Apple stocks worth over 40 times what they were 7 years ago today | Hacker News Reader

Apple stocks worth over 40 times what they were 7 years ago today

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32 pointsajaimk20 comments

My Grandad had a huge "Forest Gump" moment a few months ago when going through my Gran's estate. He kept waffling on about how he was sure she had some investments in "fruit farms or something".

Apparently she, for some reason, bought some Apple shares back in the 90's. No idea why because she had no idea about computers! I wish we could find out why.

Maybe she thought it was a fruit farm.

Heh. Back in Macworld Boston 1996, I bought one share of Apple stock at $16 and got a framed commemorative stock certificate. It went into a box when I moved later that year and I completely forgot about until I found it a couple of weeks ago. It's worth almost $1,000 now!

Unfortunately the state seized it as abandoned property (I moved a couple of times since and I never updated my address with the stock transfer agent) and I'm in the process of trying to reclaim the stock now. :(

Pardon me for not being very knowledgeable about the laws regarding stocks, but you have the certificate... Isn't that your proof?

I mean...don't people keep stock certs in safety deposit boxes and soforth? Does the sec mail you ever year asking if your heart is still beating or something?

Which is exactly the question I asked of the transfer agent, but it seems that if the TA can't get in contact with you over a certain period, they can consider the stock "abandoned".

Since I actually have the certificate (well, not anymore, I had to send in the original certificate to the state as proof of ownership), getting the stock back is a straightforward process. But until the state relinquishes its claim, the stock certificate literally isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

See http://www.stocktransfer.com/index.cfm?action=shareholders.F...

Actually, it is worth the paper it's printed on.

I disagree. Isn't a blank piece of paper worth slightly more than one with something useless printed on it?

It's probably worth significantly more:

http://www.oldstocks.com/

People pay good money for cancelled stock certificates.

I have a friend who invested ~$10k in AAPL in 2003. He's considering moving to NV or TX for a year, to avoid the massive CA 10% long term capital gains tax.. we joke that Steve Jobs is partly responsible for CA's mass exodus.

If you spent the money on an original ipod in 2001 on apple stock ($499), you would have 14,513.78 today.

This calculation cries out for a table, including all Apple products over the years: if you'd bought AAPL instead of the product, how much would your stock be worth?

Agreed. iPod Hifi included?

So I decided to do just that http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1292276

I wrote a post based on the same Apple buy/invest idea (but with much less detail) back on Wednesday. Check it out here: http://www.dinnertopics.com/business/amusing-apple-anecdote/

Selling my Apple stock a couple years back was what let me quit my day job and start out on my own. :)

Years ago as a kid, I invested a tiny amount and the broker was so adamant I was making a mistake that he made me sign an acknowledgement that I was acting on my own wishes against his advice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindsight_bias

For a more fun example: http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3Adndn

My parents bought me 20 shares at $10 for a birthday present several years ago. They were very close to buying me 200 shares but the broker heard the wrong number of zeros over the phone.

At least that's their excuse... :)

I also received some shares for my birthday in 2002. Split adjusted the price was $7.22. I'd say my rabid Apple fanboy phase as a teenager actually paid off...

If they spoke out the numbers, wouldn't it be hard to confuse "two hundred" with "twenty"?

That's why I cry foul every time they tell the story. I doubt that's what actually happened and they just feel bad.

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