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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 United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASD: UAL)? Today, we examine the outcome of a five year investment into the stock back in 2016.

Start date: 09/21/2016
$10,000

09/21/2016
$9,011

09/20/2021
End date: 09/20/2021
Start price/share: $50.23
End price/share: $45.27
Starting shares: 199.08
Ending shares: 199.08
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: -9.87%
Average annual return: -2.06%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $9,011.57

As shown above, the five year investment result worked out poorly, with an annualized rate of return of -2.06%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $9,011.57 today (as of 09/20/2021). On a total return basis, that’s a result of -9.87% (something to think about: how might UAL 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:
“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