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Hey does anyone buy their own individual bonds or commodities?

Commodities, yes.
I follow the Freedom Formula:
Au + Ag + Cu + Pb

Get your material commodities, in your hand, in your house, and in your howitzer.

LL, sorry for the delay in replying! I just saw tihs now.

Interesting! So you do trade commodities. I've never done it yet, but have been curious. Gold seems overvalued now, so its not the right time to get in, I think. Its hard to say and I guess I have a lot of research to do.

FYI if anyone reads this in later days / months / years, I have now begun to buy and trade my own bonds. Its complicated and I'm still taking little steps...this is actually a bad time to do it because interest rates are so low that they will eventually go up and bond values will decrease. But I'm only buying certain bonds where you can still get great deals. For example, some bailed out money-center banks and other companies people have been negative on have given great bond deals. These are companies I personally don't see going out of business anytime soon but thats a tough bet to take (I've convinced myself I know the Democrats strategy). Maybe in a few years when interest rates are high and bonds are undervalued we can return to this topic

PS - yup

So, I'm not going to bore anybody or look for any sympathy, but 2012 and 2013 have been two pretty terrible years for me and my family money-wise, and it has not been easy. Long story short, I'm "surviving". Though not without some pain.

Anyway, some good news happened this week as the stock market continues to turn around.

When things collapsed in 2007, I found myself at probably the best age possible for longterm investing since I was 26 years old. I had previously invested a nice little chunk of my 401(k) in Fannie Mae, which dropped from about $34.00 a share (when I bought in) to less than $1.00 a share!. Between that and two other stocks dropping (Countrywide being another) and my mutual funds dropping, I was feeling the pain like everyone else, but to a much lesser degree since I wasn't all that heavily invested in the market. So I did something crazy: I went all or nothing and invested 90% of my 401(k) in the stock market with individual stocks in March 2008. Which happened to be the very bottom of the market. Over the years, I've continued to invest in stocks and also expanded to various bonds and other things. No mutual funds though--I don't trust them anymore.

Anyway, I ended up buying additional shares of Fannie Mae since it dropped to about $0.25. It's all my 401(k) money, and my retirement is a long, long way off. And it sat there, at about $0.25 for six long years. For me to break even, I needed it to hit about $1.00.

Until these last few weeks. And now suddenly its at $1.70!!! In the last (5) business days, I went from being down significantly, to breaking even and then making a good $6,000! Hopefully it continues to go up! After some sell-off, I now own about $3,500 shares.

I guess timing + patience really is all you need. Oh, and selling at the right time. That's something I'll have to keep thinking about. Too bad I can't access it without penalty until 2041.

Congrats, Cobie.

I'm pretty much in the dark about investing, even though I've taken classes over the years. My "get rich" philosophy is basically to live each day as if it were my last and try not to worry about things I can't control. I'd like to take a more active hand in finances, but, absent some real knowledge and confidence in them, I figure I'm better off leaving to the experts.

Hey, at least I don't play the lottery.

Your philosophy, my friend, is sound.

I've learned that when I start thinking along the lines of "get rich quick" or "big pay day", it only leads to disappointment. Investing, like all things, needs to be steady and slow, and can't be something you think about everyday.

Things do shoot up, as you just showed. The problem is you won't know when.

Btw, Fannie Mae, the aforementioned stock, doubled again yesterday. Man, I'm glad I didn't sell it all!

Damn, I had considered buying that years ago and again recently. But I'm just too scared to buy anything.

So big update in case any one cares. I bought back in on Fannie Mae some months back when it dropped again to around $1.10 and let it sit. In the last few days it's been soaring and finally today hit $6.35 a share.

As luck would have it, I was at my computer when a report was released at 12:00 PM EST which said the Federal Government would discontinue it within the next few years. Immediately, without hesitation, I sold all of my stock within 5 minutes. Within that 5 minutes, it had already dropped to $6.01.

By 3:00 PM EST today, it is already down to $3.38 a share and dropping. I think this could be the death knell.

All in all, I was able to make a handsome profit on Fannie Mae! As I may have mentioned, it's all in my 401(k), so I can't access it for 30 years. This was another $18,000--by far the most I've ever made in a single day of trading stocks--on top of the previous $6,000.

But all said and done I made about $24,000+ on the stock! Now to figure out what to do with it for the next 30 years...

sweet. Let's hang in 2044.

*grandpa ballers*

we'll still be kickin dark lord butt.

tossing off quotes like "EAT IT GRANDSON!"

Congratulations, Cobie. It truly is nice to hear about somebody having a financial windfall.

Your post also shows, I think, the value of being financially educated and making smart choices.

Thanks HWW, your kind words are much appreciated.

It's funny--I never took a business or economics course in my life and in college I was a history major (followed by grad school for history). I come from a blue collar family with parents who are far too nervous about the stock market and things like that. The riskiest thing they have is a savings account.

But a "financial education" as you put it is useful wherever you get it, and for me it was on the job. I've spent 10 years analyzing insurance, financial institutions, secondary markets and other things so I'm confident about those investments. Some things I just don't understand like technology, so I stay away from those markets (even when it appears Apple, Google, Facebook, etc. are making boatloads of money). If you don't understand what you're investing in, that's never a good place to be.

Also, after this "win", I'll be keeping my head down for a bit. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking its time to move on to the next gamble.

And Peebs, 2044 is going to be THE YEAR for aging dudes to party like rockstars!

Congrats, Cobie!

Like you, I, too, was a blue collar kid who had absolutely no exposure to the concept of investing before the last couple years or so. In a sense, I'm super happy that I started paying attention in the midst of a bull market, as it's completely buoyed my confidence watching those funds grow. On the other... I just keep waiting for that other shoe to drop.

As you mentioned on another thread, though - especially with regard to retirement funds - it's really the long game that counts.

Catch you cats in 2044... martinis are on me!

2044. I'll be 89. I'll take you guys skydiving.

Or maybe we'll have real flight rings by then.

I'll be 67 .. still a spring chicken!

No sleep til Denny's 2044!

I'll be 81. I'll join LT in skydiving.

I'll be 56. Will I be old enough to go skydiving?

Awesome story, Cobie. Really glad to hear about your success in the stock market! A lot of knowledge and some savvy timing really make a big difference. Oh, and patience - I think you first bought those shares way back in 2007 right? Awesome, what a great payoff