The Long Term Investor

Discussion in 'Investing' started by WXYZ, Oct 2, 2018.

  1. The Ragin Cajun

    The Ragin Cajun Active Member

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    I would like this 10x if I could.

    “Understand companies deeply. Understand a company's 'DNA,' the thought processes of its leaders. The focus is on what the company is made of, the quality of its leadership and products, and the rate of its progress towards its own goals."

    Out of all the companies I have invested in this year this was the number one and most important thing I looked at, LEADERSHIP!

    As I’ve stated in this thread previously I started my long term investment retirement journey this past summer. I made an initial investment in late July and as of the final day of 2020 have been right around 95-105% returns the last couple weeks. Hoping to end above 100%. Not bad for half a year returns (thank you Tesla)! I don’t expect this to continue however I couldn’t ask for a better start for this lifetime investing journey.

    i am still about 20-25 years away from retirement so am willing to take a bit more risk than some. My goal is to have 10-12 long term stocks and 2 funds in my portfolio. I wholeheartedly subscribe to WXYZ’s less is more philosophy regarding a portfolio. I can better manage 10-12 employees vs 30+ and this applies to my stock portfolio as well.

    So far due to lack of capital (my biggest obstacle) I have only been able to acquire 5 stocks. (BRK.B/TSLA/MSFT/PLTR/DKNG). I am looking at focusing on getting to 10 stocks this year and early in the year I will be adding more stability to my portfolio by adding the funds to my account. Looking at an S&P 500 fund and most likely ARKK to provide this. I think what Cathie Woods has been doing is amazing and ARKK provides a great counter to my S&P 500 fund. Funding these will be my focus early in this upcoming year as well as increasing my stock total and hopefully ending up around 10 stocks to close the year. I have enough risk with up and coming stocks (PLTR/DKNG/TSLA) and any additional adds will most likely be more established companies this next year. Some considerations are:

    -UPS or FEDEX (regret not investing this past summer)
    -VISA
    -NVIDIA (Well Run, future with AI, already well established in graphics cards niche etc..)
    -TMO (Amazon of BioTech supplies)
    -CVX (need more dividend stocks and I believe the big boy oil companies still have a good run in them for the next 10-15 years)
    -WMT or HD (need one of the top retail consumer companies that have proven to be recession proof)
    -AAPL (just a great company all around)
    -a REIT stock
    -DIS (the ultimate american entertainment co., have gone a bit too far progressive for my taste, only reason I haven’t invested so far, however that is our societies trend and as an investor I am only hurting my pocketbook by letting this affect financial decisions)
    -KMB or PG (or something similar in the essential products sector)
    -A buy low in the hotel/airline/travel sector
    -ABNB (not real impressed by interviews I’ve seen with CEO which have scared me off initially however love the concept and so many people use them, don’t see them losing ground in this niche, going against my more established company goal for the year, however although new to the market they are pretty well established in their sector with a good moat it seems)

    I recently scratched NIO and BABA from my watch list. One reason, as discussed here recently CHINESE GOV. China will likely surpass the US as the #1 largest economy this year however the risk here is just too much for me. Plenty of US companies to tie my future with and not going to support or root for China with my money. I recently sold all my NIO in my short term “fun money” account.

    These are some of the companies/areas I have and am researching and considering for the upcoming year.

    Also looking at starting a bit of crypto currency investing this year (only considering btc, eth and xrp) and continuing to slowly add some physical gold and silver to diversify and add more stability to stocks. Stocks are the core 90% of my investing.

    This is my year end summary and where my investing thoughts lie to end this crazy and unprecedented year!

    Thank you all for this incredible thread and Happy New Year! Here’s to us all achieving our investment goals for the upcoming year and into the future! Stay the course!
     
    #2901 The Ragin Cajun, Dec 31, 2020
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2020
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  2. WXYZ

    WXYZ Well-Known Member

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    WELL said and well done....Ragin Cajun. You have a lot of good companies in that list of stocks that you are considering. Did you intentionally leave out AMAZON?

    I would probably own DIS except for the leadership.....I just can NOT stomach all the woke capitalism that the leadership of that company exhibits. I prefer much more business oriented leadership. That is why I like MUSK.....a true visionary.......and totally focused on his businesses.

    NOT a comment on any particular company.....but I HATE the celebrity CEO types that are ALL flash, and PR, and BS.....acting like Hollywood celebrities....attending all the celebrity functions......egomaniacs. Whenever there is a problem.....the buck NEVER stops with them....they usually are claiming....gee, I did not know about that. Than they fire some poor underling executive and are all......woe is me. They usually have all their fellow celebrity/executive type friends on the company board and there is NEVER any oversight.
     
  3. The Ragin Cajun

    The Ragin Cajun Active Member

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    Thanks WXYZ! I agree with Disney, but I see you also have NIKE who for me has gone down that same road. I don’t know much about Nike’s leadership just going by how they market, Kapernik etc...I know you love Nike!

    As for Amazon, I love Amazon but I just would not be able to afford more than a small amount of shares and It just doesn’t seem worth it to me as when I buy into a company I like to have a decent amount of shares for the initial buy in. Now if Amazon were to split shares I would likely jump on for the ride! I also think the Musk vs Bezos competition will prove great for investors of both companies as they will drive each other to further heights which will be great for us investing in them!
     
  4. WXYZ

    WXYZ Well-Known Member

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    YES.....Ragin Cajun. I bought NIKE a long time ago....well over 20 years. Their management was not like that back than.....they were nothing like now. I just HOLD MY NOSE with them......because......they are such a dominant and successful company in their area. I owned this stock through many of the Phil Knight years....I miss his leadership of the company.....he is a great philanthropist.......and was a great FOUNDING and visionary leader. I dont really know how he can stomach the current company leadership......it is definitely NOT in line with how he thinks. The story of how he founded the company and traveled around selling shoes out of his car is EXACTLY what I like to see in leadership. He built that company from nothing.
     
  5. WXYZ

    WXYZ Well-Known Member

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    ALRIGHT.....nice recovery today to end the year on a HIGH NOTE for the averages:

    SP500 total return for 2020 +18%
    SP500 closes at an ALL TIME HIGH today 3,756.
    DOW closes at an ALL TIME HIGH today 30,606.

    My results......for the day.....in the RED. SNOW was my downfall today. Plus....I got beat by the SP500 by .92%.....thanks again SNOW. I suspect lots of year end tax selling going on by the insiders and employees that own this new IPO stock.

    Portfolio Model account......my actual account.....+20.32% for the year 2020. I achieved BOTH my personal investing goals this year in the stock side of my portfolio. I BEAT 10% long term return and I BEAT the SP500 Index total return for 2020.

    Mutual fund results.....SP500 Index fund and Fidelity Contra fund.....are not available yet....perhaps tonight. Obviously the SP500 Index fund will be in the neighborhood of 18%....but....different companies funds vary by a little bit from each other and the actual average. My SP500 fund is Schwab.

    AMAZING results considering what we went through this year....I am VERY satisfied. Anyone else feel free to post results....it is NOT a competition. I am sure some.......if not many of you.....might beat these results.....but for me......more than HAPPY to end up this year at this level.

    2021 year to date 0.00%
     
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  6. WXYZ

    WXYZ Well-Known Member

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    OK.....so filling in the data for 2020......I have:

    Portfolio Model

    Actual account +20.32%

    Mutual funds

    Schwab SP500 Index Fund +18.39%
    Fidelity Contra Fund +32.50%
     
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  7. WXYZ

    WXYZ Well-Known Member

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    Chris Eastman and I had some discussion about QQQ on page 145 of this thread.

    QQQ total return 2020 +48.62%
     
  8. Chris Eastman

    Chris Eastman Member

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    Happy New Year WXYZ!! And all else who happen upon this post. I’m really optimistic about what 2021 will bring , although there are again, significant hurdles to overcome.

    Here’s my portfolio summary:

    Note: I was about ~40% Cash in many parts of 2020, but timed to March dip well, and had some strong picks, especially Q3 - Q4.

    Portfolio:
    Wife’s Messy TIAA-CREF 403b: RNPGX, VIIIX, RWIGX, TRPWX, VSGIX, MHYIX — 27.86%
    Current Funds: VOO, QQQM, VHT, VWINX, VNQ — 14.41%
    Current Stocks: TSLA, GOOGL, AMZN, COST, JNJ, VZ, BLK, HON — 9.12%
    SOLD During 2020: RGAGX, ACES, ARKK, VSCIX, SNOW, UPS — oops calculated this wrong 14.55%

    TOTAL RETURN: ~ 20.18% and a personal best in a pandemic year!

    One can only wonder what could have been, had I stayed fully invested after the drop - not hopping out on the rise.
     
  9. IsuCyclones

    IsuCyclones New Member

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    Here is my performance for 2020:

    401k account: 29.55%
    IRA account (401k rollover from former employer): 47.72%
    Edward Jones account (including IRA): 23.49%
    Etrade account: 62.4%
    Schwab account: 28.38%

    At some point I need to consolidate a few of the accounts. I like using Schwab the best. I’ve had my Edward Jones account since I was 16 and I really do not care to have someone else make the “trades” for me and earn a commission, but my stock broker has several other family member’s accounts and I find myself struggling to transfer my assets out of there.

    I bought a lot of stocks between March-July that I would not normally buy but the returns have been great. Examples:
    SHAK +157.69%
    FITB +99.97%
    F +82.04%
    INN +137.87%

    At some point I will sell most of these and others since I only bought them for the reason that they looked so undervalued that I felt the risks were worth taking.

    My goal is to eventually model my holdings similar to WXYZ with a handful of the best companies in the US and a small list of excellent mutual funds.

    I don’t recommend this, but this year I took a cash out mortgage on my house to invest the money in the stock market. My house has been paid off since I built it 5 years ago, so this was something new for me but I felt like I could easily make better returns than the 3% interest rate I am paying on my mortgage. I wish I would have done this 5 years ago. My Schwab account is my “mortgage money” and so far it is doing well compared to the interest I am paying. Again, I wouldn’t recommend this but I am in a good financial position and rather young, so I felt the risk was worth it.

    Happy New Year!
     
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  10. Stockaholic

    Stockaholic Content Manager

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    Dang! I'm super late to seeing this. Apologies! But, I just did very quickly wanted to extend a ginormous THANK YOU @WXYZ from all us here at the Stockaholics community! It really means a ton to us to hear you say that, especially coming from you. You are IMHO, the cornerstone of this community. I feel like this board would be very much different w/o you. I'm serious. We can't thank you enough for all of your great contributions in here day in and day out. I'm personally very grateful having you apart of this community for the past several years now. We've been seeing a really nice bump in new arrivals joining this forum lately, mostly because of your contributions here @WXYZ! This thread alone has gotten so many hits. I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again. I do feel like this thread may just be the greatest thread in this forum's history. Not kidding here. Keep up the great work around here, and here's to a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to you and yours @WXYZ and to everyone else who contributions their time and efforts here at Stockaholics everyday! Happy 2021 everyone! :thumbsup:
     
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  11. WXYZ

    WXYZ Well-Known Member

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    As ELVIS would say.....thank you.....thank you very much. 2020 has left the building.

    ACTUALLY talking about music and entertainment......this year has been a real BUST. I went through my calendar a week or two ago......and......my music income for this year was BELOW $5000. Since the first of March I have only done 5 shows......all in late Sept, October and November. I will probably be in the studio some time over the next month or two. After that my schedule is.....ZERO. I am STILL rehearsing with two different groups.......we are ALL glad to be rehearsing.....otherwise we would be doing NOTHING.

    I know a lot of musicians that are on food stamps and unemployment....they will be very happy that the stimulus bill is done....they need that extra $300. There have been a few available benefits....Walmart donated $250 gift cards for musicians here locally....and.....there are a few groups that are providing extra $1000 and $1500 payments to musicians. I have turned down all the various benefits and payments since I dont need it.....and......there are many that do.
     
    #2911 WXYZ, Jan 1, 2021
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2021
  12. WXYZ

    WXYZ Well-Known Member

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    YOU did GREAT IsuCyclones. I doubt that anyone will beat those results. It sounds like you understand and appreciate what you are doing with taking cash out of the house and investing it in the markets. It sounds like you have a good handle on the numbers......and...being young with a paid off house shows that you are a super-saver. BUT....for anyone else.....this is an EXTREMELY risky strategy........so, BEWARE. You dont want to lose your house equity if a nasty correction or bear market hits.

    Chris Eastman and TomB16 ALSO did very well this year from what I have seen above and on the TomB16 Investment Blog thread. IN FACT......it seems like EVERYONE that is a longer term investor is showing pretty good results for last year.

    I am curious how some of the traders on here did for the year. It seems like 2020 was made for trading with all the erratic stuff going on and the short term impact on the markets. With the HUGE UP market we saw since March it was kind of easy pickings for traders....even those that were not very experienced. I suspect that it will not be so easy in 2021.....especially....... for the inexperienced people that are trading.
     
    #2912 WXYZ, Jan 1, 2021
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2021
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  13. IsuCyclones

    IsuCyclones New Member

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    WXYZ...yes I consider myself a super-saver. Something I learned from my parents at a young age, I guess.

    I’m trying to teach the same habits to my kids as well. I set up a custodial account in March for each of them and gave them $2500 to pick any stock they want to invest in as long as they have some sort of interest in that company. My 11 yo son picked MSFT, 7 yo son picked AAPL, and I picked DIS for my 1 yo daughter. The boys love seeing how much money they have made and I’m sure some day my daughter will as well.

    I think this is something I will continue to do each year to allow them to learn more about investing and a general knowledge of the stock market. Hopefully, a very rewarding experience for them the rest of their lives.
     
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  14. emmett kelly

    emmett kelly Well-Known Member

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    @WXYZ, you asked about traders above. as you know i am 90% fully invested, but for the 10% that i do trade i made 3.5% in 2020. beats losing obviously. plus, i feel like i'm honing my timing skills and expect 2021 to be much better.
     
  15. Trahn Thompson

    Trahn Thompson Active Member

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    Total return for 2020 stocks and funds 26.92%. Happy Investing!
     
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  16. zukodany

    zukodany Well-Known Member

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    Happy New Year to all the rockstars in this thread including the big kahuna himself W.

    Emmet you absolutely killed me with the long term tombstone remark. Oh Em Gee I laughed so hard I had to explain to my wife....

    We’re on our way back from NY tomorrow and we actually miss Ohio. Honestly, NY was and always will be home to us, but it’s so depressing there now and people are freaking the eff up over covid. Seriously. What a difference a state makes in these crazy times.
    Sad.
    Heres to hoping we manage to find a bridge for peace between the two separate roads our country is taking.
    There is such a great divide between our people and it all stems from different governing.
    Enough with blaming one another over covid. We didn’t create this problem, we inherited it.
    be at peace with your fellow citizen whether you support their politics or not.
    We’re not out of the woods yet.
     
  17. WXYZ

    WXYZ Well-Known Member

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    IsuCyclones.

    My opinion......you are doing EXACTLY the right thing with your children. What you are doing is exactly what my mom did with me starting at age 10. She....for those that are new.....was a long term investor with mutual funds and a few stocks starting back in the 1950's.......and......adding 10-15 individual stocks starting about 1964 when she inherited a $14,000 portfolio that had been her fathers.

    When my kids had their first jobs I opened an IRA for each of them and put the contribution in for them.

    Kids are NATURALLY curious about money and making money. As a kid I was into BUSINESS and SPORTS....early. My first business was at my Grandmothers house when I was about 4 years old. My grandmother was paying me to pull dandelions in the yard......five cents. I got in TROUBLE with her because she found siting on the steps SUPERVISING while paying the younger kids a penny to pull them for me. My first CAPITALISTIC endeavor........I have no memory of this but it is a family story. I guess even back than I understood the concept of leveraging the labor of others to make money.

    We were always trying to come up with ways to make money....riding around on our bikes collecting bottles for the deposit. At Christmas that we would climb into trees and harvest mistletoe and put it in little bundles with red ribbon and try to sell it door to door. We were natural SCAVENGERS growing up in the 1950's and 1960's. I think MOST kids have these instincts naturally.....they are there and should be ENCOURAGED.

    My first stock was ATT.....this would have been in 1959.....at this point I dont know if she really bought shares for me or if she just designated some of hers. Either way it got me started thinking about investing by hearing her talk about her funds and stocks. It was probably RARE at the time......but......my parents were open about discussing money and investing in front of my sister and I when we were kids. In the late 1960's they would give my sister and I five shares of stock at Christmas in addition to our REAL gifts. A number of years when I was in college I got 5 shares of Schering Plough stock at Christmas. As a result when I was in college in the late 1960's I was starting to read books on investing.

    Back in the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's and even into the 1980's VERY FEW Americans owned stocks or funds. I would say it was the advent of the IRA (they started in 1975) that got more people doing stock or fund investing. I remember back in about 1976 hearing about money market funds for the first time.......and.....about 1977 opening my first money market account with a high interest rate. I started my first IRA in about 1977 also. My broker back than was Merrill Lynch.

    ANYWAY......ENOUGH about the ANCIENT DAYS.......you are teaching your children a GREAT lesson.........something more parents should do if they are able.
     
    #2917 WXYZ, Jan 1, 2021
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2021
  18. Jwalker

    Jwalker Active Member

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    My 2020 returns are as follows:

    401k return = 12.86%
    Brokerage Account = 42.54%
    Roth Ira’s = 13.35%

    I stopped using the brokerage account and contributed it all to 2 Roth’s in August. Unfortunately, the dollar return in the brokerage account was very limited based on the capital I put in. Unfortunately, my 401k did not beat the S&P for the year but am overall happy with the results.

    I changed my 401k to be 50/50 between SSSYX and RGAGX at some point during the year. I think this will serve me much better in the long run than the other funds I had before that. Looking forward to see how 2021 plays out.
     
  19. IsuCyclones

    IsuCyclones New Member

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    WXYZ...those are neat stories, thanks for sharing! Your childhood is a perfect example of when you get a young child interested in investing and money, it snowballs into other endeavors and ways to make more money.

    I was the same way as a teenager, always trying to find ways to make money. My grandpa gave all of us grandkids stock in John Deere one Christmas. He passed away about 3 months later and left each of us grandkids a 10k inheritance, which I invested in Apple. I wouldn’t have ever done that if just a few months earlier he hadn’t given us the John Deere stock that first sparked my interest in investing.

    My two older boys definitely showed an interest in money at an early age when they started getting cash for birthdays and Christmas. Giving them the money in March to invest was perfect timing because the % return might be the best year they ever have, which has kept them interested and asking questions about how the stock market works. Hopefully that desire will stick with them as they continue to get older.
     
  20. WXYZ

    WXYZ Well-Known Member

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    YES.....ISU.....sounds like your parents and especially your Grandfather gave you the same gift that my parents gave to me. It is the RESPONSIBILITY of each generation to pass that down to the new generations.

    Emmett.....yes....you did well to have a profit trading. I am sure there is a real learning curve. I have never done it except for the MOMENTUM trading that I did for a short time back in the 1990's and a few trades here and there like the one that I mentioned on here based on the APPLE split. I would think that having a good mentor would be very important for someone that was trading......probably much easier to learn from a teacher than trying to discover how to do it on your own. I dont know....but I imagine that it is an art as much as a rote skill.

    GOOD WORDS....Zukodany.

    Tran and Jwalker......spectacular results.

    With three days....counting today....till the markets open for the first time in 2021........I am looking forward with ANTICIPATION and CURIOSITY to the new year. It will be very interesting to see what unfolds as we move FORWARD.
     

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