Just a 46-year-old mom of 2 in Northern California. My kids are Monkey Monkey(MM) and Drama Llama (DL). I am married to Monkey Hubby (MH). I don't buy stock for 10 years (individual stock) and the first one I buy post-2011 is the "#1 Stock of the Year." Up 68%, as of this morning. (Netflix).
I think *we* are up about 60% - except I already sold some at a 30% or so profit.
I actually don't want to share my strategy on this. 
But I will share after the fact.
Of course, this is the point where *I* would take the money and RUN! & it's in our ROTH so it is TAX-FREE profit.
But dh has a point. Now that they showed some awesome earnings and beat analyst's expectations, people will start jumping back in. That's his theory and I think he has a valid point.
Anyway, I will be making moves on this soon, so will you keep you updated. But, we agreed not to sell any today. Well, not at current price.
I kind of expected dh to relearn why we aren't in individual stocks. It's very soon and I admit it is very likely we will relearn all the bad. But, I amfraid the opposite has happened. It's been kind of fun. Though seeing the "#1 stock" headline was a wake up call. This is as good as it gets. Basically, a reminder not to expect anything like this. Ever again. We got lucky. I mean, 60% return in a couple of months??? Definitely not average.
& I think dh I and make a good investment team. We respect each other's opinions but have different points of view. I already sold some to hedge our bets, for one. But dh kept me from selling it all. So, will see... (You know, it's not "my husband threw away all our money and I didn't agree" or "My wife wouldn't let me invest one penny in stocks," and talking it out really helps us think it through).
For reference, last we *gambled* in the stock market, it was almost everything we had (because we were young and didn't have anything to begin with). These days, we are sticking to 1-2% of our investments. It's a very different game. I hear 5% recommended, but we are pretty conservative, plus just dipping our toes back in. We have never put anything in stocks we couldn't afford to lose, but I think we took much heavier losses in the past. Was maybe 50% of our investments, in the 2001 era. & we lost it all (all the stocks). So, there you go. Losing 1% is much easier to stomach. Plus I think we are much smarter investors these days.
What are the Odds? (Stock)
January 26th, 2012 at 05:17 pm
January 26th, 2012 at 06:13 pm 1327601596
January 27th, 2012 at 12:01 am 1327622484
January 27th, 2012 at 12:08 am 1327622925
January 27th, 2012 at 02:03 am 1327629825
The one stock I bought (outside of my Roth - not sure how to buy within it, or if it is even possible when using a Target fund ...) had dropped almost $6 a few weeks ago, but is now back up almost $3. It still is worth more than I paid, but ... I just hope I didn't make a mistake buying into it.
January 28th, 2012 at 05:12 pm 1327770726
Earnings are projected to be negative for the first couple of quarters, but if they can come in better than expected you might see a nice gain again due to a possible short squeeze.