Too Hot Investment Thread

It's Mickey Dee's (MCD), current value is slightly over $102,000. Also have other plain vanilla stocks (ATT, Verizon, Regions Financial, Southern Co., Dominion Resources.

 

I think what would be interesting is a poll to keep it anonymous and avoid a peeing contest, but asking how much folks have in investable assets or net worth. I would bet there are some pretty wealthy people here and that much of the advice probably comes from people who have done well at it and should be heeded.

 

I just noticed that my autocorrect turned bullish into bullshit

 

I would participate but would certainly rank near the bottom

 

I, on the other hand, would post a very high number solely because I know the moderators would all peek.

I think this investing thread idea is great. There are some pretty knowledgeable investors on here and I would like to get their thoughts, not just on what they’re buying but why as well.

I’ve been happy with my returns from a diversified group of index funds and ETFs. My only stocks are a little Tesla, a little Apple, and Berkshire Class A. I’m a satisfied Boglehead.

 

A couple weeks ago I typed up a text for a friend interested in starting an investment account and interested in clean energy stocks. I figured I’d share with y’all. Take it for what it’s worth. If anything y’all can cherry pick a couple from the list. Sorry if too long.

These are going to be your safest, starter ETFs. They will move with the market. Won’t make you rich quick but are the ones you can buy and hold long term and not worry about them.

VTI - whole market in one fund
QQQ - Nasdaq top 100 (growth fund)
VUG - growth fund
VOO - large companies
VO - small companies
SCHD - dividend stocks
VIG - dividend stocks

Next, sector specific ETFs, these are more volatile, higher risk.

VGT - tech stocks
OGIG - internet stocks
PBW - clean energy stocks
QCLN - clean energy stocks
TAN - solar power stocks
LIT - lithium battery stocks
IHI - medical device stocks
IBB - biotech stocks
VHT - health care stocks

Here are some growth stocks that I like. These are trade at your own risk. Some relatively safe, some with higher risk.

NVDA - NVIDIA
AMZN - Amazon
MSFT - Microsoft
GOOG - Google
ZBRA - Zebra Tech
LRCX - Lam Research
RBLX - Roblox
AVGO - Broadcom
LLY - Eli Lilly
JPM - JP Morgan
TMO - Thermo Fisher Scientific
MA - MasterCard
ABT - Abbott Labs
ABBV - Abbvie

I would suggest any new investor start with and build a couple positions in the top safe ETFs and then buy a couple of the higher risk assets with a smaller portion of investable money.

Full Disclosure: I am not a professional money manager, please do your own homework and invest at your own risk.

 

I know a Nigerian prince...

 

Yep, dividends are about the ONLY reason to get AT&T but at 7.3% its a compelling reason to me. Seems to always be $28-32 and the price doesn't spike but it has increased its dividend every year for, I think, 35 years. FWIW, Edward Jones still rates it a BUY.

 

I'm primarily an index fund investor (all domestic, s&p tracking), though I keep a small amount of the portfolio to dabble in individual stocks. I did well with AMZN a few years back, but sold because of the insane P/S ratio.... right on the eve of covid last year. Made some money on OKTA, TWLO, ATYX (SaaS, high margin, growth companies).

I won't touch bitcoin or any other digital currencies. Pure speculation and momentum trading in my book. No intrinsic value...

 

All jokes aside there are much better crypto currencies with real-world use cases that would be good investments. It’s probably too late to get on the ADA train but it was trading at .02 10 months ago and was 48x earlier today and will only continue to rise over the long haul. Doge has no real world application and is being temporarily propped up by a number of celebrities but I doubt it’s long-term viability.

 

I used to think the same about crypto but there are a number of projects out there with real-world application - ADA, XRP, VET, TEL, to name just a few. It is certainly a MUCH more volatile market than stock exchanges but that volatility has decreased in magnitude over time as well as the crypto market matures and gains more mainstream acceptance.

That being said, the bull market for crypto has already begun and they’re relatively short lived compared to stock markets so it’s probably not the best time to get in - people that do now will more likely be held holding crypto at near all-time highs waiting for the next bull run in three years or so.

 

As a side question, who do you use for trading and information? I use E-Trade for my brokerage. I read as much as I can on random articles I find. Some on Barron's that I can read. Not a big fan of motley fool. Never been on reddit. My watch list seems to grow every day

 

Great thread.

I'm largely a bogle head, but also not at all.

The Lions share of our portfolio is in low fee index funds and we both pump our 401ks. My wife will also have a decent pension.

I also "play" with almost 20% in higher risk positions. I mostly invest in what I know - EVs, batteries, and renewables and have done pretty well with them.

My guilty pleasure though is penny stock bio techs. The most dangerous of all.

 

401K, and opened up a ROTH last year (actually 2), one is a robo (Betterment) which uses mostly a mix of Vanguard funds and 10% bonds, and the other is thru TD, with ARK funds at my choosing. Every week, I have $125 rotating to each one, and will see which one does better.

Outside of that, I play with individual stocks and crypto for fun (about 30-40% ROI on stocks), and learning as I go. 2 crypto I suggest looking into for more long term, are ALGO and VET.

 

Stocks auto-adjust down every time they pay a dividend, so that's a reason high dividend tickers often stagnate. Plus they tend to be mature companies without many surprises in the pipeline.

I buy a lot of ETFs, but also buy some individual stocks. My criteria is pretty simple: (1) make boat loads of money; (2) be the world leader in your industry; and (3) have a clear and likely path forward to sustained profits and growth.

AAPL -- the best, most profitable company on the planet, but still innovative enough to push boundaries. Entire markets follow Apple's lead on smartphones, wearables, tablets, chip design, personal assistants, and so much more. Their walled-garden, vertically integrated style approach simply better than the fragmented and inconsistent competition. They get people into their eco system and keep them there. They'll be a 10 trillion dollar company by 2025, if not much earlier.

INTC -- a sleeping giant. They just brought back the team that built the original Core series in the 2000s. The global demand for chips is not slowing down any time soon, and they're also a major player in driverless tech with mobile eye. Of all the underpriced (relative to earnings) tech companies out there, I think Intel has the best chance to change the narrative and break out. They remind me of Apple 5 years ago, languishing around 10 PE because the street had thought they were tapped out and would inevitably fall back into the pack as competition ate them alive. Apple proved the doubters wrong and is now trading in the high 30s. INTC can do the same thing.

NVDA -- Smart phones were the future 15 years ago. Right now the future is AI. There is no one on the planet that can come anywhere close to NVDA in AI. They've shown time and time again that they have the chops to stay on top. Right now they're a 400 billion dollar company. My guess is they're at 2-3 trillion by the end of the decade.

FB -- No one does social media like Zuckerberg. His company provides the best, most profitable advertising platform in the world, bar none, and he's shown incredible foresight to get out in front of emerging trends to ensure that Facebook will never be displaced. It's not just a website or app. It's a social media behemoth with teams of engineers optimizing every aspect of the user's interactions to keep them engaged and responsive to ads. The only risk here is regulatory, and even that isn't that scary. Heck FB, IG, and Whatsapp may even be worth more broken up than as a conglomerate. I bought 10 more shares yesterday and I expect they'll be worth twice as much within the next 3-5 years.

 

Hmmmm, where to start?
Currently 57 and I have invested most of my life. I have mostly played index funds, but used to dabble in day trading when I was younger and less risk averse.
Currently, hold most of my wealth in those mutual funds (to include some international and some bonds), a couple of stocks (HD being a big chunk of that) and a good chunk of land, some of which I lease out for grazing.
The other side of the ledger is also worth considering. My wife and I are not big fans of stuff. We have always lived well below our means, we spend on travel and experiences, mostly outdoor related. My two teens learned from us and both save/invest their own money.
Discipline, planning and luck put me in a position to stop working years ago.