It’s official: this newbie investor is an MBA candidate, enrolled in classes, and I have no idea when I’m graduating!
Really. I don’t know. Between the cost of paying the 37.5% federal tax on the tuition AND having a full-time, dead-end, low-paying job, I will see how it goes, then assess how many credits to take this year. Sobering thought; I’m just months away from having three college kids. Obviously, my perpetual state of being under-funded has me racing toward total insanity…by borrowing stacks of gambling chips affectionately known by many as a student loan (just to pay the tax, since it’s a third of my take home pay).
College and grad school will be funded by my wizardry in the stock market. I’m laughing as I type this…on day four of covid quarantine. I’m delirious.
Here’s what I’ve learned. Doing it is the best way to learn. I need to play this selling and buying game on my mini-micro funds level. I’m watching my poorly performing sustainable stocks: Oatly and AllBirds. Oh heck, they are all performing poorly.
Break, it’s time for more cookies. As I write this, I’m in one-bedroom, one-bathroom-by-the-back-door-quarantine, in my own house, since I am the only one in my family who tested positive for COVID with a home test. I really can avoid contact with everyone, except for needing the kitchen, in which case I wear a mask and try to hold my breath for brief fruit or coffee runs. Just now, I put my dinner plate in the bathroom, and it disappeared. I wonder what the state of the rest of the house is? Can’t wait to find out…
They’ve tested. They have re-tested. They are all still negative. They’ve been all over the place: I have not. I’ve tested again but have yet to receive result. I have mild symptoms, thankfully, because I got the damn shots! Hopefully, they stay negative, because they’ve all been hanging out together.
Covid has gotten in the way of one of my strategies to increase income: reviving the party planning side hustle. I had an event this Sunday, and due to Covid, it’s cancelled. The same day the client cancelled, I tested positive. Covid. I know I’m a lucky one, but still…
So, I’ve been keenly watching my stocks on my Robinhood account, which sprinkled cute snowflakes on my screen on New Years Day. Didn’t change the fact that my stocks are not doing well.
Looking at the stocks, it seems like almost everything has hit a tragic illness, too. Somehow, people are making money – how? Since I can’t pay $4000 for one of these magicians’ classes, I have to hunt for clues and crumbs.
I could use my little money to get a feel for selling and buying crypto. The Dogecoin I bought has gone up and down, but not really risen above the price I paid for it. My total return on that DOGE is -16.1%. Ouch.
My Ethereum currently is giving me -0.5%. I’ve lost 51 cents, so it’s killing me less than the others. I think the next time either goes above the price I paid for it, I will sell it. Then I will hope it dives, and I’ll buy it again. IS THIS WHAT I’M SUPPOSED TO DO?? I’ll be sure to report how this goes for me, and again, I’m glad I only have a couple hundred in this, or I’d be crying.
I’m really wondering how long to wait before I get rid of my Oatly. Will it ever rise to the price I paid for it? I’ve lost 49.5% on Oatly.
AllBirds, my first experience buying in on an IPO, is stubbornly hovering at almost exactly what I paid for it: I’ve made 30 cents. What do two very long red candlesticks after a short red one mean???? None overlapping. That’s a steep drop, all’s I know! My newbie investor magic 8 ball says to hold on. Robinhood notes that “Analyst Ratings” say to not sell, but to buy or hold.
Zoom return is -15%, Nintendo -2.23%. Wow, I know NOTHING haha! I only know not to move.
I thought I had a good idea there with the Allbirds and the Oatly (Starbucks’ Oat milk supplier, how could that go wrong, except they are way overpriced at the grocery store)…sustainable stocks and a future super-crop…but maybe that’s not a good gauge. I’ll have to research how to actually make money on anything remotely responsible. I have one stock I’m watching.
Also, and on the same self-led crash-course investing note, I’m still learning about reading Candlestick patterns, whether they still count in this ever speeding up world and market or not, I think understanding them is going to be important to winning at stocks. Tell me I’m wrong, and why, if you like, nice comments only because this is a learning environment.
First, I have to get through this bizarre Covid experience where my family is all living on the other side of the wall, FaceTiming me to watch a movie simultaneously. I’m so truly thankful to be vaccinated and only having the mildest of cases.
On deck for January:
Add at least two events to my side-hustle calendar before the end of January (event date doesn’t count, just date booking confirmed).
Win at the other numbers game I’m new to: auditions. Gonna get one booked.
Post weekly.
Make money with stocks, to end with any amount greater than zero is all I need for January.
Learn about “responsible” stocks and gold.
Kate Murray 