In early September Hurricane Irma went through the Caribbean and up the coast of Florida causing billions of dollars in damage and massive flooding. After you consider the lives of the people trying to go back to what is their normal, consider the stock market. The weather will mean tourist attractions are affected, however in the northeast the weather is beginning to change from summer to fall to winter and Florida still means sunshine. People will want to go somewhere and when they do, the tourist attractions will be on their minds. With all Hurricanes (and natural disasters) companies that have physical assets are affected and those public companies shares will fall. The question is how much will they fall and when will they bounce back up?

Linking to dividend paying stocks, even if you do not have direct investments in the area, you need to do your homework by picking some stocks in the area and knowing which ones are great value. For example, Disney has a big complex in Florida and operates the Cruise Ships from the region – many of their ships go to the Caribbean. The Hurricane affected them and the shares are down. However Disney makes most of its money from the movies and merchandise, or it will continue to earn money even though its Florida properties are affected. Your homework will tell you what is a good price for Disney to bounce back to where it was.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.