COVID SALE
Toward the beginning of COVID, on March 16, 2020, the stock market plummeted nearly 3,000 points, and I went shopping for some depressed stock.
A month earlier, IBM stock was trading at $149.92 per share, so on the day of that crash, I snagged 250 shares at $94.51 per share. How can you resist a stock that’s essentially on sale for 37% off?
Purchased for $23,630. Currently worth: $34,887. Up $11,257.
STOCK SPLIT “SALE”
I’d wanted Apple stock for a long time, but I’d always considered it too expensive. So, when its $500-per-share price was set for a 4-for-1 split on August 28, 2020, I bought 25 shares on August 27, 2020, waking up the next day with 100 shares at $125 per share.
Purchased for $12,500. Currently worth: $18,214. Up $5,714.
ROI TO DATE
Even though I am fully aware that it’s nothing but a “paper gain” at this point, it still tickles me to no end to have a 47% gain on the IBM purchase and 45% gain on the AAPL stock.
Total spent: $36,130. Currently worth: $53,101. Up $16,971.
Sure beats the credit union’s tenth-of-a-percent return on savings and 1.25% return on a 5-year CD—and my money’s only been tied up for less than a couple of years.
I’ll enjoy this ride until the next big crash, unless I sell before then. The good news is that the time has passed to make these both long-term gains now, so I can “pull the sales trigger” at any time tax-wise, at least.