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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

The Warren Buffett investment philosophy calls for a long-term investment horizon, where a five year holding period, or even longer, would fit right into the strategy. How would such a strategy have worked out for an investment into Mylan NV (NASD: MYL)? Today, we examine the outcome of a five year investment into the stock back in 2015.

Start date: 10/13/2015
$10,000

10/13/2015
$3,857

10/12/2020
End date: 10/12/2020
Start price/share: $41.42
End price/share: $15.98
Starting shares: 241.43
Ending shares: 241.43
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: -61.42%
Average annual return: -17.34%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $3,857.01

As shown above, the five year investment result worked out poorly, with an annualized rate of return of -17.34%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $3,857.01 today (as of 10/12/2020). On a total return basis, that’s a result of -61.42% (something to think about: how might MYL shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

One more investment quote to leave you with:
“Far more money has been lost by investors trying to anticipate corrections, than lost in the corrections themselves.” — Peter Lynch