Did I tell you that I love spreadsheets?
I got started with just doing a spreadsheet for fun. I found that there is a data type in Excel that pulls data on stocks just by entering the ticker. So I made a little game by saying that I had a million dollars to invest and then pretended to buy some stocks with it and then watch how well I did through daily opening the spreadsheet and having it pull the prices. With a few equations I could tell how well I did.
Now I use the same spreadsheet layout but have the real stocks that I bought. This keeps me advised about how good or bad my decisions were! Some are really good, and some are really bad! But I have a great time doing it. Naturally, I have much less than a million dollars invested!
I think what I like best is that after having spent a lot of my life in corporate America, I miss the corporate world now that I’m retired. This keeps me researching and learning about various companies and their strategies and how things are going. The whole AI world has fascinated me. I was an IT guy and so many of the IT stocks were my concentration, but I have started to diversify more broadly of late.
The image above is one of my spreadsheets that shows some of the stock positions and the price I paid with the price they are when I opened the spreadsheet. I only have a couple of index funds and one ETF in my mix at the moment. It is my philosophy that there are no bad stocks, but sometimes you just buy them at the wrong time! I did that on a couple as you might be able to tell. That’s why someone will tell you that they had great success with a stock and when you buy it, well… It just becomes a nightmare. They bought it at the right time but by the time you heard about it, it was the wrong time!
Anyway, I would not advise anyone to buy any of these stocks unless you research them and find that you believe in them. I generally buy stocks from companies that I know. Products that I have used, companies that I have dealt with. But before I buy any of them, I check out what they do, how they do it, and see if I can believe in their products or services.
I tend to like dividend stocks, but I don’t let it stop me from buying it if it doesn’t give dividends. It’s just one more consideration when I determine if it’s something I want to get. I have gone through the stocks and talked about why I bought them and how I relate to them. I also have a menu choice for stocks that I have an interest in but haven’t bought them yet. The other portion of this page is just stuff that I have learned along the way as I have ventured into the stock market world.
One thing is for sure; you will lose money when you do this. Some stocks will make money but there are going to be times when any of them could lose. You just have to be ready for that, and you will be fine.