Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRK.B)

[bar1080]

Interesting too that people who've taken college investing courses do worse than people who've never taken one (according to one study a few years ago).

Why? Perhaps because "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." Or maybe because those who didn't study investing stuck with conservative bank deposits and such. As you can see on my "You Suck" chart, banks aren't terrible investments especially in bear markets.

--
I've never seen any research on how "first stocks" work out for investors. That would be a great topic for a study. Even when I was in college long ago, I was picking up on the idea that older investors were better investors. That was back in the days when you could sit in a brokers office and watch customers trade. There was very little BS. Everyone knew who had money and who didn't. Commissions were high and there was virtually no such thing as day trading.

Many of the old geezers were quick to offer help to new investors like me. I remember one 90 year old man who passed around this brokerage statement... showing $3 million in blue chips. Tons of Xerox and Polaroid and IBM. That was like 45 years ago!

When I began investing, many of the older investors had started before '29! Now THEY had stories.