My first real stock purchase is down £53. But I'm overjoyed. My life has been lacklustre of late but I've a new passion: stock-picking! I've been sort of into shares since I was in secondary school; trading on virtual stock exchange what with real-life equity market being considerably beyond my means.
Since my teenage days, there have been 3 super special stocks in my life. The first one was found while trawling line-by-line through the local papers' share price section, looking for companies with a relatively low P/E ratio (I couldn't find a free stock screener covering the Malaysian equity market). After looking at the fundamentals, Lion Diversified did seem undervalued at RM1.98. The stock eventually rose to RM12.50 in less than 3 years, before the price was readjusted. If sold at the peak, that would have been an almost 100% annualised yield (doubling the capital every year; a Malaysian bank's 12-month fixed deposit has an annual return of a comparatively measly 3.50%). The unfortunate thing is Lion Div was the girl I never did get together with.
I was determined to buy the next "great" stock I found. While doing my internship, I looked up stocks on the Bloomberg terminal after my manager ran out of work for me to do which was quite often (as I am a fast worker haha). Stock #2 was recommended by a stock analyst; after giving it the Peter Lynch treatment, I called Papa and asked him to get some shares for me. The stock had and still has great fundamentals but I made the mistake of buying it when analysts were recommending a strong buy.
I had been stalking Stock #3 for a couple of weeks. The company is pretty much a stalwart, its days of accelerating growth was over but I needed the first real stock I can call my own to be relatively "safe" to invest my hard-earned dough in. Warren Buffett's (how could I not mention the Sage in a stock-related piece?) Berkshire Hathaway has a sizable share in the company which sounds good enough for me.
Market fluctuation might have driven the stock's price down but the whole day had been full of excitement. What's £53, commission and stamp duty (another instance of good money down Her Majesty's Royal C**t) included, to make one realise what he would love to do for the rest of his life?