商务英语 Level 6 Unit 1 Part 4 Dial
Dialogue【Investment Advice】
Hey, Uncle Bruce? It's Rick.
Hey, Rick! Long time no see!
To what do I owe this call?
I'm calling because I wanted to ask you for some investment advice.
I've saved up some money over the past two years, and now I'm looking to make it grow by investing it.
Since you work in banking, my dad encouraged me to ask you for some advice.
Sure! Anything I can do to help out.
One of my friends has suggested that I put it in the stock market.
He recently invested 15,000 dollars in a new company called Avex Technologies
and he says they're on fire.
So I wanted to ask if you knew whether they were a good company to invest in.
on fire: 做的很好
Well, I haven't heard of Avex, so I would have to know more about it before I could answer that.
But the smartest advice I've ever been given about investing is to diversify.
I don't doubt your friend has made a lot of money with Avex, but make sure you don't put all your eggs in one basket.
Oh, I totally understand.
Actually, I wanted to ask whether you knew about any other good companies I could invest in.
By "diversify", I mean finding investments outside of individual shares of stocks.
Playing the stock market can be exciting and yield big returns, but there's also a lot of risk involved.
If you're not careful you could lose quite a bit of money.
If your friend has 15,000 dollars in Avex alone, I think he must either be very rich or very brave.
Well, I've saved up around 10,000 dollars.
How much of that do you think I should use for buying stocks?
Personally, I believe that when you invest in the market, you should never put in more money than you're comfortable with losing.
10,000 dollars is a nice amount of money to begin investing with,
but if I were you I would consider putting the majority of it in more conservative investments.
conservative: 保守的
My dad says that too.
He keeps telling me that I should put at least half of my money into something called an Index Fund.
I agree with him.
An Index Fund is a great idea for someone in your position.
Basically, it is like a basket of stocks within a certain Index, like the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones.
Because you're buying into all the stocks in a certain Index,
no matter how individual stocks perform, the returns remain relatively stable.
But doesn't that also mean that the overall returns will be lower?
Yes.
The potential payoff may be less than investing in individual stocks, but over time the interest compounds so that gradually you can make a lot.
In ten years' time, your initial investment could even triple!
payoff: 收益
compound: 复利
That does sound like a smart investment,
although I wish I could find a way of investing that would make me money this year, not ten years down the road.
Well, like I said, investing is all about diversification.
It's a bull market, after all, so it won't hurt to put 2,000 dollars in some popular stocks.
With prices going up and people buying more, you should be able to see some immediate returns.
Just remember that no market lasts forever.
And when this market sees a correction, you'll be glad you put some of your money in the Index Fund.
You know, you really are a pro Uncle Bruce.
You've given me so much great advice.
Thank you very much!
pro: 专业人士
Question
- Why is he calling him？
> he wants to know how to invest his money - Why does his friend think he should invest in the stock market?
> he recently made a successfully investment - His uncle works in banking, so he could give some good advice.
- His friend invested in a company and they're doing very well.
- How much money does his uncle think he should put in the stock market?
> as much as he's comfortable with losing - Because you own all the stocks, the overall return is balanced.
- To compound means
> to build up over time - Investing in individual stocks may have a larger pay-off in the short term.
- Stock prices are going up so he should see an immediate return.
- If a company is on fire
> it's doing extremely well
