Worst investment decision ever?

[GalaxyBoy]

I sold my AAPL stock sometime around 1999. Made a profit, but...

I decided in 1999 to put a bunch of money in QQQ, right before the dot-com bust.

In the 1990s my first fairly good-sized investment in a single stock was Media Vision, a sound card manufacturer. They turned out to be cooking the books and I watched it go from the $30 range to a penny stock. I finally told my broker to get rid of it because it showed up on my statement every month and made me mad each time I saw it.

 

[dirtbiker]

I put 1/3 of my net worth in SDLP at $5/share. Now it's worth around $.10/share after a negative 10/1 split making my $80K investment now worth about $160.

Ouch!

 

[ownyourfuture]

Left Apple a year before Jobs returned. Stock price at the time (accounting for splits) 0.15/share.

Three nickels.....WOW

06/16/1987 2 for 1
06/21/2000 2 for 1
02/28/2005 2 for 1
06/09/2014 7 for 1
08/31/2020 4 for 1

Amazing to think, that in 1997, close to bankrupt, Apple had to do this.

 

[RobLJ]

SDRL! (Luckily I only "invested" 5k in it.)

Luckily I bought more of Microsoft about 6 months later in 2012, so MrSofty has much more than made up for my drilling a hole and burning money in it on SDRL.

 

[Markola]

I think the worst mistake I ever witnessed up close was a late uncle, who moved to Costa Rica in the booming 1990s. There was a rampant bank fleece of retirees happening there, in which depositors were promised 30% returns/year. This outfit had bank storefronts and even ATMs. One day, when the Ponzi inevitably collapsed, my uncle and many, many others woke up to the news that all those bank branches were closed and the owner had fled the country. Very sad for him. He was an intelligent person but he died in poverty in San Jose and we got his ashes back in a box a few years later.

 

[WestUniversity]

Watching someone chew through a fortune trading options and commodities. Really painful to watch. It was like watching someone with a gambling addiction...

 

[HenryD]

I think the worst mistake I ever witnessed up close was a late uncle, who moved to Costa Rica in the booming 1990s. There was a rampant bank fleece of retirees happening there, in which depositors were promised 30% returns/year. This outfit had bank storefronts and even ATMs. One day, when the Ponzi inevitably collapsed, my uncle and many, many others woke up to the news that all those bank branches were closed and the owner had fled the country. Very sad for him. He was an intelligent person but he died in poverty in San Jose and we got his ashes back in a box a few years later.

Was that these guys? Villalobos conviction dashed hopes of quick payback

 

[Markola]

Was that these guys? Villalobos conviction dashed hopes of quick payback

Yes, exactly. Thanks for that article. Here’s another summarizing the whole multi billion scam of 6,400 American and Canadian expat retirees. Someone should have written a book about the “Costa Rican Bernie Madoff.”

https://www.costaricantimes.com/10-years-later-the-costa-rica-brothers-fund/13914

 

[gayl]

Panic sold 1000 SPY March 2020 and went cash. Original cost 140, sold at 222, bought CDs. 30 days later I went back to 90% equities. Yeah. Coulda shoulda taken a breath and not reacted. Not a huge one compared to others here but still big for me

 

[Montecfo]

Left Apple a year before Jobs returned. Stock price at the time (accounting for splits) 0.15/share.

I was looking at Apple for investment I'm the early 2000s at around 25 cents a share The company was totally on its heels and seemed like good value.

But then while I was looking at it is bounced up to 35 cents a share. I figured I had let it get away from me.

I did trade it much later and still hold my investment at $5 per share. A far cry from pennies though.

 

[dmpi]

Panic sold 1000 SPY March 2020 and went cash. Original cost 140, sold at 222, bought CDs. 30 days later I went back to 90% equities. Yeah. Coulda shoulda taken a breath and not reacted. Not a huge one compared to others here but still big for me

For me the crash happened so fast I simply didn't have time to react. I tend manage my investments slowly which turned out to be a good thing. When we hit bottom I saw how much I lost and I was impressed that I could take a seven figure hit and not go into a panic. In the 2008 crash (which I was 90% invested) I did sell off half which I slowly bought back in the following years. I'd hate to think how much that cost me.