What individual stocks are you guys buying/looking to buy ??

[Jack0Life]

I'm a big newbie on stocks. Only start buying 1 month ago.
- Abbott Lab(ABT)- My first purchase ever. I made a dumbass mistake when I bought this at "market". It was the weekend when they announced their 5 min test. Off trading it was sitting ~76. I figured I put in a buy when the market open. I bought in 100@$83 when I easily could have bought in @78. But my dumbass mistake turned out to be a good one. It got as high as $100.
- Bought 100 Delta(DAL) for $22. Sold it @22.30 when Buffett sold a lot of Delta. Delta got pretty close to $26 at one point.
- Bought 100 Chase(JPM) @$90 just last week. Got to $95, Maybe i should have sold them off and make a quick buck.

No rhyme or reason why I buy. Looking mostly for stocks that are under $100.
Trying to see what the more seasoned investors are buying or eyeing.

[maisymouser]

I never buy individual stocks, not counting my company stock that I received a discount/match for. Not many "seasoned" investors here will recommend buying individual stocks, as far as I know.

I wouldn't call myself seasoned, but it's VTSAX or bust for me.

[beltim]

I am a seasoned investor, and I like buying individual stocks myself, and think it's the best way to learn about the market.  But what you're doing is the worst way to invest.  Namely, you're not investing - you're speculating, without articulating a good investment thesis.

Short term trading stocks is almost always a recipe for disaster.  There is a strong correlation between how frequently individual investors trade and how bad their returns are.  In other words, the more you trade, the worse your expected returns are.

Index funds are recommended for the vast majority of people for a reason.  Buy them, then hold until you need the money (e.g. retirement), and you'll do better than the large majority of investors.

[Financial.Velociraptor]

@Jack0Life , I'm one of the most notorious active investors on these boards.  I'm often not popular for that reason.  I've had numerous people ask me for investing advice.  About 99% of the time, after reviewing their goals, expectation, risk tolerance, knowledge, intended level of effort, and temperament, I recommend indexing.  I am also fond of "If you have to ask, the answer is you should be indexed".  I'll also note that I have my father COMPLETELY OUT OF THE MARKET.  One hundred percent of his retirement savings are in insurance annuities and bank CDs.  Returns are pedestrian but he has slept damn well through the COVID-19 market crash.

Hate to say it but you are not ready to pick individual stocks and @beltim  gave you good advice.  You need to take a look at whether you have some basics in place 1) an emergency fund 2) maxing out employer sponsored tax advantaged accounts 3) long term asset allocation plan 4) an investment policy statement.

After you take care of those four things, you need to a do a LOT of reading before you are ready.  You'll need to pick a type of investing to master (GARP, value, momentum, technical, etc) and stick with it.  You need to understand diversification, stop losses, and position sizing. 

If you find individual stock investing "exciting" it is a damn certainty you are doing it all wrong.  It is a lot like having another full time job (and a BORING one).  You have to truly love it or you are better off getting a second job or side hustle and indexing the proceeds. 

And I'll let you in on a secret.  The people who get rich by trading are almost always bond investors.  And they mostly trade the boring sectors of the bond market.  It's like watching paint dry only slower moving.  But profitable if you know what you are doing and have the patience of Job.  You didn't even mention bonds which is telling about your overall level of knowledge of markets.  One world's best performing hedge fund over the last 50 years keeps half of its portfolio in bonds at all times. 

You have your marching orders.  Get 1-4 in order.  Have a serious time of self contemplation to determine if you want to make this central to your lifestyle or if you enjoy things other than reading 10-Qs more.  If so, read.  A lot.  Else, index and focus on making more money to sock away (with a rational bond allocation in place).

Hope this helps.

[bwall]

@Financial.Velociraptor @beltim ; great advice!

[J Boogie]

No rhyme or reason why I buy. Looking mostly for stocks that are under $100.

If you have no rhyme or reason why you buy, and you consider the stock price (as opposed to the market cap, which is the figure that actually pertains the value of the company), you are exactly the type of person who will benefit from index funds.

I would echo the advice of everyone else so far and tell you to forget about picking stocks.

[Jack0Life]

No need to worry about losing money. I already money in the Index.
I have $50k on the side to play around.
Figure you really can't go wrong with most of the stocks right now. Its for long term. Can't lose money buying stocks of companies with solid foundation right ??

[Retire-Canada]

Figure you really can't go wrong with most of the stocks right now. Its for long term. Can't lose money buying stocks of companies with solid foundation right ??

You just said there is no rhyme nor reason why you buy so I don't have confidence you'll make a good choice on any stocks you buy and you most certainly can lose money on individual stocks right now.

$50K is a lot of money in the context of an MMM annual spend so I'd invest that in some index funds and if you want to spend the time to actually learn something about investing you can use future savings to invest when you have some idea what you are doing. So far you are not demonstrating you have a reasonable grasp of the topic that you should risk $50K.

[magnet18]

I am not a seasoned investor

On 3/20 i bought

3 VDE (an ETF)
2 AMD
1 BRK.b
1 BA
5 CCL
20 F
2 RDS.b
2 DIS

I bought them because I thought they were quality companies that were circumstantially being hit harder than the total market index, and it was a suitable amount of play money I could stand to lose if any or all of them went to zero.  It'll be at least a year before I sell any of them.  Probably longer, because i intend to forget they exist.


What you describe is more like day trading, but with buying tickers that come out of a random letter generator, but only if they are less than $100, even if you have $50K to play with, and you really aren't making any sense

[Jack0Life]

Figure you really can't go wrong with most of the stocks right now. Its for long term. Can't lose money buying stocks of companies with solid foundation right ??

You just said there is no rhyme nor reason why you buy so I don't have confidence you'll make a good choice on any stocks you buy and you most certainly can lose money on individual stocks right now.

$50K is a lot of money in the context of an MMM annual spend so I'd invest that in some index funds and if you want to spend the time to actually learn something about investing you can use future savings to invest when you have some idea what you are doing. So far you are not demonstrating you have a reasonable grasp of the topic that you should risk $50K.

I think you guys took what I said too literally. Of course I do read around and such.
i don't literally just pick a stock out of midair and buy them.
On another note, i bought 100 shares of Delta @$22 today.

[ChpBstrd]

I picked up small positions in some REIT preferred stocks: MAA-I and MNR-C for the 6.5-7% yields. They're up about 2%.

I sold puts on prison REIT GEO and healthcare REIT VTR. The VTR put expired out of the money and netted me a grand in a week. The GEO put is slightly in-the-money, so I might get assigned. Yes, the 16% yield might get cut as they deal with C19 related expenses and early releases, but I don't think their business is going away.

To be clear, all the above trades represent less than 3% of my NW. I think the economic crisis is just starting, so I'm keeping most of my powder dry (cash or put-protected index funds). When things get much, much worse, my shopping list includes the following:

Preferreds:
PFXF
PGX
UMH-B
Healthcare REITs:
SBRA
OHI
VTR
WELL
Prison REIT:
CXW
Outdoor Ad REITs:
LAMR
OUT
Residential REITs:
ACC
Industrial REITs:
MNR-C
Self-Storage REITs:
JCAP
SELF
Large-cap Growth Conviction Stocks to support a Work from Home economy:
MSFT
CRM

Again, the bulk of my equity allocation is in index funds. These are areas I'm considering betting on outperforming the indices because they are mostly critical infrastructure that will outlast the pandemic / depression. The weighted average beta of my planned portfolio is 0.98, and it would generate almost enough income just from relatively safe yields to cover at least half my budget even at a 5% or 6% WR. I hope to earn about 5% of my NW by buying most of the above names using short puts during high vol.

In doing this, I'm underweighting industries like travel, consumer discretionaries, materials, energy, etc.

If any of the above was Greek to you, FFS stick with index funds.

[Financial.Velociraptor]

@ChpBstrd really likes YIELD.

[J Boogie]

Well, he is a cheap bastard.

While some say dividends are meaningless, I would argue they communicate at the very least that the company promises to return at least X amount to you every quarter.

Non-dividend payers are making bets on this and that new strategy. You have to trust management to do new things and you pay a bit of a premium for the prospect of growth.

But those high yields offer a nice straightforward value proposition to a cheap bastard who doesn't want some ethereal valuation to put their faith (and hard earned money) in.

[ChpBstrd]

I actually hate dividends and criticize those who chase them. They are typically tax-inefficient return-of-capital by management teams who know their companies are in decline and who are essentially borrowing money to pay their equity investors instead of paying down debt or reinvesting in the company. Dividends often appeal to unsophisticated retail investors who think they're getting equity growth plus bond income. The exception is REITs and MLPs, which must pay out 90% of income as dividends to keep their special tax status. REIT+IRA= total tax avoidance.

I played a solid defense before the pandemic and kept most of my portfolio intact. Put options now prevent any significant future losses, and I retain significant upside potential. If a depression scenario emerges out of all this, I would like to at some point lock in the returns I would need to securely retire on a higher-than-usually-safe withdrawal rate, as in 5-6%. That's not going to happen if I invest in travel, retail, autos, restaurants, luxury items, or any number of businesses that sell discretionary items. High-end Ford trucks and Apple iPhones will be hard to sell with 25% unemployment. The majority of the indexes are fluff purchases that people will not be making in the desperate times ahead.

It's not that my stock picks pay high dividends, it's that they are in areas which are the last to lose revenue. Preferred are senior to common (and people hate them because they tank right alongside the common, so during a crisis is the ONLY/GREAT time to buy preferreds). Prisons could be public-cized, but I think most governorships and state legislatures will stay in the hands of the parties that have them now, and a Democratic president would be hard pressed to make this risky transition a priority. Nursing homes may be death camps today, but the supply of old people will continue to grow and there's nowhere else to put them. The outdoor ad REITs will probably have to cut prices, but they're still a decent deal too - my worry with them is that many white collar jobs will stay work-from-home forever, and automotive traffic will be reduced. Apartment rents will be the last thing people skip before they go absolutely broke, and even then there will be a steady supply of foreclosed homeowners. Self-storage will be held up by people consolidating households, foreclosures, handling the affairs of the deceased, etc. All these companies will face delinquencies in the next 18 mos, but all will survive and be worth more post-crisis.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's Teams application is proving to be the go-to solution for helping my company make the transition to work-from-home, possibly permanently. Salesforce offers a no-code solution to cheaply build complex, custom business applications that will automate many jobs and enable more distributed teams. These may be the last positions I buy.

The other reason I'm looking at these stocks is because many of them offer fat options premiums. If I sell 3-4 rounds of monthly puts before getting assigned to buy these picks, I might have increased my net worth 10-15% by then. This gets me right to the edge of having a FIRE-able portfolio by the time I am again fully invested. You can see the appeal of such a move for someone whose portfolio is currently at the levels I would need for a 6% WR. That's a WR that has historically survived - IF the purchase was made in the depths of a correction/crash. If I'm patient and strategic as markets tank in 2020, I could be retired next year instead of 3-5 years from now as I'd originally hoped for.

And if markets run off without me for a while? You can have it. I agree with the analysts who predict 4% average annual returns for the next decade, at best.

[MustacheAndaHalf]

No rhyme or reason why I buy. Looking mostly for stocks that are under $100.

...

You just said there is no rhyme nor reason why you buy so I don't have confidence you'll make a good choice on any stocks you buy and you most certainly can lose money on individual stocks right now.

I think you guys took what I said too literally. Of course I do read around and such.
i don't literally just pick a stock out of midair and buy them.
On another note, i bought 100 shares of Delta @$22 today.

I read it the same way.  Even after your follow up, I have no idea your criteria for picking stocks.

Although I've only shared a few of my stock picks publicly, I viewed stock picking as forming my own tiny mutual fund.  Your 3 picks are a good start: health care, an airline, and a financial services company.  If you keep buying companies that aren't closely related, you'll get more diversification.

[marty998]

No rhyme or reason why I buy. Looking mostly for stocks that are under $100.

...

You just said there is no rhyme nor reason why you buy so I don't have confidence you'll make a good choice on any stocks you buy and you most certainly can lose money on individual stocks right now.

I think you guys took what I said too literally. Of course I do read around and such.
i don't literally just pick a stock out of midair and buy them.
On another note, i bought 100 shares of Delta @$22 today.

I read it the same way.  Even after your follow up, I have no idea your criteria for picking stocks.

Although I've only shared a few of my stock picks publicly, I viewed stock picking as forming my own tiny mutual fund.  Your 3 picks are a good start: health care, an airline, and a financial services company.  If you keep buying companies that aren't closely related, you'll get more diversification.

Holy shit OP you are one brave balls-to-the-wall Mofo for buying an airline in this day and age. Australia is soon to be free of COVID (hard to believe) and yet we still won't have a functioning aviation sector until mid next year at least, because the rest of the world is still fucked.

Airlines are a line ball bet at the very best of times. And you want to go in now when all planes are essentially grounded?

Fucking insanity. I can't believe how many people are losing their minds doing dumb shit like this.

MOD NOTE: Despite the trying times, please don't be rude.

[BicycleB]

Tough crowd, eh, @Jack0Life?

I am seasoned (started 1990s, raised my investments during 2008-09 financial crisis). I have not yet bought an individual stock. I am FI using index funds, real estate, and other bland non-stock revenue streams. So I mostly agree with the many comments you've received.

Your breezy tone sounds like it's cool to play around with 50k. That approach is likely to be costly, but I sympathize. Investing in live stocks would be a lot more fun than running a mock portfolio while you build experience. I may at some point make some small investments in individual stocks, wanting to come out ahead, even though I know it might be folly. Part of my reason is that skin in the game will make it real so that I pay attention. But I will at least go in with reasons for my picks, and a Plan B to preserve FI if they fail. It's up to you if you accept that your Plan B is to work longer, but to get a positive response, you'll probably need reasons for your picks. And a thick skin to get through the skeptical comments - because they're meant as positive advice!

Anyway, good luck.

PS. You could run a mock portfolio. After you beat the market for a couple years, share your logic and picks for the third year. By then, hopefully ChpBstrd's posts will be as familiar as your trusty Investment Policy Statement.

[Jack0Life]

No rhyme or reason why I buy. Looking mostly for stocks that are under $100.

...

You just said there is no rhyme nor reason why you buy so I don't have confidence you'll make a good choice on any stocks you buy and you most certainly can lose money on individual stocks right now.

I think you guys took what I said too literally. Of course I do read around and such.
i don't literally just pick a stock out of midair and buy them.
On another note, i bought 100 shares of Delta @$22 today.

I read it the same way.  Even after your follow up, I have no idea your criteria for picking stocks.

Although I've only shared a few of my stock picks publicly, I viewed stock picking as forming my own tiny mutual fund.  Your 3 picks are a good start: health care, an airline, and a financial services company.  If you keep buying companies that aren't closely related, you'll get more diversification.

Holy shit OP you are one brave balls-to-the-wall Mofo for buying an airline in this day and age. Australia is soon to be free of COVID (hard to believe) and yet we still won't have a functioning aviation sector until mid next year at least, because the rest of the world is still fucked.

Airlines are a line ball bet at the very best of times. And you want to go in now when all planes are essentially grounded?

Fucking insanity. I can't believe how many people are losing their minds doing dumb shit like this.

LOL. The hostility on this forum is fucking insane.
The title of my post if to see what stocks people are buying/looking to buy.
This wasn't a "hey critique my stock choices" thread.
First of all this is a investing sub-forum right ??
Seems like every time someone post something people don't agree with, the hostility is out in full force especially when its anything to do with market timing.

As for referring to me as "people are losing their minds doing dumb shit like this" I guess I have to right to defend myself right ??
You like to nit-pick on a stock that I bought 100 shares for $22. Thats $2200 of $50k that I stated I have to play with.
Its sitting $22.48 right now. Its a high risk high reward stock. Delta is a 2nd healthiest airline in the US behind Southwest. Do you actually think the government will let it fail ??. If any big airline thats going to fail its AA. They have huge debt.
I didn't see any comments about my ABT stocks that I bought 100 @83 ?? Its sitting @$94 right now.
The only other stock I have that I a little bit worried about is Chase I bought @$90. But its the biggest bank in the US. They aren't going anywhere.
You act as if I bought cruise stocks or something LOL.

As for other dumb shit that I did during this pandemic, I pulled most of my investment out before the crash.
On Feb 19th right before the downfall, I had roughly ~$257152 in my Vanguard. Its sitting @$260063 now. So during this crisis, through the dumb shit that I did, I actually ahead before the crash. I wonder how many people can say that. Before trying to call out BS, I would suggest you do a search on all my old posts. I posted most everything I did along the way. Even screenshots.

I'm sorry that you felt so threaten that you had to refer to "people doing dumb shit"
I would love to hear hows your portfolio is doing during the crisis.

[Jack0Life]

Tough crowd, eh, @Jack0Life?

I am seasoned (started 1990s, raised my investments during 2008-09 financial crisis). I have not yet bought an individual stock. I am FI using index funds, real estate, and other bland non-stock revenue streams. So I mostly agree with the many comments you've received.

Your breezy tone sounds like it's cool to play around with 50k. That approach is likely to be costly, but I sympathize. Investing in live stocks would be a lot more fun than running a mock portfolio while you build experience. I may at some point make some small investments in individual stocks, wanting to come out ahead, even though I know it might be folly. Part of my reason is that skin in the game will make it real so that I pay attention. But I will at least go in with reasons for my picks, and a Plan B to preserve FI if they fail. It's up to you if you accept that your Plan B is to work longer, but to get a positive response, you'll probably need reasons for your picks. And a thick skin to get through the skeptical comments - because they're meant as positive advice!

Anyway, good luck.

PS. You could run a mock portfolio. After you beat the market for a couple years, share your logic and picks for the third year. By then, hopefully ChpBstrd's posts will be as familiar as your trusty Investment Policy Statement.

Thank you for the reply.
The thing is I didn't ask anyone to critique my stock buying choices.
I was merely interested to see what people were looking to buy.
People have no clue what my financial status is. I even stated that I had $50k to play with and I still get hostile comments.
The main reason why I'm even dabbling in stock right now is its hard to go wrong with most of the stocks right now. Most are at a discount if you're planning to hold on for the long run.
Sure I'll make lots of mistakes along the way but why are people even worry about me making mistakes when I stated I had $50k to play with.
All the hostile comments are uncalled really.

[desk_jockey]

Do you actually think the government will let it [DAL] fail ??.

This logic cracks me up.  :-)))

Take a look at the DAL stock history and you'll see that it started trading in 2007.   Delta was a publicly traded company throughout the 80s and 90s.   In 2005 Delta entered bankruptcy.   In 2007 it emerged from bankruptcy, issued new stock and began trading on the NYSE.   Throughout that time, it kept flying under the same name with mostly the same aircraft and employees to mostly their same destinations.   To the passenger’s eye, it appeared to be the same company except for maybe the logo change as it emerged from bankruptcy.

The money that was raised by the sale of new DAL stock went to pay debtor’s claims made in bankruptcy court. The old delta stock shares were canceled, and those shareholders received nothing. 

Yes, one could say that the government didn’t let Delta Airlines fail, but the stock went to zero and their investors lost everything.

[Dancin'Dog]

Here's a link to a screener that I've been using from Obermatt.com  I've been using it to search for value stocks, but it screens for growth too.  It's a very simple layout that makes comparing stocks very easy. 


https://o.obermatt.com/subscription/manage/#filter?country=USA


It's free, but you'll need to register to try it.  They call it a "Filter".  I just set it to view US stocks & usually choose the market cap size.  I liked it enough to pay $7 to try the full features for a month. 


After getting a list of stocks I'll check to see if there have been any large insider buys since February.  BG , ANDE, & CRS were a few that I noticed. 

[beltim]

LOL. The hostility on this forum is fucking insane.
The title of my post if to see what stocks people are buying/looking to buy.
This wasn't a "hey critique my stock choices" thread.

In this forum, like so many others, the responses you get take their cue from the original post.  And in the original post you didn't have any investment thesis for the stocks you suggested, and what you did say was that your selections had no rhyme or reason, and that you were looking for stocks priced under $100 per share.  These are not good ways to select a stock.  Are you surprised that people warned you against this kind of investing?

On the, "hey critique my stock choices," did you really think that people would just list a bunch of tickers, and not discuss why, or at what price?  Is that really what you wanted?  If so, here:
CODI, OHI, MKL, BRK.B, DIS

[MustacheAndaHalf]

Jack0Life - Re-read my comment if you think it was hostile.  I complimented you for picking stocks from different industries.  I also stated that I didn't understand your approach.  By the way, if the attacks get personal, it can be a good time to remind people of the forum rules (or report them, if it's over the line).

desk_jockey - Good point about the stock not surviving in a bankruptcy.  Even worse, Warren Buffet has held Delta for a long time, and began dumping the stock.  Maybe he's looking at it the same way.

marty998 - On what data says airlines won't be flying normally until the middle of next year?  Most of your other points are already priced in to airline stocks.  The "JETS" airline ETF is -57.5% YTD.
https://etfdb.com/etf/JETS/#performance

[bwall]

@desk_jockey ; not just Delta, by the way. There is a slew of companies like that. I think all the airlines save Southwest declared bankruptcy before/during the GFC and wiped out shareholders. GM too. Yes, that GM. They still kept producing cars during the bankruptcy but shareholders walked away with just a sad story to tell. Chrysler was owned by private equity but they still declared bankruptcy.

Lots of companies that people think are too big, too entrenched, too important, etc. go bankrupt, because, well, turns out they aren't.

I think that any investment in an airline company is going to be dead money for years.

If you're looking for stock picks, I think that bio-tech is a great place to start. Risky, but the field is growing by leaps and bounds.

[BicycleB]

Tough crowd, eh, @Jack0Life?

I am seasoned (started 1990s, raised my investments during 2008-09 financial crisis). I have not yet bought an individual stock. I am FI using index funds, real estate, and other bland non-stock revenue streams. So I mostly agree with the many comments you've received.

Your breezy tone sounds like it's cool to play around with 50k. That approach is likely to be costly, but I sympathize. Investing in live stocks would be a lot more fun than running a mock portfolio while you build experience. I may at some point make some small investments in individual stocks, wanting to come out ahead, even though I know it might be folly. Part of my reason is that skin in the game will make it real so that I pay attention. But I will at least go in with reasons for my picks, and a Plan B to preserve FI if they fail. It's up to you if you accept that your Plan B is to work longer, but to get a positive response, you'll probably need reasons for your picks. And a thick skin to get through the skeptical comments - because they're meant as positive advice!

Anyway, good luck.

PS. You could run a mock portfolio. After you beat the market for a couple years, share your logic and picks for the third year. By then, hopefully ChpBstrd's posts will be as familiar as your trusty Investment Policy Statement.

Thank you for the reply.
The thing is I didn't ask anyone to critique my stock buying choices.
I was merely interested to see what people were looking to buy.
People have no clue what my financial status is. I even stated that I had $50k to play with and I still get hostile comments.
The main reason why I'm even dabbling in stock right now is its hard to go wrong with most of the stocks right now. Most are at a discount if you're planning to hold on for the long run.
Sure I'll make lots of mistakes along the way but why are people even worry about me making mistakes when I stated I had $50k to play with.
All the hostile comments are uncalled really.

My comment wasn't intended to be hostile, sorry if it came off like that!

I'm a literalist (maybe autistic) - my intent was to respond to your OP, which stated that it was your first month of buying individual stocks and opinions were sought from seasoned investors. So I explained the modest level of my seasoning, then offered what I imagined as the most useful information I had that a newbie to this investment type might not know or have considered.

Whatever you do is fine with me. I can't tell if it's a good or bad time for individual stock investments, you might be right. Kudos for previously posting your actions and reasoning, and for choosing a set amount of your larger portfolio for these experiments. I can totally imagine doing something similar, and am sincere in wishing you the best. Let us know what happens!

Fwiw, the stock I am eyeing at present is EPR (Entertainment Properties Trust), a REIT that focuses on entertainment properties.

I know all too little about REITs, so I read comments on this blog and related ones when knowledgeable posters have something to say. Forum vet Chasesfish, a recently FIRED 30something banker, recently mentioned it when blogging about his individual picks. Chasesfish himself has written that he does not believe that the reward-per-hour for stock picking is worthwhile under a $1 million portfolio, on the basis that better $/hour can be earned by working at jobs, side hustles, cost saving actions, etc. As a FIREd person with existing expertise and over $1 million, for now he has made some individual picks. His comments are NOT investment advice (nor are mine). EPR is briefly discussed in second paragraph of post below.

https://stopironingshirts.com/2020/04/13/february-march-income-report/

Googling, EPR's stock price fell during the COVID era from about $80/share to the low to mid 20s, a 70% decline. That doesn't automatically mean it's a bargain. Perhaps the slowdown in use of such properties will merit more than a 70% decline.

It caught my attention in the general context that, for long term risk/reward reasons, I am considering a diversification of my portfolio to include REITs. And Chasesfish himself has offered some cogent thoughts that in REITs, the indexing advantage may not be as clear cut, implying that REITs might be an area where picking individual stocks could be advantageous.

[desk_jockey]

@desk_jockey ; not just Delta, by the way. There is a slew of companies like that. I think all the airlines save Southwest declared bankruptcy before/during the GFC and wiped out shareholders. GM too. Yes, that GM. They still kept producing cars during the bankruptcy but shareholders walked away with just a sad story to tell. Chrysler was owned by private equity but they still declared bankruptcy.

The history of Delta so perfectly contradicts that statement made to justify purchasing the shares, that I had to point it out.   But you’re very correct, there are many fine examples companies that were too important for the government to allow them to fail that failed spectacularly.

Jack0Life, I see that you’re new here. Take some time to read older posts and get to know the culture of the forum.  We have a history of giving “face punches” for stupid behaviors.   In general members rely on index funds and tend to limited the percentage of their portfolio in individual stocks, which aren't day traded.

Intentional or not, your initial post came across as something more suitable for r/wallstreetbets and so you got face punch responses.    Try a different approach more aligned with this forum, and you’ll get more love.

[Retire-Canada]

Intentional or not, your initial post came across as something more suitable for r/wallstreetbets and so you got face punch responses.    Try a different approach more aligned with this forum, and you’ll get more love.

I'd add that you don't have to 100% agree with the general approach taken by most members of this forum, but you will get feedback based on the quality of the posts you put up. A well explained and defended minority opinion can and does get respectful responses. Your OP [which is all we had to go on in terms of understanding your position] directly lead to the responses you received.

[Jack0Life]

@desk_jockey ; not just Delta, by the way. There is a slew of companies like that. I think all the airlines save Southwest declared bankruptcy before/during the GFC and wiped out shareholders. GM too. Yes, that GM. They still kept producing cars during the bankruptcy but shareholders walked away with just a sad story to tell. Chrysler was owned by private equity but they still declared bankruptcy.

The history of Delta so perfectly contradicts that statement made to justify purchasing the shares, that I had to point it out.   But you’re very correct, there are many fine examples companies that were too important for the government to allow them to fail that failed spectacularly.

Jack0Life, I see that you’re new here. Take some time to read older posts and get to know the culture of the forum.  We have a history of giving “face punches” for stupid behaviors.   In general members rely on index funds and tend to limited the percentage of their portfolio in individual stocks, which aren't day traded.

Intentional or not, your initial post came across as something more suitable for r/wallstreetbets and so you got face punch responses.    Try a different approach more aligned with this forum, and you’ll get more love.

I didn't see anything that worthy of facepunch.
Did everyone just skip over my purchase of ABT stock and focused on Delta instead.
Did everyone missed the part I had $50k to play with ?? Whats the big deal about a $2200 investment.
I won't be replying anymore in this thread.
I'll bring it back up 6 months, a year from now and see who gets the facepunch. I'll facepunch myself if Delta go bankrupt

[Davnasty]

@desk_jockey ; not just Delta, by the way. There is a slew of companies like that. I think all the airlines save Southwest declared bankruptcy before/during the GFC and wiped out shareholders. GM too. Yes, that GM. They still kept producing cars during the bankruptcy but shareholders walked away with just a sad story to tell. Chrysler was owned by private equity but they still declared bankruptcy.

The history of Delta so perfectly contradicts that statement made to justify purchasing the shares, that I had to point it out.   But you’re very correct, there are many fine examples companies that were too important for the government to allow them to fail that failed spectacularly.

Jack0Life, I see that you’re new here. Take some time to read older posts and get to know the culture of the forum.  We have a history of giving “face punches” for stupid behaviors.   In general members rely on index funds and tend to limited the percentage of their portfolio in individual stocks, which aren't day traded.

Intentional or not, your initial post came across as something more suitable for r/wallstreetbets and so you got face punch responses.    Try a different approach more aligned with this forum, and you’ll get more love.

I didn't see anything that worthy of facepunch.
Did everyone just skip over my purchase of ABT stock and focused on Delta instead.
Did everyone missed the part I had $50k to play with ?? Whats the big deal about a $2200 investment.
I won't be replying anymore in this thread.
I'll bring it back up 6 months, a year from now and see who gets the facepunch. I'll facepunch myself if Delta go bankrupt

If you bet on black and black wins, that doesn't mean you made a good decision.

The real question is who has the statistical advantage, you or the house?

[bwall]

To me the suggestion of $2200 on Delta was like 'hey! I can afford to lose it!'. And, that may be the case. But, does that make it a smart decision?

Better to spend that $2200 on fine wine or beer. At least then it wouldn't be wasted.

[desk_jockey]

I didn't see anything that worthy of facepunch.
Did everyone just skip over my purchase of ABT stock and focused on Delta instead.
Did everyone missed the part I had $50k to play with ?? Whats the big deal about a $2200 investment.
I won't be replying anymore in this thread.
I'll bring it back up 6 months, a year from now and see who gets the facepunch. I'll facepunch myself if Delta go bankrupt

I didn’t skip over your purchase of ABT and JPM, I simply answered DAL because that was the reasoning that stood out most to me.
   
What I noticed is that you’re judging success by where the stocks are trading a few days after purchasing them, “ABT got as high as $100”.  I think that's face-punch worthy in this forum.           

[Optimiser]

@Jack0Life Are you familiar with the efficient market hypothesis?

You think that you are getting a bargain on Delta at $22, but somebody else is happy to get rid of Delta for $22. If it was a sure bet to go up, why would they do that? Do you know something that they don't? Every stock transaction has a buyer and seller. Most of the people engaging in those transactions are professionals. There are entire teams of people putting in 40+ hours per week, day in and day out analyzing Delta's stock trying to determine what it's going to be worth in the future. What makes you think you know better than they do?

[Daisyedwards800]

@Jack0Life Are you familiar with the efficient market hypothesis?

You think that you are getting a bargain on Delta at $22, but somebody else is happy to get rid of Delta for $22. If it was a sure bet to go up, why would they do that? Do you know something that they don't? Every stock transaction has a buyer and seller. Most of the people engaging in those transactions are professionals. There are entire teams of people putting in 40+ hours per week, day in and day out analyzing Delta's stock trying to determine what it's going to be worth in the future. What makes you think you know better than they do?

This is true but a lot of those traders are judged on more short-term profits, whereas we can hold for a long time.

[hodedofome]

Technology and software is taking over the world. Most of these are up for the year or at all time highs.

AMZN
NFLX
RNG
DOCU
BILL
ZM
AVLR
SHOP
WORK

A portfolio of these stocks hardly saw any losses for the year, and have already recovered them. They are growing like bonkers and taking over the world.

[highflyingstache]

For everyone who's replied here; it appears OPs statement is very clear. He has 50K to PLAY with. That's his investment plan. So we should let him do that.

However the confirmation bias is startling, at least. When something goes up, the response has been, "look at me, look it's done well, I'm right, see?" And to be blunt, it's show off attitude that got most of the people here riled up.

The depth of question everyone wants to know is, what is your secret to all these tickers? I'll take Delta as it's what I know. I won't touch anything else, as I don't have a valid opinion on them. I've been in the same industry as Delta for over 10 years. I understand the ratios, RASM, CASM, and all the other aviation metrics. I know the cost of parts, gas, how much ancillary fees are typically asked of customers. I review this every quarter for my company and a few others. Even with that, I don't know Delta's numbers. But at least give me an afternoon, I'll look through it, cut out the clickbait Motley Fool comments, read some annual reports, see what the CEOs plan is, and maybe get back to you.
Knowing aviation, I probably still wouldn't put my heart into it, even 100 shares. I am a value investor, I do pick individual stocks, and have zero interest in Delta. Not because of who they are, not even particularly their product. Might be their Pilot's contract, or the different regional subcontracts that fly for them. Might be something to do with the age of their fleet, or anything else that loses their competitive advantage. But that's just me. It's my choice not to invest. At least I can put some articulation behind it, and given time, I can also put some numbers to prove that.

So, what we're all asking, is what inspired your 100 shares of DAL, at $22? Or are you just playing, like you say? Appears you have a few other tickers to explain as well...

[Greenbeats]

if I were to think what companies were disproportionately affected by this covid thing and as mentioned elsewhere and is the prevailing notion that the govt, corporations, and ppl in general will push us back to “normalcy” as quickly as possible I kinda understand the delta play. I would look at the strongest retail, hospitality, cruise line etc stocks and expect them to rebound. Especially if your time horizon isn’t short. I’m not saying this is the right play or smartest I just understand the logic.

I’m thinking about rolling the dice on royal Caribbean.

[Dancin'Dog]

I was bored & watching the market as it's been bouncing back up and decided to try a few small individual stocks.  I ended up buying $1000 each of 19 different stocks that I chose from a couple Obermatt.com lists. 


I watched the group for a couple of days and it beat the markets quite a bit each day, so I decided to buy in yesterday afternoon.  There was a little dip after I bought, but my group recovered today and still beat the markets.  My group gained 2.49% against S&P 500(-0.04%) and Dow 30 (0.28%).


I want to diversify a bit more, so plan to add a few more stocks to the group.  I'll scale up if things go well.  (I haven't decided on a method for scaling up yet.)


Here's my list:
FTNT
DIOD
IVAC
AVNW
CODA
DGII
VSH
XPER
PCTI
BRKS
SANM
TGNA
LAD
UFS
OSK
GHC
DAN
RS
ABG

[MustacheAndaHalf]

For me, it's hard for me to understand a row of stock symbols with no other information.

Technology and software is taking over the world. Most of these are up for the year or at all time highs.
AMZN
NFLX
RNG
DOCU
BILL
ZM
AVLR
SHOP
WORK

A portfolio of these stocks hardly saw any losses for the year, and have already recovered them. They are growing like bonkers and taking over the world.

I copied those entries into https://www.morningstar.com/instant-x-ray and got this:

11.11       Shopify Inc A   Software - Application   633.61   1,111.11   59.38
11.11       RingCentral Inc Clas   Software - Application   223.39   1,111.11   32.44
11.11       Zoom Video Communica   Telecom Services   156.65   1,111.11   130.34
11.11       Slack Technologies I   Software - Application   26.88   1,111.11   19.57
11.11       Netflix Inc   Entertainment   403.59   1,111.11   24.80

11.11       Avalara Inc   Software - Application   87.18   1,111.11   19.02
11.11       Amazon.com Inc   Internet Retail   2,314.07   1,111.11   25.23
11.11       DocuSign Inc   Software - Application   103.94   1,111.11   40.25
11.11       Bill.com Holdings In   Software - Application   55.42   1,111.11   45.65

[MustacheAndaHalf]

Here's my list:
FTNT
DIOD
IVAC
AVNW
CODA
DGII
VSH
XPER
PCTI
BRKS
SANM
TGNA
LAD
UFS
OSK
GHC
DAN
RS
ABG

This required two passes to get the stocks showing up in the "top 10" area of X-ray.
https://www.morningstar.com/instant-x-ray

11.11       PCTEL Inc   Communication Equipment   6.77   1,111.11   -19.42
11.11       Intevac Inc   Aerospace & Defense   5.44   1,111.11   -22.95
11.11       Xperi Corp   Semiconductor Equipment & Materials   15.33   1,111.11   -16.05
11.11       Vishay Intertechnolo   Semiconductors   15.97   1,111.11   -24.54
11.11       Fortinet Inc   Software - Infrastructure   105.44   1,111.11   -1.24

11.11       Coda Octopus Group I   Aerospace & Defense   5.80   1,111.11   -30.70
11.11       Aviat Networks Inc   Communication Equipment   9.47   1,111.11   -32.60
11.11       Diodes Inc   Semiconductors   50.48   1,111.11   -10.45
11.11       Digi International I   Communication Equipment   11.40   1,111.11   -35.67

10.00       Oshkosh Corp   Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery   67.32   1,000.00   -28.56
10.00       Lithia Motors Inc Cl   Auto & Truck Dealerships   112.54   1,000.00   -23.24
10.00       Reliance Steel & Alu   Steel   89.46   1,000.00   -24.78
10.00       Tegna Inc   Broadcasting   10.99   1,000.00   -33.73
10.00       Sanmina Corp   Electronic Components   26.93   1,000.00   -21.35

10.00       Brooks Automation In   Semiconductor Equipment & Materials   37.89   1,000.00   -9.46
10.00       Asbury Automotive Gr   Auto & Truck Dealerships   63.54   1,000.00   -43.16
10.00       Dana Inc   Auto Parts   9.79   1,000.00   -45.66
10.00       Graham Holdings Co   Education & Training Services   376.37   1,000.00   -40.65
10.00       Domtar Corp   Paper & Paper Products   23.75   1,000.00   -36.70

[MustacheAndaHalf]

hodedofome - What do you think of using SPDR S&P Software & Services ETF (XSW) as a benchmark?
https://etfdb.com/etf/XSW/#holdings
It allocates much less to top holdings Zoom and Docusign.  Won't those companies lose business when the lock down ends, and people are no longer forced to use their products?

GreenEggs - What stands out now is 4 of 19 picks (21%) all being semiconductor related:
Xperi Corp... Vishay Intertechnolo... Diodes Inc... Brooks Automation In...
Based on the X-ray data I copied here, does it seem like too much concentration in semiconductors?

[Dancin'Dog]

hodedofome - What do you think of using SPDR S&P Software & Services ETF (XSW) as a benchmark?
https://etfdb.com/etf/XSW/#holdings
It allocates much less to top holdings Zoom and Docusign.  Won't those companies lose business when the lock down ends, and people are no longer forced to use their products?

GreenEggs - What stands out now is 4 of 19 picks (21%) all being semiconductor related:
Xperi Corp... Vishay Intertechnolo... Diodes Inc... Brooks Automation In...
Based on the X-ray data I copied here, does it seem like too much concentration in semiconductors?

Thanks for pointing that out.  I combined two lists of 10 from Obermatt to make my portfolio, one being tech based. (I skipped one stoke (SEB) because the share price was well over my $1,000 allotment.)  I plan to diversify by adding a few more stocks, in other sectors & maybe sell off a semiconductor. 


I should have included the number of shares with my lists, since none equal exactly $1000 lots.  I'm using Yahoo Finance to track the portfolio, so I probably could have cut & pasted my holdings page.  (I'm not very computer savvy...) 


Obermatt suggests diversifying by buying internationally, but I need to check and see which exchanges I can access through my Vanguard account.  I screened a list of Japanese stocks and was very impressed with the number of highly rated listings.  I'll need to check into getting supporting data about foreign stocks too, since I like to cross reference each stock to get more details. 


It would be easy to just set up separate mini portfolios for each country or region, but maybe it's not wise to hold too many separate stocks?  I've read that 20-30 stocks is a good number to hold.  It's exciting to buy them & watch them increase in price, but I'm sure it's very frustrating to watch as large portfolio goes down. 

[Padonak]

I'm looking at BRK.b and waiting for the right moment

[MustacheAndaHalf]

GreenEggs - I don't think we see diversification the same way.  If I bought one semiconductor company, I would buy far more than 20 companies before purchasing a second semiconductor company.  Most people take the easy way out with index funds, so if you don't, I'd still recommend learning more about how others view diversification.
https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/investment-products/mutual-funds/diversification

If you stock pick international companies directly, you can buy American Depository Receipts (ADR) shares in the U.S., and apparently there's a few other methods as well:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/032615/how-trade-foreign-stocks.asp

My own risk tolerance got very, very high just after the March bottom (and current bottom, but nothing is guaranteed).  To me, the opportunity was to pick deeply discounted stocks during a panic, then wait for the panic to subside.  Some may go bankrupt, but the stocks that recover should make up for it.


Padonak - I suspect Buffet will do quite well picking value stocks during a crisis.  But Buffet has to buy sizable companies to make any difference to his company's profits, and that severely limits which companies he can buy.  So ultimately, I don't think Buffet can beat the market long term owing to having such a large pool of assets.  I'm curious how you see BRK.B - as a short term investment that might beat the S&P 500, or a long term safer place for assets?

[Padonak]

I see BRK.B as a long term safe place for assets. I wouldn't put all eggs in one basket, of course, maybe 5-10% of the portfolio.

[Dancin'Dog]

GreenEggs - I don't think we see diversification the same way.  If I bought one semiconductor company, I would buy far more than 20 companies before purchasing a second semiconductor company.  Most people take the easy way out with index funds, so if you don't, I'd still recommend learning more about how others view diversification.
https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/investment-products/mutual-fundsersification

If you stock pick international companies directly, you can buy American Depository Receipts (ADR) shares in the U.S., and apparently there's a few other methods as well:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/032615/how-trade-foreign-stocks.asp

My own risk tolerance got very, very high just after the March bottom (and current bottom, but nothing is guaranteed).  To me, the opportunity was to pick deeply discounted stocks during a panic, then wait for the panic to subside.  Some may go bankrupt, but the stocks that recover should make up for it.


Padonak - I suspect Buffet will do quite well picking value stocks during a crisis.  But Buffet has to buy sizable companies to make any difference to his company's profits, and that severely limits which companies he can buy.  So ultimately, I don't think Buffet can beat the market long term owing to having such a large pool of assets.  I'm curious how you see BRK.B - as a short term investment that might beat the S&P 500, or a long term safer place for assets?

I understand diversification means buying stocks in a variety of sectors too, and different asset classes, etc.  I was just pointing out that I realized foreign stocks was a form of diversification & I'd just been looking at the Japanese listings.

[Jack0Life]

I hate to disappoint all the bashers out there but I sold my Delta this morning at $26.50(a little above $27 now).
A $450(20%) return on my $2200 in 5 days. I'll take it.
Chase is looking good right now $98++.
Yesterday ABT stocks went down so I decide to double up on it cause I think great for long-term.
So I got 100 ABT @83
And another 100 ABT @92

[Retire-Canada]

I hate to disappoint all the bashers out there but I sold my Delta this morning at $26.50(a little above $27 now).
A $450(20%) return on my $2200 in 5 days. I'll take it.

You made $450 in 5 days???? Wow. Just Wow!

[DeniseNJ]

I hate to disappoint all the bashers out there but I sold my Delta this morning at $26.50(a little above $27 now).
A $450(20%) return on my $2200 in 5 days. I'll take it.

You made $450 in 5 days???? Wow. Just Wow!

Uber was at $15 for like a day in mid March and at 22 a few weeks ago, from its 40 buck range.  Anybody with 15 bucks would have double their money by now, currently trading at $32.  I didn't get the cash into the acct quick enough at 15 but I bought some at 20.  Was hoping it would dip again but it just keeps going up.  (Only talking a few hundred bucks here, not the stash.)

[chicagomeg]

Figure you really can't go wrong with most of the stocks right now. Its for long term. Can't lose money buying stocks of companies with solid foundation right ??

I think buying individual stocks is fine if you know what you're doing. I understand that for some people having a pot of "mad money" to trade with helps resist the urge to make bigger moves in your main portfolio. What I don't understand is why you have stated your objective is that the stocks are "for the long term" but you're selling positions and locking in short term gains. For tax purposes, if nothing else, it seems contradictory.

Do you realize that (at least in the US) short term gains are taxed at your ordinary income rate? You should do the math if you're coming out ahead by day trading because I am extremely skeptical.

No one is saying you can't make some money day trading, it's that you're not likely to beat the market in the long run, especially once you factor in the vast difference in tax treatment of short and long term gains. To me, the risk reward calculation is wrong.

By the way, my boyfriend is a professional futures trader and does NOT do any day trading or short term speculation in his personal accounts. I remind myself of that every time I think I should try my hand at it.

[ice_beard]

Here's my list:
FTNT
DIOD
IVAC
AVNW
CODA
DGII
VSH
XPER
PCTI
BRKS
SANM
TGNA
LAD
UFS
OSK
GHC
DAN
RS
ABG

This is an "interesting" and diverse list.  I personally wouldn't touch anything auto industry specific for quite some time.  Hard times are just beginning for the producers, dealerships and part suppliers. 

All the oil cos I bought back in March are killing it.  COP, ET, EOG, SLB, TOT others.  I think ET has room to run.  The one oil tanker, not so much.  Turns out supply isn't as bad as it appeared.  They are taking it on the chin today, bigly. 
I took a risk on STWD and it's also "killing it" since purchase.  Banks bought a month ago are also up some, FITB, C.  C is way up.  I feel like the train has left the station for a lot of these though.  There are some laggards and one has to look into why exactly they are lagging at this point.