Investing 102

[SSLance]

I was a working kid in college in 1986, a thousand dollars to me back then would have felt like a million dollars!!

Great example though Greg.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by SSLance

I was a working kid in college in 1986, a thousand dollars to me back then would have felt like a million dollars!!

Great example though Greg.

LOL -- RIGHT!!!


I just thought it was a great example of kind of a "ho hum" stock pick.. Which - when "charted" - was kind of an eye opener. The whole post was more about - HEY!! Think how simple something like this is - and look at the result. What made the result was, TIME.

In 1986 Microsoft had just gone public. Gwen was one of three or four people in Human Resources there. She got 750 shares of stock as an "option". At the time - the shares traded at around the $30 level - and the option price was $32.50 ---- what would those 750 shares be worth today? The "cost" of the option is $24,375.00 ---- and the growth since inception is 54,582 PERCENT.

I just did "head math" - taking the 750 shares - and doing all the SPLITS - quickly - the 750 shares grew into 288,000 shares - at todays price - your 24 grand would be worth over 15 MILLION. Just barely enough to retire on. LOL

[CRCRFT78]

Today I decided to check my list of stocks that I follow on Google Finance because I am interested in adding a position to one of my ("Gambling") accounts. I call it that because this is an account I use for money I would otherwise blow on BS like eating out, car parts, money I would otherwise spend without any expected return etc etc. Not that I want to lose money investing but if I were to make a bad pick (like my GoPro shares I'm hanging on to), going to zero won't hurt my retirement account and anything positive is a plus.

Back to my point. Nothing on my list really stands out to me as something I should look into for a possible purchase. They are all what I consider good or decent stocks but for whatever reason nothing has caught my eye. Without making a stock recommendation, what do some of you do to get the juices flowing again after some idle down time? Do you just watch the market to see whats moving? Listen to the talking heads to hear what they are saying?

[WSSix]

My gamble stocks are so minor I don't even think they qualify as gambles. With that said, Zoes Kitchen(ZOES), Valspar(VAL), Mid Con Energy(MCEP), and California Resources(CRC) are what I consider my gamble stocks.

CRC was "given" to me because I owned OXY who split them off. I know very little about the stock. I consider it a gamble because it's oil related and the only reason I added to my position was because it was about $1.40 per share. I said what's another $100. Seriously, that was it, lol. It's oil related so maybe it will climb in a few years.

MCEP when I bought into it was doing well, inexpensive, and paid a great dividend ~10%. So I said sure why not. I was actually doing work for them while at Halliburton so I knew their business model and thought it was a decent way to turn a small profit for them. Then the oil market crashed. So, this time around, I can only add once a year since it's in my Roth, it was a little over $1 per share and I said, what's another $100? again. I see a pattern developing. I've lost 90% on this pick already. It may recover or not. I figured maybe this $100 will hep minimize my losses. It certainly won't hurt any more.

VAL. I simply was looking to diversify when I pulled them up. Both them and PPG have very strong charts, pay a dividend, and have broad coverage in different markets. I looked to them to be a steady performer. I also just wanted to sit back and let it go. Maybe I'd add to it or not. I didn't see the Sherwin Williams buy out coming at all. That caused it to jump big time. Since it was a gamble and hadn't really done anything to show me it was going to grow, I only made my small initial purchase. Kind of wish I knew the Sherwin buyout was coming ahead of time.

ZOES. Good food and people seem to pack the place out at lunch time. Thought I might be able to get in early on a future winner. I think the fast casual segment is going to continue to grow and be attractive to consumers. I spent $42 on a "fancy" meal last weekend that was only part of a NY strip steak and I left hungry. %^&$ that bs! It wasn't $40 tasty. I'm not the only person who's starting to seriously question these food places that don't offer food that matches the sticker price. It's food damn it. It for sustenance. If I wanted an experience, I'd eat street food in a foreign country or go to a dinner theater. Make it taste good or stop wasting my time. Sorry. Rant over. I'm not losing so far but I haven't added anything to it either.

That's about it. Nothing special honestly. I'm not much of a gambler. I'm ok with ho hum in this department really.

[WSSix]

Oh, I forgot to mention, once/if CRC and MCEP recover, I'll most likely dump them in order to move onto something more stable. We'll see what happens between now and then but that's the plan as of now.

VAL I'm not sure what to do with assuming the Sherwin Williams deal doesn't fall through. Sherwin has a good chart and good numbers. I may just let it ride like I was planning to do with VAL. I'm fairly certain the worst that will happen with this pick is it doesn't go anywhere or do more than collect the small dividend. I have no intention of adding to this position as of now.

ZOES we'll see. I may just get tired of owning it and move on. Then again, I remember people that got tired of Chipotle not going anywhere and sold for a loss when it was still around $50 a share. Unless, it starts showing signs of steady increase, I have no intentions of adding to my position.

[96z28ss]

Not to scare you but, The company I work for is the largest buyer of Sherwin Williams automotive paint in the PNW. We just announced the plant is closing and moving to GA. They won't be painting in GA. Thats millions of dollars a year they just lost.
They might not feel it, but i'd thought I put out this warning since you mentioned it.

[WSSix]

So that means you're out of a job now? Or are you moving to GA? It's nice down here. I'm biased.

[96z28ss]

Yes I will be unemployed on May 27th. They made me a good offer. I had to decline at this time. My brother lives in Decatur. I've visited a few times, and been to corporate a few times.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by 96z28ss

Not to scare you but, The company I work for is the largest buyer of Sherwin Williams automotive paint in the PNW. We just announced the plant is closing and moving to GA. They won't be painting in GA. Thats millions of dollars a year they just lost.
They might not feel it, but i'd thought I put out this warning since you mentioned it.

LOL --- Their CEO made $12,488,000 in compensation last year.... and they just bought Valspar for 11.5 BILLION.... They can afford to loose an account here and there.

[WSSix]

Originally Posted by 96z28ss

Yes I will be unemployed on May 27th. They made me a good offer. I had to decline at this time. My brother lives in Decatur. I've visited a few times, and been to corporate a few times.

Sorry to hear that. I hope you are able to get back on your feet quickly.