by Anura Guruge
on April 19, 204
I am an Options TRADER, but a stock INVESTOR.
Huge difference. I don’t trade stock. I buy and hold … & hold … & hold.
I am very selective about what stock I buy. I have a theme. Yes, it is MAINLY TECH (and SEMIs within that).
Yes, it is POSSIBLE that ALL of TECH could go down another 20% in the next month. I appreciate that. That is OK with I. SMILE.
I know that they will ALL be up 20% in a year. SMILE. If, not … then in two years. Joys of long term investing.
by Anura Guruge
on February 7, 2024
I was BULLISH on ARM from the start. I was familiar with ARM. I knew it would do well.
I did NOT believe the naysayers — including ‘Jim Cramer‘. I know the SEMI business. I have been in SEMIs for 12+ years. SMILE.
I buy SEMIs whenever I can. I bought semis last week, & earlier this week, ON THE DIP. SMILE. I LOVE SEMIs. SMILE.
I told YOU folks to BUY ARM. So don’t blame me. Here is my PROOF that I told YOU to buy ARM.
In late September I spoke with a Financial Advisor — socially. He had never heard of ARM. That is why I avoid Financial Advisors. AMILE.
by Anura Guruge
on January 31, 2024
I have absolutely NO FEARS that NVDA, AVGO, ARM, AMD & TSM will be higher in 3-months than they are today. Other than TSM, which I only started dabbling in recently, I have owned NVDA & AVGO for YEARS — NVDA close to a decade! SMILE.
I bought into ARM, within weeks of the IPO, close to the IPO price. I, alas, did NOT get an IPO allocation though I tried.
I decided to DIVERSIFY a few months ago by buying some AMD. Yes, that is how I diversify. I buy MORE Semi stock — just new companies (to I) like ARM, AMD & TSM.
I know semiconductor stock. I understand the SEMI business. I only invests in things I understand (& usually use).
Oh, I am NOT all in Semis. I own more AMZN than anything else. Smile.
by Anura Guruge
on January 19, 2024
I am BULLISH on these stocks. I was a BELIEVER in ARM from DAY ONE. Bought ARM as soon as the price got to around $51, i.e., the IPO price. So, IF I hot the $100 — & I most likely will continue to ROLL FORWARD as is my wont — I would have doubled my investment. SMILE.
I told YOU folks to BUY ARM. So don’t blame me. Here is my PROOF.
I know semiconductor stock. SMILE.
I say that as someone who has owned NVDA for a very long time & AVGO, off and on, for nearly as long. I currently also own AVGO.
For years people told me I was CRAZY. That I am. Said I was not diversified. All in tech. I used to say, that is ALL I KNOW. I know tech. I understand tech. So, I am buying and staying with tech. SMILE.
In late September I spoke with a Financial Advisor — socially. He had never heard of ARM. That is why I avoid Financial Advisors. AMILE.
by Anura Guruge
on January 3, 2024.
I see all sorts of ‘pumpers & dumpers’ talking CRAZY stuff about 2024 stock splits — such as AMZN, NVDA, GOOG. None of those are likely to split in 2024. They all had splits in the last 2-years & their prices haven’t gone up that much. [I do OWN all three, & have for many, many, many YEARS. SMILE.]
‘Broadcom’, on the other hand, hasn’t split since 2006! They used to split quite regularly. Three times between 1999 & 2006. But, then they were acquired by ‘AVGO’ — & it appears that AVGO management does NOT believe in stock splits. Nothing that says they have to split. So, AVGO could go onto become a $2,000 or $3,000. I am OK with that. Yes, I own AVGO. I would like to own more, but at $1,000 it is an EXPENSIVE stock.
I like semis. Always. I understand semis. I only invest in stocks I understand.
I first bought Broadcom nearly a decade ago. Had a GREAT ride with them. They pay very handsome dividends. Then I had to (alas) SELL because I had become too greedy with my option calls. I wasn’t that upset. I had had a lovely run.
I then went for about 2-years without owning any. They were, of course, a tad expensive.
But, I missed owning AVGO & I knew they will continue to do well.
So, last year I started buying AVGO again. SMILE.
I now have, in terms of semis, NVDA, AVGO, ARM & AMD. Smile. I am comfortable with that position.
by Anura Guruge
on September 15, 2023
Just trying to help out. Save you having to go looking.
Yes, it is that time of year, when Option Trading addicts, like yours very truly, start thinking about LONG LEAPS. Yes, I am maxed out on SOME of my AMZN & GOOG options, i.e., December 2015. Not that concerned. I have done OK. But, I like to look forward, & quite literally keep my ‘options open‘!
In the back of my head I always know/remember that LEAP pricing, for large stocks like Amazon & Google, gets published in the Sept/Oct. timeframe. Just wanted to make sure.
September 11 is not that far out. Less than a month. It will be with us soon. Even I can be that patient. Enjoy.
by Anura Guruge
on August 5, 2023
Earlier this year I had, atypically, some cash sloshing around. Given that 90% of my portfolio, for a very long time, had been made up of: AMZN (by far my largest holding (as of 2012), GOOG, NVDA, TSLA & AAPL, I wanted to diversify. I had also maxed out in terms of the CALL OPTIONS I could write against this stock. So, I looked around for other options.
Saw a lot of posts & YouTube videos for SCHD & JEPI. That alone made me leery. I was concerned that they may be ‘pump & dump’. I did a lot research on my own. I also discovered a FEW EXOTICS — i.e., HIGH, RLY & SIXH. (Above)
I wasn’t going to go crazy. Too old for that. I was going to try out all of them — with small investments. I did. I gave them all a few months — SCHD the MOST to see if it would recover.
HIGH, RLY & SIXH did MUCH BETTER than SCHD or JEPI.
In effect they made up for the disappointing & POOR performance of SCHD & JEPI.
I think SCHD & JEPI are DOGS.
I would not recommend them to anybody that I even remotely like. Great ETFs to tell people who annoy you, though!
IF someone really, really insists, I would tell them about HIGH, RLY & SIXH. They did OK by me. I have not checked how they have performed since — say May 2023.
So, that is IT. Stay away from SCHD & JEPI. They are DOGS.
by Anura Guruge
on June 21, 2023
Click images to ENLARGE.
It was totally serendipitous. We went to ‘Fort McClary‘, one of our frequent ‘not-too-far‘, destinations for “Father’s Day” (this last Sunday).
We saw the sign even as we were driving to park. I was excited & I had good reason to be. I HAD A BALL. My kind of people. Great. Great. Great — even the French! {Smile}
They were super friendly & informative. I learnt, to my delight, that clogs were NOT restricted to the Dutch. Fancy that. All my time in Europe & I never knew that. I even learnt that they are called ‘Sabot’ in French & that is how we get the word ‘sabotage’! During the Industrial Revolution displaced, disgruntled peasants threw sabots at the machinery hoping to clog them up. Sabotage! Neat.
The couple playing the fife & drum were excellent.
I really enjoyed interacting with them. Quite the Father’s Day present. Thank YOU.
by Anura Guruge
on June 19, 2023
It is NOT great BUT at least we have made a BIT of money. Always, BUT always, better than losing money.
I set this fund up for her, at ‘Fidelity‘, in 2015 when she was 9. After scrimping & saving I was able to give her (a mere) $13,500.
I was too poor then (& I still am) to hire a Financial Advisor. Plus they charge …. WOW_wee. Paying those kind of commissions, fees, etc. etc. etc. are FINE when you are rich. But, rich is only a word I read about.
I had NO idea as to what I was doing.
All I knew was that I would ONLY invest in things I KNEW & maybe used.
In 2006, a then 80(+) year old neighbor told me to buy AT LEAST 1 share of ‘Apple‘ (AAPL). I bought a ‘couple’. I had done OK with them by 2015. So, I bought some for my daughter.
I do 95% of my shopping on ‘Amazon‘. I had bought a ‘few’ AMZN shares in 2012 & was doing OK. So, I bought her a few.
‘Google’, ‘Microsoft’ & ‘Netflix‘ were no brainers. We used them. So, I bought her a few.
I have been in computers since 1969. I know a few things about computers. I was aware of ‘Nvidia’ (NVDA) & ‘BroadCom’ (AVGO). I had been using NVDA video cards in my PC for at least a decade. I bought her some.
Then I forgot about it. Yep, that is something else about my investing. I AM LAZY. Plus, I have never understood how to ‘SELL HIGH, BUY LOW‘. I just BUY, HOLD & FORGET.
Hence why we are not doing that GREAT. But, we are OK. We haven’t lost any money. So, I am happy.
Oh, to be able to AFFORD a good Financial Advisor. Well, that is like wishing I could afford silk underwear.
by Anura Guruge
on April 27, 2023
My luck in life, never great, is not, alas, even what it used to be in the past. More & more I appear to have got the Reverse Midas Touch. My investments never pan out like I was hoping.
Today was a RARE exception.
Big DAY for I. AMZN results, & those that follow this Blog know that I own quite a number of shares {SMILE} & my lifestyle is contingent on those stocks.
This morning, sharp at 9:30am (delaying my morning amble by 30 minutes) I rolled quite a FEW of my CALL options to even withstand a 20% increase in price IF the results proved to be exceptional.
Then at 4pm, having an EARLY lunch for a change I watched the results come in. Saw AMZN spike to $117.
I had been PLANNING to sell a FEW (& I stress FEW) stray shares I had — which were not covered by options. Kind of had a feeling that the $117 might not be there tomorrow. Plus, I was not going to be around tomorrow morning.
So, decided to do my sale after hours (‘extended hours’ as Fidelity calls it).
I, however, didn’t KNOW how to do it!
I had never traded after hours or before hours. I am old fashioned when it comes to trading. So, I had to CALL Fidelity to ask HOW. They, of course, helped me out.
I sold some. Had to be a LIMIT ORDER. I specified $117.
I got $118.15.
Well a BIT of luck.
I will also do OK with the options. I can now roll them down & back. SMILE.
Well, even au unlucky bugger like I deserves a rare break. SMILE. I am happy.