I am trying to simplify this question here because it attracts story-telling -style answers which I do not like. I believe I could get much exact answers with title such as "Risks with low beta stocks?" but I have no access to historical beta values. Here, you can find some instructions that offer historical betas. The claim about betas being low with the sector is unverified, hence it would be speculative to make such question. How should I advance this question? Is someone able to verify the claim?
2 Answers
No offense, but I think that the problem isn't the the assumption made in the title, but the clarity of the question.
After a long opening that included stuff about World War 2, the actual question is 4 paragraphs down:
So my question is what are the risks associated in getting involved in non-cyclical consumer product -area to random investor (not a businessman, no understanding of the area)?
I ignore the all of the noise and look for the question. What I understand when I see the question is:
- You want to know how to evaluate risk.
- You're focused on a specific category of stock. (consumer non-cyclicals)
- You're not a professional/experienced investor.
- Ideally, you want to find a stock like Coca Cola was in 1946 to invest in today.
IMO, there are a few problems:
- The introductory/background information is not helping your question, but adding confusion.
- You're pigeonholing yourself as an inexperienced investor, which affects how the question will be answered.
- It's not clear in the question what you're looking for as an answer.
I would suggest a question with a topic that gets to the point like:
"How to evaluate risk for an investment in consumer non-cyclical companies."
The body of the question should give the reader an idea of the type of answer you are looking for. If you want a real technical analysis, you need to make that clear.
I don't see a problem mentioning an unverified assumption in your question body or title. Yet, if you think that might be the case, it's a good idea to state that you're unsure of the assumption. Those who venture to answer your question might then attempt to confirm or refute your assumption as part of answering the question, since you've indicated you're not sure about the assumption you've made.
That being said, simplifying your questions up front is often helpful. I try and spend some time getting my questions to be as succinct as they need to be, before I hit "Post your question" the first time. I prefer not to come back and make many additional edits because by the time I revise my thoughts, the most active users may have already read (and dismissed) my earliest (and thus least clear) attempt at a question.
