Investments

I love looking at those penny stocks I had purchased in the pre-dot-com-bomb era.

There was once upon a time when these stocks were full of promises although, today, they might still have their potentials- unrealized. lol sigh

So, at the dinner table, mama and I were talking about the stock market and the economy.

One thing she mentioned was the hype about or potential of the telecom industry...

Thinking back at my relationship with the telecom industry, I can't help laughing my head off...

There was once upon a time again when all analysts saw a Rosy future for the telecom industry. Everybody was laying down fiber optics, including those Spaghetti in the sea. It was expected that the growth of the internet would result in the boom of the industry.

As a result, I jumped on the wagon, like many others, only to catch the reality of the dark fiber age, where much of the fine fiber was never turned on and the stock prices plumped from, sometimes, triple digits to single digits or less.

I haven't had the chance to pay much attention to the market since the bomb except for at the end of the year or during tax season annually.

Every year at around December, I would log in to my account and look for the biggest losers to sell so as to become more "tax-rich."

Then, one year, I decided to sell my share of Qwest communications instead of other ones because I had lost enough in it and it was involved in some sort of vicious bidding for another company. I sold it because I was afraid that the company was going to go out of business given all the circumstances.

It was not until much later when I was in Phoenix and when I realized that... chances are, that company would not go out of business because hearsay said that the government has investment in it.

When looking at the stock history of this company, I thought to myself... at least I seemed to have sold it at around its lowest point in history. lol sigh

Of course, like everything else in life, all investment transactions have their intrinsic risks and the appreciation of the risks involves help us to decide whether we are willing to take the risks and their consequences.

Since nobody is perfect, I highly suspect there would be anyone who never made a misjudgement on investments.

Some days you will find yourself debating whether you should take the loss and run and other day you might feel like to hold your investment for a bit longer to see how it would go.

Some days you will regret not to be able to buy at a lower price while other days you will regret having sold your investments immaturely.

Some days you will happen to invest on the future Berkshire A while other days the-next-generation Berkshire A in your eyes might end up becoming penny stocks (which might eventually turn into Berkshire B after you sold it for pennies... lol)

There are also those days, when your judgement has nothing to do with the value of your investment, such as the days of dot.com boom when any stock you pick will give your portfolio a boost or those sad days of dot.com bomb when there was anything any single individual could do.

I think, such experiences seem to teach me that...

Sometimes, it might be better for us to learn the apparent lessons (e.g, do your studies) and put the regret on the shelf till it starts to attract dust. It is because, things happen for a reason and you never know, in time, what the lessons might unfold... (Although such thoughts might only be applicable for those who trade rarely like me....)

Like, today, years after, I heard my mama speaking of the telecom industry and its potential again.

Perhaps, the timing was just wrong before. God know, maybe this time those expert analysts might be right about their predictions.