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“Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.”

— Warren Buffett

The Warren Buffett investment philosophy calls for a long-term investment horizon, where a ten year holding period, or even longer, would fit right into the strategy. How would such a strategy have worked out for an investment into United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASD: UAL)? Today, we examine the outcome of a ten year investment into the stock back in 2010.

Start date: 05/17/2010
$10,000

05/17/2010
$10,171

05/14/2020
End date: 05/14/2020
Start price/share: $19.95
End price/share: $20.30
Starting shares: 501.25
Ending shares: 501.25
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 1.75%
Average annual return: 0.17%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $10,171.31

As we can see, the ten year investment result worked out as follows, with an annualized rate of return of 0.17%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 10 years ago into $10,171.31 today (as of 05/14/2020). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 1.75% (something to think about: how might UAL 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:
“Based on my own personal experience, both as an investor in recent years and an expert witness in years past, rarely do more than three or four variables really count. Everything else is noise.” — Martin Whitman