COVID-19 - Bad Situation, Best Time for Long Term Investing

I started seriously investing back in 2008 during the great recession. With basically no real money to lose all of the chaos, noise and constant news headlines grabbed my attention. I had always been into stocks and even had some jobs where I did pretty well with stock options. One of the companies I worked for back in 2004 was one of the best performers on the NASDQ. All I did was put as much as I could into our employee stock plan and crush it at my sales role. That turned into a lot of money. So much so that at 28 I was able to buy a gorgeous condo in downtown San Diego looking right into Petco Park with direct views of the San Diego Harbor and the Coronado bridge. I paid $740K for it. It was 2004 and right at the end of the housing bubble. At the time I was pretty full of myself. I clearly should have given a passing thought about what the hell I was doing. But alas, you know how that story ends….I lost it all and had to short sell the place. That really burned, the views were amazing and it was a great property on so many levels.

But, I was young and pretty good at selling enterprise technology so I basically shrugged it off, learned a lesson on bubbles and pressed forward. When 2008 rolled around I again was making a decent amount of money at my job but this time I just had it all in cash. I remember watching Jim Cramer on Mad Money and just getting drawn in. I began reading his and any other book on investing I could get my hands on. I guess you could say I became obsessed. Given I was always in high tech those were the companies I focused on. I didn’t invest for over a year as I was just soaking up info while things were still dicey, but I knew enough to know that opportunity was staring me in the face Things would improve or the entire economy would cease to exist and any money I lost in the stock market wouldn't wouldn't matter anyways. Plus, I was also reading a lot about Warren Buffett and his methods. One of the simplest and according to him most effective, was nothing more than thinking positive and being optimistic about long term prospects for the U.S.A,

One clear advantage I had was I understood how tech companies made their money. I was on the front lines selling and could decipher what was real and what was B.S. I was learning and mainly relied on the analysts homework in terms of valuation and then used my knowledge of what really drove revenue to pick my stocks. I’d given enough BS sales forecasts of my own and knew first hand to smell an executive that was covering up short falls with industry jargon or other buzz words. Even still, I’d get burned from time to time in the short run. All part of the learning experience.

I took a long term approach and looking back it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. The relatively small amount I started with is now not so small. I’m not buying second homes on tropical islands, flying private jets or driving a Bugatti but all things considered I’ve done well by most standards.

Fast forward to today….COVID-19 is a true human tragedy. Many people will get sick, some will die and even more will lose everything they have. Watching all of those scenarios unfold on the news has been devastating.

However, what we all need to do is press on. This website is my way of connecting with people committed to pressing on. My intention here is to teach everything I’ve ever learned about investing in technology stocks and crypto currencies to anyone interested. Even more than the great recession this will prove to be the biggest opportunity of most of our lifetimes and I'd like to take others with me this time. I want to share what stocks I’m buying, what prices I’m buying at and when I’m selling. I’m asking everyone out there interested in the stock market to do me a favor. Follow me, analyze my stock picks, debate me and grow with me. This is the time, follow me on this blog for daily updates and let’s make some money out of this disaster shall we?

Excited for the Journey, Join me....

Ryan