All things STOCKS

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) is off 12% today. Nearing the 52 week low. Just reported results pretty much in line with expectations. Actually a little better. Majority of analyst are calling for 15-20% increase from here. Still, there’s a 50x plus P/E.

Put/call ratio is really high. Stock price is maybe due to start trending higher unless these bearish options buyers have it figured out.
Have owned it. It's all o e the place. I've had robotic surgery several times in the last few years. Last thing I ask is the name of the equipment. I'm not sure 50x is too high, but I'll wait to buy.
 
Have owned it. It's all o e the place. I've had robotic surgery several times in the last few years. Last thing I ask is the name of the equipment. I'm not sure 50x is too high, but I'll wait to buy.

I’d like to see a graph or chart of their multiple over the last 15 years or so. I don’t recall ever seeing it not sky high. I’ve never owned it directly. Today’s drop is enticing.
 
For the love of God stop buying tech and short the f out of the big names in the short term. We are in for a world of hurt in the next two weeks, imo.
 
Everything you guys said makes sense so thank you. I might be best off investing it long term and not using the money to build. I’d want to wait to build until the market flips and the prices on things subside substantially anyway. I just know this is a big opportunity for me and I don’t want to mess it up. I feel like I can’t trust a lot of financial people right now because they only care about getting their pay. They don’t care if it makes money or not because they still get their 1-3%. I just don’t know where to turn to get real advice that will benefit me without someone having an agenda or motive behind what they’re telling me to do.
 
Everything you guys said makes sense so thank you. I might be best off investing it long term and not using the money to build. I’d want to wait to build until the market flips and the prices on things subside substantially anyway. I just know this is a big opportunity for me and I don’t want to mess it up. I feel like I can’t trust a lot of financial people right now because they only care about getting their pay. They don’t care if it makes money or not because they still get their 1-3%. I just don’t know where to turn to get real advice that will benefit me without someone having an agenda or motive behind what they’re telling me to do.

You can go to a financial advisor. Just confirm that they are acting in a fiduciary capacity. 1% isn’t unreasonable.
 
You can go to a financial advisor. Just confirm that they are acting in a fiduciary capacity. 1% isn’t unreasonable.
The 1% I don’t mind- it was the 3% that I thought was too high and the financial advisors I talked to said they get their money no matter what, which scares me a bit because to me it seems like they just put you in something that makes the most money for them. The one guy told me depending on what he invests in he could get anywhere from 1-3% and of course he was pushing for the 3% option.
 
The 1% I don’t mind- it was the 3% that I thought was too high and the financial advisors I talked to said they get their money no matter what, which scares me a bit because to me it seems like they just put you in something that makes the most money for them. The one guy told me depending on what he invests in he could get anywhere from 1-3% and of course he was pushing for the 3% option.

Which is why you want a fiduciary. They must tell you if they will be taking a commission on top of a flat percent of the assets that they will be managing.

I don’t know if Schwab would agree to be a fiduciary, but they can give advice if you have an account there and would rather not pick investments by yourself. They have their own ETFs which have low cost fees (which they must disclose). The funds publish their management fees.
 
As I flesh out my dividend-focused portfolio, a handful of ETFs have caught my eye as ways to broaden my coverage while still generating dividends. SCHD seems to be the crowd favorite on another forum I read, and appears reasonable in terms of the expenses they take off the top. The plan is to buy a bit each month and keep it on DRIP (while I throw the rest of my monthly set-aside into single stocks).

Do y'all think this is a solid way to go, or should I instead look at some more growth oriented ETFs while I keep diversifying the dividend-bearers through individual stocks?

Background: Nearing 40, have a Roth IRA as well as a solid defined-benefit pension...this taxable account started as a hobby/"beer, fishing, and ammo money in retirement income" late last year. If it grows beyond that, awesome...but I'm not necessarily needing to strike gold with my taxable hobby account.
 
As I flesh out my dividend-focused portfolio, a handful of ETFs have caught my eye as ways to broaden my coverage while still generating dividends. SCHD seems to be the crowd favorite on another forum I read, and appears reasonable in terms of the expenses they take off the top. The plan is to buy a bit each month and keep it on DRIP (while I throw the rest of my monthly set-aside into single stocks).

Do y'all think this is a solid way to go, or should I instead look at some more growth oriented ETFs while I keep diversifying the dividend-bearers through individual stocks?

Background: Nearing 40, have a Roth IRA as well as a solid defined-benefit pension...this taxable account started as a hobby/"beer, fishing, and ammo money in retirement income" late last year. If it grows beyond that, awesome...but I'm not necessarily needing to strike gold with my taxable hobby account.

I’m not sure on everything you’ve asked. Specifically I’m not certain at what point in a cycle is ideal to add growth equities. But certainly at your age it is very wise to invest steadily EVERY month instead of trying to time markets. These pull backs are actually advantageous to those consistently averaging in as more shares are bought when their prices fall.

I will say that with a Roth, it is a good idea to load it up with high quality and/or high yielding securities. When speculating inside of a Roth you’ll get no tax loss benefits with the bad investments that tank. Conversely, the investments inside a Roth wrap around that throw off income won’t create a tax liability. Maxing out every Roth opportunity before putting money anywhere else is probably the best investment approach possible for almost everybody.

You also mentioned “diversifying” by adding individual stocks. You’re better off using broad market ETFs for diversification while using individual stocks to concentrate more of your net worth by targeting certain companies. But you can also use specific types of ETFs to focus on a specific idea. For example Lockheed (LMT) and Raytheon (RTX) are great companies if wanting to concentrate assets in the defense industry but there is much less risk gaining exposure through securities such as iShares (BlackRock) US Aerospace and Defense (ITA), Invesco Aerospace and Defense (PPA), and/or SPDR (State Street) Aerospace and Defense (XAR).
 
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I’m not sure on everything you’ve asked. Specifically I’m not certain at what point in a cycle is ideal to add growth equities. But certainly at your age it is very wise to invest steadily EVERY month instead of trying to time markets. These pull backs are actually advantageous to those consistently averaging in as more shares are bought when their prices fall.

I will say that with a Roth, it is a good idea to load it up with high quality and/or high yielding securities. When speculating inside of a Roth you’ll get no tax loss benefits with the bad investments that tank. Conversely, the investments inside a Roth wrap around that throw off income won’t create a tax liability. Maxing out every Roth opportunity before putting money anywhere else is probably the best investment approach possible for almost everybody.

You also mentioned “diversifying” by adding individual stocks. You’re better off using broad market ETFs for diversification while using individual stocks to concentrate more of your net worth by targeting certain companies. But you can also use specific types of ETFs to focus on a specific idea. For example Lockheed (LMT) and Raytheon (RTX) are great companies if wanting to concentrate assets in the defense industry but there is much less risk gaining exposure through securities such as iShares (BlackRock) US Aerospace and Defense (ITA), Invesco Aerospace and Defense (PPA), and/or SPDR (State Street) Aerospace and Defense (XAR).

Thank you for the detailed and insightful reply! Like you alluded to, I'm not necessarily trying in earnest to time the market to strike it rich...just buying where I see potential value (and in sectors/industries that I at least somewhat understand what makes them tick or cease to tick) along and along each month.

I like the idea you mentioned of more focused ETFs...most of the ones on my (relatively dim) radar are broader index type funds, but the focused funds example you gave sound like they're great to split the difference between individual stocks and the index funds.

Right now I'm in a little over 20 different individual stocks, plus SCHD. My basic process is, take my monthly funding of my hobby account and look for opportunities within the group I already own in order to build depth. I try to avoid buying at 52-week highs, and if one is down at a 52-week low I dig in to try and figure out why it is before I press the shiny 'buy' button. Right now the only one I'm significantly down on is MMM, but despite their current troubles I'm holding for the long term.
 
Thank you for the detailed and insightful reply! Like you alluded to, I'm not necessarily trying in earnest to time the market to strike it rich...just buying where I see potential value (and in sectors/industries that I at least somewhat understand what makes them tick or cease to tick) along and along each month.

I like the idea you mentioned of more focused ETFs...most of the ones on my (relatively dim) radar are broader index type funds, but the focused funds example you gave sound like they're great to split the difference between individual stocks and the index funds.

Right now I'm in a little over 20 different individual stocks, plus SCHD. My basic process is, take my monthly funding of my hobby account and look for opportunities within the group I already own in order to build depth. I try to avoid buying at 52-week highs, and if one is down at a 52-week low I dig in to try and figure out why it is before I press the shiny 'buy' button. Right now the only one I'm significantly down on is MMM, but despite their current troubles I'm holding for the long term.

When looking at ETFs the main things that I consider are the management fees and the size of the fund. Funds that are too small are often folded into other ETFs and will lose their theme. I like to go with the more established ETF “brands” as well. Especially Schwab, Vanguard, iShares/BlackRock, SPDRs/State Street, PowerShares/Invesco, and T. Rowe Price. TROW seems more focused on traditional mutual funds rather than ETFs though. Direxion seems to be more trader oriented than buy and hold type of investments. I think that e-Trade will probably expand their offerings since they are now a subsidiary of Morgan-Stanley. Ameritrade was bought by Schwab but will still operate independently for another year or two. Ameritrade might have not really gotten into developing their own funds anyway.

I suppose that Fidelity has their own funds, but I’m just not a big fan. Possibly because those others are publicly traded companies (or in Vanguard’s case a mutual company that is owned by the customers) while Fidelity is privately owned by the Johnson family. I feel like the others are held at a higher standard and they are more transparent.
 
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Welp, we've round-tripped back to the late February Russian invasion low. Nasdaq Composite actually closed just below it today.

Will be interesting to see how the market responds in coming days. The market has expended quite a bit of energy over the last 4 sessions; I could see a bounce here.
 
Welp, we've round-tripped back to the late February Russian invasion low. Nasdaq Composite actually closed just below it today.

Will be interesting to see how the market responds in coming days. The market has expended quite a bit of energy over the last 4 sessions; I could see a bounce here.
This won't help.

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Why oh why doesn't doesn't Boeing fire Dave Calhoun? I bought near the bottom yesterday, but might as well flush that money down the drain if Calhoun stays in charge.
Another American company that lives in the past.
 

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