How are your investments doing?

[two_bit_score]

New math...

On October 23, 2025, the National debt reached $38 trillion, a new high.

Moss has been smoking that 'wacky tobaccy' again.

The national debt stood at about $36.2 trillion when (he who cannot be named) took office in January 2025 (up from ~$27.8 trillion in January 2021). By the end of FY 2025, debt held by the public rose to around $30 trillion, reflecting continued borrowing.

 

[two_bit_score]

Yes. It's being reduced daily.

The deficit totaled approximately $1.8 trillion (5.9–6.0% of GDP), down slightly from $1.817 trillion (6.3–6.4% of GDP). During the early part of (he who shall not be named) administration. Much of this was from significant reductions in Department of Education outlays (down over $200 billion, partly from student loan program changes and accounting adjustments) and other areas.

 

[ultrarunner]

I’m not certain about anything when it come to investing other than education and labor saving…

Labor saving is why my BX Kubota is an investment for me…

History has shown the best laid plans often are not and past performance is no guarantee of future performance.

Inflation, Taxes, Equities all present varied risk… and then there is disaster and civil unrest…

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Today I bought something on a "whim" . I bought Beyond Air stock (XAIR on Nasdaq), considered a penny stock ( less than $5/share) which was up 150% today because XTL Biopharmaceuticals Acquires 85% of Beyond Air's Subsidiary NeuroNOS, Entering the Massive Autism Market with Nobel Prize-Winning Scientific Leadership.
I was just thinking about dementia and like most things a diet related component besides genetics of course but Beyond Air makes equipment that adds nitric oxide to air, used in the home, hospitals, etc. without a tank, electronically combining oxygen and nitrogen in the air.

(Online):"The human body uses nitric oxide (NO), a gas, not nitric acid, for vital functions like relaxing blood vessels (vasodilation) to improve blood flow, lower blood pressure, and deliver oxygen and nutrients, supporting cardiovascular health, brain function, exercise performance, and immune response; deficiencies are linked to conditions like high blood pressure and erectile dysfunction. While the body makes NO, people use supplements (arginine, citrulline, nitrates) or diets (beets, leafy greens) to boost production, as nitric acid itself is a dangerous corrosive chemical."

I'm not advocating anyone buying it, curious to see how it performs.

 

[RayIN]

My friend sold all his Tesla stock last year. I suspect he knows something not public-yet, and we see how Tesla stock is doing lately. He has a price-point where he buys again though. He went from living on his Air Force retirement to paying cash for a new house in Denver about 5-6 years ago.
I'll just keep watching my Fidelity account slowly increase I guess.

 

[MossRoad]

My friend sold all his Tesla stock last year. I suspect he knows something not public-yet, and we see how Tesla stock is doing lately. He has a price-point where he buys again though. He went from living on his Air Force retirement to paying cash for a new house in Denver about 5-6 years ago.
I'll just keep watching my Fidelity account slowly increase I guess.

I've been with Fidelity since the late 80s due to they are the ones that managed my old employer's 401K plan. They had a limited number of funds, but an overall good selection from mild to wild. In 2017 we all got let go. Fortunately, my new employer also uses Fidelity, so I just rolled my old into the new and kept on. My old employer also offered me a cash settlement on my pension, so I rolled that into a pension rollover account at Fidelity and never touched it so I wouldn't get taxed on it (yet, because you always get taxed at some point).


My new employer plan had access to more funds than my old, so we made a few changes. For the most part, we make our selections and check on them fairly often, but don't make knee jerk changes. We reevaluate (usually) annually and make appropriate changes if needed.

My wife's employer was with Fidelity for quite a while, but about 5-6 years ago switched to Principal. Very similar to Fidelity in that they have a set group of funds that you can choose from.

 

[RSKY]

My friend sold all his Tesla stock last year. I suspect he knows something not public-yet, and we see how Tesla stock is doing lately. He has a price-point where he buys again though. He went from living on his Air Force retirement to paying cash for a new house in Denver about 5-6 years ago.
I'll just keep watching my Fidelity account slowly increase I guess.

My Fidelity account increased by 26.7% last year. One son-in-law rolled an old 401K into a Fidelity IRA at just the right time and earned a 37% return. BUT this happened right when stocks dropped back in April 2025. He got in as things were dropping and made a killing when it came back up.

I don't know what funds you are invested in but Fidelity has around 300 mutual funds and some are doing extremely well. I spend about 10 minutes a day checking mine but only make changes two or three times a year.

RSKY

 

[Snobdds]

2025 was a fantastic year for stock trading. There was lots of volatility that benefited my trading style immensely.

Hopefully 2026 trends in the same way, which if the first part of January is any indication, it will be.

 

[jmc]

Buzz-kill alert:

It would be slightly interesting to go back to TBN finance discussions from late in the Great Recession, circa 2009. A large swath of the general population then vowed never to own stocks again.

 

[two_bit_score]

A large swath of the general population then vowed never to own stocks again.

Most of them were probably first to buy back in when it looked good.

 

[ultrarunner]

Buzz-kill alert:

It would be slightly interesting to go back to TBN finance discussions from late in the Great Recession, circa 2009. A large swath of the general population then vowed never to own stocks again.

Kind of describes my family… and still out today.

 

[RSKY]

Buzz-kill alert:

It would be slightly interesting to go back to TBN finance discussions from late in the Great Recession, circa 2009. A large swath of the general population then vowed never to own stocks again.

I do remember some of those discussions. People got out of the market at the exact wrong time. You do not sell when stocks are down. You hold until they go back up even if it takes years. I learned that lesson watching other peoples mistakes. And I had some good instructors on how to invest.

RSKY

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Buzz-kill alert:

It would be slightly interesting to go back to TBN finance discussions from late in the Great Recession, circa 2009. A large swath of the general population then vowed never to own stocks again.

That was long before I was on this forum. But, it was the catalyst to cause me to start investing. I had put just a little back but didn't really start until around then or maybe 2008. I was in my mid-20s so it was not important to me. My employer had our 401K advisor from our 3rd party retirement group come in and have meetings with every single employee to educate them on not making hasty decisions and selling when the market is so down. That you still own the same amount of stock even though the value is down, wait and it will come back up etc. I took from that, that the market was basically on sale and started putting as much as I could afford into the program. My retirement is now about 10 years worth of my 2008 salary. Not huge, but way better than it would have been without my company caring enough for their employees to go out of their way to bring in an advisor.

 

[riptides]

Market (get out of) means what? Dropping investments altogether in Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, crypto?
When I get out of, it usually end up in a place where I can use it as needed. But there are still investments in the market. Right now my position is about 30/70. With maybe 10 percent of the 30 considered high risk.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I've never sold anything in 45 years. Ever. Only bought more, even yesterday.

 

[mjarrels]

I've never sold anything in 45 years. Ever. Only bought more, even yesterday.

My SSI dropped 50 dollars from LAST YEAR.

MARK

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

My SSI dropped 50 dollars from LAST YEAR.

MARK

Mutual funds, stocks and SMA with over 280 stocks. Frightening looking daily, but long term it's been Excelsior!

 

[Torvy]

Just had our annual lunch meeting with our investment guy.

We did fine versus our goals. We adjust a few things based on his advice. More going into ship building and some specialty AI/data center type corp (among other things).

Everyone has different goals and wildly different experience/understanding of investing. We are well past trying to maximize our income. The more we earn, the more DC takes. Our total living expenses are under $30k a year. We have drawn a bit more to 'invest' in upgrades to the farm or for something fun. Our investment income exceeds our needs already. In less than 2 years we will start trying to recoup the money we had stolen by SocSec. That's more than we draw now and we will stop drawing when that happens, so income should go up. Only a worldwide cataclysmic event will seriously disrupt our financial lives at this point.

Life insurance is important from about when you get married until your kids are on their own. I've had a small cash policy my folks started when I was a kid. It is more than enough to cover funeral expenses. If one of us dies unexpectedly, the other will be able to maintain our current lifestyle indefinitely.

 

[Oaktree]

I've never sold anything in 45 years. Ever. Only bought more, even yesterday.

I've sold stocks over the years when I didn't think they made sense to hold anymore. Regretted getting rid of a few, but for the most part have done well. I'm pretty much in a "hold" mood now.

Life insurance is important from about when you get married until your kids are on their own. I've had a small cash policy my folks started when I was a kid. It is more than enough to cover funeral expenses. If one of us dies unexpectedly, the other will be able to maintain our current lifestyle indefinitely.

Only life insurance I have is a small policy my parents bought for me (and my siblings) back in the 1950s. It was paid in full by the time I was in my late 20s, I've hung onto it and let the dividends reinvest. Not a huge windfall by any means, but it should more than cover any final expenses.

 

[masseyrider]

I purchased significant physical gold in the day. Aboot $250/OZ.
It's always something people fall back on.
My investment guy always tried to get me to invest that money in faster growing stocks and bonds.
I refused to cash in. Now that gold is close to $5K thanks to world turmoil I'm pleased.
A few of the stocks are hardly worth the paper they're printed on.
Although I did very well with NETFLIX. Bought in at $40+ and sold when it beat $500.
Rest has been Real Estate. The collapse in Florida made me a sh-t load.
When others panic that's the time to buy with something that has intrinsic value. People gotta live somewhere.