About two years ago, on the night that Apple announced the coming of the iPod video, I decided that I was going to invest in Apple. That night their stock was under $50. I told my father that I wanted to put a bunch of money into AAPL and that I wanted him to pass this on to my financial adviser/investor. My dad got back to me the next day and told me that I was advised not to put anything into Apple. They were being inflated by the holidays and their stock was sure to plummet in the near future.

Today AAPL hit $190. I'm no longer with that adviser. I do, however want to go into his office to punch him. I want to punch him so badly. Just once.

Anybody ever make, or almost make, a brilliant or completely stupid investment?

I haven't yet, but there are several companies I want to invest in...your story above is one of the reasons why I get nervous about it all; having to rely on investment information that may be wrong. It's all a gamble and a risk, though. Take an advisor's information into account, but do your own research before before you make a move. That's what I plan to do.

i never have, no. but i do know someone who (stupidly) sold his apple stock for cheap the day before the first ipod came out because it hadn't been making any money for him. perhaps he has the same advisor that you did sykeo.

I wanted to get in on google when they announced they would be going public. I was between jobs and uber broke. They are now trading at 695.99. I am now currently on the look out for the next up and coming company.

Oh. That's painful. He probably did have the same guy. I think his name was... Satan?

I am too. I'm constantly keeping an eye out for trends. I made fun of Crox when they came out. I still do. I now just wish that I realized the value of a trend - even if it's a funny looking rubber trend. Their stock has blown up since they came out.

If i get some good information I will happily pass it along.

Investing Wins:
I bought Microsoft at $60 and sold it (after a split) at $75.
I bought WorldComat $25 and sold it for almost $90 (This is way before all the illegal stuff)

Investing Losses:
Too many (and too painful) to list.

Overall - My retirement is doing OK. It's the here and now that sucks.

This is, actually, my line of business. Our firm is in the Top 100 in the Nation(Rep mag), the Winner's Circle (Research mag), and various others, and I can tell you that even in our firm there is always one that slips through the cracks. It's the nature of the game.

Regarding AAPL it sounds like that advisor was not making an informed decision. That is one of the biggest errors that an advisor can make. Assume you know all the facts and it will come back and bite you in the ass. If he would have actually known what was coming up with Apple he would have to have been pretty bearish to not jump on it.

I didn't invest in HealthSouth right before Richard Scrushy was indicted.

I don't really do any investing at the moment- it's something down the road for us, since right now all of our "extra" money goes to paying off student loans early, and after that it will be put towards a down payment for a house.

I do know, however, that my father-in-law started a college fund for my daughter, and my husband and I contribute to that. It's split between a couple of mutual funds (one is a growth fund, the other is the more conservative kind, I don't remember the term...).

Back in 02', a friend of mine was talking alot about XM Radio. He was buying stock as he saw it as the next wave in radio.

I started watching it's stock daily through AOL chat (or maybe Yahoo, I don't know), and for some reason, it was dropping.

Anyway, it got to just under $1.50 a share, and I thought man, to drop $10,000 into this stock now. Even if it went to $10 a share, I'd make a some good money. I feared it dropping further though, maybe even below $1.00, taking it off the market, and becoming worthless. So I didn't invest.

Within two years, it peaked to close to $40 a share before dropping to it's current $13 something a share.

My math might be off, but had I dropped that $10,000 when it was at it's low, I could have made a little over $250,000.

I know a large number of people who invested varying sums into Bre-X. I guess the salting crew made it okay....

I'd love to be able to play the game and invest in little companies I think would grow. Being in the mineral exploration industry, I usually have a good feel for who's got what. The problem is, my internet/outside world access is so often limited.... it's something I'll probably do when I'm older and more 'settled'.

What exactly do you do? I've been wondering since I saw something you posted about the temperature where you work.

Spam

saw that coming lol

....looks like a good place for a plug.


roflmao

Holdin on to HYGS like an heirloom.

so around the time I started this thread I put a chunk of booty into the market. Just so happened to be the time the market turned down. Its been woes ever since. Though maybe this recession is over and I'll have a "woohoo." That would be nice.

A little bird told me their initials are FB. Not public yet...but analysts are proclaiming it "the next google"

What company is that?