Lessons learned and mistakes made

Asset allocation, risk, diversification and rebalancing. Pros/cons of hiring a financial advisor. Seeking advice on your portfolio?
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Peculiar_Investor
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Lessons learned and mistakes made

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

It has become standard fare on FWF to have a How Did You Do in 2017? topic where scorecards are compared. Some may find these numbers and the follow-on discussion useful. If that works for you, so be it. For myself, I find I can learn more from the journey, not the starting and end points.

My year end process typically involves pulling together an one page summary of the previous year that I share/review with my spouse to keep them in the loop on our financial progress. The process also gives me some time to reflect on what I've learning in the past year and what mistakes have been made that should be corrected.

For 2017, a few of the lessons I've learned, in no particular order, are:
  • maintaining your own bond ladder is harder than it appears. In a low interest rate environment, the bias, or perhaps desire, to eke out the last possible basis point has a tendency to lead to analysis paralysis. This point is driven home by
    AltaRed wrote: 05 Jan 2018 14:55
    scomac wrote: 05 Jan 2018 11:35 Indeed. AS fate would have it I was looking this morning at the offerings in 1 to 4 years maturity and ran across a couple of small lots that were trading a good 30 points higher YTM than their peers. Problem is my bond doesn't mature until April 01, so who knows what will be available at that time.
    It seems to be a 'spot' opportunity, or perhaps a few days at most depending on who is shopping when. When I have a bond come due, I will give it up to a week to shop for bargains...and then I just bite what is available. Life is too short to scrub through daily offerings very long.
    One further reminder that I'd add, remember the function of fixed income in an investment portfolio and that one should take risk on the equity side of the portfolio. Extracting the last extra basis point, although human nature, is essentially pointless. Hopefully going forward I can overcome this tendency.

    Reflecting on this and using the forum search function a bit, Optimal bond ladder structure?, Fixed Income - Bonds, Real Return Bonds, Laddered? and % of fixed income to put in corporates vs gov't are definitely worth a re-read and perhaps rethink my whole strategy on the fixed income side of things.
  • That all said, having a written Investment policy statement (IPS) is extremely important part of the investment process. It doesn't have to be complicated, in fact I've come to the opinion that if it is complicated or just plain too hard to write down, then you probably need to step back and rethink what you are trying to accomplish as an investor. Keep it simple comes to mind. And remember it's written on paper (or electronically), not stone, so it can reviewed/updated as you learn new things or circumstances change or time passes. It doesn't need to be perfect either, remember "The enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan.”
  • Over the past couple of years my adult children have started to build up some 'investable' assets. Like many their age, there is little to no interest in learning about investing. As with my spouse, most certainly they have no interest in the investment process/strategy that I employee. They will likely never be stock (or bond) pickers. With what I've learned over the past decade or so about investing and with the benefit of a time machine, I probably wouldn't be either. The key learning that I've tried to share with them is 'do what I say, not what I do'. Simple index portfolios are a great solution for most. But they are boring. Boring works though. That said, they do still require a small amount of annual work to handle ongoing contributions and any necessary rebalancing to follow one's IPS. Don't neglect that step.
  • Over the past couple of years I've also become involved in assisting my parents in managing their financial affairs. That has also served as a reminder that simplification of one's financial affairs wherever possible is a good thing. Sure many like to play the "get the best rate" game, but what is the ongoing maintenance cost of this endeavour?
  • I've used Quicken since the DOS days to record and track the state of our financial affairs. On the banking side of things I've developed a habit of regularly updating/reconciling that works for me. On the investing side of things I tend to 'batch process' annually (or worse). That's been a bit of a mistake as it now takes too long and therefore I lose interest in putting in the effort. The work is just repetitive, but necessary. Particularly come tax time it is important to have up-to-date and accurate records to make things as painless as possible. Thanks to
    Koogie wrote: 06 Jan 2018 08:15
    AltaRed wrote: 06 Jan 2018 00:13 In practice, since I don't trade ETFs, I just always book it in my records on the last business date of the year (Dec 29 this year).
    If you never plan on selling, does it really matter when you book it ? Some of us are procrastination prone..ahem.. and only do these adjustments maybe once every couple of years...
    for the reminder on this point.
Thanks for reading. For 2018 the plan becomes one of simplification and reduction of complexity in our financial affairs.
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Re: Lessons learned and mistakes made

Post by ghariton »

For me, 2017 mostly confirmed lessons that I had already learned (and, at my age, about time !!!).

The most important lesson is the one that P_I stressed: keep it simple. I now invest exclusively in a handful of ETFs and some individual RRBs. I should really be down to two ETFs, VTI and VXUS, but for historic reasons I hold units of SPY, IWM and QQQ as well. I'm reluctant to sell those because of the uncrystalized capital gains. Still, five ETFs is not that complicated. Lesson confirmed: DIY investing need not take much time or effort, once you have a plan.

The ETFs in RRSPs (now RRIFs) are on DRIPs, easing the reinvestment decision. The RRBs do pay interest, and I accumulate that in money market funds to prepare for the next RRIF withdrawal. I find it's not worth searching for HISAs or GICs for a six or ten month term. As for the non-registered accounts, I withdraw the dividends and use them to buy stuff my wife wants, or to give away. Any new money goes half into VTI and half into VXUS; and similarly for any money I need to pull out. Lessons confirmed: (1) Don't fuss the interest on the near-cash (less than one year term) (2) Reinvestment is not a big issue, and can mostly be done on auto-pilot.

I keep some five to ten percent of the portfolio as "play money" -- five percent when I'm doing badly, as I often have in the past, ten per cent when I'm doing well, as I have in the last few years. While my portfolio over all is nice and steady, the play money results are all over the map. Lessons confirmed: (1) When I resort to stock picking, the result is huge volatility (2) A pot of play money is essential for me, to keep me from doing foolish things with my real money. Perhaps some play money is the solution to the boredom of proper DIY investing.

Finally, reading this forum reminds me that there are many investment styles that can be successful. The important thing is to choose one and to stick with it. I believe that DIY investers get into trouble when they keep changing styles, chasing the latest high-performance fashion.

Thanks to all on this forum who post about their experiences, and help me put my own into perspective.

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Re: Lessons learned and mistakes made

Post by AltaRed »

Along similar lines, 2017 was a year that mostly confirmed lessons I had already learned over the past ~10 years in particular. I suspect these similarities are also shaped by where we 'senior boomers' are in our life cycle, retired or semi-retired. They won't necessarily be the same for 30 somethings building their careers and investment portfolios with a 30 year time horizon. That said, 30 somethings might also take note from their experienced and bruised elders that the KISS principle in particular can be highly rewarding relative to effort applied, and especially important in non-registered portfolios when the tax tail inevitably wags the dog to some degree.

I am mostly satisfied where my investment portfolio now stands. Some minor tweaking inevitably will be done, mostly in terms of simplification, and to potentially juggle a few 'under performing' stocks. Some of this 'simplification' influence is driven by: 1) my own admission that the effort necessary to juice returns a bit just no longer provides sufficient reward, and satisfaction, to do so, and 2) the guidance I provide to my ex who now has a simple ETF portfolio and for which neither of us have to really pay any attention (effort) to... the occasional ACB adjustments notwithstanding.

All this has reinforced the following direction that has been building over time:

1) Closed down more online HISA accounts in 2017, leaving only one where my 'reserve' HISA cash sits. I really don't care about 1.6% vs 1.8% vs 2.5% on that reserve cash. At most, the difference in rates would be in the order of $500 BT, less than what we would spend on a weekend in Vancouver.

2) Simplifying my TFSA to eventually be only one holding, MAW104 with re-invested distributions, which I will monitor via Morningstar now and then for performance vs equivalent alternatives. By the time my TFSA potentially becomes significant in the overall scheme of things, I may be first stage dementia anyway. Conclusion: Don't let it be a distraction.

3) Maintaining a 12 holding 6 year ladder fixed income RRSP that is less than ~10% of my investable assets is a royal PITA, especially seeking out mis-priced debentures and bonds of BBB or better to obtain a rolling average of 3% or better. It likely takes more work to do 2 'renewals' per year than to to rate hop on HISA accounts (see 1 above). Not only that but each one of the 12 holdings only represents circa a 1% weighting in the portfolio. Perhaps time to default back to a 10 holding GIC ladder. My first RRIF withdrawal will happen in 2021 anyway.

4) Holding individual stocks in my non-registered Cdn equity portfolio is more distracting than I'd like. I will occasionally fret about 2-4 equities that under perform and what to do with them, i.e continue to hold or replace them with? If I was in an ETF, I'd be blissfully ignorant of the under performing actors (in hindsight) while also being in the high flyers (in hindsight) that I am not already invested in anyway. Market cap weighted ETFs are actually a very a good thing. Enough sails (strong performers) overcome the limited boat anchors......which ultimately moves the boat forward anyway. Unrealized cap gains causes the tax tail to wag the dog on this one.

5) Complete the reduction in number of fixed rate reset preferred holdings in 2018 and/or continue liquidating them one by one to meet cash flow needs over the next 5+ years. My foray into fixed rate preferred stock was premature. Lesson learned: Timing of Interest rate movements is a crap shoot. Don't try.
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Re: Lessons learned and mistakes made

Post by SQRT »

Nothing learned and no lessons taken. 2017 was a good year and I outperformed my benchmark by about 5%. Now, 2008 that was a very big “learning and lessons” year. I like it this way better.
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Re: Lessons learned and mistakes made

Post by kcowan »

I agree that simpler is better. I have come from a very complicated history, chasing 10x at Canaccord and making that a success, having had a joint investment account at Merrill Lynch, Greenline forever trading equities. These were very successful and put us in the position we are in now. But during decumulation, I can make it much easier.

I still have a tax-free savings account at IAG feeding a large term life insurance policy. Been working on making it simpler. After being retired for 15 years, this is seeming like too much work. I have 50 separate holdings. I manage but why bother? Partly it is to defer capital gains.

I figure I have 10 years to continue to simplify.

I am proud of transfers to heirs being up 53% last year. Will continue that process. Let them handle it! RESPs and loading up TFSAs.
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Re: Lessons learned and mistakes made

Post by Norbert Schlenker »

Some lessons learned, and some pondering for the coming year ...

If you don't pay attention in a bull market, chances are you'll be shocked at how well things turn out. I did my first trades in two years yesterday - other than gambits for FX - after finally looking at overall asset allocation. I'm a conservative investor, with targets at 50-50 fixed/equity, and the portfolio is 35/65 at year end 2017 due to sloth and indifference. US and global equities are largely in IRAs (from when we were in the US) so that went pretty smoothly. Canadian equities are all in taxable accounts with some pretty hefty capital gains issues on liquidation, so I've chipped away but not nearly far enough yet. That project continues next week.

For all the handwringing about rising interest rates in both Canada and the US, there's not much damage in a pretty long duration portfolio. My perpetual fixed rate preferreds, close to 25% of the portfolio, haven't really been hurt much. Meanwhile, they still dump nearly non-taxable dividends out for spending money like clockwork.

The investment bookkeeping gets more onerous - well, maybe annoying is a better word - every year. For me, it's a monthly task (that slides to quarterly or half yearly) using ancient and unsupported software with manual data entry. Yes, I'm happy to have a monthly record going back to January 2000 (and annual further back another 15 years, when we had nearly nothing) but no family member gives a damn, so I'm questioning the utility of this. We gave up tracking spending years ago. Do I really need to track assets?

Now that Vanguard has decent Canadian ETFs and Blackrock has cut fees to be competitive, 2017 will be the first year in a long time where I won't have to file a T1135 for either my wife or myself. One less bookkeeping hassle. :D

The assessment on the house finally made it back to pre-financial-crisis levels and I'm wondering how to hedge that volatility. ;-)

Mistakes made ...

Paying attention to the news. There I was, innocent as a lamb half watching the local dreck news channel the other evening, when they interview some too-clever-by-half-20-something who realized Trudeau's election in 2015 meant pot stocks would go through the roof and made 12000%. Spent four hours churning my stomach thinking, "Oh, I could have turned both of our TFSA's into $5MM if I hadn't been sleeping", a phenomenon I call brucebanging, after a co-worker from long ago who moaned incessantly about how rich he would be if only he had bought the newsworthy thing this time last year.
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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

Post by Wallace »

deaddog wrote: 04 Jan 2018 08:31
JaydoubleU wrote: 04 Jan 2018 08:04 Following the crowd into the melt-up was a serious mistake in 1999.
My mistake was staying with the crowd on the way down. :)
But that was the conventional wisdom at the time, wasn't it? IIRC almost everyone here was unqualified "buy and hold". Those who increased their cash reserves were considered market timers. But the past 18 years have taught us that if there is thunder and lightning on the horizon, take some shelter. You shouldn't sell everything, but building cash on hand to buy at "I'm never going into the stock market again" level helps you come out ahead.
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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

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Wallace wrote: 10 Jan 2018 18:12 But that was the conventional wisdom at the time, wasn't it? IIRC almost everyone here was unqualified "buy and hold". Those who increased their cash reserves were considered market timers. But the past 18 years have taught us that if there is thunder and lightning on the horizon, take some shelter. You shouldn't sell everything, but building cash on hand to buy at "I'm never going into the stock market again" level helps you come out ahead.
Yabbut it's really hard to -- ahem! -- time these things. I remember thinking in 2012 that the bull market had had its day, and that it was time to increase cash allocation. By 2014, I was having recurring panics as to the high levels. When Mr. Trump was elected, I thought that at last the bubble had burst. Fortunately, each time I went to lie down.

So yes, this market will correct, probably by 20 per cent, perhaps by more, although I think that more than 50 per cent is unlikely. The problem is that, preparing for that fall, one can miss out on a nice increase. From personal experience in 2000, I believe that the inflation of the bubble can more than compensate for the ensuing bust.

To give one example, I bought $15,000 of JDS Fitel in 1997. It peaked at $400,000 in 2000. I eventually sold in 2004 for $25,000. That was a 67 per cent gain on my original investment. Not bad at all.

I believe that, in the stock market, the trend is my friend. Sure, there will be ups and downs. But with my skill, I would be buying on the "ups" and selling on the "downs". No, I would rather just collect the underlying trend.

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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

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Wallace wrote: 10 Jan 2018 18:12

But that was the conventional wisdom at the time, wasn't it? IIRC almost everyone here was unqualified "buy and hold". Those who increased their cash reserves were considered market timers. But the past 18 years have taught us that if there is thunder and lightning on the horizon, take some shelter. You shouldn't sell everything, but building cash on hand to buy at "I'm never going into the stock market again" level helps you come out ahead.
I agree. If nothing else, after 2000 I changed strategy away from buy and hold to one I felt would protect my capital. It kept me out of the 2008 downturn. The strategy is simple. Don't hold stocks that are going down. The hard part is taking losses, having stocks go up right after you sell them and dealing with the woulda,shoulda, coulda after you sell.

Actually the hard part is selling, every thing that happens after you sell affects your self esteem. Emotions rule the market.
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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

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ghariton wrote: 10 Jan 2018 21:34 To give one example, I bought $15,000 of JDS Fitel in 1997. It peaked at $400,000 in 2000. I eventually sold in 2004 for $25,000. That was a 67 per cent gain on my original investment. Not bad at all.
It didn't drop that fast. What was going though your mind as you watched your gains disappear.
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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

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deaddog wrote: 10 Jan 2018 23:05 It didn't drop that fast. What was going though your mind as you watched your gains disappear.
Can't find the exact statistics, but apparently JDSU returned an average annual return of minus 46 per cent over the period 2000 to 2008. That's equivalent to losing half its value every year for eight years. Of course, the losses were heavier in the early years. But just using the average annual rate, $400,000 becomes $25,000 in four years.

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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

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ghariton wrote: 11 Jan 2018 00:15
deaddog wrote: 10 Jan 2018 23:05 It didn't drop that fast. What was going though your mind as you watched your gains disappear.
Can't find the exact statistics, but apparently JDSU returned an average annual return of minus 46 per cent over the period 2000 to 2008. That's equivalent to losing half its value every year for eight years. Of course, the losses were heavier in the early years. But just using the average annual rate, $400,000 becomes $25,000 in four years.

George
That tells me what the stock did.

I was wondering how you felt as the value of your investment dropped and why you continued to hold?

I had a similar experience with Nortel. Rode it down to just above break even. Left $100 per share on the table. I was Hoping.

Firstly I didn't want to have a losing investment. But I was counting my losses from the high not from my purchase price of $11.00 (Way back when it was Northern Telecom and paid a dividend).

I searched for news that agreed with my bias and ignorred news that advised me to get out.

I listened to the talking heads and analysts who thought it was just a bump in the road.

I was afraid that I was a catalyst. All it would take would be for me to sell and the price would shoot right back up. (Thats my super power).

Fear ruled. I was afraid to sell because of what might happen after I sold.

The experience taught me a lot about myself and that my financial well being depended more on what I did rather than what the market did.
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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

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deaddog wrote: 11 Jan 2018 10:22 I had a similar experience with Nortel. Rode it down to just above break even. Left $100 per share on the table. I was Hoping.

Firstly I didn't want to have a losing investment. But I was counting my losses from the high not from my purchase price of $11.00 (Way back when it was Northern Telecom and paid a dividend).
That is not how I judge my assets. It hardly matters what the peak price was if no action was taken. It matters more where I came from. It is a good way to get high blood pressure and a heart condition looking at 'what could have been', rather than 'what it is'. And what it is, is what I started with (purchase), the elapsed time, and what it is when I left (cash out). If I end up positive with perhaps a CAGR of 5-10%, I come out a winner regardless of where the stock was in between.
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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

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AltaRed wrote: 11 Jan 2018 10:38
deaddog wrote: 11 Jan 2018 10:22 I had a similar experience with Nortel. Rode it down to just above break even. Left $100 per share on the table. I was Hoping.

Firstly I didn't want to have a losing investment. But I was counting my losses from the high not from my purchase price of $11.00 (Way back when it was Northern Telecom and paid a dividend).
That is not how I judge my assets. It hardly matters what the peak price was if no action was taken. It matters more where I came from. It is a good way to get high blood pressure and a heart condition looking at 'what could have been', rather than 'what it is'. And what it is, is what I started with (purchase), the elapsed time, and what it is when I left (cash out). If I end up positive with perhaps a CAGR of 5-10%, I come out a winner regardless of where the stock was in between.
Red obviously has the right approach. In my case, my most significant positions (banks) have never really “tested” me other than in the 2008-09 period when everyone was tested. Over almost any reasonable period they have increased in a steady manner. No big gains over short periods, just steady market -beating returns year in, year out. My biggest risk, I think, is the temptation to chase yesterday’s big winners and losing sight of the obvious “Steady Eddie” approach that has worked so well for so long.
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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

Post by gaspr »

But by focusing on what you paid, you become a victim of the "sunk cost fallacy". Shouldn't the focus be on the discounted cash flows?
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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

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deaddog wrote: 11 Jan 2018 10:22 That tells me what the stock did.

I was wondering how you felt as the value of your investment dropped and why you continued to hold?
My problem was that I was altogether too close to the industry. I had worked at Bell Northern Research and then Bell Canada. I had friends at many of the optical systems manufacturers, including at JDS -- whose main offices were only three kilometers from my house. So I got a steady flow of information of how great fiber to the home was going to be.

The technical analysis turned out to be great. And at first it looked like the market recognized that as well. Unfortunately, we proved to be some fifteen years ahead of our time. The market lost patience very quickly. But I thought that fiber to the home was just around the corner -- I had read the $10,000 a copy market research reports, I had actually worked on some prototypes, etc., etc., and so I figured it was just a question of the market catching up to me. Well, the market did catch up. But by then, there were so many competitive products that the big margins, and the big money, was gone.

An illustration of knowing the nitty gritty details of an industry all too well, without sufficient attention to the big picture.

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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

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I guess it depends on your point of view.

If you buy a stock for $11.00 and it went up to $120 then fall to $15 and you sell.

Did you make $4 or did you lose $105?

The opportunity was there to pocket the $105. The oportunity was also there to pocket significantly more than you sold for eventually all the way down. You may have in reality made $4 but the market gave you the opportunity to make a lot more and you passed it up.
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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

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gaspr wrote: 11 Jan 2018 11:03 But by focusing on what you paid, you become a victim of the "sunk cost fallacy". Shouldn't the focus be on the discounted cash flows?
The only costs that matter are prospective costs, as seen at the point at which you make a decision.

That's what I used to teach to my civil engineering students. That's what I have practived for some forty years in my work. Accounting costs are useful (a) to calculate your ACB for tax purposes (b) in some cases, to hold managers accountsble for what they did in the past year (c) in a few cases, as a help to project future costs, although this can be a very dangerous exercise indeed.

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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

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deaddog wrote: 11 Jan 2018 11:12 I guess it depends on your point of view.

If you buy a stock for $11.00 and it went up to $120 then fall to $15 and you sell.

Did you make $4 or did you lose $105?

The opportunity was there to pocket the $105. The oportunity was also there to pocket significantly more than you sold for eventually all the way down. You may have in reality made $4 but the market gave you the opportunity to make a lot more and you passed it up.
The most important thing for me is that I now have $15, which I can redeploy or spend. As of today, the $105 is history.

It may be that I can learn a lesson from the roller-coaster ride, and do better next time. Or it may be that I cannot learn anything from it, or worse, learn the wrong lesson (for example, stay out of the stock market because it is too nerve-wracking). But in and of itself, the $105 that I might have made has no meaning to me (except as an interesting anecdote).

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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

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ghariton wrote: 11 Jan 2018 11:21
deaddog wrote: 11 Jan 2018 11:12 I guess it depends on your point of view.

If you buy a stock for $11.00 and it went up to $120 then fall to $15 and you sell.

Did you make $4 or did you lose $105?

The opportunity was there to pocket the $105. The oportunity was also there to pocket significantly more than you sold for eventually all the way down. You may have in reality made $4 but the market gave you the opportunity to make a lot more and you passed it up.
The most important thing for me is that I now have $15, which I can redeploy or spend. As of today, the $105 is history.

It may be that I can learn a lesson from the roller-coaster ride, and do better next time. Or it may be that I cannot learn anything from it, or worse, learn the wrong lesson (for example, stay out of the stock market because it is too nerve-wracking). But in and of itself, the $105 that I might have made has no meaning to me (except as an interesting anecdote).

George
Thou shalt not practice metal accounting, you lost $105 by error of omission. No different than if someone offered you 10x the value of your home and you declined but 3 months later sold for 1.1x the home's value.

As Buffet mentions in almost every talk, errors of omission where one ought to have known better are to be counted as mistakes. The fact you have a large and/or concentrated position implies that you 'know better' or you have no business owning said asset. The fact that most all of us missed out on Amazon or Constellation Software should not bother us.
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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

Post by deaddog »

ghariton wrote: 11 Jan 2018 11:21 It may be that I can learn a lesson from the roller-coaster ride, and do better next time. Or it may be that I cannot learn anything from it, or worse, learn the wrong lesson (for example, stay out of the stock market because it is too nerve-wracking).
George
Hopefully I learned something.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
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ghariton
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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

Post by ghariton »

FinEcon wrote: 11 Jan 2018 11:40 implies that you 'know better'
That is the key.

I thought that I knew better than the market. But as usual I didn't.

The lesson I learned is that I am unlikely to know better than the market in future situations either. Hence I go with the market, via broad index funds.

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The juice is worth the squeeze
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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

Post by AltaRed »

gaspr wrote: 11 Jan 2018 11:03 But by focusing on what you paid, you become a victim of the "sunk cost fallacy". Shouldn't the focus be on the discounted cash flows?
Depends on how sophisticated one wants to be. While it is true that one's ACB is not a primary basis for future decision making, i.e. what matters are the investment options I have available to me today, I do consider the 'cost' of capital gains, or tax loss selling, in that decision too.

The point really is what I can do today and IF an investment has given me a CAGR of 5-10%, I am meeting my expected long term returns for the portfolio. Doesn't matter what the 'woulda, coulda, shoulda' might have been between the 2 decision points.
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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

Post by ghariton »

deaddog wrote: 11 Jan 2018 11:49 Hopefully I learned something.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Clearly Einstein never used the Internet :wink:

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Re: How Did You Do in 2017?

Post by DenisD »

deaddog wrote: 11 Jan 2018 11:12 If you buy a stock for $11.00 and it went up to $120 then fall to $15 and you sell.

Did you make $4 or did you lose $105?
I wonder if calculating monthly / annual returns periodically would change one's point of view. Reinforces the fact that I'm LOSING MONEY.
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