Replies to post #244941 on Wave Systems Corp. (fka WAVXQ)

[bar1080]

What I've observed here are investors doing everything in the worst possible way. That's not news to Wavoids, of course, or to quite a few IHUBBers who are similarly off kilter with their frenetic trading and crap shooting with garbage stocks. Wavoids, a slightly different breed, have a friendly home on IHUB.

Note that I mod IHUB's two Berkshire Hathaway boards. For decades I've been a follower of Buffett, his partner Charlie Munger, and especially John Bogle, the inventor of Index funds long ago. I read a lot about investing, and I've done well with my money.

I'm especially interested in human shortcomings that trip up investors. In that way WAVX is a mother-lode!

Tax planning and loss harvesting are necessary tools for investors. Later, savvy estate planning is essential to enable wealth to be passed to future generations. On other investing groups such as SA, those subjects come up all the time. IHUB "players" think only for the moment.

In my case I own a portfolio of blue chip stocks, index funds, bonds (corp and munis) and some other things even including EE saving bonds. Priority One is to avoid the avoidable... scams, high fees and taxation. Every year I dump all losers to grab the $3,000 benefit, carrying over to the next year if needed.

I rarely sell my winners but when I do I use my rare losses to offset those gains 100%. I plan to die with some stocks I've owned for decades. Smart tax planning is to die with gains, giving my heirs a stepped up basis. I've never known anyone to die with huge tax losses, but that's going occur to some people here. They certainly should talk to a good tax planner ASAP.

[bar1080]

Another WAVX tragedy. Was skimming some early posts here last night and saw references to affinity promotion. Believers would not only go all-in themselves but would pump WAVX to family, friends, co-workers etc. On a different stock, I remember a guy who sucked his boss into a garbage penny.

Worst was a true believer who pressured his mother-in-law into sinking a large portion of her savings in a stock... months before the SEC cracked down on it.

One of my top investing rules: Never talk up investments to people you know. If the stock soars you probably won't get much credit, and if it fails you'll never hear the end of it. I think investors have finally figured out this rule for themselves. Generally investors have been getting smarter (after market crashes in 2000 and 2008).

WAVX never had a wide following, certainly not among professional investors, but whole families and work places were likely damaged by it.