“Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.”
— Warren Buffett
One of the most important things investors can learn from Warren Buffett, is about how they approach their time horizon for an investment into a stock under consideration. Because immediately after buying shares of a given stock, investors will then be able to check on the day-to-day (and even minute-by-minute) market value. Some days the stock market will be up, other days down. These daily fluctuations can often distract from the long-term view. Today, we look at the result of a decade-long holding period for an investor who was considering Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) back in 2009, bought the stock, ignored the market’s ups and downs, and simply held through to today.
Start date: | 07/27/2009 |
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End date: | 07/25/2019 | ||||
Start price/share: | $10.49 | ||||
End price/share: | $42.01 | ||||
Starting shares: | 953.29 | ||||
Ending shares: | 953.29 | ||||
Dividends reinvested/share: | $0.00 | ||||
Total return: | 300.48% | ||||
Average annual return: | 14.88% | ||||
Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
Ending investment: | $40,035.41 |
The above analysis shows the decade-long investment result worked out quite well, with an annualized rate of return of 14.88%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 10 years ago into $40,035.41 today (as of 07/25/2019). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 300.48% (something to think about: how might BSX shares perform over the next 10 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]
One more investment quote to leave you with:
“The right time for a company to finance its growth is not when it needs capital, but rather when the market is most receptive to providing capital.” — Michael Milken