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I'm 39. I lost my job last September, when the startup I had worked for the last four years had folded. I don't have a 401(k), and I only had $110k saved. For

I'm 39. I lost my job last September, when the startup I had worked for the last four years had folded. I don't have a 401(k), and I only had $110k saved. For my entire life, I have I kept my money out of the stock market. I only dabbled a little - only $600 of my savings came from a few shares of AMZN that I bought and sold back in 2017. The rest was from paychecks. I started to wise up last year, when I read that the yield curve had inverted. I didn't have a clue as to what event would trigger a drop in stocks, but I knew something was coming. So my plan for months has been to buy when most people were panicking, and then to basically just sit on the stocks until cooler heads prevail. Over a two week period starting on March 16th, I put every cent of my savings into the market. I learned on my feet, dumping the ETF shares I bought (VOO) for only an $89 loss, going directly against diversification, in favor of buying things I think I understand. And you know what? I'm up 40 grand, and I really believe in the stocks I picked. As the other automakers drive off a cliff, TSLA is positioned perfectly (batteries, autonomy, lower TCO). And AAPL makes great products instead of depending on advertising. (I have other positions, including a bet on Chinese eVTOL maker eHang, but I'll keep this brief.) What I'm doing is pretty damn risky in the short-term. I could still lose all my gains and much of my principal. And I only have $10k in cash to live off of if I can't find a job. Hatred of the billionaires - whose companies invent and produce the things that drive our living standards up - also hurts conscientious people like me. Instead of envying the rich, focus on how to get rich yourself. NB: Gains from stocks are not free money! What I'm doing feels like a full-time job, as I continually worry about losing everything. This involves an incredible amount of research and planning, the ability to take on an incredible amount of risk, and that's stuff that the envious haters never see.

workingname 7y ago
Putting in a bunch of money in the stock market to get rich, why hasn't anyone thought of this before?
whytaka 7y ago
Perhaps you've held these views regarding the merit of billionaires long before your foray into the market, but the way you write your story makes it seem like you've done a complete 180 all of a sudden because now you are also getting rich off of the market, and now everyone else is an envious hater. It sounds incredibly naive and immature. I've been quite lucky with the market myself and it's clear to me that the game is very much rigged. Not only that, but the people who come into the market for 30%+ gains on a quarterly basis are the people promoting a business environment that incentivizes short term gains at the expense of real economic development. Congratulations on your gains.
- maxharris 7y ago
  you are quite incorrect in thinking that I've done a complete 180. https://twitter.com/maxharris9/status/946098382501593093 https://twitter.com/maxharris9/status/946098382501593093 https://twitter.com/maxharris9/status/946092172301934597 https://twitter.com/maxharris9/status/946092172301934597 https://twitter.com/maxharris9/status/946086949034401792 https://twitter.com/maxharris9/status/946086949034401792 https://twitter.com/maxharris9/status/1193024005390778370 https://twitter.com/maxharris9/status/1193024005390778370 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5956471 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5956471 Congrats on your gains as well! And I don't think it's fair to either of us to call it luck.
  - notechback 7y ago
    It's very much luck and you should really start to believe it. Even if you're not an expert on stocks, that Tesla rose within a few weeks from 300 to 1000, then went back to 400 and currently stands at 700 - so halving and doubling value within a few weeks - has absolutely nothing to do with fundamentals or things anyone understands, want 100% with speculation. I've made some money on the market, including with Tesla, but I'd never put this down to anything other than luck. The forces that shape the market are much bigger than any of us normal humans can even begin to grasp, much less 'understand'.
    - maxharris 7y ago
      It's not luck. I have a degree in molecular biology, and I took a lot of elective courses in immunology, oncology, virology. I worked in a research lab on HIV vaccine for two years after undergrad before I switched back to software engineering. So I was able to keep a cooler head about the virus than most, which enabled me to buy intelligently. I worked damn hard to earn that degree and in my time in the lab. I was a twitchy premed student that needed every grade to be perfect. NONE of the effort I poured into those six years of my life was luck. It was pure sweat. In the immediate future, I expect that the dip in advertising will cause Q1 earnings from Google and Facebook to be lower than expected. As the Fed continues to inflate stocks, this will cause a lot more buying of TSLA and AAPL. In the 2020s, Tesla will continue to soar because: 1) they have a huge lead in battery tech. they're about to announce that they've achieved the $100/kWh mark, which will let them sell electric cars that go as far as gas ones but don't cost more. 2) batteries are crucial for amazing tech like the emerging eVTOL scene. it's possible Tesla may enter that space and dominate it, because batteries determine everything there, too. in the meantime, I bought some shares of eHang (Chinese company, listed on the Nasdaq under EH) 3) they have a huge lead in autonomous driving. LiDAR is a dead-end, and they're ahead of everyone else there, too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx7BXih7zx8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx7BXih7zx8 4) demand is not a problem at all, especially in China (where the latest new factory is). demand for iPhones was just fine in 2008-2009! remember Ballmer reacting with, "$600 for a phone!?" when he was asked about the iPhone in 2007? 5) they now sell car insurance. they're using all the data collected by their cars to offer significantly lower rates to customers 6) they're going to get into home HVAC, which will integrate beautifully with the Powerwall and solar roof products. I have been looking at buying a cheap off-grid lot up in the mountains to build a home on (when the price is right!), and I absolutely will buy that and avoid paying significant costs to get the lot hooked up to the grid. 7) their competitors will continue to fail to invest in EVs, even though their futures depend on it. this is because they are loaded up with tons of debt, while Tesla has a lot less 8) the site for Gigafactory Berlin has been fully cleared, and it will be under construction very soon. there's another factory coming in the US later this year. 9) I should at least mention the new products! Model Y is a definite hit, and it's clear that the Cybertruck will be! the new semi was delayed only because they simply can't produce enough batteries for it and the Model Y at the moment. that's gonna change! 10) they have a new analyst covering them at Goldman, and he's bullish. I expect TSLA to join the S&P 500 this year, which will trigger a massive wave of institutional buying. I think ARK Invest has it right. $24k/share by 2024. Out of the scenarios they give, I think their middle-range estimate of $3.4k/share by 2024 is my worst-case. Tesla is $54.74% of my portfolio right now, and if I could go back to March and do it all over again, I'd make it 100%. If you want to keep in touch and lord it over me when I go bankrupt, I'm maxharris9 on Twitter.
sauwan 7y ago
No offense, but the difference between someone being able to invest cash in a down market and the structural imbalances that allow the billionaire class to flourish (in any market) are markedly different things. We can both applaud people like you taking a risk AND still recognize that regulatory capture and market power concentration are stifling innovation and concentrating wealth in ways that we haven't seen in nearly a century.
kennywinker 7y ago
None of what you are describing requires the existence of billionaires. The companies, the stock market, the inventions, they would all exist even in a world where jeff bezos' net worth is only $500mil instead of $107.8bil
- maxharris 7y ago
  The alternative is to beg a risk-averse committee (public ones are much worse than private ones in this respect, but they are similar in this context) to invest in big bets. When Elon Musk went to Russia to try to buy a rocket in 2001, they thought he was full of shit. So he went to work on building his own. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/science/how-tesla-founder-elon-musk-tried-to-fund-a-grand-spectacle-in-space/articleshow/47292702.cms https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/science/how-tesla-... Tesla had to vertically integrate its supply chain to build the Model S because none of the existing suppliers would take him seriously. To the extent that they have earned their success and steered clear of regulatory capture and the like, billionaires don't need moral justification for existing. Having said that, those billions are used to fund big bets that would otherwise not happen. I am glad they exist!
  - kennywinker 7y ago
    > The alternative is to beg a risk-averse committee That is one possible alternative, not the ONLY possible alternative. For example, if there truly is value in big bets, we could have systems in place to allow proven individuals to make big money bets.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
notechback 7y ago
You make some cash but you're not a billionaire. There is a structural difference where some gain money even when everyone else is losing (not after everyone else has lost like in your case!). There's no issue with some people being richer than others, but having some with hundreds of billions in the bank (constantly growing) while the companies they own fire people and pay poverty wages to those that they do employ is pretty insane. We're not in the middle ages where a lord treats their serfs as they like and if some starve that's fine. There is a process where the rich constantly scratch the profits off the economy. When it goes well they profit. When it goes badly they profit and ask the government (aka tax payers, aka middle and lower class and small companies that don't register in the Bahamas to avoid taxes) to bail out the struggling companies out of which they have drawn billions in the previous years. It is absurd and obscene.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

workingname 7y ago

Putting in a bunch of money in the stock market to get rich, why hasn't anyone thought of this before?

whytaka 7y ago

Perhaps you've held these views regarding the merit of billionaires long before your foray into the market, but the way you write your story makes it seem like you've done a complete 180 all of a sudden because now you are also getting rich off of the market, and now everyone else is an envious hater. It sounds incredibly naive and immature. I've been quite lucky with the market myself and it's clear to me that the game is very much rigged. Not only that, but the people who come into the market for 30%+ gains on a quarterly basis are the people promoting a business environment that incentivizes short term gains at the expense of real economic development. Congratulations on your gains.

maxharris 7y ago
you are quite incorrect in thinking that I've done a complete 180. https://twitter.com/maxharris9/status/946098382501593093 https://twitter.com/maxharris9/status/946098382501593093 https://twitter.com/maxharris9/status/946092172301934597 https://twitter.com/maxharris9/status/946092172301934597 https://twitter.com/maxharris9/status/946086949034401792 https://twitter.com/maxharris9/status/946086949034401792 https://twitter.com/maxharris9/status/1193024005390778370 https://twitter.com/maxharris9/status/1193024005390778370 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5956471 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5956471 Congrats on your gains as well! And I don't think it's fair to either of us to call it luck.
- notechback 7y ago
  It's very much luck and you should really start to believe it. Even if you're not an expert on stocks, that Tesla rose within a few weeks from 300 to 1000, then went back to 400 and currently stands at 700 - so halving and doubling value within a few weeks - has absolutely nothing to do with fundamentals or things anyone understands, want 100% with speculation. I've made some money on the market, including with Tesla, but I'd never put this down to anything other than luck. The forces that shape the market are much bigger than any of us normal humans can even begin to grasp, much less 'understand'.
  - maxharris 7y ago
    It's not luck. I have a degree in molecular biology, and I took a lot of elective courses in immunology, oncology, virology. I worked in a research lab on HIV vaccine for two years after undergrad before I switched back to software engineering. So I was able to keep a cooler head about the virus than most, which enabled me to buy intelligently. I worked damn hard to earn that degree and in my time in the lab. I was a twitchy premed student that needed every grade to be perfect. NONE of the effort I poured into those six years of my life was luck. It was pure sweat. In the immediate future, I expect that the dip in advertising will cause Q1 earnings from Google and Facebook to be lower than expected. As the Fed continues to inflate stocks, this will cause a lot more buying of TSLA and AAPL. In the 2020s, Tesla will continue to soar because: 1) they have a huge lead in battery tech. they're about to announce that they've achieved the $100/kWh mark, which will let them sell electric cars that go as far as gas ones but don't cost more. 2) batteries are crucial for amazing tech like the emerging eVTOL scene. it's possible Tesla may enter that space and dominate it, because batteries determine everything there, too. in the meantime, I bought some shares of eHang (Chinese company, listed on the Nasdaq under EH) 3) they have a huge lead in autonomous driving. LiDAR is a dead-end, and they're ahead of everyone else there, too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx7BXih7zx8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx7BXih7zx8 4) demand is not a problem at all, especially in China (where the latest new factory is). demand for iPhones was just fine in 2008-2009! remember Ballmer reacting with, "$600 for a phone!?" when he was asked about the iPhone in 2007? 5) they now sell car insurance. they're using all the data collected by their cars to offer significantly lower rates to customers 6) they're going to get into home HVAC, which will integrate beautifully with the Powerwall and solar roof products. I have been looking at buying a cheap off-grid lot up in the mountains to build a home on (when the price is right!), and I absolutely will buy that and avoid paying significant costs to get the lot hooked up to the grid. 7) their competitors will continue to fail to invest in EVs, even though their futures depend on it. this is because they are loaded up with tons of debt, while Tesla has a lot less 8) the site for Gigafactory Berlin has been fully cleared, and it will be under construction very soon. there's another factory coming in the US later this year. 9) I should at least mention the new products! Model Y is a definite hit, and it's clear that the Cybertruck will be! the new semi was delayed only because they simply can't produce enough batteries for it and the Model Y at the moment. that's gonna change! 10) they have a new analyst covering them at Goldman, and he's bullish. I expect TSLA to join the S&P 500 this year, which will trigger a massive wave of institutional buying. I think ARK Invest has it right. $24k/share by 2024. Out of the scenarios they give, I think their middle-range estimate of $3.4k/share by 2024 is my worst-case. Tesla is $54.74% of my portfolio right now, and if I could go back to March and do it all over again, I'd make it 100%. If you want to keep in touch and lord it over me when I go bankrupt, I'm maxharris9 on Twitter.

sauwan 7y ago

No offense, but the difference between someone being able to invest cash in a down market and the structural imbalances that allow the billionaire class to flourish (in any market) are markedly different things. We can both applaud people like you taking a risk AND still recognize that regulatory capture and market power concentration are stifling innovation and concentrating wealth in ways that we haven't seen in nearly a century.

kennywinker 7y ago

None of what you are describing requires the existence of billionaires. The companies, the stock market, the inventions, they would all exist even in a world where jeff bezos' net worth is only $500mil instead of $107.8bil

maxharris 7y ago
The alternative is to beg a risk-averse committee (public ones are much worse than private ones in this respect, but they are similar in this context) to invest in big bets. When Elon Musk went to Russia to try to buy a rocket in 2001, they thought he was full of shit. So he went to work on building his own. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/science/how-tesla-founder-elon-musk-tried-to-fund-a-grand-spectacle-in-space/articleshow/47292702.cms https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/science/how-tesla-... Tesla had to vertically integrate its supply chain to build the Model S because none of the existing suppliers would take him seriously. To the extent that they have earned their success and steered clear of regulatory capture and the like, billionaires don't need moral justification for existing. Having said that, those billions are used to fund big bets that would otherwise not happen. I am glad they exist!
- kennywinker 7y ago
  > The alternative is to beg a risk-averse committee That is one possible alternative, not the ONLY possible alternative. For example, if there truly is value in big bets, we could have systems in place to allow proven individuals to make big money bets.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

notechback 7y ago

You make some cash but you're not a billionaire. There is a structural difference where some gain money even when everyone else is losing (not after everyone else has lost like in your case!). There's no issue with some people being richer than others, but having some with hundreds of billions in the bank (constantly growing) while the companies they own fire people and pay poverty wages to those that they do employ is pretty insane. We're not in the middle ages where a lord treats their serfs as they like and if some starve that's fine. There is a process where the rich constantly scratch the profits off the economy. When it goes well they profit. When it goes badly they profit and ask the government (aka tax payers, aka middle and lower class and small companies that don't register in the Bahamas to avoid taxes) to bail out the struggling companies out of which they have drawn billions in the previous years. It is absurd and obscene.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]