I MADE MY GOAL!
I will start this with a couple of caveats.
It is not "couth" to discuss bucks on these threads, but this is really a story about achieving a goal, and I can't do that without getting "uncouth". I am sticking my neck out, and, if I get "flamed", so be it. I would only do it on this thread.
My achievement will seem modest to some of you, and a lot of you could "buy and sell" me, but it is a milestone to me, and, I think, may be an inspiration to others.
In December of 1992, I started out with an IRA that had about 5K in it, set up a 401, and put 12K in it. I plugged the 17K into the Qualcomm IPO at the end of 1992.
1992: $16,573 worth of Qualcomm
I left it there in 1993, I added no money,
1993: $19, 905 in Qualcomm
In 1994, I added $2000, and bought more Qualcomm
1994: $38,125 in Qualcomm
In 1995, I added $12,300; I sold my Qualcomm and bought Intel and Microsoft, plus a small amount of Credence and Intuit
1995: $48, 358 total.
In 1996, I added $17, 000, sold the Credence and Intuit, bought a small amount of Dell and Cisco, and with the surge in Intel and Microsoft,
1996: $155, 911 total! Intel up 272%, Softy up 102%
In 1997, I added $15,000. Added some Peoplesoft.
1997: $218, 423
In 1998, I added no money. Sold Peoplesoft. My major purchases were AOL and more Cisco.
1998: $512, 346
In 1999, I added $848 (I had over funded '95 & "96) I sold most of my Microsoft and all of my AOL and bought 6240 Shares of Qualcomm. I kept my 1600 shares of Cisco, and 100 Microsoft. As of close of business,
June 17th, 1999, my portfolio is $1,0011,842
So I started out in December of 1992 with $17, 000, added $47,148 for a total of $64,148, and turned that into a portfolio of over One Million in
5 years and 7 months!
I had to learn the hard way. I bought and sold a total of 14 stocks that I lost over $25,000 on along the way, and I bought and sold another 12 that I only made about $25,000 on.
I got into Qualcomm at the start because I had relatives there, and pulled the plug when I could see that they were going to be tied up in startup costs and lawsuits for a while.
But, I took that Qualcomm profit and bought "Wintel"! I remember setting at my IBM 486 computer and thinking, "this machine is the future, and it runs on Intel and Microsoft!"
I started out using "Value line" after I got rid of my "Full Service Broker" that was putting me into tech turkeys that she had IPO paper left over on. That led me to go all techs.
What I was doing early was buying "shiny Pebbles from "Value Line", and later, buying a "Basket" from the "Gorilla Game". But, the key was, I was able to "pull the plug!"
It took me three years to get over 100K.
It took me 2 more years to get over 500K.
It only took me 6 months to get over one Million!
When I look back over what I have been doing, I made and lost money trying to buy "shiny new pebbles", but I made my big money buying Gorillas and Kings before I even understood the terms. This is where my "Russian Army" method of reinforcing success paid off. I sold the losers and put the money into the winners, rather than trying to have a large number of stocks in my portfolio It took me a while to get down to a few. I owned 11 companies as late as a year ago. So, what were the winners? I made:
20K on Qualcomm (first time)
70K on Intel
82K on Dell
114K on Cisco
170K on Microsoft
172K on AOL
323K on Qualcomm (so far this time)
Add that to my stake, and you get my goal of One Million.
This, to me proves the worth of what we talk about on this thread. Ride the big boys!
It's like the gambler said:
"Ya gotta know when to hold em,
Know when to fold em.
Know when to walk away.
And know when to run!"
My goal of a one million-dollar portfolio was a dream that I thought I might make by 2004 when I started out in 1992. But I was lucky enough to be investing in the greatest bull market the world has ever seen, and I made enough of the right choices to achieve my goal.
To those of you starting out, I can tell you the first few years are the toughest, when you are trying to get enough capital together to get somewhere. I now understand that old adage: " The first Million is the Hardest!"
There are three things that really have made my success possible: The core values that have made America great. The use of reason, The protection of Individual rights, and the use of Science and Technology that came out of the first two, which has made America the greatest Civilization the world has ever seen.
Because of these values, the companies represented by the stock market are the greatest producers of wealth in the history of the world, and, by buying stock in them, we get to share in that wealth.
My next goal is four million. OK, gang, get busy helping me figure out how I am going to make it!
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