James Cash Penny - I Have Trusted In The Lord

The Story

James Cash Penny was born in 1875 in Hamilton, Missouri.  His father, pastor of a small Primitive Baptist church in Hamilton, taught him faith in God and lesson in life.  And his father told him "Life was tough and success only came through hard work and long hours."  And his father continue to say with encouraging words, "But things would turn out all right, if one just followed the Golden Rule, treating others with fairness and respect."

In 1902, James Cash Penny had early success at age 26 when he bought a Golden Rule store of his own and quickly expanded to 30 within the first decade.  And by 1913 he change the name by incorporate the business "J. C. Penny and Company, Inc." - the famous department store we know today.  Although the company was a success with thousands of stores opened, J. C. Penny actually lost quite a bit of his fortune in banks and real estate.

Devastated by the loss, J. C. Penny finally turned back to the faith he has received since childhood but had forgotten for a while.  The hymn "...All you need he will provide, God will take care of you..." brought him back to God and he was finally converted to a Christian.  J. C. Penny commented "In the midst of failure to believe, I was being helped back to believing."

After the conversion, J. C. Penny's fortune was restored in the mid 1930s and he began to donated millions of money to Christian Herald Magazine and 100 other ministries.  Till his death in 1971, he often share his favorite verse "I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Prove me, O Lord, and try me. Test my heart and my mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I will walk in faithfulness to you" (Psalms 26:1-2).

The Company and the Stock

With strong Chrstian principles, J.C. Penny (JCP) today is one of the top department store chains with 1,100 stores and 150,000 employees in United States and Puerto Rico.  The company has a market cap of $4.94 billion gives a respectful 3.85% dividends.  The company generated $17.5 billion in revenue and brings in $251 million in income.  Although the stock is trading near 52 weeks low of $20.91 per share, with a strong corporate ethic and surprising improving sales in August, owning a part of this company is a no brainer.

James L Kraft - Lord is the Best Investment

The Story

James Lewis Kraft was born in 1874 in Ontario, Canada and was the second of the 11 children brought up with strong Christian influence of his Mennonite parents.  In 1903 James Kraft started the business of selling cheese door to door but was on the brink of bankruptcy with $65 in capital.  That is when James realized he had left God out of his life and business.  After repentence, took God into partnership and began to tithe, things got better and kept on getting better.  The company he founded was named Kraft Cheese Company in 1924 and began series of acquisition and became the 3rd largest dairy company in United States in 1930.  The company today, Kraft Foods(KFT) is known as the company behind peanut butter, kitchup, salad dressings, mayonnaise, and Oreo chocolate chips.

James L. Kraft devoated 25% of his income to Christian causes for many years.  His famous quote reads "The only investment I ever made which has paid consistently increasing dividends is the money I have given to the Lord."  This is just what Mattew 6:20 says "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal."

The Company and the Stock

Kraft Food today is the second largest food company of the world with 97,000 employees and generating $40 billion in revenue each year.  The stock KFT is listed on NYSE and is one of the Dow Jones Industrial Average component with $51.8 billion dollars in market capital.  The stock pays dividend yield of 3.9% and is traded at a relatively low P/E of 10.82.  On paper this is a great stock to invest for the long term.  And looking at the company's Code of Conduct and see the company's core value is "trust", Christian investors are putting the money in the honest hands.  Some of the key rules in the Code of Conduct are:

• Make food that is safe to eat
• Market responsibly
• Treat people fairly
• Compete fairly
• Deal honestly with the government
• Keep honest books and records

Christian Stock Investment

Christian investing is often a difficult topic to talk about among Christians.  To some Christians, it is even a taboo to mention about the word "invest".  However after learning that the people behind The Timothy Plan, a mutual fund based on Christian value,  are actually individuals with faith in Jesus Christ, it prompts me to start to do analysis to find list of stocks that would fit to Christian principles.  So for Christians who also would like to build a safety nest, they no longer will put the money at the wrong place but would use the money to help those company with strong Christian background or adheres to Christian principles.