How're y'alls retirement accounts doing?

[Spock]

Oh, bTW-you don't get to employ survivor's bias and pick one stock out (NVDA) and say that Spock is an idiot for not buying it. Maybe there were a hundred other tech stocks ten years ago that would have been a good idea to buy-but NVDA just turned up aces.

I really hope you invested a lot of money in NVDA 10 years ago-more power to you-but I long ago chose not to play in that space long ago when I lost money in companies like Sun Microsystems with no "There There."

Believe it or not, I was actually teasing you more about you being so overbearing about this. I actually have quite a few dividend bearing stocks in my own portfolio. Although I am also happy that I bought Nvidia before most folks did.

.ooh! Fanboy!

OK-then I will admit this. I own NVDA also-but it is such a small percentage of my portfolio that any gains there are immaterial to the fact that my overall total return has beat the pants off the Nasdaq, Dow, and S&P 500 since 2000.

Since Mr. Kelley apparently blows hot and cold based on the stock market moves over a couple of days-lets check in today.

As of right now-my portfolio is down point 7% (.7%) since January 20. And as Bit said if you can't handle moves like that you better put your money in a savings account. I also wonder if it wouldn't be fair to pick a date prior to inauguration-say January 13-when people were already factoring in a Trump presidency and I am up 5% since then.

You picked an arbitrary date (assumedly when you purchased it) that would have given a 2,500% return. Good job. But the really fun part of the stock market for me is that I am sitting on a 700% gain in a totally unexpected company (John Deere) and that does not count the dividends received from JD as I have put them into other companies. I have already sold half my shares at about a 500% gain and I am really thinking about taking some more money off the table.

Everybody talks about NVDA-nobody talks about John Deere.

Large gains like that happen more often than you think with my "Boring" companies. Not often 7x but 3 and 4x is fairly common over time.

[Spock]

I might dump my NVDA. I don't like owning it and it doesn't fit my strategy.

From today (which is the only time frame that matters) it would have to become a 6 to 12 Trillion dollar market cap company to make any real money going forward.

Possible, but I think I can make more money in something like ADM.

Years ago, before I figured out a strategy that worked for me I played with the "NVDA's of the day." I never bought stuff like Pets.com-but I bought companies like Sun Microsystems and other companies that everybody was supposed to own. The only 2 I remember are Sun Microsystems and Juniper Networks. I think the only one that is still around might be Juniper Networks.

About the same time, I took a flyer on Phillip Morris in the aftermath of the tobacco lawsuits. It was selling for $15 a share and paid a 5%. I actually thought that was more risky than the Sun Microsystems stuff. Which in retrospect is why it was so cheap.

Well, PM is still here and I have made a LOT of money on it (remember it is not only PM, but it has also spun out 3 other companies). The "NVDA's of the day" not so much.

[Bob Juch]

I might dump my NVDA. I don't like owning it and it doesn't fit my strategy.

From today (which is the only time frame that matters) it would have to become a 6 to 12 Trillion dollar market cap company to make any real money going forward.

Possible, but I think I can make more money in something like ADM.

Years ago, before I figured out a strategy that worked for me I played with the "NVDA's of the day." I never bought stuff like Pets.com-but I bought companies like Sun Microsystems and other companies that everybody was supposed to own. The only 2 I remember are Sun Microsystems and Juniper Networks. I think the only one that is still around might be Juniper Networks.

About the same time, I took a flyer on Phillip Morris in the aftermath of the tobacco lawsuits. It was selling for $15 a share and paid a 5%. I actually thought that was more risky than the Sun Microsystems stuff. Which in retrospect is why it was so cheap.

Well, PM is still here and I have made a LOT of money on it (remember it is not only PM, but it has also spun out 3 other companies). The "NVDA's of the day" not so much.

The tariffs will hurt ADM (and all grain farmers) badly.

[silverscreenselect]

I personally got a very lucky break this week. I'm in the process of consolidating some of my 401k accounts into a rollover IRA with my investment advisor, which will give us more flexibility in investing than what I had in the limited-choice 401k(k)s. I closed one account with about $125K in it which settled last Friday, meaning that I got the prices as of a week ago Friday. That money is currently en route to me (it takes them a few days to process the transaction), and when it arrives, I'll reinvest it.

Which means that sheerly by coincidence, I timed the current drop in the market almost perfectly.

[mrkelley23]

Believe it or not, this was an actual semi-serious question, but I put it over here because I knew it would be political. One of the hard truths I've had to learn about myself is that I am not good with money, and investment strategy is part of that. So we agreed a long time ago to put our faith (and our dollars) into an Edward Jones account. When Trump got elected and it became clear that Elon Musk, who may be an even wilder card than Trump, was going to have a large role in the new administration, I asked our agent to shift from an aggressive stock strategy to a more balanced one, hoping to stave off the uncertainty that comes with unpredictable economic policy.

So yeah, I was actually asking for comparison from people who might be wiser than I. And I've lived through market corrections before -- just not one as self-inflicted as this one.

[Weyoun]

Believe it or not, this was an actual semi-serious question, but I put it over here because I knew it would be political. One of the hard truths I've had to learn about myself is that I am not good with money, and investment strategy is part of that. So we agreed a long time ago to put our faith (and our dollars) into an Edward Jones account. When Trump got elected and it became clear that Elon Musk, who may be an even wilder card than Trump, was going to have a large role in the new administration, I asked our agent to shift from an aggressive stock strategy to a more balanced one, hoping to stave off the uncertainty that comes with unpredictable economic policy.

So yeah, I was actually asking for comparison from people who might be wiser than I. And I've lived through market corrections before -- just not one as self-inflicted as this one.

And I think you had a lot of sense doing that.

Above, someone made the comparison into the first months of another administration to this one.

But the difference is, we actually had inflation approaching being under control. Employment wasn’t great, but there was room to improve. Some people were excited enough in the economy to invest in it.

And then the orange monster blew it up with tariffs and other nonsense.

Usually early in the administration, I don’t attribute what happens to the president, as there’s a little bit of a hangover from the previous one. But all of this is on Trump.

[Spock]

Holy Frick-I hadn't done the math for awhile, but the Phillip Morris investment (made circa early 2000's) in the aftermath of the tobacco lawsuits is currently, due to share price appreciation and dividend reinvestment in PM and the 3 spin-off companies, sitting at a total return of just over 3,500%. Now, obviously that is not Weyoun or BobJ NVDA money-but it is better than a stick in the eye.

Now, admittedly, that was in the aftermath of the tobacco lawsuits and chances like that don't come along every day, maybe once in a lifetime. But then I started thinking-what might be a current example of a 2000-era tobacco company.

I have landed on coal as a possibility (insert peals of laughter from Weyoun et al) and I have been starting to look at some coal companies. Most interestingly, to start with they are at, or very near 52-week lows and I have started to focus in on a couple of them to make some small long-term investment in. It certainly won't be a large percentage of the portfolio-but it might be fun to watch as see what happens. And no. I am not going to tell you which one(s).

If they were at 52-week highs and had been climbing, I probably would not be thinking about it.

Remember, we laugh at coal here but China and India and assumedly other places are still popping up coal plants like mushrooms.

[Spock]

It is kind of funny to listen to some Coal investors on Youtube. They laugh about how they can't mention it at cocktail parties and such.

I was thinking this morning about how my most enduring lesson in the stock market came when I was in 8th Grade (early 1980's). In 9th Grade Civics class you do a stock market module and part of that is to mock purchase stocks and track them for a few weeks(months?).

I remember that one of my friends in the class ahead of me bought MGM in the aftermath of their Las Vegas casino fire when it was at a hard low because of the fire and he caught a major uptrend even over the short period of the class.

That lesson probably let me do the Phillip Morris thing.

Update on "Spock the Coal Magnate"-I made a purchase in 2 companies this morning, but I didn't quite get everything bought that I wanted to-but I might have been one day late. Since my purchase this morning-One is up 5% and the other is up about 3% since my purchase. The one that is up 5% is the one that I want to have a little bigger holding in.

And no-I am not scared away or whatever by one dailyup move-but why couldn't it have waited a day or 2 until I got my buy completed.

[Spock]

It would have to get a lot cheaper before I buy it, but Tesla has dropped about 54% since it's all-time (I think) high of $488.54 December 2024 high to $222.15 today.

Hmm, if the price slide due to a Musk backlash continues for awhile more-Tesla could get interesting.

So for the first time ever, I am going to keep an eye on Tesla-but as I said it still has a way to go before I get really interested.

[Spock]

I had to chuckle a little tonight when I got home from a day on the road and checked my portfolio.

Spending most of the day surfing the radio left me with the impression from radio news that today was the second coming of the October 1929 crash and that the entire financial world was falling apart.

I literally had no idea what sort of losses I might find when I checked when I got home.

Yep, after listening to all that negative crap all day I come home and find a massive loss of 2/3 of one percent. WTF?

[flockofseagulls104]

It would have to get a lot cheaper before I buy it, but Tesla has dropped about 54% since it's all-time (I think) high of $488.54 December 2024 high to $222.15 today.

Hmm, if the price slide due to a Musk backlash continues for awhile more-Tesla could get interesting.

So for the first time ever, I am going to keep an eye on Tesla-but as I said it still has a way to go before I get really interested.

How fickle those lefties are. Wasn't too long ago that every liberal worth their salt had to have a Tesla. It was a liberal status symbol. Like having a trans child.

[tlynn78]

It would have to get a lot cheaper before I buy it, but Tesla has dropped about 54% since it's all-time (I think) high of $488.54 December 2024 high to $222.15 today.

Hmm, if the price slide due to a Musk backlash continues for awhile more-Tesla could get interesting.

So for the first time ever, I am going to keep an eye on Tesla-but as I said it still has a way to go before I get really interested.

How fickle those lefties are. Wasn't too long ago that every liberal worth their salt had to have a Tesla. It was a liberal status symbol. Like having a trans child.

Well, "global warming is an EXISTENTIAL THREAT!!! But now we hate Elon, so....Tesla gotta go!

[Weyoun]

It would have to get a lot cheaper before I buy it, but Tesla has dropped about 54% since it's all-time (I think) high of $488.54 December 2024 high to $222.15 today.

Hmm, if the price slide due to a Musk backlash continues for awhile more-Tesla could get interesting.

So for the first time ever, I am going to keep an eye on Tesla-but as I said it still has a way to go before I get really interested.

How fickle those lefties are. Wasn't too long ago that every liberal worth their salt had to have a Tesla. It was a liberal status symbol. Like having a trans child.

Well, "global warming is an EXISTENTIAL THREAT!!! But now we hate Elon, so....Tesla gotta go!

https://www.polestar.com/us/

Made in South Carolina. Of course, with help of a Chinese firm.

One of the many tragedies that’s happening because of that awful man you support is ruining things, is that China is going to jump ahead of us in many tech technologies, including electric vehicles.

Not that you care, because you somehow think that having a truck that gets a mile a gallon is part of American strength.

The rest of the world has more sense and will go on without us

[BackInTex]

How fickle those lefties are. Wasn't too long ago that every liberal worth their salt had to have a Tesla. It was a liberal status symbol. Like having a trans child.

Well, "global warming is an EXISTENTIAL THREAT!!! But now we hate Elon, so....Tesla gotta go!

https://www.polestar.com/us/

Made in South Carolina. Of course, with help of a Chinese firm.

One of the many tragedies that’s happening because of that awful man you support is ruining things, is that China is going to jump ahead of us in many tech technologies, including electric vehicles.

Not that you care, because you somehow think that having a truck that gets a mile a gallon is part of American strength.

The rest of the world has more sense and will go on without us

You'll need to explain yourself here. There is another company making electric vehicles besides Tesla? Wow!
Why is that a tragedy and how in the heck is it a tragedy that is Trump's fault. Are you inferring that the vehicles were designed, factory was built, the supply chains established, employees hired and trained, and factory put into operations all in a matter of 7 weeks?

[Weyoun]

Well, "global warming is an EXISTENTIAL THREAT!!! But now we hate Elon, so....Tesla gotta go!

https://www.polestar.com/us/

Made in South Carolina. Of course, with help of a Chinese firm.

One of the many tragedies that’s happening because of that awful man you support is ruining things, is that China is going to jump ahead of us in many tech technologies, including electric vehicles.

Not that you care, because you somehow think that having a truck that gets a mile a gallon is part of American strength.

The rest of the world has more sense and will go on without us

You'll need to explain yourself here. There is another company making electric vehicles besides Tesla? Wow!
Why is that a tragedy and how in the heck is it a tragedy that is Trump's fault. Are you inferring that the vehicles were designed, factory was built, the supply chains established, employees hired and trained, and factory put into operations all in a matter of 7 weeks?

The company’s been around, so her point that all these poor liberals have no choice and are hypocrites for not buying Tesla is not true. There are other options.

I noticed incidentally, the tragedy to all this is that it’s another industry that we are probably giving up for reasons more emotional than practical. Zeldin’s a recent comments felt more like an oil industry peptalk, not an actual analysis of our nation’s needs.

(I should also note that while Polestar has an American factory, it is a Volvo/China joint venture.)

[Spock]

I haven't gone back and caught up on the thread, but just a quick note that yesterday my account finished slightly higher than the value was on January 20th and as of right now, it is still slightly above the January 20th value.

But, I am sure that those who were quick to shove a 5% down in our faces have kept us up to date over the last couple of weeks.

One note: I don't care who is president-I have long been flabbergasted that, given the type of stocks I own-generally basic, boring companies, the account could ever even approach the level it is at.

I sort of had a mental ceiling in mind that I figured I wouldn't get above and that any increase above that would be dividend related.

My account has long since passed the mental ceiling value-so, to me, anything at this point, is skating on thin ice. I certainly never blamed Biden for any 5% drops in value over a short time (and there have been many) along the way and I challenge anyone to find a post from me saying that I did.

[Weyoun]

I haven't gone back and caught up on the thread, but just a quick note that yesterday my account finished slightly higher than the value was on January 20th and as of right now, it is still slightly above the January 20th value.

But, I am sure that those who were quick to shove a 5% down in our faces have kept us up to date over the last couple of weeks.

One note: I don't care who is president-I have long been flabbergasted that, given the type of stocks I own-generally basic, boring companies, the account could ever even approach the level it is at.

I sort of had a mental ceiling in mind that I figured I wouldn't get above and that any increase above that would be dividend related.

My account has long since passed the mental ceiling value-so, to me, anything at this point, is skating on thin ice. I certainly never blamed Biden for any 5% drops in value over a short time (and there have been many) along the way and I challenge anyone to find a post from me saying that I did.

No one gives a shit.

Seriously, I don’t know where you learned your manners, but no one cares how well (mediocre) you’re doing in the stock market.

“I invested in good old-fashioned gas chambers. Dull IG Farben may not be sexy, but I know a good dividend.”

[tlynn78]

I haven't gone back and caught up on the thread, but just a quick note that yesterday my account finished slightly higher than the value was on January 20th and as of right now, it is still slightly above the January 20th value.

But, I am sure that those who were quick to shove a 5% down in our faces have kept us up to date over the last couple of weeks.

One note: I don't care who is president-I have long been flabbergasted that, given the type of stocks I own-generally basic, boring companies, the account could ever even approach the level it is at.

I sort of had a mental ceiling in mind that I figured I wouldn't get above and that any increase above that would be dividend related.

My account has long since passed the mental ceiling value-so, to me, anything at this point, is skating on thin ice. I certainly never blamed Biden for any 5% drops in value over a short time (and there have been many) along the way and I challenge anyone to find a post from me saying that I did.

No one gives a shit.

Seriously, I don’t know where you learned your manners, but no one cares how well (mediocre) you’re doing in the stock market.

“I invested in good old-fashioned gas chambers. Dull IG Farben may not be sexy, but I know a good dividend.”

LOL! No one cares about your lunatic rantings, but here you are. And, manners? Seriously??? Don't presume to speak for others - what I find interesting about your ravings wouldn't fill a gnats asshole, but you're free to indulge yourself.

[Weyoun]

I haven't gone back and caught up on the thread, but just a quick note that yesterday my account finished slightly higher than the value was on January 20th and as of right now, it is still slightly above the January 20th value.

But, I am sure that those who were quick to shove a 5% down in our faces have kept us up to date over the last couple of weeks.

One note: I don't care who is president-I have long been flabbergasted that, given the type of stocks I own-generally basic, boring companies, the account could ever even approach the level it is at.

I sort of had a mental ceiling in mind that I figured I wouldn't get above and that any increase above that would be dividend related.

My account has long since passed the mental ceiling value-so, to me, anything at this point, is skating on thin ice. I certainly never blamed Biden for any 5% drops in value over a short time (and there have been many) along the way and I challenge anyone to find a post from me saying that I did.

No one gives a shit.

Seriously, I don’t know where you learned your manners, but no one cares how well (mediocre) you’re doing in the stock market.

“I invested in good old-fashioned gas chambers. Dull IG Farben may not be sexy, but I know a good dividend.”

LOL! No one cares about your lunatic rantings, but here you are. And, manners? Seriously??? Don't presume to speak for others - what I find interesting about your ravings wouldn't fill a gnats asshole, but you're free to indulge yourself.

I say, "No one gives a shit," and just like a genie, you magically appear. Please stick to stuff you're great at, like calling ICE on neighbors.

[mrkelley23]

Down over 7% now since inauguration day. I'll check back in July, as someone here suggested.

[Weyoun]

Waiting for Spock to chirp in with, “I found this great dividend-paying corporation that runs private prisons.”

[Spock]

Down over 7% now since inauguration day. I'll check back in July, as someone here suggested.

As of market close-Friday-Down 7/10 of one percent here (.007) here since Jan 20th.

And since you like to update us after hard down days (Friday)-as of close of business on Thursday-I was up 9/10 of one percent (.009) then.

[Spock]

For the time period since Jan 20th, 2025-reporting at the end of the first quarter.

Today the account made up for Friday and moved to very slightly positive since Jan 20,2025. The percentage increase is so small it is not worth doing the math-but it is on the positive side by a few dollars.

I simply don't get all the whining about a stock market crash. Just because a few high-profile tech names have shown they can't go to infinity or what? What the hell do you whining wankers expect?

I guess it should be noted that my account dropped 4.5% from its peak in February, 2024 to Inauguration Day.

I guess I have the right to blame Biden for that drop-because, apparently I have the right to expect that once my account reaches a certain level that it will never drop below that.

[mrkelley23]

For the time period since Jan 20th, 2025-reporting at the end of the first quarter.

Today the account made up for Friday and moved to very slightly positive since Jan 20,2025. The percentage increase is so small it is not worth doing the math-but it is on the positive side by a few dollars.

I simply don't get all the whining about a stock market crash. Just because a few high-profile tech names have shown they can't go to infinity or what? What the hell do you whining wankers expect?

I guess it should be noted that my account dropped 4.5% from its peak in February, 2024 to Inauguration Day.

I guess I have the right to blame Biden for that drop-because, apparently I have the right to expect that once my account reaches a certain level that it will never drop below that.

From a "whining wanker" (sure glad we don't engage in the name-calling in place of substantive discussion): first, let's be more precise about terminology, as you have been wont to whine about in the past. This is not a crash. It's barely, if at all, a correction. The whining, on my part, as I've said before but apparently have to repeat, is the self-inflicted nature of this one.

Second, as to timing: I made the post on Saturday, after returning from a week-long vacation where I had very little interaction with "the news." I didn't even know Friday had been a bad day -- just decided to check in since it had been two months. As I said in that post, I won't check in again until six months.

And, as far as "all the whining," shall we compare the number of posts I've made on this subject to yours?

[Spock]

For the time period since Jan 20th, 2025-reporting at the end of the first quarter.

Today the account made up for Friday and moved to very slightly positive since Jan 20,2025. The percentage increase is so small it is not worth doing the math-but it is on the positive side by a few dollars.

I simply don't get all the whining about a stock market crash. Just because a few high-profile tech names have shown they can't go to infinity or what? What the hell do you whining wankers expect?

I guess it should be noted that my account dropped 4.5% from its peak in February, 2024 to Inauguration Day.

I guess I have the right to blame Biden for that drop-because, apparently I have the right to expect that once my account reaches a certain level that it will never drop below that.

From a "whining wanker" (sure glad we don't engage in the name-calling in place of substantive discussion): first, let's be more precise about terminology, as you have been wont to whine about in the past. This is not a crash. It's barely, if at all, a correction. The whining, on my part, as I've said before but apparently have to repeat, is the self-inflicted nature of this one.

Second, as to timing: I made the post on Saturday, after returning from a week-long vacation where I had very little interaction with "the news." I didn't even know Friday had been a bad day -- just decided to check in since it had been two months. As I said in that post, I won't check in again until six months.

And, as far as "all the whining," shall we compare the number of posts I've made on this subject to yours?

Hey, you started it-now live with the consequences

You were the one whining about a 5 and 7 percent downturn in your portfolio and, more than likely a lot of people here agree with you because of the hatred for Trump.

I am mainly pointing out that the dumb farmer seems to be doing better than the investment professionals at this point. Ending the quarter with a gain in a stock only portfolio since the inauguration (no matter how small) seems to fly in the face of the conventional wisdom.

I also believe that January 13 might be a better date for comparison than January 20-because I doubt that the rise from January 13 to January 20 was due to people buying to take advantage of the last week of Biden.

My portfolio rose 4.4% from Jan 13 to Jan 20 and it has held those gains.

Hell, some might say that we should start from the day after the election-but I will stick with your arbitrary use of Jan 20th and consider Jan 13 for comparison also.