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balducci Loyal user Canada 227 Posts |
Another investing thread, with a twist ... maybe we can learn something from one another's mistakes.
What was YOUR WORST financial move / investment? Mine was probably chasing shares of a gold mining company here in Canada. It was a proven property. It had reserves. But during the start-up phase it kept running out of cash, and a Russian billionaire always come to the rescue. He'd chip in millions of dollars for more and more of an equity stake in the company. Then major pieces of equipment in the mining operation failed unexpectedly. More bail outs from the billionaire. Of course, the share price kept going down. I thought it was a buying opportunity of a lifetime. In hindsight, I wonder if the billionaire wasn't influencing events somehow. Anyway, he ended up taking the mine over outright for pennies on the dollar before it ever started commercial production.
Make America Great Again! - Trump in 2020 ... "We're a capitalistic society. I go into business, I don't make it, I go bankrupt. They're not going to bail me out. I've been on welfare and food stamps. Did anyone help me? No." - Craig T. Nelson, actor.
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LobowolfXXX Inner circle La Famiglia 1196 Posts |
My worst is tied into my best. I bought Apple stock at $16/share (and change) as a pure asset play. It had about $11/share in e bank and very little long-term debt. That was the best. Less than a year later, I was very proud of my 40% gain, selling at $23/share.
I think it's now at abut $3,000/share (split-adjusted). Second worst...following the strategy of the brilliant Peter Lynch, I picked a stock called B.J.'s Chicago Pizza and Brewery, a new and small, but impressive and growing, restaurant chain. It had quintupled earnings per share two years running - from a penny to a nickel, then a quarter. I talked to my stockbroker about it; he thought it was cute at a buck a share or thereabouts, but advised me that while it might be fun to take a small flyer on a stock like that, I should be putting more money in more "serious" stocks; he recommended J.D.S. Uniphase, a sexy fiber optics company when tech stocks were all the rage. I put a small amount into B.J,'s, which was a 20-bagger in a few years (i.e., the stock went up (over) 20x), and a much larger amount into JDSU, which lost 95% in about two years.
"Torture doesn't work" lol
Guess they forgot to tell Bill Buckley. "...as we reason and love, we are able to hope. And hope enables us to resist those things that would enslave us." |
rockwall Special user 762 Posts |
Where's the thread on believing in experts when you need it! LOL
I've always had the opinion that playing the stock market was a lot like gambling in Vegas, just with more legitimacy and so I don't have much in the way of bad (or good) investment stories. |
Magnus Eisengrim Inner circle Sulla placed heads on 1053 Posts |
I got hit with a bit of gold fever in the 90s as well. I normally invest very conservatively, choosing a good night's sleep over exciting returns. Of course, the gold stocks fell through the floor. I've been a boring investor ever since. I sleep well.
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.--Yeats |
rockwall Special user 762 Posts |
Quote:
On Sep 28, 2015, Magnus Eisengrim wrote: The 90's? Well, that was before Glenn Beck, so was it Rush Limbaugh you were listening to back then? |
Daryl -the other brother Special user Chicago 594 Posts |
During the .com days I made a nice profit on IPO's and dollar stocks. I invested the profits into blue chip stocks which lost a big chunk of their value over the next year.
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Magnus Eisengrim Inner circle Sulla placed heads on 1053 Posts |
Quote:
On Sep 28, 2015, rockwall wrote: Wouldn't recognize either one of those guys if I bumped into him on the street.
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.--Yeats |
balducci Loyal user Canada 227 Posts |
Quote:
On Sep 28, 2015, balducci wrote: I just searched to see what has become of the mine and the Russian ... details are sketchy, but it appears he ran afoul of some Russian power broker(s), was detained and placed under house arrest in Moscow in March 2015, was forced to relinquish his ownership interest and management role in the mine, but somehow escaped house arrest to Minsk where he was again detained. Not sure what has happened since then. He might be free, he might be in a gulag.
Make America Great Again! - Trump in 2020 ... "We're a capitalistic society. I go into business, I don't make it, I go bankrupt. They're not going to bail me out. I've been on welfare and food stamps. Did anyone help me? No." - Craig T. Nelson, actor.
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TonyB2009 Inner circle 5006 Posts |
I bought three apartments in Bulgaria, then got divorced and had to let the deal fall through.
Check out Tony's new thriller Dead or Alive http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alive-Varrick-Bo......n+carson
http://www.PartyMagic.ie |
Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
My worst financial decision was my practice wife.
Other than that it is often the things I didn't do that it turns out I should have which haunt me more.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
Salguod Nairb Room 101 0 Posts |
My wife is from the Philippines. One of the great joys I have had has been introducing her to new things (board games, cards, foods, Americana). Years ago I decided to give her a credit card. She never had one before and I explained when to use it and how it works. By some strange twist of Karma, my credit card company decided to raise my limit from $6000 to $16,000. Now, when I saw the new balance I had to deactivate the account. In her defense she said "Why did you give me the card if you didn't want me to use it?"
We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness...
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landmark Inner circle within a triangle 5194 Posts |
Quote:
My worst financial decision was my practice wife. You always had a true gift for the apt turn of phrase. I almost want to get divorced just so I can steal that line.
Click here to get Gerald Deutsch's Perverse Magic: The First Sixteen Years
All proceeds to Open Heart Magic charity. |
Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
I will sell it to you for the money I lost.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
landmark Inner circle within a triangle 5194 Posts |
How many oranges?
Click here to get Gerald Deutsch's Perverse Magic: The First Sixteen Years
All proceeds to Open Heart Magic charity. |
rockwall Special user 762 Posts |
The oranges are FREE!!!!
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NYCTwister Loyal user 267 Posts |
Selling my VF+/NM collection of silver age comics in 1980, which I had meticulously collected. ASM 1 and up, Daredevil 1 and up, FF 1 and up etc.
I got what was, at the time, top dollar. I was 18 and wanted to buy a car, which I did. I was also able to rent an apartment, and sparsely furnish it, with a little cash left over. At auction today the collection would easily go for over a million dollars. I could almost retire just from the Spiderman 1 today. It was flawless except for two tiny stress lines near the staples, grade 9.8 at least. Ironically, I opened a comic book store in 1982.
If you need fear to enforce your beliefs, then your beliefs are worthless.
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