I first became interested in stocks during the winter of 2015. Shortly after my daughter was born, I began subscribing to Money Sense Magazine. Back then it had a print version that could be sent to your house.
I loved reading through all the articles on saving such as car insurance and cell phone plans. But then in the new year of 2015, an article had a list of the 100 best stocks. Up until this point in my life, I had only invested in mutual funds through a financial advisor. This began a series of tough financial lessons.
On a list of over 100 stocks, Greenbrier Companies was the one that caught my eye. Greenbrier Companies is in the rail car manufacturing and refurbishing business.
If you ask anyone who knows me, I’ve never shown the slightest interest in trains or transportation. But it felt right to me. I felt it in my gut. Greenbrier Companies was going to make me rich!
My thought process was simple. I thought investing was going with your gut. How could I go wrong? I was going to own a piece of a transportation company! And to be honest, I was too lazy to do any real research. I wanted to buy some stock!
I approached my financial advisor to ask if I could purchase some Greenbrier Companies stock. He said he couldn’t do it for me but suggested Qtrade if I was interested in trying. I set up an account in an hour and anxiously awaited my first deposit to go through.
I bought my first 5 shares (see first red dot) on March 27, 2015 at a price of $56.00 USD which worked out to $368.73CDN (including $9 commission).
Everything was going according to plan. The price rose for a few weeks but then it gradually started its decent. As the stock fell, I thought to myself, it’s a good idea to buy some more Greenbrier Companies. The stock will go back up, I thought.
This time, on July 22, 2015, I bought 8 shares at $45.32 USD which worked out to $490.69CDN (including $9 commission).
I held the stock for nearly two years and sold all 13 shares on December 22, 2017 for $52.80 (USD) which worked out to a $857.54 (CDN). Below is a list of all my Greenbrier Company Transactions.
| Date | Shares | Transaction | Share Price | Commission | Total (Includes Commission) |
| Mar 27, 2015 | 5 | Buy | $56.00 (USD) | $9.00 (CDN) | $368.73 (CDN) |
| May 6, 2015 | 5 | Dividend | ———— | ———— | $0.89 (CDN) |
| July 22, 2015 | 8 | Buy | $45.32 (USD) | $9.00 (CDN) | $490.69 (CDN) |
| Aug 5, 2015 | 5 | Dividend | ———— | ———— | $0.98 (CDN) |
| Dec 2, 2015 | 13 | Dividend | ———— | ———— | $3.42 (CDN) |
| Feb 10, 2016 | 13 | Dividend | ———— | ———— | $3.58 (CDN) |
| May 11, 2016 | 13 | Dividend | ———— | ———— | $3.29 (CDN) |
| Aug 10, 2016 | 13 | Dividend | ———— | ———— | $3.52 (CDN) |
| Dec 1, 2016 | 13 | Dividend | ———— | ————- | $3.59 (CDN) |
| Feb 16, 2017 | 13 | Dividend | ———— | ———— | $3.52 (CDN) |
| May 9, 2017 | 13 | Dividend | ———— | ———— | $3.87 (CDN) |
| Aug 8, 2017 | 13 | Dividend | ———— | ———— | $3.57 (CDN) |
| Dec 8, 2017 | 13 | Dividend | ————— | ————- | $3.77 (CDN) |
| Dec 22, 2017 | 13 | Sell | $52.80 | $9.00 (CDN) | $857.54 (CDN) |
I ended up walking away from Greenbrier Companies up $32.12 (CDN). See math below.
Total Trades – $857.54 – ($490.69 + $368.73) = -$1.88.
Dividends – $34.00
My Greenbrier Company experience should have taught be something but I learned absolutely nothing. Because over the next 5 years, I continued to make many mistakes. Maybe I didn’t learn anything because I didn’t lose anything. I actually made $32.12!
This will be the first of many stock reflections to come. My hope is that it helps me and you, the reader, make better financial decisions in the future. I want to reflect on all my investment choices to date and the decisions behind them. In the future, I hope to put more effort into my thought process before I buy a stock, not after.
Lessons are hard and everyone makes mistakes. But mistakes are only bad if you don’t learn from them.