Investing 102

[GregWeld]

Sitting in Scottsdale waiting for my wife to finish her walk.... I decided to check on my Schwab account to see if there was any "useful" information I could add to the thread...

This account was started (opened) around January 2011 with "new" money... and yeah -- it was a tidy sum -- but that has not been nor should be the point here... my point is that even with a sizable investment of new cash which all needed to be put to work.. there are ONLY 21 positions all of which are "new" investments.

So I went to the Schwab page that shows "unrealized" gains/loss. There are 21 positions none more than 18 months old... so all bought in this "rising" market.

Of the 21 positions:

4 have a capital "loss" --- the highest "loss" (red number) is $1246.00 on a $200K position. The smallest is $474.00 on a $60K position (1000 shares of Coinstar just picked up a month ago after earnings report).

Now... that leaves the gainers:

A $94,000.00 gain in Phillip Morse (PM)... to the smallest $22.00 gain in Verizon (VZ)

The account is UP $509,000.00 as of Fridays close... and I've been receiving dividends which ARE NOT reinvested. If they were I'd be up much much more.

So if you'd have just put in $10K at the same time - you'd be up at least 6 or 7% and you'd be up MORE if you'd reinvested the dividends.

So this is back to my earlier post -- that you can forget all the TV talking heads telling you this that and something else. Only one out of 21 positions is speculative (the 1000 shares of Coinstar). All the rest are just good names countered with some higher paying dividend payers (Annaly - NLY) and a couple corporate bonds.

So here's another point - which is Investing 102. Even if the market goes DOWN from here... I'm still getting dividends (almost $400K per year off this account) and it would have to go DOWN $500K to get me back to even! And it may very well do that... but it will - over time - go right back up and continue to make that relentless march UP on the chart that these stocks have done for many many years.

[Bucketlist2012]

Yes Sir.

Like I said, the balance can fluctuate up and down, but the INCOME stream is still happening due to.....DIVIDENDS....

Greg is right as usual..

For me, the fluctuations in 2011 were LARGE on those days of 400-500 up and down.

The shaking the tree, I told my Wife... She is in charge of other large assets and she was ready to bail...

I told her look what i have done so far ...trust me....And here we are, most of my car built, and her with a new toy, all Paid by......Yep, Dividends..

AND the account is still UP...

When I say LARGE, I don't mean Greg LARGE, haha, but you get the point..It works with everything.

I still have people on the sidelines from 2008 ?????? WTF....

I can lead them to water...

The best line....I get dividends of 400K no matter what....I am still laughing.....My mind is boggled, but i am laughing because that is the way it is done.

You see the wealthy people know that they are entrusted with a great responsibility NOT too blow it all.. By using the money to make money and spending roughly the profits of that money, you secure an entire future...Your's and beyond..

I have said to those that follow, you can continue the legacy by following that simple rule, or blow it and have stuff you need to sell and be broke...I won't be around for those decisions. Only the one's now.. Look at the 3,5, and 10 year returns...Get busy now....

I have some skills, and you can bet, WHATEVER skills I have, I am using them..

For me, if when I do things, I am always trying to do it the best as possible. Such a Dork.
But even when I fall short, It is way farther than those on the sidelines.

Fear can be your Counselor, or your Jailer....Do not let Fear be your Jailer..

Show up .. ahead of 80% of the people.

Show up on time...85% of the people.

Show up on time, with a plan....90% of the people.

Show up, on time, with a plan, and put it into use, being ready to adjust along the Way ??? Ahead of 95% of the people..

I have figures...Sometimes not investment one's, but you get my point...

[ErikLS2]

Greg,

I've been thinking about Coinstar and wondering what you like about them? There's a lot more to them potentially than RedBox (which will be going away eventually) and change counting machines. The question for me is can they capitalize on all this growth in other types of kiosks I seem to be noticing all over the place.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by ErikLS2

Greg,

I've been thinking about Coinstar and wondering what you like about them? There's a lot more to them potentially than RedBox (which will be going away eventually) and change counting machines. The question for me is can they capitalize on all this growth in other types of kiosks I seem to be noticing all over the place.

One word -- GROWTH


The founder of Coinstar is a family I know locally and used to do a ton of business with. Smart guys... and smart enough strategically to figure out how to leverage their footprint for expansion. Also the new LLC formed with Verizon to stream video should translate straight to the bottom line.

Just a hunch and worth poking a toe in the water. Just taking a bit of a flyer on this one.

While I preach DIVIDEND DIVIDEND DIVIDEND here... And have stuck to writing this thread for newbs or recently converted "investors". So what I do personally is a bit divergent from here and I hate to get into more complicated strategies and "gambling" discussions here. I can afford to dabble in stuff that has a LOT more risk in it even though I do so in a very minor way as a percentage of investible assets. Which is the way these kinds of things should be done.

So if someone was buying all the "normal" stuff -- and then wants to take a stab at something they just have a gut feeling/good feeling for... keep it REALLY low $$ wise. That way when they go south (which most do) it's a real ho hummer. If things go your way -- then if you care to -- you scale in on the way up. But often new companies - and new strategies can get HAMMERED in one hiccup of a quarter - or a new competitor emerges - or the strategy you thought was golden turns in to a dud.

The way to go broke - or get very discouraged with investing - is to go swinging for the fences. Everyone wants to be the first guy on the block to have bet big on the Google or Apple of tomorrow... but trust me... that is a real quick way to sink the boat. That's GREEDY... and foolhardy, and you'll deserve what you end up with. It's hard enough to make money and hold on to it without tripping yourself up.

Again -- I'm not writing these statements directly to the post with the question - but I'm writing to all that will read the question and the reply. So "YOU" is not "you" but anyone reading.

Personally I don't think I'd be doing speculative investing (gambling) until the portfolio was in the half a million dollar range -- and then the gambling portion might be limited to a couple $25K names. It's kinda like building a house -- you want a great foundation before you put up the walls.

[GregWeld]

Reading the business page and stumbled on this -- which is absolutely amazing!

Apple sells more per square foot of retail floor space than anyone by almost DOUBLE....

1. Apple Sales per square foot: $5,647

No. 5 on the RetailSails top 25 growth list
Revenue/net income (millions): $127,841 /$32,982

Gross margin: 42.4 percent

2011 stock price change: 25.6 percent

Apple is a relative newcomer to the retail scene, with its first store opening in 2001. The stores, which feature genius bars for providing advice and repairs, have become a mecca for its fans. It is not uncommon to see die-hard fans lining up outside the stores, sometimes for days, before a new product launch. In the latest quarter alone, Apple sold 37 million iPhones through all its sales channels. Broader signs of Apple’s success are that its global revenue rose 73 percent to $46.3 billion, and its $477 billion market capitalization, which is the highest of any public company in the world.


Maybe the guy that posted how bad the economy was and how the Internet and competitors were responsible for his crappy business should take a page out of this - what do ya think??

[GregWeld]

For those of you that really want to dig into researching a company rather than just the basic Google or Yahoo finance websites....

Try doing a stock search using this:

http://www.nasdaq.com/


Doesn't have to be a NASDAQ stock... and there's a HUGE bunch of info for you guys that want to really do your digging.... Too much as far as I'm concerned but many like this part of picking stocks -- so have at it!

[protour73]

OMG ......... I hang out these sites and soak up the car knowledge and the humor and always enjoy the camaraderie......until now. I never thought that I'd actually get something out of it that could actually benefit the entire family and our future!!!

When Trey first posted this thread, I looked at it, watched it, read it, read some more ...... and then it started to grow into the mega-thread that it is today and couldn't stay away from it. Up to this point I just kept saying to myself "This is the Year I'm finally going to do something. You know what? IT IS!!!!!

I've had money sitting in savings (cash) doing next to NOTHING right through the ugliness '07, '08, '09, '10.... now I need to put this cash to work.

I've also sat back for the last 5 years at my job and GAVE MONEY away, by not getting into the company 401K that gets MATCHED by the company. Through the bulk of the housing crunch I saw so many friends and coworkers getting their collective 401K azzes kicked, losing tons of cash, so I thought why jump into that alligator pit? What in idiot, right? sheeesh

Greg ...... what a friggin inspiration you are... because of your success!!! It's one thing to have someone run their mouth spewing investment advice and not know whether they had any real life success, but you have tons of facts to back it up. The others that have chimed in on a regular basis blend nicely so that it never became the "GregWeld" thread hehehe

I feel like this thread has really awaken some of the lurkers on Lat-G, even though there haven't been a ton of different people responding to this thread, if you look, the thread ...... at over 22,000 views, is the most viewed thread ever in the Off Topic Forums section. That speaks volumes to the interest that it has created.

SO, I digress ....... First, for the life of me since I started doing research on several stocks, I cannot find Total Return on any stock's Info Page. Div/Yield is the closest thing to it.

I've been looking at:

ATT (T)
Coke (KO)
Chevron (CVX)
Harris Corp (HRS)
McDonalds (MCD)
Rock Tenn (RKT)
Westar Energy (WR)

and I have a meeting tomorrow to finally get into our company's 401K - not sure which direction to go on this one, It's Fidelity I believe.

[pw2006]

Originally Posted by protour73

OMG ......... I hang out these sites and soak up the car knowledge and the humor and always enjoy the camaraderie......until now. I never thought that I'd actually get something out of it that could actually benefit the entire family and our future!!!

When Trey first posted this thread, I looked at it, watched it, read it, read some more ...... and then it started to grow into the mega-thread that it is today and couldn't stay away from it. Up to this point I just kept saying to myself "This is the Year I'm finally going to do something. You know what? IT IS!!!!!

I've had money sitting in savings (cash) doing next to NOTHING right through the ugliness '07, '08, '09, '10.... now I need to put this cash to work.

I've also sat back for the last 5 years at my job and GAVE MONEY away, by not getting into the company 401K that gets MATCHED by the company. Through the bulk of the housing crunch I saw so many friends and coworkers getting their collective 401K azzes kicked, losing tons of cash, so I thought why jump into that alligator pit? What in idiot, right? sheeesh

Greg ...... what a friggin inspiration you are... because of your success!!! It's one thing to have someone run their mouth spewing investment advice and not know whether they had any real life success, but you have tons of facts to back it up. The others that have chimed in on a regular basis blend nicely so that it never became the "GregWeld" thread hehehe

I feel like this thread has really awaken some of the lurkers on Lat-G, even though there haven't been a ton of different people responding to this thread, if you look, the thread ...... at over 22,000 views, is the most viewed thread ever in the Off Topic Forums section. That speaks volumes to the interest that it has created.

SO, I digress ....... First, for the life of me since I started doing research on several stocks, I cannot find Total Return on any stock's Info Page. Div/Yield is the closest thing to it.

I've been looking at:

ATT (T)
Coke (KO)
Chevron (CVX)
Harris Corp (HRS)
McDonalds (MCD)
Rock Tenn (RKT)
Westar Energy (WR)

and I have a meeting tomorrow to finally get into our company's 401K - not sure which direction to go on this one, It's Fidelity I believe.

Congrats Scott! Here are the 1/3/5 year total returns that I pulled from Schwab.

ATT (T)- 11.5%/55%/5.3%
Coke (KO)- 11%/76%/69%
Chevron (CVX)- 10%/85%/81%
Harris Corp (HRS)- <4%>/24%/<1%>
McDonalds (MCD)- 36%/98%/156%
Rock Tenn (RKT)- <5%>/155%/109%
Westar Energy (WR) 12%/82%/31%

[GregWeld]

There ya go SCOTT! See -- we're more capable than just what size carburetor you need!!




So when looking at these companies --- remember BALANCE --- and to COMPARE the names that you've listed with their competitors! Remember to try -- key word there "TRY" to find the best of breed in the sector that you're looking at. It always amazes me when I THINK (another key word huh!) I know who's doing what and who's best -- and then stumble into who's really kicking azz in a sector. It's not always who you think it is.

You're post is EXACTLY why I continue to try to just talk stuff out on here... even exposing things that most guys never really discuss... using myself as an example which is not to be self serving but I can really only first hand knowledge my own situation. I hate it when guys post up on a "how do I do "X" thread about something they read about once.... It's like "DUDE!" I don't want that kind of info -- I want someone that's actually done the install or used the part.

I'm so happy that we can spur each other on - collective skills... used to the benefit of all.

[GregWeld]

Just one more caveat --- don't pull out all your savings and then just go on a big azz stock buying spree....

Tip toe in -- watch and learn - scale in your buying. Get a feel for it (the market and also how YOU feel when seeing your stocks go DOWN as well as up). Learn to buy on the scary days! Not the big up feel good days... set your names -- and work into it.

Ya didn't build your first car all in one day. Don't try to build a screaming perfect stock portfolio all in one day either.

Depending on your AGE --- you may want to take more "risk" with the 401K since it will be in for a longer period of time -- and the company should be a contributor to it as well. People tend to be too conservative with their 401's.

If you have 15 or 20 years til retirement - and plan to live for another 20 after that -- that's a 40 year horizon!