Love & stocks: Navigating Valentine's Day investments

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Justin Zacks

Hi, welcome to Mobile Money by Moomoo. I'm your host, Justin Zacks, Vice president of Strategy at Moomoo Technologies. I spent my whole career in and around financial markets. This is a show that helps investors gain a better understanding of markets and their money.

Justin Zacks

The average consumer spends about $200 just on Valentine's Day gifts. Today, we're going to discuss some of the more popular gifts, what they are and the stocks that are connected to them. How couples deal with the financial stress and what you can do to mitigate that stress. Also, take a look at Valentine's Day in Asia and Australia and find out if there are any differences from the United States.

Justin Zacks

I have two very special guests with me today. Jessica Amir and Olivia Higgins.

Jessica Amir

Jessica Amir. I'm from Australia, so I've been in financial markets for 17 years and yeah, just really helping people and understand the basics of investing and break down a lot of the myths and misconceptions. But more or less, I guess talking about macroeconomics and stocks picking trends and that type of thing. And I'm on TV and radio and newspapers and just really trying to help more investors, as many people as possible.

Jessica Amir

And I guess that's why I've ended up on TV sharing insights.

Olivia Higgins

Great. Hi everyone. I'm Olivia Higgins. I'm the lead presenter at Moomoo Singapore. And of course, you've seen me and of course them on the shows together. But I think essentially today I'm representing the Singapore and also Asian markets. And what I do is I have a finance and also a research background. So I've also worked in TV and also was trained as a broadcast journalist.

Olivia Higgins

But I think essentially my value here is to make sure that I continuously communicate and be your communicator and bridge to other experts and knowledge for yourselves. So it's really important for me to like the others here to empower you and also to educate you and to continuously be here for you so that we can learn together and be on this journey of growth together.

Justin Zacks

And Valentine's Day is a big holiday in the United States. About $26 billion will be spent just in the United States on different types of gifts and services. But it's also really popular all around the world. And it's actually not a public holiday in any country, but we pretty much celebrate it in every country. So I really am interested in learning what is Valentine's Day like in Asia?

Justin Zacks

What is Valentine's Day like in Australia? And I know here in the US, gifts are like candy, greeting cards. Flowers going out for an evening is a big deal let's have dinner. Let's go to the spa. Of course, jewelry. Yeah. Most people are not turning that down. So how is it in Asia?

Olivia Higgins

Well, there is the expectation. I think it's pretty consistent with the US. There's an element of extravagance, and I think the element of romanticism is quite strong in Valentine's Day, and that spills over to the amount of money that people willing to spend. Right. So you've got this pressure component for men to maybe, you know, plan for their women and also vice versa.

Olivia Higgins

But it's more common with the males being the leading role within Valentine's Day. And the flipside is, you know, how much cost is inherited within the couple and also the the men versus the women. We're also talking about non-binary couples, right. And also just being inclusive for everyone. But I think whatever the couple dynamic is, we really have to do better to communicate different expectations of what money means and how much to spend.

Justin Zacks

In terms of the spend in the United States, men spend about three times as much as women on their partner.

Jessica Amir

Aussie is pretty similar to the US, so I guess traditionally there's like this leaning towards gifts, right? But I think Aussies, they love the outdoors in Valentine's Day. You know, with seasonality, it's summer.

Justin Zacks

So is it something romantic to watch the sunset or go to the beach or something like that?

Jessica Amir

Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. So it's all about that quality time. So we typically see a lot of picnics, a lot of couples families going on picnics because the weather's pretty, pretty nice. Not too hot, in Feb. So you're absolutely out and about. But even even more so, like as we expand that experiential economy, a lot of a lot of couples and families like take holidays around this time of year, domestic travel increasing more, more flight bookings and also like little, little small experiences as well, like air ballooning, whitewater rafting for those more adventurous, couples.

Justin Zacks

Yeah. It's very interesting. Also in the US, there's this whole idea, particularly I think among Gen Z and millennials, they want experiences, they don't want goods. So maybe no flowers and chocolate, they want an experience. So it's a night out. It's going to be a big dinner, It's going to be going to the spa, it's going to be going yeah the Super Bowl, going and look at that hotel.

Justin Zacks

So is it more about Marriott like or hotel chain? What do you think about those stocks and in terms of goods versus, you know, services and experiences when it comes to Valentine's Day?

Jessica Amir

Yeah, really good question. I think we've COIVD we saw like the experiential economy, post-COVID, after the recovery, we saw the experiential economy and the services sector spending just like a real take off. Everyone want to be out and about. And there was money coming in or out of discretionary spending of goods and it was more in services. And so absolutely, you know, travel companies really seeing roaring trade.

Olivia Higgins

The definition of romanticism Right. Can be redefined. Now, you know, talking about finances, for example, I mean, just talk about the future.

Jessica Amir

If you are seriously if you're dating someone, if you're married, walking about money, like, okay, let's talk about our finances, like kicking off the new year, where do you want to be in five years time? Maybe start to think about investing as well.

Justin Zacks

I want to get a little bit into the stocks, right. How about Match.com? That's does everyone like Sunday night I need Valentine's Date like it can't be by myself. What do you what do you think about. Is Match a good match for your portfolio.

Jessica Amir

Yeah It's so interesting isn't it.

Olivia Higgins

Do we still use Match.com? I mean it's more of well.

Justin Zacks

Match match owns straight up. Yeah. And they own Tinder. They own Tinder so they own a suite of all of these different companies. Yeah. Yeah. They're probably in the US they, they're one of the biggest dating site companies and they've rolled up a bunch of them.

Jessica Amir

Yeah. so.

Jessica Amir

So you've got Match.com and then you've also got Bumble as well. So yeah, it's interesting to see user growth actually does increase around like this seasonality. No wants to be alone around Christmas. No one really wants to be Han Solo around.

Jessica Amir

Around.

Jessica Amir

Valentine's Day. Yeah. So absolutely.

Justin Zacks

You know, one of the other big gifts is is jewelry. Jewelry is very synonymous with Tiffany, which is now owned by LVMH, which acquired it a few years ago. And I was just noting, you know, everyone's really into Tesla here and on the in the moo community. And I just saw that Elon was passed by LVMH’s founder.

Justin Zacks

You know, I wonder how much of that has to do with Valentine's Day. I mean, what do you think of these diamond companies like Tiffany's and Blue Nile and some of these other jewelry stocks?

Jessica Amir

Well, I don’t know that the US and Asia, but we typically see pretty long queues like in Australia, like for, you know, for the high end brands, not just Louis Vuitton but Prada and the queues are wrapped around the buildings.

Olivia Higgins

It's an entire experience for somebody and to go there with a couple or your your partner let's say and help them choose a particular bag or you know, be part of that process. I think it's more for people, it becomes a bit more romantic. Then becomes more special. Yes. Presents, right. Sometimes people are actually just buying things, but then you have the ones that yeah, obviously taking the photos.

Olivia Higgins

But there is obviously a respected culture, I think, in those big mega stores or those famous ones where they really respect the buyer and also their shopper and their experience.

Jessica Amir

I also think if you are thinking as an investor, like in your kind of brainstorming, like I'm listening to this podcast and like what are the investment opportunities here? Like can I potentially get an idea for an investment, something that pricks my interest? I think maybe think about the earnings margins. Flowers are popular in Australia and in Asia-Pacific.

Jessica Amir

I know that there are still quite, quite a few just as gift giving one 800 flowers. What's the margin.

Justin Zacks

Did you see how much these roses cost? I don't even want to talk about the margins in several times later. Yeah, I don't know exactly, but I know they're very hot. I think these are running.

Olivia Higgins

Average.

Justin Zacks

Triple digit numbers in New York sometimes for a fancy dozen of roses. Yeah.

Olivia Higgins

from like. Yeah, 200, it can go up.

Jessica Amir

Yeah. And that also makes sense, like with with this seasonality thing to your point, Justin, like, you'll see I know in Australia you'll see the price like a set menu of, of a dinner, like a couple dinner that will definitely be a lot higher than any other normal day of the week.

Justin Zacks

Yeah I mean you're getting the same food, but you're paying for the seat and the expenses are crazy. And that's what I want to get into, talking a little bit more about now is as the financial aspect of Valentine's Day and how couples deal with expenses. And I think about so, you know, not everyone has a ton of money to spend on Valentine's Day.

Justin Zacks

Some of these numbers, like we just talked about, are astronomical. So what would you think about if your partner went into debt to buy you a Valentine's Day gift? Is that sweet or stupid? And why.

Olivia Higgins

I don't think I will be very happy.

Justin Zacks

So, yeah, I mean, I got a statistic for you.

Olivia Higgins

Yes.

Justin Zacks

More than a quarter of consumers will go into credit card debt to pay for Valentine's Day. 51% of them expect to take at least two months to pay it off. This is just for just for this holiday. So, I mean, that's that's a lot I want to talk about financial issues. Financial issues are the number one problem with couples in America.

Justin Zacks

20 to 40% of all divorce is caused by financial troubles. What are your thoughts on that Olivia?

Olivia Higgins

I'm not surprised by that because I think that's also a global phenomenon. I mean, a lot of people online, especially on, you know, TikTok social media, they do talk about how, you know, the couples they do split up because they cannot agree on certain money values. Who's going to foot most of the bill, like, for example, who's going to pay for the housing, who's going to pay for our just our vacation dinners?

Olivia Higgins

Are we going to split that cost something in Asia that's very, very popular? Is we go based on who makes a higher income. So, for example, if you know, my partner makes more, they will split it according to maybe 60/40 or 70/30, Right. Depending on who makes more.

Justin Zacks

So And they're okay with disclosing how much they make.

Olivia Higgins

Yes, yes. I think it's important to have that conversation. It's uncomfortable.

Justin Zacks

Yeah. And I think in America.

Olivia Higgins

Beginning is definitely a red flag, maybe, but it will pay off in the end because then everything is laid out on the table. Nothing's being hidden. And I think that's where the financial stress comes from. More couples, especially young couples, need to start having that conversation earlier. You know, have you clear what's your plan? What is your solution?

Jessica Amir

Communication. So if I was kicking off a relationship with someone or later down the track and we hadn't really brought about the money conversation, I think we need to have a discussion about it. And it doesn't matter that we've come from different households. And if my dad was well read and introduced money at an early age as five and taught me to, you know, save my little pocket money and introduce the money concept, an early age, that doesn't matter.

Jessica Amir

But I think if you come together and go, right, so we're in this together, like later on down the track, we've been dating for a year or whatever. I think we should work towards building a saving for a house deposit. Why don't we start investing and using an investing account as a savings account? And this is what I also talk to a lot of people about.

Jessica Amir

Consider using a trading app as a savings account. So let's agree to put our savings together once a month and we can put that into something that we a portfolio of stocks or the S&P 500 if you want to. And you can add to that every month your pays and then you're working towards something. And then, you know, once you've reached your goal and your target for the investment, then you can take that and buy a property like it just opens up a discussion about goals and where you want to head.

Jessica Amir

If you introduce the money conversation. No, it's not. It doesn't have to. It's not scary. Just like a have you bought property before you do, you want to reckon we should start a savings account. Well, why don't we actually start investing account instead of getting, say, 5%?

Justin Zacks

Yeah, and certainly you can do that on Moomoo. We have, you know, at least in the United States, we pay a very good interest rate on that money. You know, my thought is it's something you can think about doing on Valentine's Day and say, what if we commit to saving 10% of our income instead of like, you have some people that if they don't have a budget, they're just going to go and spend their money.

Justin Zacks

Like a lot of the users out there. I'm sure you're you're you know, a lot of us are like that. It's like, okay, it comes in the bank account, It goes out the bank account. And you know, how much you're spending on Valentine's Day depends on what's in your bank account. You're going to spend it. But if you can make that commitment, you can grow your relationship for the future, and you're going to have that nest egg when you maybe do get more serious with your partner to have to make that purchase, or maybe you're getting into your retirement age, you know, wherever you are in your life.

Olivia Higgins

So, I mean, we're talking about Valentine's Day, but what we're really, really getting on about is really that macro issue, right, of just even couples and long term stability and investments. Right. This is just a opener for such a topic. You mentioned commitment, right? So Valentine's Day, I think of love and then I think of commitment and security and freedom.

Olivia Higgins

These values really come with good, proper planning and investments. And I know a lot of the community know. I've interviewed some of you, I've interviewed some husbands and some wives who have come on the show and into our studio. And you do talk about family being that key part of why you invest. And a lot of them say they wish they started earlier.

Jessica Amir

So it's about investing in yourself. We need to invest in ourself, not just our physicality and our nutrition, but for our longevity and health, but also financially investing in ourselves so that we can potentially have a holiday sooner than we thought. So thinking about what Justin said, I really love that, you know, putting aside 10%, what if you can't afford 10%?

Jessica Amir

Well, I don't know. Whatever it is for you, is it $5, $5 a week is it $10, do it consistently. Start now. Start early, do it consistently. Pay yourself first. Robert Kiyosaki said it as well right. Pay yourself first.

Justin Zacks

And Moomoo is going to be there to help you with all this. I mean, we're here to offer you the options trading in the stock trading so that you can build that wealth with a great suite of features and tools that really enable that investing and investing for the long haul, that you're really going to have something.

Olivia Higgins

That is the ultimate self-love, right?

Jessica Amir

Yeah.

Olivia Higgins

Commitment to your own future. Yeah. Really love those points.

Jessica Amir

And find a theme that you love or a stock that you love and really get to know it with our whichever tab resonates with you. If you want to get to know a company's financials or their fundamentals, you can begin to fall in love with the company and. So that may be.

Olivia Higgins

The real Valentine's Day.

Jessica Amir

That may be a marriage made in heaven.

Olivia Higgins

Yes, definitely check out those tools everyone.

Justin Zacks

Yeah. So it's been a pleasure to have both of you here today.

Olivia Higgins

An important topic, right? This conversation here about Valentine's Day is about something much bigger. It's about the commitment to your future and also what you're building with whichever partner with or even if it's with yourself. And I think ultimately you do owe it to really go forth, figure out what the tools are, do your own homework, have that knowledge base, and keep going.

Jessica Amir

Valentine's Day teaches us all to be observational. Look at spending patterns, look at literally walk out on the street and see where traffic is moving and flowing. And that obviously ebbs and flows to retail spending. And then you can literally see who's who's walking in and out of a Louis Vuitton store. Are they actually walking out with bags or are they walking out with nothing?

Jessica Amir

Part of the observational is is starting now investing in yourself and using your investment account as a savings tool. So instead of putting your money in your savings account, actually put it in your Moomoo app. And until you find something that you're interested in, you can keep it there and you earn you good, a good return. So you still loving yourself.

Jessica Amir

Think about adding to that account every month, quarter, week, whatever works for you and then fall in love with something. So it might be a company that you know already and then really, really unite with that stock, know the fundamentals and the earnings projections. And so you can love a company's future. And if you love a company's future and the earnings are growing, your portfolio will love you too, because earnings growth drives share price growth.

Jessica Amir

So plenty of love to go around.

Justin Zacks

Of course, anyone listening, please comment in the in the comment section about these topics. We'd love to hear from you. We'd love we'd love to possibly interview you. You know, I love to hear stories, you know, of how you deal with your personal finances out there in Moomoo Land.

Olivia Higgins

Yes. And type and also where you're from. And, you know, what are some of the common practices that you have during Valentine's Day? But as a couple, what you're looking for in a partner in terms of, you know, financial planning.

Justin Zacks

And thank you so much, both of you, for such wonderful insights. And thanks for being here today. And happy Valentine's Day to all of our listeners. We'll be back next week with another interesting episode. Thank you so much.

Jessica Amir

Bye.

Melissa Blackerby

The opinions expressed are those of the host and any guest speaker and not necessarily those of Moomoo Technologies Inc or its affiliates. The podcast is provided for informational educational purposes only and is not a recommendation or endorsement of any particular investment or investment strategy that may be mentioned or covered in the podcast. All investments involve risk and the loss of principal as possible as performance does not indicate or guarantee future success.

Melissa Blackerby

Moomoo is not affiliated with any outside guests or their companies. Information provided in this podcast is general in nature and may not be appropriate for all investors. The Moomoo app is an online trading platform offered by Moomoo Technologies Inc securities, brokerage products and related services available through Moomoo App are offered by Moomoo Financial Inc, a member of FINRA, SIPC.