and he’s owned by Goldman Sachs,” former Texas congressman Ron Paul told Fox News on Friday. “He and Hillary have more…
Elon Musk saw a few billion of his wealth vanish as shares of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock lost 44% over the past one-and-a-half years. The billionaire’s 22% stake in the electric carmaker was worth $4.6 billion on Friday, compared to more than $8.0 billion in September 2014,…
U.S. stock-index futures fell sharply on Monday as fears of a global economic slowdown escalated and the oil price stretched slump. As of 8:38 a.m. in New York, Dow e-minis were down 1.3%, with 58,000 contracts changing hands. S&P 500 e-minis were down 1.4%, with 370,000 contracts traded.…
Usually low inflation is bad news for gold prices. But according to one analyst, the economy’s recent bout of deflation could actually be bullish for precious metals. Gold prices are soaring. Year-to-date, the yellow metal is up more than seven percent. The move is unexpected, given most analysts…
U.S. stocks fell sharply on Friday after data showed that employment gains in the world’s largest economy slowed more than expected in January. As of 10:37 a.m. in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7% to 16,295, the S&P 500 declined one percent to 1,896, and…
U.S. stocks swung between gains and losses in afternoon trading on Thursday, as investors tracked oil prices while weighing poor corporate earnings and weak economic data ahead of a key employment report due on Friday. At 2:43 p.m. in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up…
Wall Street struggled for direction Thursday morning as oil prices seesawed and weak U.S. economic data and poor corporate earnings hit the markets. At 9:37 a.m. in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1%. The S&P 500 index dropped 0.4%, while the NASDAQ 100 index…
Wall Street turned higher again in a volatile session on Wednesday, after the U.S. oil benchmark rallied eight percent on the sliding U.S. dollar. At 2:47 p.m. in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.2% at 16,344. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 1,912, while…
