Yep. I bought more stock. But the markets had a terrible week? Rephrase that. Stocks are on sale! So I bought some more, but I also did more research, reflected on history, have painful reminders of catching falling knives, and am glad to buy at discounts. Sounds dull because it is about finance? Trust me. It hasn’t been dull for me. Here’s an update on what, how, and why.

Regular readers know I compile a semi-annual report about my portfolio. (Semi Annual Exercise Mid 2024) This year has been energized because I sold my house, which gave me money, which gave me money that is partly going into the stock market. (Time To Buy But What) Most of the money remains as cash. I’m just not that impulsive.

But I’ve been watching the markets as usual. Even when I am not trading, I watch because it is a real reality show with real consequences. Earlier this week there was news that startled lots of investors. It seemed based on nervousness rather than specific news. The upsets were in the mega-cap stocks like MSFT. My much smaller companies (hey, I own a tiny tiny slice of each – so, mine, mine!) had their stocks affected, but the companies were doing what they’d been doing. That suggest their stocks should too. It doesn’t work that way, of course. Ah, but it was also earnings week for most of them.

News? Not really. Minor disappointments. The perpetuation of hope. Patience continues to be exercised. But their prices changed as skittish investors skittered away because others were skittering away in other companies. Yo. Dudes. Nothing changed, except the price. I bought more.

I did not, however, buy more of everything. At this point conservative investors (not the political kind) may moan about ‘here he goes again’, while more speculative investors may brush off my old style of Long Term Buy and Hold. I figure that puts me in the middle.

I hadn’t suddenly found a new investment, so I reviewed my existing investments. Recent history and fresh earnings reports told me that nothing much had changed. They’re mostly startups, and they’re trying to start up. Always chaotic.

Allow me to review (partly for my own records) how each looks, kinda like a mini-update to my Semi-Annual Exercise.

GERN – They won FDA approval, but the stock hasn’t moved. But, they also are slowly rolling out their commercialization scheme. Progress. Slow, but progress. But also my largest holding. Mathematically they may be the best near-term ROI. In terms of divesification though, I set them aside.

LCTX – Another biotech working towards approval, but that’s a ways off. In the meantime, their stock languishes, but I have a personal limit on how many shares I hold. I’ve maxed out on LCTX.

XOS – They’re where my SOLO shares went. Management has yet to impress me or the market. I’ll give them more time.

WNDW – Management had a major mess that they ‘should’ have recovered from, but evidently, not yet. The company, not just the stock, the company is worth less than some mansions. The stock trades so infrequently that a days volume is a few thousand dollars. I’m sure some independent retail businesses are busier.

LUNR – My space investment, and while I am a fan (my degree is in Aerospace and Ocean Engineering), I consider them risky enough to hold but not add too. The next success may mean I can’t afford to buy in, and that would be good news too. But not now.

SLDP – Really liking owning stock in a solid battery company. I’ll hold, but Samsung’s news seems to have dampened enthusiasm for small companies as if a mega-corp has established dominance.

That leaves the two I bought.

MVIS – The electro-optical component company that has been trying to start up for about thirty years. Yep. They sucked me in again. My history with them is long (follow the hashtag https://trimbathcreative.net/tag/mvis/). Considering my increased portfolio, it felt like a good time to buy more, almost as a balancing issue, but also because I continue to hold optimism for their technology. Their management, well…they’ve yet to find anyone who can get this motor started.

QBTS – Talk about a technology that has great potential, is tough for analysts to analyze, and it cheap – and it got cheaper, at least since I bought it last time. Going to my max number of shares was an easy decision. Why’s the stock down? Analysts understand steadily higher profits. Technologists understand that technology is rarely steady. Leaps happen. Sometimes the leaps are in the science, or the manufacturing, or in the customer base as customers realize why they need it. Once upon a time I had FFIV. Paraphrasing their CEO (the best I’ve met), sales took off when the word about the product got past the gatekeepers of purchasing agents and got to the IT staffs that said they needed to have this, even if management didn’t understand it. I can see that happening with QBTS. I hope. Maxed out.

Through all of this, I am fortunate enough to have over four decades of experience. I’ve cut myself on falling knives before. Falling knives are stocks that are falling. Trying to catch them on the way down can be painful. Conventional wisdom is to let the knife fall, then pick it up. In the reality of the stock market, stocks stop falling somewhere before they hit and stop. They bounce in mid-air. I bought MVIS circa 2000 after the stock fell 20%. Split-adjusted, it peaked at about $500. It ‘bottomed’ at under $30. I bought more. This week’s purchase was at $0.92-ish.

Meanwhile, circa 2000, I bought FFIV after it fell from about $60 to about $20, about where I bought it, and sunk to about $3. Somewhere I bought more. When it hit about $40 about ten years later I sold and made a large downpayment on my first real home. FFIV is trading at about$189 as I type. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it takes time. Sometimes I wonder how my life would’ve been if I’d held, but that would’ve required living in a rental owned by rats and occupied by black mold. Decisions and choices.