Stocks 2006- Part 2
January 1st, 2007 by MarkHere’s the end of 2006 update for my portfolio. All the quotes are from the close of December 29th, 2006. As usual, I’m not posting my IRA investments.
Stocks I’ve bought since 2005:
| Symbol | Shares | Current Price | Current Value | Purchase Date | Cost | $ Gain | % Gain |
| BWLD | 40 | 53.20 | 2,128.00 | 02/28/2005 | 1,500.00 | 628.00 | 41.9 |
| BWLD | 40 | 53.2 | 2,128 | 05/05/2005 | 1,160.00 | 968 | 83.4 |
| COLM | 40 | 55.7 | 2,228 | 06/30/2005 | 1,950.80 | 277.2 | 14.2 |
| CTRP | 100 | 62.37 | 6,237 | 05/02/2006 | 4,558.00 | 1679.00 | 36.8 |
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08/02/2005 | 1,611.50 | 685.5 | 39.62 | |
| FLML | 80 | 29.95 | 2,396 | 08/05/2005 | 1,500.00 | 896.00 | 59.7 |
| MIDD | 40 | 104.67 | 4,186.8 | 02/28/2005 | 2,189.20 | 1,997.60 | 91.2 |
| MIDD | 20 | 104.67 | 2,093.40 | 03/17/2005 | 1,061.79 | 1031.61 | 97.2 |
| NTES | 80 | 18.69 | 1,495.20 | 08/08/2005 | 1,504.00 | -8.80 | -0.6 |
| SCSS | 90[1] | 17.39 | 1,565.1 | 10/06/2005 | 1,103.40 | 461.70 | 41.8 |
| SNDA | 120 | 21.67 | 2,600.40 | 12/19/2005 | 2,040.00 | 560.40 | 27.5 |
| SNDA | 130 | 21.67 | 2,817.10 | 02/21/2006 | 2,025.50 | 791.60 | 39.1 |
| SNDA | 150 | 21.67 | 3,250.50 | 03/01/2006 | 2,045.00 | 1,205.50 | 58.9 |
| UFCS | 50 | 35.25 | 1,762.50 | 03/28/2005 | 1,713.00 | 49.50 | 2.9 |
| Total | $37,138 | $25,962 | $11,176 | +43.0 |
My Annualized Gain: +37.6%
SP 500: +8.1%
Wilshire 5000: +9.1%
Russel 2000: +9.8%
Sales
I haven’t sold anything at all since my last update.
Other holdings
I’ve still got my Amgen stock from way back when, a little bit of my in an index fund and my IRA investments. I carry a margin balance, so my portfolio isn’t worth the amount listed above.[2].
Looking Back
I feel vindicated about buying 盛大. I’m pretty happy with all of my holdings, and I still want to buy some 尚德电力, once I have some money.
All in all, though, this half a year was an investing failure- I didn’t add a single dollar to my savings. That’s a terrible mistake, especially at my age.
Looking Forward
Since moving back into the city to work at a start-up company, I really haven’t had any extra money to put aside. It’s really too bad, because I missed a great opportunity to finally invest in 百度 (Baidu). With how much its price has increased recently, I’m not sure if I will or not now. As my new job becomes more profitable, I’ll definitely starting saving and investing in something, though. Pretty much all of the companies I’m looking at now are the same ones I wanted to buy six months ago.
[1] Due to a 3-2 stock split, I now have 90 shares instead of 60.
[2] I carry a margin balance. That means that I’ve borrowed money to make some of my investments. The liquidation value of my account isn’t actually $37k.
Legal Disclaimer: All of the information in this article is accurate to the best of my knowledge. However, I make no guarantee about the accuracy of anything written above. I’m not responsible for any mis-typings, or any other errors in the information. If you purchase any stock solely because I did, you do so at your own risk.
Related post: Stocks 2006- Part 1
Related post: My 2005 Investments
January 1st, 2007 at 10:30 pm
You’ve beaten the market solidly for two years. I’ll give you that. On the other hand, I hadn’t even heard of any of those companies before. They’re all obscure small-caps or Chinese companies. Isn’t it pretty much just a matter of luck? The way I see it, investing like the way you are is just like gambling.
January 2nd, 2007 at 2:36 am
First off, I’ll admit right away that I don’t expect to keep getting returns at this rate. My goal is to beat the market by 2% per year. It’s been a great start in terms of my returns so far, but I’m sure I’ll have bad years, too.
There’s a reason I pick the companies I do. If I were to investigate huge companies that draw tons of attention from major investors, then I’d have some stiff competition. They have money, connections, and resources that I don’t. One of the main parts of my strategy is to buy companies that aren’t being talked about in mainstream financial circles yet. The less analysts that follow a given company, the more likely it is to be mis-valued. If it happens to be under-valued, then that’s a great opportunity for me. Another advantage is that small caps, and especially Chinese companies, are growing faster than large American companies are.
I agree with you completely that investing is like gambling, but I don’t think luck is the main determinant in the success of an investor or a gambler.
May 30th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Nice returns. What do you make of the recent dip in Chinese stocks? Of Alan Greenspan’s comments that the China-bubble is due to burst? Are you thinking about selling out some of the small Chinese stocks you own, watching them drop a bit, and then buying back in?
May 30th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
I basically ignore those sorts of comments, and don’t even try to time market fluctuations. I just invest in companies that I think will do well over the long term (5+ years) and leave the money there for a long time unless something happens to change my mind. If they really do become great companies, their stock prices will rise regardless of various market dips.
The Chinese market on the whole, is growing faster than any other in the world, and it has been for decades. I would be very very surprised if the US or European stock markets grew more over the next 20 years than the Chinese market. That said, I do make an effort not to buy into things that are over-valued. One example is Baidu. It was the very first stock I analyzed on this blog and I’ve been wanting to buy it for quite a while. At its current price, though, it just isn’t the most attractive option for me.