I don't invest in individual stock issues, and I don't "trade." My investments are in mutual funds which I hold for the long term, and some diversified bond holdings for income. But when I really like what a company is doing I sometimes put a little bit of money in it so that I can feel like I'm a part of the company. This is what happened when I bought my Roadster in 2011. It was such an amazing car, and Tesla had just come along with this idea to say NO to gasoline (I hate gasoline) so I put a little bit of money into TSLA when it was around $30 to $35. I also bought some SCTY because I wanted to be a part of the solar revolution, and when Tesla bought Solar City my SCTY shares became a few more shares of TSLA.
Since I don't "trade," and since I bought my shares to "be a part of" the company I didn't look at the stock price. I never had any intention of selling my shares unless the company's philosophy changed or its management disappointed me. Imagine my surprise to see that it's now $1,500, something like 40 times what I paid! Suddenly my position in TSLA is nearly my biggest holding and I'm conflicted:
Maybe it will keep going up and up and up, or maybe the market will decide it's overvalued and it will go down to half. My financial advisor recommends selling some of the shares. Her angle is as an investor: take your profits and move on. I'll feel really bad if I hold and it collapses, but I'll also feel really bad if I sell and it skyrockets. I've never been in this position before because with mutual funds I just ride the market knowing that in the long run they'll give me income. But with an individual company there's risk and I've never been comfortable with risk.
I am experiencing very illogical sentiments: I would never put as much into an individual stock issue as I now have in TSLA, but I don't want to let go of a stock that has performed so well. Maybe the logical thing would be to sell half, and if it goes down, buy back in. But I would not buy back in because that's too big an investment for my very conservative style. I'm not asking an internet forum for advice. Just sharing a personal dilemma. Obviously a very good dilemma to have, but still one I seem unable to resolve.
Thanks for listening. All comments welcome.
Since I don't "trade," and since I bought my shares to "be a part of" the company I didn't look at the stock price. I never had any intention of selling my shares unless the company's philosophy changed or its management disappointed me. Imagine my surprise to see that it's now $1,500, something like 40 times what I paid! Suddenly my position in TSLA is nearly my biggest holding and I'm conflicted:
Maybe it will keep going up and up and up, or maybe the market will decide it's overvalued and it will go down to half. My financial advisor recommends selling some of the shares. Her angle is as an investor: take your profits and move on. I'll feel really bad if I hold and it collapses, but I'll also feel really bad if I sell and it skyrockets. I've never been in this position before because with mutual funds I just ride the market knowing that in the long run they'll give me income. But with an individual company there's risk and I've never been comfortable with risk.
I am experiencing very illogical sentiments: I would never put as much into an individual stock issue as I now have in TSLA, but I don't want to let go of a stock that has performed so well. Maybe the logical thing would be to sell half, and if it goes down, buy back in. But I would not buy back in because that's too big an investment for my very conservative style. I'm not asking an internet forum for advice. Just sharing a personal dilemma. Obviously a very good dilemma to have, but still one I seem unable to resolve.
Thanks for listening. All comments welcome.