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From a financial standpoint, buying Apple shares in 1998. Careerwise, spending all my time at university working on the uni newspaper instead of working on my

by 1tw 16y ago

From a financial standpoint, buying Apple shares in 1998. Careerwise, spending all my time at university working on the uni newspaper instead of working on my degree.

bl4k 16y ago
I can give you a horrible APPL-related investment. I bought AAPL in '02 when it was $12-13 and sold 6 months later because I needed the funds. Purchased a hedged position via a CFD, was worth $400k, which would be worth $10M+ today Lesson: do buy stock in companies whose products you use and like, and companies who are actually doing something new and interesting. I bought the stock on the back of OS X, which I was a beta tester of, and also on the iPod becoming an entire platform, hence Apple moving into consumer electronics and taking out Sony. Second part of the lesson would be to stick to your initial instincts and not doubt yourself. I ended up making some money from it, but sold far too early because a lot of people whose opinions I valued at the time told me I was crazy for investing so much in a 'tech stock'.
- d2viant 16y ago
  The "buy what you know" mantra will get you in serious trouble if you only take it at face value. Its important to know and like the product(s), but that will only get you so far, it won't necessarily make for a sound investment decision. Knowing and liking the companies products is a nice bonus at best. If your primary motivation for investing in a company is any reason other than a stellar financial outlook, you're not investing wisely. Some horribly despised products have made some of the best investments (cigarettes), while some truly loved products (General Motors) have made terrible investments. The two ideas aren't completely detached from one another, but when it all boils down, the most important reason is always about the financials of a company and their ability to make money.
  - SkyMarshal 16y ago
    That mantra may also be a product of survivorship bias. We hear successful investors like Peter Lynch advocate it a lot, but I wonder how many people have lost money buying what they know but just don't bother warning everyone 'be careful buying what you know'.
  - philwelch 16y ago
    Your examples aren't very good. Cigarettes are a politically incorrect product, and GM cars are a more politically correct product, but I can't imagine many people who know better to actually prefer GM cars over the competition. Likewise, if an enthusiastic smoker wanted to invest in his favorite tobacco company, maybe that would work out. A better example than GM might be Krispy Kreme, which was a terrible investment even though the doughnuts are delicious.
    - d2viant 16y ago
      That's exactly my point though. Whether the product is good or not has little or no bearing on whether the stock is a good buy. It's all about the underlying financial fundamentals of the company.
      - philwelch 16y ago
        I gave you a decent example of your point, but I'm still not sure the point is good in the general case. GM was a bad investment and a bad bunch of cars.
        d2viant 16y ago
        Then I don't understand what the general case is that you're referring to. That overall if people invest in products they like then overall they'll get good investment returns? I'm saying that someone liking or not liking a product and investing for that reason is irrelevant to the investment returns they can expect, because that decision is based entirely on preference -- the movement of the stock on the other hand is driven entirely by the financials.
        philwelch 16y ago
        See, that's not true at all. Someone liking or disliking a product is based largely on whether the product is crap or not, just like the success of the company.
jamespitts 16y ago
AAPL has been the greatest investment of our era. When I first bought in, it was not even clear that the company would survive. But the shares were going at a bargain... Love the point about the university media. This is also how I stumbled onto the web! But there were a lot of cute girls around there, too.

by 1tw 16y ago

From a financial standpoint, buying Apple shares in 1998. Careerwise, spending all my time at university working on the uni newspaper instead of working on my degree.

bl4k 16y ago

I can give you a horrible APPL-related investment. I bought AAPL in '02 when it was $12-13 and sold 6 months later because I needed the funds. Purchased a hedged position via a CFD, was worth $400k, which would be worth $10M+ today Lesson: do buy stock in companies whose products you use and like, and companies who are actually doing something new and interesting. I bought the stock on the back of OS X, which I was a beta tester of, and also on the iPod becoming an entire platform, hence Apple moving into consumer electronics and taking out Sony. Second part of the lesson would be to stick to your initial instincts and not doubt yourself. I ended up making some money from it, but sold far too early because a lot of people whose opinions I valued at the time told me I was crazy for investing so much in a 'tech stock'.

d2viant 16y ago
The "buy what you know" mantra will get you in serious trouble if you only take it at face value. Its important to know and like the product(s), but that will only get you so far, it won't necessarily make for a sound investment decision. Knowing and liking the companies products is a nice bonus at best. If your primary motivation for investing in a company is any reason other than a stellar financial outlook, you're not investing wisely. Some horribly despised products have made some of the best investments (cigarettes), while some truly loved products (General Motors) have made terrible investments. The two ideas aren't completely detached from one another, but when it all boils down, the most important reason is always about the financials of a company and their ability to make money.
- SkyMarshal 16y ago
  That mantra may also be a product of survivorship bias. We hear successful investors like Peter Lynch advocate it a lot, but I wonder how many people have lost money buying what they know but just don't bother warning everyone 'be careful buying what you know'.
- philwelch 16y ago
  Your examples aren't very good. Cigarettes are a politically incorrect product, and GM cars are a more politically correct product, but I can't imagine many people who know better to actually prefer GM cars over the competition. Likewise, if an enthusiastic smoker wanted to invest in his favorite tobacco company, maybe that would work out. A better example than GM might be Krispy Kreme, which was a terrible investment even though the doughnuts are delicious.
  - d2viant 16y ago
    That's exactly my point though. Whether the product is good or not has little or no bearing on whether the stock is a good buy. It's all about the underlying financial fundamentals of the company.
    - philwelch 16y ago
      I gave you a decent example of your point, but I'm still not sure the point is good in the general case. GM was a bad investment and a bad bunch of cars.
      - d2viant 16y ago
        Then I don't understand what the general case is that you're referring to. That overall if people invest in products they like then overall they'll get good investment returns? I'm saying that someone liking or not liking a product and investing for that reason is irrelevant to the investment returns they can expect, because that decision is based entirely on preference -- the movement of the stock on the other hand is driven entirely by the financials.
        philwelch 16y ago
        See, that's not true at all. Someone liking or disliking a product is based largely on whether the product is crap or not, just like the success of the company.

jamespitts 16y ago

AAPL has been the greatest investment of our era. When I first bought in, it was not even clear that the company would survive. But the shares were going at a bargain... Love the point about the university media. This is also how I stumbled onto the web! But there were a lot of cute girls around there, too.