Investing: What's your strategy and success story

"B_dol" (bdolan40)
07/23/2014 at 11:30 • Filed to: None

First and foremost Oppositelock is an automotive enthusiast forum; however I see it also as a collection on diverse minded individuals. Having dabbled in the stock market for about 1.5 years now, and I am always curious to hear other peoples strategies, investment allocation, etc.

I'll preface this by stating I am a relatively new member to the workforce and split my wages amongst school loans, a car payment, a rent payment and the like. At the end of the day I don't have six figures to invest… I fund my small trading account and Roth IRA monthly, mostly investing in tech companies within the realm that I am familiar and bigger companies as well.

Some notable players in my portfolio include Solar City, Broadcom, Ford, Alcoa, Yahoo, SunPower, Tesla, Apple, GoPro (got out already) and some mutual funds (S&P 500, Solar).

To date my strategy is rather simple,

Keep short term trading solely to my tax sheltered Roth IRA account

Set a plan from the initial allocation. A point to get out or interval to buy in at.

Don't seek a whale in every transaction and don't get greedy, take modest returns and reap higher rewards only when they come at lowered risk.

Don't overextend my assets in one stock or industry.

Diversify risk.

Learn patterns; of investors, companies and markets.

My portfolio has done well thus far, more so due to the rising market than anything else .I do struggle with weathering downturns, selling too early and failing to realize losses (before they get even worse). I'm also young, so I worry too much of my savings is tied up in the market.

It's been a great learning adventure for me and I appreciate any opinions the folks on Oppo have to offer.

DISCUSSION (17)

Brian Silvestro > B_dol
07/23/2014 at 11:33

Dividends!! All the dividends!! I had like 5 shares of Tesla at $45. Sold it at $54. Damn.

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > B_dol
07/23/2014 at 11:34

Value investing. Go read Benjamin Graham, chasing any sort of short term gain is flawed and you have to be prepared to have the discipline to accept losses in the short term to reach the final long term payout.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > B_dol
07/23/2014 at 11:42

Don't have much to offer, I just dabble around with a little savings I've set aside too. A few of the same stocks - Tesla, GoPro (still have it, 37% gain to date!), a few ETFs, not much else. I always get the urge to pull out my earnings in the short term too - especially when I see the markets tumble every few weeks.

BUT - I keep reminding myself how much the stock markets have skyrocketed in recent years - so compared to that the alternative would be either keeping the money in a savings account earning next to nothing, or keeping it my pocket where I'll spend it. So even if the value of your portfolio fluctuates over the weeks it will almost certainly appreciate pretty significantly (compared to anything else) over the longer run - so unless you're in dire need of pulling out the cash to make ends meet it'll be better to leave it there.

More importantly, it's good that you're saving up in a Roth IRA as well - assuming your employer doesn't have a 401K matching program? I find it really easy to save that way, as it's money that I never even see coming through my paycheck so there's no urge to take it out and spend it - and every few months I go check my 401K balance and am pleased to be reminded that I have a decent chunk of change sitting back there and growing.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > B_dol
07/23/2014 at 11:43

I give some money to some guy at Edward Jones, he tells me stuff about "LTR" and "STR" and dividends and diversity and "funds" and "trades" and I say "Is there something environmentally responsible?" and he says "Yes, but the blah blah blah blah blah..." I never really hear all of it, so then I say "Do that." he says "OK." I get some big-ass envelopes full of numbers in the mail which I mostly ignore. Occasionally I’ll look at the "total" line and see that I have more money than I used to, at least according to the computers that print those envelopes full of numbers. I then shred said envelopes, drink a beer, eat a burger, and visit Oppo.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Brian Silvestro
07/23/2014 at 11:47

Damn, that'd be worth over $1k now. No point crying over it now though! I almost invested in Solar City before their recent jump, kicking myself that I didn't.

Can we just invest in Elon Musk and call it a day?

Brian Silvestro > ZHP Sparky, the 5th
07/23/2014 at 11:48

Yeah my dad has had a bunch of solar city for awhile, he loves that company.

And Elon Musk is always a solid investment.

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > Brian Silvestro
07/23/2014 at 11:55

Telsa is a fantastic company but a terrible investment. It's trading at tech company multiples instead of the auto/manufacturing multiples it should be trading at. Just look at what happened after a couple fires. It's not a stable investment and is hilariously overvalued.

Brian Silvestro > IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK
07/23/2014 at 11:56

That's why I don't own it anymore.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > B_dol
07/23/2014 at 11:58

Start young. Start big (10-20% of income, including match).

Let the magic of compounding interest do its work. Slow and steady wins the race.

Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 > B_dol
07/23/2014 at 12:30

I tried to ride the 3d printing boom. Made over 60% gains but got greedy and ended up not making much off it.

jariten1781 > B_dol
07/23/2014 at 12:41

Mutual funds of varying risk profiles. Review and adjust yearly. Don't want to spend the time chasing that extra .1%.

My brother runs major retirement portfolios for some Unions. His advise for personal accounts is to select some known accounts, invest to max your comfortable with, then set it and forget it.

Textured Soy Protein > B_dol
07/23/2014 at 12:48

I have neither the time, skill, nor desire to be particularly hands-on with my investing. But, I at least do something.

1. I make as much 401k contribution from my paychecks as I can afford to. Because I'm usually good at not spending money I don't expect to be in my checking/savings accounts. So if it's in the 401k, I can't spend it.

2. I have a traditional IRA to catch 401k's from jobs after I leave them. The IRA company does a managed portfolio where they pick the investments for me based on a general risk level.

3. When I have spare money that could stand to be invested, I usually put it in a low-fee indexed ETF, rather than try to pick the magic stock that will give the best yield. So for example the iShares Dow Jones and S&P 500 ETFs.

4. Occasionally I buy individual stocks if I happen to read about something that seems like a good investment, or something I have a hunch on (for example waiting for FB shares to fizzle a little bit after the IPO and then scoop them up at a discount). But this is the last item on my list for a reason.

Sn210 > B_dol
07/23/2014 at 13:07

I'm liking index funds. The cost to own is lower than mutual funds. I won't "beat the market", but I won't lose any more than the market, because it IS the market. I've also contributing as much as I can to my 401k, getting the max company match. I've got an employee stock purchasing plan at work where the company will give me 15% of what I put in to put towards buying their stock. I've got a bunch of great dividend stocks set on cruise control to reinvest, we'll see how that does over the next 40 years. I'm also going to hustle to pay off me and my wife's school loans. Then hopefully I have enough to retire at 50 and buy all the cars.

Sn210 > Brian Silvestro
07/23/2014 at 13:09

I bought Tesla at $29 and sold at $290! Imagine how much money I would have if it was more than 2 shares!

B_dol > ZHP Sparky, the 5th
07/23/2014 at 13:48

I have done this repeatedly, and make a lot of returns doing so.

B_dol > IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK
07/23/2014 at 13:49

Agreed, but it's nice when you got in at $110 a share. I only hold a small amount now.

Frank Grimes > B_dol
07/23/2014 at 16:28

I invest only in pumpkins and make sure to get out by October 31

I once bought a pair of shoes at the DI for $15 and sold them to some guy in the phillipines for $200

I bought a crap load of marvel #1 comics at the flea market

One time I bought these mars rover hotwheels that were worth $50 at one point and now are mostly worthless

I have never invested in myself but I would invest in myself if I knew how and thought I would get a return.