Oops!...I Did It Again

[ownyourfuture]

No, I'm not talking about the Britney Spears song, I'm talking about bottom feeding on stocks.

My affliction is TTCAFKS
Trying to catch a falling knife syndrome
The last time I came down with a case of this, the falling knife was Bank of America. OUCH!

I couldn't help myself & just picked up 200 shares of GE @ $26.21
Hope I'm not sorry tomorrow

 

[Totoro]

One of my fondest memories of 2008 in the midst of the meltdown, is sitting in a bar with some random grouping of people and the discussion goes to stocks.

One person starts talking about how he bought Fortis (a big bank) stock with the quote "I mean, how much lower can it go?"

Apparently as we soon found out: all the way to zero

 

[euro]

No, I'm not talking about the Britney Spears song, I'm talking about bottom feeding on stocks.

My affliction is TTCAFKS
Trying to catch a falling knife syndrome
The last time I came down with a case of this, the falling knife was Bank of America. OUCH!

I couldn't help myself & just picked up 200 shares of GE @ $26.21
Hope I'm not sorry tomorrow

Yes, I too rode BoA down the tubes. Although (obviously) NOT to zero, so I was able to recover most of the losses eventually. Still, a very BAD experience. Not as bad as my MCI/Worldcom pick, however
On the upside, those two experiences seem to have cured my affliction.... haven't done it since.

 

[erkevin]

I have been riding Valeant Pharma into the depths of hell!

 

[Pilot2013]

I rode FMO (Federal Mogul) into bankruptcy, unfortunately with 90% of my retirement savings, in 1999/2000.

 

[Bigdawg]

I've been riding Spark Energy (SPKE) down from 23 to 17. Still up over 50% from initial purchase. I took some profit at 23 so I don't feel too bad. Pundits predict up so I may buy 100 shares with the play money account and see what happens.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I got punched in the throat with 2 huge losers. Early 2000, One went bankrupt : APPLY On LINE. and AMD I paid 218 ish for AMD. I remember telling my wife OMG, Im so sorry Im so stupid, as usual she calmed me down with something like "you tried, dont worry"

 

[MRG]

I have been riding Valeant Pharma into the depths of hell!

I WAS in a managed fund that overweighted Valeant! It was part of my 55-59.5 plan B strategy. Should have committed to plan A twelve months earlier.

 

[Car-Guy]

Been there done that. More than a few times. But Enron always come to mind. Probably because I keep an Enron stock certificate hanging in my study as a reminder.

 

[OldShooter]

Trading individual stocks is a lot of fun. I have a business partner, multimillionaire, who likes to goes to the casino. He & his wife drop a couple hundred bucks, enjoy themselves, and all is well.

It is when people think either amateur stock-picking or going to the casino is a serious way to make money that the wheels tend to come off the wagon. But there are always enough winnings in the short term to encourage the money loss in the long term.

Wikipedia: "Intermittent or partial reinforcement: Partial or intermittent negative reinforcement can create an effective climate of fear and doubt. Partial or intermittent positive reinforcement can encourage the victim to persist - for example in most forms of gambling, the gambler is likely to win now and again but still lose money overall."

 

[Fedup]

I got punched in the throat with 2 huge losers. Early 2000, One went bankrupt : APPLY On LINE. and AMD I paid 218 ish for AMD. I remember telling my wife OMG, Im so sorry Im so stupid, as usual she calmed me down with something like "you tried, dont worry"

I didn't know AMD was that high. I did buy AMD today for one of my kid's portfolio. She doesn't have enough for a Vanguard account, not enough for them not charging her a small fee. So far, I've been earning a small 2% by writing cash covered puts. I hope to make a bit of money for her.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I didn't know AMD was that high. I did buy AMD today for one of my kid's portfolio. She doesn't have enough for a Vanguard account, not enough for them not charging her a small fee. So far, I've been earning a small 2% by writing cash covered puts. I hope to make a bit of money for her.

You are correct!
it was NTAP> Amd was another loser but that was in the 90's. I had a few, I got the losers confused/ I lost money with AMD, Got slammed on NTAP. Thanks for the correction, I should have just reposted this It was a more accurate statementPrior to Firecalc, Who did you kick around ideas with?
I used to read money magazine, and listen to guys that always bragged about making a killing in the market. Then in early 2000 I jumped blindly into NTAP at 226 a share and some now defunct apply on line mortgage broker. This was from the precinct stock Guru. I lost my shirt. It didnt make me feel any better when he said he lost over 100K of his father in laws money. I apologized to the bride and told her we cut food coupons for years to save that money. She gave me a pass telling me we thought it was good advice. I promised to research things better and thats when i read every Bogle book, and the rest of the heavy weights.
__________________

 

[ownyourfuture]

Yes, I too rode BoA down the tubes. Although (obviously) NOT to zero, so I was able to recover most of the losses eventually. Still, a very BAD experience. Not as bad as my MCI/Worldcom pick, however
On the upside, those two experiences seem to have cured my affliction.... haven't done it since.

As of today, I'm +$240.67 on BAC.
But I don't even wish to think about how much I'd be up if I had simply invested that money in an index fund.

I had a friend at work who went big into MCI WorldCom when his broker told him he couldn't miss.

Bernard John "Bernie" Ebbers (born August 27, 1941) is a Canadian businessman. He co-founded the telecommunications company WorldCom and is a former chief executive officer of that company.

In 2005, he was convicted of fraud and conspiracy as a result of WorldCom's false financial reporting. The WorldCom scandal was, until the Madoff schemes came to light in 2008, the largest accounting scandal in United States history. He is currently serving a 25-year prison term at Oakdale Federal Correctional Complex in Louisiana.

In 2013, Portfolio.com & CNBC named Ebbers as the fifth-worst CEO in American history. In 2009, Time named him the tenth most corrupt CEO of all time.

 

[Lawrencewendall]

Yeah, I rode Linn Energy (LINN) into bankruptcy to the tune of about 20k.

 

[tinlizzy]

XOXO was my lesson in pump and dump stocks pre bankruptcy. Also a telecom.

 

[CoolChange]

I am in the boat of riding Enron to zero. More recently I have an unrealized 50% or so loss (including dividends) on SDLP.

But, TUR and some of the MLP's have treated me well since I scraped them off the bottom of the barrel.

These kinds of speculative bets are all very small bits of my net worth; but, as with a few others here, this is more fun for me than hours in the casino.

 

[ownyourfuture]

These kinds of speculative bets are all very small bits of my net worth; but, as with a few others here, this is more fun for me than hours in the casino.

Same for me,

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I know it sounds weird, But Im grateful to hear some of the stories about picking losers. Every one I used to talk to always made a killing, In my life I was always the one getting killed.

 

[Car-Guy]

I know it sounds weird, But Im grateful to hear some of the stories about picking losers. Every one I used to talk to always made a killing, In my life I was always the one getting killed.

I'm sure you don't believe everything folks tell you. Anyone who says they always win is stretching the truth, a lot.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Yeah , I got the guys yelling "how did you lose money on NTAP?" Oh you bought it when? ,OMG, thats when I sold it. What made you buy it then? At that point I just remember shuffling away depressed. hahah,

 

[euro]

I rode FMO (Federal Mogul) into bankruptcy, unfortunately with 90% of my retirement savings, in 1999/2000.

Oh WOW - that takes the cake! Sorry to hear that - a very bitter pill. Fortunately, MY excursions were just for a few hundred shares' worth of money from the "gambling pile".

 

[OldShooter]

I'm sure you don't believe everything folks tell you. Anyone who says they always win is stretching the truth, a lot.

Yes. People are quick to crow about successes, but failures are rarely admitted. The (literal) poster child for this is the casino winner or the lottery winner on the highway billboard. Casinos never post a picture of the gambling addict who is pi$$ing away the rent money. And lottery operators don't explain that the lottery is basically a tax on the poor and the ignorant. " ... 15 percent of millennials believe that winning the lottery is a viable retirement strategy ..." -- CNBC 1/30/14 Isn't that sad?

Kudos to the OP for this thread. Hopefully it will cause at least one potential market gambler to think twice about doing it for anything other than inexpensive fun.

 

[euro]

I got punched in the throat with 2 huge losers. Early 2000, One went bankrupt : APPLY On LINE. and AMD I paid 218 ish for AMD. I remember telling my wife OMG, Im so sorry Im so stupid, as usual she calmed me down with something like "you tried, dont worry"

That Missus sounds like a keeper! Hang on to her!

 

[Totoro]

And lottery operators don't explain that the lottery is basically a tax on the poor and the ignorant.

I used to say this too, now I've shifted to:

• Thinking about what I'll do when I win has entertainment value.
• I don't give up anything by gambling away 10 euros a month. I'd gain quite a bit if I'd win though.

So by not winning the lottery I functionally don't lose anything, and gain either a bit of daydream fun or a large boost in financial status.

Anyway, if we talk personal investment losses: my biggest one of commission is Mattel (MAT), -28% and counting. My biggest in omission is bitcoin. Bought at $7, sold at $20.

 

[haha]

That Missus sounds like a keeper! Hang on to her!

Agree. I knew a guy who actually successfully supported his family with some dividend paying stocks that he had collected over a decade or so. His wife, a real harpy, was constantly berating him and telling him that he wasn't making enough. He finally wised up and walked out. Though as usually happens it cost him his kids.

Ha