6 ms·

I bought about $1000 worth of Apple in 2000 and sold in 2005 to take my profits. I try not to think about that too much.

by dhosek 6y ago

steve_adams_86 6y ago
You’re not alone. I’ve sold at some awful times. I haven’t lost much though, and that’s probably more important. If you generally walk away with more, you’re doing good enough. Unless this is your only income or something.
- selectodude 6y ago
  If its your only income and you cant get away when you think things are weird, you need to get a real job.
pmorici 6y ago
I've recently realized that whenever I do really well in an investment I always sell it too soon. I've come to the conclusion there are really only 3 reasons I will sell anything in the future. 1. I need the money for something that isn't frivolous. (ie: house down payment, retirement income, etc...) 2. I found another equal or better investment I will put the proceeds into immediately. 3. Something has fundamentally changed about the company or it's market that calls into question it's future prospects beyond regular market competition.
- luckman212 6y ago
  > Something has fundamentally changed That right there's the problem, see. By then, it's usually well past the ideal time to sell.
  - pmorici 6y ago
    The notion that you can ever sell at the absolute ideal time is a fantasy. The market typically takes a while to reflect fundamental change and does so gradually over time. Look at Nokia for example. From the day the iPhone was announced you could have sold at almost any time in the next 1.5 years and come out ahead vs acting immediately. Initially the market thought the iPhone was positive for Nokia, it took that long for people to realize it would be their demise.
    - kube-system 6y ago
      It definitely wasn't clear that Apple was going to dominate the market for those 1.5 years. Most people expected that HTC, Palm, RIM, and Nokia were going to respond with better offerings for a better price. Most people in tech hated the early iPhones and thought it was going to be a failure. I wouldn't have sold my Nokia stock in the first 1.5 years.
      - simonh 6y ago
        Overall yes it wasn't clear to most commentators, but there were actually plenty of people who predicted pretty much exactly what would happen and why, Horace Dediu for example. When the iPhone came out I knew Apple would own the future, I could feel it in my bones not only because their software technology was so ridiculously far in advance of everyone else, but because none of their competitors except Google even seemed aware what was happening or why and Google at the time wasn't even in the game yet. A lot of my friends thought I was going a bit crazy, I was so sure Apple was going to utterly own the future. I was entranced by the early iPhones, they felt like something out of Star Trek except even better. Maybe part of it was I always hated mobile phones, they were so clunky and ugly and the tech was so primitive. The iPhone felt like an advanced graphics workstation in an era of teletype terminals. The problem was I was recently married, had two kids and we'd just bought our first house at a huge financial stretch, and had no spare savings whasoever. We were practically living hand to mouth. When we did have spare savings 6 or 7 years later I did consider buying some APPL, but I thought most of the opportunity cost had already passed and Android seemed to be catching up at last. Dumb. But honestly, imagine what today would be like if Andy Rubin hadn't immediately ditched their plans for Android to be a BlackBerry clone and switched tracks to cloning the iPhone. Microsoft genuinely didn't get it. They took 3 years to even realise there was a problem. Sorry, ranting, but thinking about this really triggered memories from that era.
        close04 6y ago
        > there were actually plenty of people who predicted pretty much exactly what would happen and why You have the full spectrum of opinions on what will happen and why for pretty much every non-trivial topic. It's the power of hindsight that lets you select the correct ones and maybe even assume that it was indeed trivial, all the information was out there. Would you bet your life savings on that one person who predicts against the trend? That's not dumb, it's realistic and cautious. In some situations the risk isn't worth it.
- zeckalpha 6y ago
  Number 2 can be useful as part of a tax minimization strategy as you reset your basis when you move to a similar asset. Some people do this after long term gains kick in and there’s a small drop. I am not a tax lawyer... https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/taxgainlossharvesting.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/taxgainlossharvesting.a...
nelsonenzo 6y ago
I didn't buy Google when they IPO'd because my Morgan Stanley broker (whom they ipo'ed through) convinced me not to. I also didn't buy Tesla at $250 last year, because i would have had the minor inconvenience of transferring my 401k to a full brokerage. Believe you me, being foolish is very easy.
- xZuki 6y ago
  Very easy in hindsight of course.
martin_bech 6y ago
I bought Tesla at 25$... sold at 125$, currently at what 1200$?
- tqkxzugoaupvwqr 6y ago
  Currently at $1400. How many shares did you buy?
  - martin_bech 6y ago
    400...
    - martin_bech 6y ago
      Its wierd that instead of beeing happy for making a bit of money, im sad i didnt make half a mill.
mixmastamyk 6y ago
1upper: I went all in on Apple stock shortly after the iPhone debuted in 2007, and I mean all in ... I was that sure. At one point I controlled 1700 pre-split shares. For a while it looked like I'd struck gold. Well, guess who lost everything on a margin call in 2009. Wall Street found a way to !@$#^ me. Just looked, current price four and a half million. :-/
mixylplik3 6y ago
I love anecdotes like this, even if they make you facepalm all these years later. Here is mine (numbers are guesstimates): Was given a single, paper share of Apple stock in 2000 on my 21st birthday. Worth maybe $24? Lost it and forgot about it. Found it in the Summer of 2013 and excitedly cashed it in for TSLA, which was around $117. Today, those 7 shares are now hovering around $10k in value and represents my only stocks of any kind. Here's hoping the momentum continues.

I bought about $1000 worth of Apple in 2000 and sold in 2005 to take my profits. I try not to think about that too much.

by dhosek 6y ago

I bought about $1000 worth of Apple in 2000 and sold in 2005 to take my profits. I try not to think about that too much.

steve_adams_86 6y ago

You’re not alone. I’ve sold at some awful times. I haven’t lost much though, and that’s probably more important. If you generally walk away with more, you’re doing good enough. Unless this is your only income or something.

selectodude 6y ago
If its your only income and you cant get away when you think things are weird, you need to get a real job.

pmorici 6y ago

I've recently realized that whenever I do really well in an investment I always sell it too soon. I've come to the conclusion there are really only 3 reasons I will sell anything in the future. 1. I need the money for something that isn't frivolous. (ie: house down payment, retirement income, etc...) 2. I found another equal or better investment I will put the proceeds into immediately. 3. Something has fundamentally changed about the company or it's market that calls into question it's future prospects beyond regular market competition.

luckman212 6y ago
> Something has fundamentally changed That right there's the problem, see. By then, it's usually well past the ideal time to sell.
- pmorici 6y ago
  The notion that you can ever sell at the absolute ideal time is a fantasy. The market typically takes a while to reflect fundamental change and does so gradually over time. Look at Nokia for example. From the day the iPhone was announced you could have sold at almost any time in the next 1.5 years and come out ahead vs acting immediately. Initially the market thought the iPhone was positive for Nokia, it took that long for people to realize it would be their demise.
  - kube-system 6y ago
    It definitely wasn't clear that Apple was going to dominate the market for those 1.5 years. Most people expected that HTC, Palm, RIM, and Nokia were going to respond with better offerings for a better price. Most people in tech hated the early iPhones and thought it was going to be a failure. I wouldn't have sold my Nokia stock in the first 1.5 years.
    - simonh 6y ago
      Overall yes it wasn't clear to most commentators, but there were actually plenty of people who predicted pretty much exactly what would happen and why, Horace Dediu for example. When the iPhone came out I knew Apple would own the future, I could feel it in my bones not only because their software technology was so ridiculously far in advance of everyone else, but because none of their competitors except Google even seemed aware what was happening or why and Google at the time wasn't even in the game yet. A lot of my friends thought I was going a bit crazy, I was so sure Apple was going to utterly own the future. I was entranced by the early iPhones, they felt like something out of Star Trek except even better. Maybe part of it was I always hated mobile phones, they were so clunky and ugly and the tech was so primitive. The iPhone felt like an advanced graphics workstation in an era of teletype terminals. The problem was I was recently married, had two kids and we'd just bought our first house at a huge financial stretch, and had no spare savings whasoever. We were practically living hand to mouth. When we did have spare savings 6 or 7 years later I did consider buying some APPL, but I thought most of the opportunity cost had already passed and Android seemed to be catching up at last. Dumb. But honestly, imagine what today would be like if Andy Rubin hadn't immediately ditched their plans for Android to be a BlackBerry clone and switched tracks to cloning the iPhone. Microsoft genuinely didn't get it. They took 3 years to even realise there was a problem. Sorry, ranting, but thinking about this really triggered memories from that era.
      - close04 6y ago
        > there were actually plenty of people who predicted pretty much exactly what would happen and why You have the full spectrum of opinions on what will happen and why for pretty much every non-trivial topic. It's the power of hindsight that lets you select the correct ones and maybe even assume that it was indeed trivial, all the information was out there. Would you bet your life savings on that one person who predicts against the trend? That's not dumb, it's realistic and cautious. In some situations the risk isn't worth it.
zeckalpha 6y ago
Number 2 can be useful as part of a tax minimization strategy as you reset your basis when you move to a similar asset. Some people do this after long term gains kick in and there’s a small drop. I am not a tax lawyer... https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/taxgainlossharvesting.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/taxgainlossharvesting.a...

nelsonenzo 6y ago

I didn't buy Google when they IPO'd because my Morgan Stanley broker (whom they ipo'ed through) convinced me not to. I also didn't buy Tesla at $250 last year, because i would have had the minor inconvenience of transferring my 401k to a full brokerage. Believe you me, being foolish is very easy.

xZuki 6y ago
Very easy in hindsight of course.

martin_bech 6y ago

I bought Tesla at 25$... sold at 125$, currently at what 1200$?

tqkxzugoaupvwqr 6y ago
Currently at $1400. How many shares did you buy?
- martin_bech 6y ago
  400...
  - martin_bech 6y ago
    Its wierd that instead of beeing happy for making a bit of money, im sad i didnt make half a mill.

mixmastamyk 6y ago

1upper: I went all in on Apple stock shortly after the iPhone debuted in 2007, and I mean all in ... I was that sure. At one point I controlled 1700 pre-split shares. For a while it looked like I'd struck gold. Well, guess who lost everything on a margin call in 2009. Wall Street found a way to !@$#^ me. Just looked, current price four and a half million. :-/

mixylplik3 6y ago

I love anecdotes like this, even if they make you facepalm all these years later. Here is mine (numbers are guesstimates): Was given a single, paper share of Apple stock in 2000 on my 21st birthday. Worth maybe $24? Lost it and forgot about it. Found it in the Summer of 2013 and excitedly cashed it in for TSLA, which was around $117. Today, those 7 shares are now hovering around $10k in value and represents my only stocks of any kind. Here's hoping the momentum continues.