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“I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five 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 five year holding period for an investor who was considering Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASD: AMD) back in 2014, bought the stock, ignored the market’s ups and downs, and simply held through to today.

Start date: 07/24/2014
$10,000

07/24/2014
$89,784

07/23/2019
End date: 07/23/2019
Start price/share: $3.73
End price/share: $33.49
Starting shares: 2,680.97
Ending shares: 2,680.97
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 797.86%
Average annual return: 55.11%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $89,784.01

As shown above, the five year investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 55.11%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $89,784.01 today (as of 07/23/2019). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 797.86% (something to think about: how might AMD shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

Here’s one more great investment quote before you go:
“I made my money by selling too soon.” — Bernard Baruch