Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

In this Discussion

Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.

    Support MFO

  • Donate through PayPal

worst investments ever



http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=707386

what are some of your stories? probably involving 2008 crash?[where I lost ~ 50% since that was my 2nd yr of investing but luckily kept at it and gained it all back]

Comments

  • Webvan and Washington Mutual!
  • edited July 2015
    Corvis!!!!!!!! That was the last time I bought an individual stock. The best lessons are painful and experienced early in life.
  • Corvair !
    Derf
  • That's exactly what it was, a bunch of hot air. But, a priceless life lesson.
  • So many to choose from....don't know if I can just pick one...Bear Stearns?
  • I generally don't discuss funds I've owned, but it's worth making an exception here, because this was a holding I went into with eyes wide open - taking a flyer despite knowing all the strikes against it.

    PBHG Emerging Growth (PBEGX). Managed by Christine Baxter, the 25 year old daughter of the fund family's co-founder (Harold Baxter); a fund family focused on momentum investing (guaranteed to crash and burn at some point) - sort of like Janus on steroids if that was possible; and a fund family just as caught up in the 2003-4 fund scandals as was Janus.

    As this M* column notes, PBHG wasn't well staffed with analysts and had high management turnover including Baxter, who stepped down at the end of 1999 after erratic and underwhelming performance (relatively speaking).

    At least I sold it in early 1999 - on an absolute basis, the fund did great; on a relative basis it underperformed by more than 10%/year for several years (see link on Baxter stepping down).

    Some people go to Vegas; I decided to spend my play money this way.
  • BBRY @ $57...holding as a reminder of how "smart" I am.
  • "Roy Weston", based on a glowing article in the WSJ back in the 90's. Environmental waste disposal for chemicals and other nasty stuff. You never heard of it? Try this link:

    "Trust: We build long-term trusted client relationships"

    "Performance: Over 55 years of proven experience"

    "People: Our people make the difference"


    Our Core Values:

    Integrity .. Teamwork .. Focus .. Safety .. Exceptional Quality .. Making a Difference



    Odd... they don't mention bankruptcy in there anywhere...
  • Followed John Deassauer into CPPokphand. Should have been alert when Dessauer said Angelo Mozillo was a fine man running a fine company (Countrywide Credit). I wonder if anyone has done a study of how frequently headlines in the WSJ report dishonesty, fraud, corruption, and other misdeeds; it seems to me that the financial industry is rife with miscreants. But then again, who I am I to judge?
  • "I wonder if anyone has done a study of how frequently headlines in the WSJ report dishonesty, fraud, corruption, and other misdeeds"

    @BenWP- Actually, to my surprise, the WSJ is pretty good about not only reporting but actually doing the hard background spadework to highlight a fair number of what turn out to be fairly major financial shenanigans. Their front-page staff seems, even under Rupert, to have a pretty long leash.
  • I agree with you, Joe. It's not that the Journal hides this stuff, it's how depressing it is to see the negative stuff day after day.
  • My worst investment ever was buying Janus Global Technology around 1997. You know what happened after that...
  • So it was you...
  • Yes, indeed. Guilty as charged...
  • I thought in Vegas (casinos) the ODDS were against you...an experienced Investor ALWAYS has the ODDS in His favor no matter the Type (play) of money
  • edited July 2015
    Glencore.
  • TB - unless the companies are dealing from the bottom of the deck. See: Tyco, Washington Mutual, Worldcom, Enron and on and on and on.
  • edited July 2015
    Mark said:

    TB - unless the companies are dealing from the bottom of the deck. See: Tyco, Washington Mutual, Worldcom, Enron and on and on and on.

    Some worldcom stock certificates are apparently a collector's item.

    http://scripophily.net/worincmcigro1.html

    Scandal-related certificates:
    http://scripophily.net/fraudscandis.html
  • edited August 2015
    I've made many dumb moves. Probably selling a couple beautiful 1-oz K-Rands for about $285 each in 2001 ranks as dumbest. Picked absolute low in the market to unload. "Disinvestment" is a better word in this case.

    Question's not about good investments. But I'd list buying a home, investing with T. Rowe Price and doing a Roth conversion in March 2009 as among the better moves.


Sign In or Register to comment.