Poll: What was your first stock and return?

[mrmarket]

The first stock I bought was Sierra Entertainment, Inc.. They made computer games. I don't think they are a public company anymore. I had to hold it a while but I made money on it.

[billyjoe]

My first purchase on the advice of an honest broker was Minnie Pearl Fried Chicken in 1968, I think. It was on fire going up , splitting , and all that good stuff. I bought 10 shares at 54.50, it went up to 81, split 3 for one, and started dropping from 27 down to 4, where I bought more. It finally went under, a victim of fraudulent directors etc. They were ahead of their time. Making between 1.05 and 2.33 an hour my loss of 800+ dollars was a heavy blow, but a class action lawsuit evenually got me $99 back, but my mistrust of brokers remains.


billyjoe

[jiesen]

The first stock I bought was Sierra Entertainment, Inc.. They made computer games. I don't think they are a public company anymore. I had to hold it a while but I made money on it.

My dad bought me my first computer game (King's Quest) from them in the early 80's. I that makes me one of your first customers!

[IIC]

My first stock was United Australian Oil at .26 sh circa 1967(I was about 14). Went to .90+ shortly thereafter...My Dad was my broker...I told him to sell at a buck. Well, it never made it...The CEO was arrested for embezzlement and that was that...But the stock certificate is suitable for framing...I believe it is in a box in my parent's attic...IIC

Bump for new members

[sekto]

my first investment experience was one ill never forget.
I was 16 at the time, (2000 i believe it was). I begged my dad to lend me money so i could invest in Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) I finally convinced him and was able to buy 500 shares @ 6.00 I sold my shares a week or 2 later at 11.50$ and shares gradually fell to around $3.50 where they stayed for a few months. I thought i was high speed and tryed moving on to bigger and better things, never looked back or even considered buying ISRG again. ISRG sits at 127$ now after a 2:1 split LOL. A "Learning experience" ill never forget =o
But been in love with investing ever since then

[Runner]

I can't remember the stock but I lost my butt on it. IN fact the first year I lost my butt trading!!

[Shadow]

Doug,
Thanks for bumping this thread.....I could have gone without
the reminder. :

I can't remember the stock but I lost my butt on it. IN fact the first year I lost my butt trading!!

Runner,
I look at it this way........losing your butt means there’s always a
chance you’ll find it again and I hope you did. I blew my butt to
pieces.....no way to ever find it again!

Prior to starting my stock education quest I was like a lot of other stupid
“investors”out there....buy a good company and hold onto it....years later
you would have a tidy sum. Sigh......worked for a while. America’s most
admired, Fortune 500, etc...the list goes on and I was doing just fine for
many years.

Then....exit good CEO....enter bad CEO......and it was all downhill from
there. I didn’t know that the buy and hold theory just wasn’t always a wise
investment theory. I had no idea of the exit warning signs of a stock and
basically watched my stock plummet..

I don’t want to calculate the percentage loss but I know it’s a triple digit #
and dollar-wise I’m down 6 figures!

So....I had 2 choices.....whine or do something about it. I chose the later
and now I’m studying and trying very hard to learn. I’m much wiser than
before (didn’t take much) but I have a long way to go.

I have set up a separate brokerage account for my learning process and
when I feel comfortable enough I’m going to take on the above mentioned
account!


Here’s to happy trading for us all.
Shadow

[skiracer]

I hate paper trading but sometimes it's the best an only alternative to losing money. But instead of paper trading you could start out with very small positions. Buy10 or 20 shares of something you like instead of 100, 500, or a 1000. There is nothing wrong with learning to crawl before you walk and walk before you run. You end up spending more in commissions but lessen the risk of bigger losses with the small positions while still getting those emotions that come with either making or losing your capital. The most important factors are learning self-discipline and emotional control while formulating a discipline (strategys) of what type of trader you want to become and how you want to trade. Concentrate on a developing a plan of entry, exit, protective stops, an a target of what you expect the position to do for every trade. Learn to honor your plan to a tee and when you feel you have that under control increase the position size a bit at a time until you are where your money management levels are in line with what capital you have to trade. While doing this concentrate on studying the aspects of every trade you make. Keep a journal and study what went right or wrong and weigh each of these factors in taking your next position. Study, study, study all the aspects of fundamental research and technical analysis but keep the positions very small until you get a base of knowledge and strategy to build and pyramid up from. Patience is the key to control. Without it you might as well through your money into the gutter or go to a casino where the odds will be better. If you can develope the patience to do this in this fashion you stand a greater chance of becoming successful at trading and making money while doing it. You'll hear everyone talk of the importance of patience and emotional control until you'll want to puke from it. But the reality is that it's the only road to trading nirvana and very few have it under control. It's what separates the wheat from the chaff.

[Shadow]

skiracer,

You're entirly right and that is what I'm attempting to do now.

The before mentioned losses were employer based. I took
advantage of everything they had to offer: ESOP's, 401K's,
DRIP, ESP, etc...... I loaded up on it all. It was not a random
choice and a "I'll play the market" decision. My choices were
one stock or mutual funds... no other choices. My choices
backfired and unfortunately due to my lack of market knowledge
this was a costly mistake.... 20+ years of returns down the drain.

Sadly, I am ahead of many others who never did any of this; they
have zilch!

Shadow

[AudiQuattro]

Etrade

ETRD in 1997. I wanted to buy some DELL the summer before but did not have the cash. I lost a little on the ETRD- maybe 5%. My next pick was SPLN (sportsline) where I mopped up.

[azsean]

My first stock

It's still painful to admit it, but my first stock was TASR bought on 8/1/03 for $20.30. I sold on 8/6/03 when it dropped to $17.71. Afterwards it proceeded to go up about 6000%!!!

[Jim Smith]

Gosh that was so long ago it's like asking me to recall when I lost my virginity.