Lies, damned lies, and statistics
Over on "Ragged Thots" a reader named Bill Barker left this little statistical post:
Solid financial advice...
If you had purchased $1,000 of Delta Airlines stock one year ago you would have $49.00 left.
With Enron, you would have had $16.50 left of the original $1,000.
With WorldCom,less than $5.00 would be left.
HOWEVER...
If you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all of the beer, then turned in the cans for the recycling refund, you would have $214.00 cash.
Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle. It's called the 401-Keg plan.
After thinking about what my 401(k) will look like when I get the notice at the end of the month, I much prefer the 401-Keg plan.
PBRs anyone?
it's all I can afford Mr Sobrino.
posted by Clemens @ 2:20 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
That said, only a fool buys stock and sells it exactly one year later, regardless of cost. Which is not to deny that there are a lot of fools on Wall Street.
If I had money, and if I were a betting man, I'd have bought Bank of America stock a couple of days ago (the day it tanked after buying Merill Lynch). I wonder how it's done since?
[Checks online stock tickers…]
…Holy smackerel, I'd be sitting pretty. I really did choose the wrong line of work!
Best time to buy BAC would have been mid-July though.
Once upon a time I worked for Control Data Corp which was doing so bad that it was obvious to everyone in the company that it would be sold. It was also obvious that as soon as word of that got out the stock price would go up. At the time I thought of hocking everything I owned or could borrow and buying Control Data stock. But I simply couldn't bring myself to do it.
Two weeks later the news hit that we were being sold and stock double.
Which is why I have TIAA/Cref and a supplemental 403(b): let them invest it for me. I sleep better at night.
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