Believe it or not, I am getting cranked up to begin the Saulocratic method of investing. This is a big step for me since it gives me a structure that I didn’t have before, sort of coming out of the dark.
But I went to that paper site to print out some graph paper and I couldn’t find the graph paper you listed. Can you give me another clue as to where on that site I could find the paper that I need to begin my charting?
Thanks,
Mykie
PS so far, I am up 12% this year (12.08% XIRR year to date…whatever XIRR means). This is at least double what Morgan Stanley was able to do for me in 2013, (when the S&P was up >30%) and 6 times better than their 5 year average. I know the year isn’t over and it could all go to hell in a handbasket but even if it does, I’m sure I can and will beat whatever MS would have done for me. Motley Fool has it right, “No one can manage your money better than you can.”
It’s very gratifying to be able to improve the returns, feel confident in what I am doing and the bulk of that credit goes to you, this board that you started, and Motley Fool. My biggest stocks are not exactly your biggest stocks (and I’m not performing as well as you are either), but yours are certainly holding down their share of the gains and more importantly, you are teaching me how to do this on my own. You’re like the beacon of light that leads the way. I’m not normally a gusher but I do want you to know just how impactful your assistance is and how much I appreciate it. Like those old Virginia Slim ads, “I’ve come a long way baby” and you can lay claim to much of the credit.
But I went to that paper site to print out some graph paper and I couldn’t find the graph paper you listed. Can you give me another clue as to where on that site I could find the paper that I need to begin my charting?
Hi Mykie, First of all, thanks for all the nice things you said about me and the board. If you are up 12% so far this year, you are doing very well indeed. Congratulations.
On the list going down the left side of the page called Categories, the fourth category is called Logarithmic Graph Paper. Click on that.
You get a page of different log papers, four across the page. There are a bunch of them. In about the 17th line, 4th one across the page, you’ll see “Semi-log paper, 70 divisions, 5th, 10th Accent by 1-Cycle”. Click on that and you’ll get a PDF that you can print out. That’s the one I use. Remember that one page goes from earnings of 10 cents to a $1.00 and corresponding stock prices of $2 to $20, so as prices move up you may have to scotch tape a second page above, running from earnings of $1.00 to $10.00 and prices from $20 to $200. With a stock like BOFI it would all go on the $20 to $200 page and you wouldn’t need the lower page.
If you are up 12% so far this year, you are doing very well indeed
Hi again,
Thanks for the info again on the graph paper.
Since you put a big “IF” in front of my claim, I decided to check again and we have a correction to our performance. We are ahead year to date in both accounts, 8.3% (not 12.03% as originally stated). But 3.4% of the total cash in only hit the account on April 18th so it really hasn’t had a chance to grow much.
Sorry for that but we got quite confused with moving money out of MS, out of Tradeking, out of Vanguard, out of Options Express, depositing money from a China investment pay back and selling some land in Mexico. Whew!!!
I’m pretty sure this number is accurate though like I said, a chunk of it has only been in there for 5 weeks (and that chunk was added into the 12.03% return but not into the starting amount).
Please know that wasn’t an intentional beefing up of my returns…wishful thinking possibly, but not done intentionally.
Mykie
But 3.4% of the total cash in only hit the account on April 18th so it really hasn’t had a chance to grow much.
Mykie, You should adjust when you add money so the money added is as if it was there at the first of the year. You can do that the way I described, by changing the factor. Or you could have taken the percentage you were up on April 18th (say you were up 4.1% on that date, or at 104.1% of where you started), and say you were adding $5700. You could divide 5700 by 1.041 and get $5475.50. If you had invested $5475.50 more on Jan 1st, and it had risen 4.1% it would now be $5700, so you could just add $5475 to your starting amount, put in your $5700 and you haven’t changed anything, and you can just go from there and get accurate percentages (how your investments are doing) for the year, and all points in between.
You can do that the way I described, by changing the factor.
Thanks Saul,
It is truly a romantic story and I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to FINALLY have a true romance, after a divorce and then 39 years of a combination of NOT looking hard for a permanent mate, hardly looking for a permanent mate and then looking hard (the latter effort took about 6 years).
Back to business:
I intend to change the factor but probably will wait to make that calculation towards the end of the year. Every calculation that I make is hard work for me so first my graphing efforts and then bragging efforts.
PS
I sold AFOP when it was $19, for a 5 point gain…for better or for worse. After reading their annual report, I thought they looked too much like a mock USA/Chinese company with a couple of very big customers so those two risks frightened me off. I wouldn’t mind trading them a bit for some fast profits in my IRA but as a long term hold, I got out.