I watch stocks almost every day. (Sundays happen.) But, I rarely buy or sell, as frequent readers know. My style of investing is basically Long Term Buy and HOLD (LTBH), which in some cases takes decades. (Come on, GERN and MVIS; you’ve made progress. Now, offer your goods and services for real, not just as temporary funding plays.) I also rarely buy or sell because: 1) I haven’t had the money with which to buy, and 2) selling wouldn’t generate enough cash to make a difference. The strategy worked for decades until about a decade ago, ironically, just as I published a book about personal finance by request, Dream. Invest. Live. Last week, I received the funds from selling my house (the epic story is in this post: My Money (And Almost My House) Lost In The Wire) This week, I begin deciding if I will buy stocks (probably), which ones (that’s what this post is about, and when (even I don’t know that. Here’s my process this time.

For about a year or two, I’ve been doing light research into companies that interest me and posting the results here and as YouTube videos. This seems like a good time to review that list for candidates. As usual, my goal is to find publicly traded companies, with positively disruptive goods or services, that are possibly overlooked and hence possibly undervalued. In my amateur investing career (I am NOT an investment professional. I’m just a guy that buys and sells stocks occasionally.) that strategy has frequently meant buying stocks that others considered laughable. Fancy coffee from Seattle? Ha! People wanting to connect with people online? Well, you’ve got mail. Animated movies made with computers? That’s a story for toys. 

Has it worked lately? Nope. That may be a sequel because the investment world has changed dramatically. Guys in a crowd waving paper, making hand gestures, and shouting sounds like a weird movie instead of an investing mechanism.

So, here’s the list of symbols representing the companies I’ve described in my One Company One Story video series. (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ-B92PThxslzt52WKVJTablPkNN8CEsF)

AMSC
BYND
GOEV
QBTS
EVTL
FATE
FREY
GAIA
GERN
GMGMF
LUNR
LFLY
LCTX
MVIS
RRGB
RKLB
SLDP
TGCB
LLAP

As silly as it may seem, my first step is to see if the companies are still in business. Startups frequently don’t get much further than the Start line. The list is already shortened as SOLO was bought out. 

In no particular order, I then check on the company’s size. Too small may be too bad and sad. Too large and it may be too late to catch that ride. Of course, I thought it was too late to buy into Facebook, Google, Costco, …

And there goes EVTL, GMGMF, LFLY. They may still be good companies, but their total value is about the price of some homes. As for the other side of things, GERN and RKLB are at about $2B, which is usually my upper entry point, but I like what both companies are doing and think biotech and space have a large potential.

And then, there were 16.

How about price movement? Anyone drop more than 80%? I held AOL as it fell over 60%, and watched it rise again, but 80% in one year is too risky for me.

And there goes GOEV. MVIS was second worst. It is also one of my longest holdings and the one deserving of its own book, but I’d only write or read that if I knew how it would end. I HOLD it, and may buy more because I am such a fan of the technology, but none of their CEOs have impressed me. They are compensated well, so maybe that’s a success from at least one perspective.

Good to see that five have had price growth in the last twelve months, and many have had changes that are within my expectations for startups that haven’t started yet.

Two, AMSC and QBTS more than doubled. AMSC’s story is also worth a book. I owned shares for a long time, but had to sell back when I had that need and that opportunity. Get back in? Not unless they’ve erected a barrier to entry in superconduction of renewable grid operations. QBTS is an interesting play as quantum computing is advancing as AI advances. I have yet to think through their mutual influences.

And then, there were 14.

Is anyone making money?

BTW Thanks, Google Finance.

FATE and FREY lost more than the others, by percent, as I pull data from the screen. Tiny startups can have phenomenal increases because making $1 one year and $100 the next year is a great percentage, but not much when compared to real world expenses. Still, it is entertaining to see GERN’s over 1,000% increase even though they haven’t received commercial approval from the FDA.

Interesting (real time reaction): Both QBTS and GERN had positive price growth and positive revenue growth. The rest had one or the other. 

Have they gone anywhere?

I ask this one because some of these stocks are familiar, because I researched them before, and even owned some for a while. GAIA is fine, but the company is hardly disruptive. I don’t expect it to grow much. I mentioned AMSC above. Maybe I’ll research them later, again; but they haven’t made much news lately despite have an early technical advantage. RRGB is an old, familiar holding, but again, I don’t know what will make them stand out. 

While I’m reviewing my recollections, BYND seems to be having trouble, lately. 

That brings the list down to QBTS, GERN, LUNR, LCTX, SLDP, and LLAP. I already own GERN and LCTX. Both are leading edge biotechs with near-term potential, pending FDA approval, of course. LUNR and LLAP are commercial space opportunities, which intrigue me because that’s what I went to college for, worked in, and was too early to benefit from in my career. QBTS, as I wrote above, is interesting because of their work in quantum computing. AI news may be allowing QBTS to make advances while being overlooked. SLDP’s name points to why I think this generation of EVs will be eclipsed by new battery technologies, particularly solid rather than liquid batteries. 

I’m pleased with this list. Even as I typed this I paused as I considered them and how they’d fit into my portfolio. I already have GERN and LCTX (and MVIS). More of the familiar? Diversification is good. Was there. Lost that. Looking forward to getting it back in a significant sense. Balance the portfolio, or concentrate on expectations of near-term gains? 

I don’t know, yet. I could conclude this process in one evening as a stunt; but, as much as I appreciate writing about such things, I’m not going to treat investing as a stunt. I’ll probably decide and act within a week or two. I tend to post such reports on InvestorVillage.com, SiliconInvestor.com, as well as Twitter (won’t call it X), LinkedIn, and with side notes on Facebook (where it is considered boring and somewhat tacky.) I also see the new funds as a safety net, living expenses, and a way to get things my new old big tiny house can benefit from: new porches, a washer/dryer, a fridge that doesn’t whine as this one does; and a few things like a computer from this decade, a replacement camera, and maybe upgraded components to my thirty-year-old bicycle. It carried me across North America. That’s Long Term Buy and Hold!

Stay tuned. Life ain’t dull.

Hmm. One friend made sure to tell me to ‘not spend it all in one place.’ How many shares of MVIS would that be? That certainly wouldn’t be dull.

• GERN $3.78 5/20/2024
• LCTX $1.04 5/22/2024
• LCTX $1.04 5/23/2024
• LCTX $1.01 5/24/2024
• QBTS $1.35 5/28/2024
• QBTS $1.52 5/29/2024
• QBTS $1.42 5/30/2024
• QBTS $1.32 5/31/2024
• LUNR $5.06 6/3/2024
• LUNR $4.86 6/4/2024
• SLDP $1.68 6/5/2024
• SLDP $1.67 6/6/2024
• SLDP $1.68 6/7/2024