Former resident appears on BNN as a guest

By Ken Johnston
Editor

They say everyone has at least 15 minutes of fame and last Thursday afternoon former Rainy River resident Carla (nee Wiersema) Armstrong had hers! She appeared on the Business News Network as a guest investor.
Armstrong, who resides in Thunder Bay, is a Business Improvement Manager for the Provincial Government. Armstrong, a 1995 graduate of Rainy River High School, says investing is just a hobby for her at this point, which is why she was invited to the show. There were three guests, one professional trader, one long time amateur investor and Armstrong who has been investing for a little more than a year.
How did she end up on the show? “I watch BNN quite a bit, and they had an invitation to investors who were interested in being interviewed to send them an email. I sent the email, thinking at this time that an interview meant a survey or focus group. BNN responded to my email with a few questions to determine if I met their criteria. A few days later, I got another email asking if I could come into their studio on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. I said that I would love to, but lived in Thunder Bay, and wouldn’t be in Toronto on those days. Well, they worked out the logistics to make it happen from Thunder Bay, and two days later, I was sitting in the studio and airing live,” explained Armstrong.
When asked what she primarily invests in, Armstrong said, “I don’t invest in any one area. I constantly follow the news, and buy when bad news happens to good companies, or I see a news story about a company that has been performing extraordinarily well, and industry trends. For example, when Maple Leaf Foods (MFI.TO) had the listeriosis outbreak last September, I bought the stock. In the past 13 months, the share price has increased by 28%.” Her greatest return to date has been a 39% gain in 47 days. It was a company called Canadian Hydro Developers and she made the decision to buy based on a financial advisor’s “top pick” on BNN. “I did the research, and it looked like a good opportunity!”
Armstrong has not been discouraged by any losses because she has not had any. “I think that most losses can be avoided by doing some research of the company’s finances, corporate governance, and growth strategies. On days when my stock picks are down, I stick around, and to date, they have always come back. Also, I started investing with an amount of money that I was OK with losing. On days when the stock prices are down, I just remind myself of this.” She has seen her initial investment increase by 32% in just over a year.
To watch the piece Armstrong appeared in log on to the internet at: http://watch.bnn.ca/trading-day/november-2009/trading-day- november-5-2009/#clip231894