My worst Share investment

[Sgt Pepper]

Just a bit of fun. To start the ball rolling. My worst investment was:
I was 20 years old, and bought 1000 shares @ $1.oo per share in a company farming fitch for fur coats!! Went bust 18 months later

[Hectorplains]

Just a bit of fun. To start the ball rolling. My worst investment was:
I was 20 years old, and bought 1000 shares @ $1.oo per share in a company farming fitch for fur coats!! Went bust 18 months later

1. Rada / Prorada - purchased as a teen. Wiped out in the Crash.

2. RMG - was meant to be the next Baycorp...

[Jantar]

Rainbow Corp. Bought on the advice of my uncle who was a director. Went bust immediately following the crash of 1987.

[fungus pudding]

Just a bit of fun. To start the ball rolling. My worst investment was:
I was 20 years old, and bought 1000 shares @ $1.oo per share in a company farming fitch for fur coats!! Went bust 18 months later
Was that a Dunedin company?

[davflaws]

PRC - And I was old enough to know better!

[macduffy]

Too old to remember my worst but it would be hard to "beat" one of my first forays into the market. Reid Murray, the Australian electrical goods chain/finance co went bad in the early 60's as punters - me included - chased the shareprice down to the floor! Then there were a few such as Renouf Properties, one of the many property companies floated in the pre-1987 crash - and Allegra, the thoroughbred stud and ..................

[beetills]

PRODIGAL GOLD.Evidence that not every thing that glitters is gold

[thestg]

Sea fresh - Averaged down, right to the bottom of the sea.

[GTM 3442]

PRODIGAL GOLD.Evidence that not every thing that glitters is gold

Certainly not Glass Earth GEL!

[glennj]

My worst in $ terms was Rakon but I should have known better. Wanted a growth stock, felt patriotic & bought the idea that this is the future etc. [Normally I'm a successful value investor]
My worst in terms of all value being wiped out was NZ Marine Farms which were taken out in a scrip only takeover by Como Holdings who went bust in the 87 crash. [my portfolio made money in 87 though as I'd steered clear of the well known casualties]

[glennj]

"Sgt pepper" I remember a fitch farm in the Broadlands area near Taupo. Was that it?

[hey_homes]

PEB. Visited this site for the first time, read the PEB thread, got excited, frantically bought at $1.40 so I didn't miss out on the impending share price explosion. Turned out to be an implosion.

[neyney2010]

IQE :t_down::t_down::t_down:

[trader_jackson]

PEB. Visited this site for the first time, read the PEB thread, got excited, frantically bought at $1.40 so I didn't miss out on the impending share price explosion. Turned out to be an implosion.

This made me think, just to clarify for the forum... are we talking about:
1. worst paper loss ever experienced? (ie you hold shares and currently sitting on a loss, but haven't sold and company is still operating/listed)
2. worst actual loss ever experienced as a result of selling? (ie you sold out at x loss, but company still is operating/listed)
3. worst actual loss ever experienced as a result of bankruptcy? (via company going bust, ie got nothing or very little back and no longer operating/listed)

[Sgt Pepper]

Was that a Dunedin company?

It was. A friend of my wife had a job there feeding the Fitches.

[hey_homes]

Yeah I think it might be best to exclude category 1 situations like mine. Hopefully I won't have to return to this thread to update it to a category 3.

[macduffy]

This made me think, just to clarify for the forum... are we talking about:
1. worst paper loss ever experienced? (ie you hold shares and currently sitting on a loss, but haven't sold and company is still operating/listed)
2. worst actual loss ever experienced as a result of selling? (ie you sold out at x loss, but company still is operating/listed)
3. worst actual loss ever experienced as a result of bankruptcy? (via company going bust, ie got nothing or very little back and no longer operating/listed)

All of the above, I would think, ie an individual's perceived worst loss experience.

[iceman]

PRC worst by far

[percy]

I have a very long history of buying dogs.!!
1960s. Enzlon,stocking manufacturer floated off by Frank Renouf.Don't think they finished the factory,before tights replaced stockings.Christchurch based footwear manufacturer,M O'Brien.
1970s.Luckily I was racing slow cars and chasing fast women,and did not have any funds for the market,and starting my own business..
1980s.My wonderful decade of losses started with Arthur Ellis,after my charts gave a massive buy signal.I then really hit my stride with the 1987 sharemarket crash.Had them all Judge Corp,etc,etc.
1990s.I transfered my loss making skills to Aussie,with such gems as Pharmaction Holdings,Bellara Medical Products,and after being told by the CEO that PNX Group Ltd would have no trouble securing on going bank support,I was not surprised they went into liquidation a few days later.
I also spread my losses to the USA and was taken aback to find out DVI,who supplied finance for MRI scanners went belly up because of management fraud.
2000s.Provenco took the honours,but it was neck and neck with Cynotech.NPX and PGC chipped in too.Aussie also continued a great run with Boon Logistics,Boart Longyear,and Alumina fighting for line honours.
2010s. IQE is a bit of a loner.Brought at $1.85 and sold at about $1.30.
Still a long wait for this decade to finish,so hopefully I am not "well positioned".
HOWEVER.I think I am one of the few people who made [big] money with Bridgecorp shares.!

[Leftfield]

RAK - at a Share Brokers recommendation. Never again. Pleased to say my losses more than erased in my last two years investing.

[Kees]

For me pike river. feltex, and sitting on 2 duds AQJ,KBL .asx

[minimoke]

submarines australasia. in hindsight a 6 person submersible in milford sound was never going to work.

[trader_jackson]

Well time for my disclosure... (albeit I do not have the rich, interesting, and diverse history, stories and age that others have... yet)
Both worst paper losses currently exceeding 30%, but less than 60%:
1. Bathurst Resources (now only on ASX - balanced out my average price, in a very big way, recently)
2. Pacific Edge (not a surprise... still holding and very hopeful)

I have yet to sell at a loss, with my biggest (and 'easiest') money being from a short term Xero investment

(I think things are about to change, in a very large positive way for both :t_up:... Bathurst for starters is up triple digit percentages this year)

[ratkin]

Mine would probably be Aquaria 21, did not really lose on it but it has to
be the worst company I dipped my toes into.
In terms of losing money ABC was probably the worst one, but nothing major

[BigBob]

GEN (Genesis Research and Development) and ITC (IT Capital) which later became SLG... Woof, woof...!!

[IAK]

Wynyard bought at $1.30 sold at $0.65, followed by Orion health bought at $5.90 sold at $3.65. Fortunately, only had a thousand of each. Lessons learned - don't buy software stocks and be wary of IPO's.

[sb9]

In my limited time of trading over last few years or so, just WYN...fortunately one of my earliest investments and on small scale...but my recent gains have substantially wiped out that loss and its quite insignificant in overall scheme of things now which was quite painful when sold out...

[Snow Leopard]

Percentage wise my two biggest failures were:
Feltex @ 43% and some company that had the ticker BIO (I think) where I lost about 60%.

These days if my investment is down 20% on the purchase price I generally accept that I got it wrong and start getting out, and if it is down to 30% then I am long gone.

My largest ever single $ loss was not that long ago on TWR :(.

Best Wishes
Paper Tiger

[Brain]

If I cashed up my shares in IQE, after today It would be IQE by a long shot. However I am optimistic on this one and may take a punt and buy more. In for a penny ,in for a pound.

[Snoopy]

Biggest failure? Arrium on the ASX this year. And the whole sorry saga is available for perusal on the Arrium thread on this forum :-(. The quick version of what went wrong was, I was looking from the point of view of the company going forward as a going concern. The bank was looking at what would happen if large parts of the company were to close. Looking at the same data with a different future in mind can lead to different conclusions....

The main thing to remember about events such as this:

Losing your cash is something you may not have control over. But it is up to you whether you 'use' or 'lose' your worst investment experience!

SNOOPY

[axe]

If I cashed up my shares in IQE, after today It would be IQE by a long shot. However I am optimistic on this one and may take a punt and buy more. In for a penny ,in for a pound.

Hold IQE - IQE down 80% today making it my worst stock of all time (so far) but it was .26 when i got on board so I was aware of the risk.
As it was a high risk play I did not invest capital that I could not afford to lose and the loss is insignificant as an overall portfolio %.

I do feel sorry for others that purchased at IPO and higher.

Mind you when IQE gets sorted out things will be fine and dandy and a loss is only a loss if I sell or I can also pretend it didn't happen.

[bohemian]

1000 Euronational options at a $ each would you believe. To make matters worse Rod Petrevic is still around.

[BWH]

Portfolio wise I'm still up overall, but my most spectacular failures would be CUE and PRC.

[silu]

I put 80% of my savings into ITC (IT Capital). Took me a couple of years to recover from that but learned heaps.

[Stranger_Danger]

My worst would probably be Pumpkin Patch because I took my eye off the ball. It wasn't a large percentage holding, but to let something go from $1.35 to 12 cents when you can see the story playing out in front of you is just amateur and negligent.

I actually don't have many disaster stories, but that is mainly because I'm probably too cynical, cheap and paranoid.

That is where my real losses have been!

Apple. Liked the story, product, cuture and balance sheet improvements, in my circle of competence. But a little expensive at $20 a share. This was pre-split, so make that about $4 a share. Just shoot me.


Dominos. Utterly within my circle of competence. Massive regard for management well before most people twigged that it was superior. But, a little expensive at $2.60, I'll just wait for a better entry. At $70 a share, I'm still waiting, having brilliantly refused to acquire a single share!

So yeah, I manage to avoid ostrich farms, trophy wives and "story" stocks, but it definitely comes at a cost.

Losses come in many forms.

[Sideshow Bob]

PRC worst by far

Second that :(

[BeeBop]

I put 80% of my savings into ITC (IT Capital). Took me a couple of years to recover from that but learned heaps.

Lost circa NZD1,500 on ITC (a huge sum for me then). Left NZ and then traded the share buy and sell every two weeks and made circa NZD200 on each trade...made most of the money back on that particular share!

Worst loss other than that is currently BON.LN (Bonmarche on the London Market)....down 60% but fundamentals too good to walk away from i.e. if they close then their assets per share are worth more than I paid.

Most annoying was AA. (aeroinventory)....turned to ZERO during the GFC due to inventory fraud.

[BeeBop]

My worst would probably be Pumpkin Patch because I took my eye off the ball. It wasn't a large percentage holding, but to let something go from $1.35 to 12 cents when you can see the story playing out in front of you is just amateur and negligent.

Nearly got caught on PPL too.....tossed up between FPA vs PPL but I did not like the Pumpkin Patch retail outlets that I went in to....over crowded and sales people (out of NZ) didn't care about their stock....decided not to buy them and purchased FPA at around 35 cents each.

[see weed]

I put 80% of my savings into ITC (IT Capital). Took me a couple of years to recover from that but learned heaps.
Yes, and remember going to their AGM, and B Gaynor and B Shepard were their to give the CEO a hard time about the $900,000 pay rise he gave himself when the com. had made a big loss:t_down:. The only thing good were the big fancy black leather arm chair aeroplane seats they gave us to lie on. Think I was down $10,000 and the person next to me was down about $40,000. But mine was tax deductible:). Heritage gold was another one, but that's another story.

[corran]

My worst losses were in Australian junior uranium stocks URA and FTE. I didn't cut my losses and instead watched my holdings fritter away to nothing.

My biggest missed chances were in the first two shares I bought: ATM and PEB. Bought these for an average of around 13c per share and made a profit but sold out way, way too early.

My lessons from this: sell your losers early and let your winners run

[thestg]

My worst managed funds experience was Money Managers First Step Premium. I had fixed deposits going into this fund for years as my children were growing up. Doug Somers-Edgar promoted this fund in his money show every week on Radio Pacific. You just cant loose! Suddenly everything was frozen & only part of the funds was paid back. I lost tens of thousands of dollars. With all my savings gone I started my own investment strategy & lost all faith in managed funds.

[hogiela]

My worst was FBU ... I stupidly sold just before the recent hike and only gained about $3k from the investment ..

haha I guess I've had it good ... portfolio up over 100% overall =P

[elZorro]

I think I got a bit carried away with GEL-AXG. Did a lot of research, joined at the IPO. While we all know that shares are sold by companies to raise funds, and from their point of view it's the prime purpose, I still thought there would be lots of lollies for investors eventually.

Eventually the market saw through the clever patter from this company, realised that on the ground they were spread too thin and were bungling operations, on top of being underfunded. We never heard the real story officially, companies can bypass the disclosure rules using other disclosure rules.

[Lizard]

My worst was ION:ASX. Averaged down just a week before they went into VA. Losing is learning - but learn the lesson, not the fear.

[percy]

My worst was ION:ASX. Averaged down just a week before they went into VA. Losing is learning - but learn the lesson, not the fear.

This was one bullet I missed.
Funny enough a book rep gave me an Australian Investment book,whose number one investment was ION.

[OldGuy]

PEB - got sold on the hype at $1.50 and sold out for a six figure loss when it hit $0.40.

[skid]

Well time for my disclosure... (albeit I do not have the rich, interesting, and diverse history, stories and age that others have... yet)
Both worst paper losses currently exceeding 30%, but less than 60%:
1. Bathurst Resources (now only on ASX - balanced out my average price, in a very big way, recently)
2. Pacific Edge (not a surprise... still holding and very hopeful)

I have yet to sell at a loss, with my biggest (and 'easiest') money being from a short term Xero investment

(I think things are about to change, in a very large positive way for both :t_up:... Bathurst for starters is up triple digit percentages this year)

a loss is a loss--Your welcome to come back when either hits the big time:)

[skid]

Hold IQE - IQE down 80% today making it my worst stock of all time (so far) but it was .26 when i got on board so I was aware of the risk.
As it was a high risk play I did not invest capital that I could not afford to lose and the loss is insignificant as an overall portfolio %.

I do feel sorry for others that purchased at IPO and higher.

Mind you when IQE gets sorted out things will be fine and dandy and a loss is only a loss if I sell or I can also pretend it didn't happen.

which is kinda the same:) mine is Pan Pacific and NWE (finally sold PPP and now its down alot farther---NWE was a small investment that now is not worth the price of the brokers fee to sell!) Definitely lost on the GFC but had a stroke of luck selling before so came out about even)

[blobbles]

Maybe a company with the word "Pacific" in it is to be avoided? :-p

[Stranger_Danger]

which is kinda the same:) mine is Pan Pacific and NWE (finally sold PPP and now its down alot farther---NWE was a small investment that now is not worth the price of the brokers fee to sell!) Definitely lost on the GFC but had a stroke of luck selling before so came out about even)

Oh, I forgot PPP.

Bought it for 15, rode it to 60 or so from memory. Sold at 5.

Important lesson, I had no real business trying to analyse oil exploration and should not have owned the stock in the first place. Even if I'd sold at 60, it would still have been an error.

[bohemian]

I also rode FBU.NZ to the bottom and sold out. Patience is not infinite.

[percy]

Oh, I forgot PPP.

Bought it for 15, rode it to 60 or so from memory. Sold at 5.

Important lesson, I had no real business trying to analyse oil exploration and should not have owned the stock in the first place. Even if I'd sold at 60, it would still have been an error.

Took me a very long time to learn your important lesson.
Once I realised there were sectors of the market, such as oil and mining ,I did not understand,or was able to analyse,I was best to concentrate on the sector[s] I did,such as small cap companies with strong balance sheets.
Anything I do not understand I just avoid.

[ari]

Aquaria 21....what a story, had just over 1m shares, huge loss but luckily covered plus some, by gamble on Trans Rail shares at .43c.

[OldGuy]

Maybe a company with the word "Pacific" in it is to be avoided? :-p

certainly any company hoping to crack the medical market but fronted by a scarfie that doesn't even tuck his shirt in for the AGM...

[Sgt Pepper]

Maybe a company with the word "Pacific" in it is to be avoided? :-p

Likewise I would avoid anything that has " Salmon"

[Valuegrowth]

Almost everybody must have made mistakes in their investment and trading decisions during their investment or trading career. In some situation some must have lost their entire capital.

http://fortune.com/2015/02/28/warren-buffett-my-100-billion-blunder/

Warren Buffett: My $100 billion blunder

[skid]

Almost everybody must have made mistakes in their investment and trading decisions during their investment or trading career. In some situation some must have lost their entire capital.

http://fortune.com/2015/02/28/warren-buffett-my-100-billion-blunder/

Warren Buffett: My $100 billion blunder

Cant remember who coined the phrase''a buck aint what it used to be'' but I believe it was Nelson Bunker Hunt that said ''a million bucks aint what it used to be''--maybe Warren could revise that quote a bit further.

[Valuegrowth]

Yes. You are right. We can learn lot of things from some old links as well.

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/n/nelsonbunk176038.html

A billion dollars isn't what it used to be. Nelson Bunker Hunt

If I am correct Nelson Bunker Hunt owned 1,000 racehorses but was undone when he tried to corner the world silver market, even having to sell a $20 teapot.


Cant remember who coined the phrase''a buck aint what it used to be'' but I believe it was Nelson Bunker Hunt that said ''a million bucks aint what it used to be''--maybe Warren could revise that quote a bit further.

[Grimy]

Shares;
PRC
ICP-BIO
Aquaria 21
Environ
And probably others which my mind refuses to acknowledge any more!

Don't get me started on finance companies I've lost on.........

[Grimy]

Oh yes. Wilson Neill.

[Valuegrowth]

I took one finance company as a strong one when compare with its peers in the group but it also went bankrupt later. Now we should know where to put our money to minimize losses.

Shares;
PRC
ICP-BIO
Aquaria 21
Environ
And probably others which my mind refuses to acknowledge any more!

Don't get me started on finance companies I've lost on.........

[Bobdn]

My father owned Rada, my mother RJI, and me BIL - and we all bought in 1987. Didn't buy the next stock until 2009 (Spark)

[QOH]

Coates(can't remember its old name) was pretty disastrous, bought for my granddaughter approx 17 years ago hoping to pay for her university fees, finally was able to cash them in for her when they delisted on NZX recently, got about $650.

[minimoke]

Maybe a company with the word "Pacific" in it is to be avoided? :-p
ah yes.london pacific also lost me some loot. forgot about them and cant even remember what they did.

[dagoldtoof]

Reading these names makes me squirm.... and I also don't know how Money Managers Edgars can lie straight in bed at night,, lucky got my First Steps money out to purchase a property, few months later would be unable to ...., there was a Bullion Person who also became a talkback host who was storing gold for buyers but the cupboards were bare...

[ari]

Reading these names makes me squirm.... and I also don't know how Money Managers Edgars can lie straight in bed at night,, lucky got my First Steps money out to purchase a property, few months later would be unable to ...., there was a Bullion Person who also became a talkback host who was storing gold for buyers but the cupboards were bare...

Was this who you were referring to...Ray Smith, director of the Auckland Coin and Bullion Exchange and later chairman of the ill-fated Goldcorp....what ever happened to him?

[Carpenterjoe]

I've enjoyed reading this thread,

For me Axg/Gel, ouch! I

And when I was 14, a company that gave lotto styled tickets with your shopping receipts. No chance of remembering the name. I recall it being one of my first trades and the broker trying to talk me out of it. My stubborn nature won and my bank account lost.

[skid]

Yes. You are right. We can learn lot of things from some old links as well.

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/n/nelsonbunk176038.html

A billion dollars isn't what it used to be. Nelson Bunker Hunt

If I am correct Nelson Bunker Hunt owned 1,000 racehorses but was undone when he tried to corner the world silver market, even having to sell a $20 teapot.

There you go (stand corrected) those must have been exciting times!

[levin123]

I've enjoyed reading this thread,

For me Axg/Gel, ouch! I

And when I was 14, a company that gave lotto styled tickets with your shopping receipts. No chance of remembering the name. I recall it being one of my first trades and the broker trying to talk me out of it. My stubborn nature won and my bank account lost.


"Kachingo!"??? Rings a bell

[macduffy]

Maybe a company with the word "Pacific" in it is to be avoided? :-p

On the other hand, I seem to remember that Radio Pacific was a nice winner for me. Quite a while ago and the details are lost in the mists of time but it was notable in that the prospectus/investment statement? was distributed via a newspaper insert. Probably a no-no these days!

[Hectorplains]

"Kachingo!"??? Rings a bell


Yep, Strathmore Group....

[percy]

Yep, Strathmore Group....

Just how many lives did Strathmore have?

[Hectorplains]

Just how many lives did Strathmore have?

Gaynor article in 2000, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=104499, before the dotcom crash...

[Traderx]

Got smashed in NZO. Obviously lost it all (and a lot of emotional damage) on PRC (fin loss is inconsequential on that one).

[percy]

Gaynor article in 2000, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=104499, before the dotcom crash...

Thank you for the link.
Even more colourful than I remember.!

[ari]

I threw my old scrip away long ago, this thread has bought it all back...hope I learnt a little from those days. I was working in Queen St during those heady times and would check on the chalkies (even if the shares were crap, they were a nice sight) at least twice a day. It was hard enough to see shares crumble let alone to have broker go under........
I had a fistful......
Euro-nat
Rada
Equiticorp
IT Capital
Chase
Strathmore
Omnicorp

[kiwidollabill]

"Kachingo!"??? Rings a bell

I met the guy who started this a while back and on-sold it to Strathmore. Now involved in the dairy industry.

[James108]

I have only been investing for a a few years but Opus is by far my biggest paper loss. Biought in at $1.8, $1.5 (and sold some around this level), $1.2, $1.3. And now its $0.85. Buying at $1.5 and $1.8 were mistakes when I had less of an idea about what I was doing. I am happy with the decision to buy I made at $1.2, based on the information I had at the time. Probably should have sold out a day later when they announced pretty poor financials though..

Biggest missed opportunity was by far Bitcoin, I knew about BTC when it was trading at less than $10 USD. I was keen to buy but at that time it was a lot of effort, had to send away a lot of info by post and I didn't buy due to laziness. That was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity to make a 50x-100x return in the space of 1-2 years... ah well.

[Well Endowed]

CER - certified organics, purchased about $1k worth of shares in 1999 as my first share purchase. Got sent a cheque squaring me up, around 5 years later for $8..!

A good learning experience that.

[janner]

[QUOTE=ari;638789] I was working in Queen St during those heady times and would check on the chalkies (even if the shares were crap, they were a nice sight) at least twice a day.


My youngest daughter was the chalkie with the long hair and legs ..

Still lost money :-((((

[bear]

For Me

Goldcorp - had an opportunity to make money but held on until it was too late
Aquaria 21 - made money on the convertible notes but not the ords

and a few mining/ oil specs which were tiny amounts

I was too young an naïve at the time and believed the hype

[RupertBear]

Classic newbie mistakes from me, bought into the hype and didnt know what I was doing :confused:

Mistakes in descending order of worseness

Wynyard
Snak Media
Geo Op
SLI

:(

[JeremyALD]

Very new to share trading but mine so far is air new Zealand bought a heap at $2.71 and so far that investment isn't looking like the best decision I've ever had!

I tried to buy Dick Smith shares at 30 cents when they were falling but thankfully there was an error with my share trading account so I gave up haha

[Jay]

Ages ago 4 of us put $200 each, a toss up between Chase or RJI, Both went up, RJI to about $16 odd I think,(Im sure we would have sold up there somewhere if we had bought) Chase not very far- we sold small profit (this is easy money eh?) and invested into Prime Investments?? not long before 1987 crash. Got back about $20 each - knew nothing then and still know most of it now. :-)

[dagoldtoof]

Ray Smith that was his name, the all cool type ,,,might ring cuzzie up and spoil his day, cupboard was bare of his gold...Ariadne and Unity and RJI.......Days of the' Ride into town, lasso all the yokels (myself included) shoot them down....and leave.......