Reading this blog has me seriously considering selling my IBM stock. So much employee contempt. 15 year IBM veteran with a few thousand ESPP shares. With the earnings pop today is this the time to sell? The only reason I havn't sold them is that they pay a nice dividend and always have. They have always been known for Wall Street financial engineering, stock buybacks, etc, which levitates the stock price. But who is IBM these days? HW is gone, missed the cloud movements, no cyber security, etc. Selling services used to be profitable, not anymore. Where is their revenue coming from?
17 replies (most recent on top)
Stock price is now back down where it should be - below where it was 2 years ago.
There is zero reason for IBM stock price to be above where it was 2 years ago when it had larger revenue and profits.
Derp. Sell and put it in crypto while it’s down.
Even if I bought IBM stock at $13 and could have made a ki----g now, it’s not worth all the stress…lol.
Had you bought shares at the bottom of John Akers and sold them today you'd have made quite a lot friend. $13 vs $140-$210 anytime in the last 10 years. Whoops! By the way, folks. Warren Buffet never invested in tech stock until IBM right at their stock height. Think about that lol.. he chose horrible timing it's been down ever since - don't give Mr. Buffet too much credit.
When I was a newbie during John Akers last years (before Gerstner), IBM stock dropped to its historic lows. I remember some older colleagues who were near retirement with large investments in IBM stock and see their nest egg drop a lot.
I vowed to avoid the same fate and sold all ESPP.
Absolutely no regrets.
There’s plenty of other investment choices with more upsides.
Stock went to 144 and a fraction by 10am - so I figured it would get to 145. Yeah it was a calculated guess. Cramer says it's going to 175. To be clear, I'm ex-IBM, these ESPP shares were bought in between 1995 and 2013. I also received stock options in 99, I believe they had a 10 year life, but never reached the strike price - so worthless.
Dear 'What-up dog?'
How did you come up with that limit price? Looks like a guess to me.
A retired IBM colleague told me he has some shares bought way above current prices. I have a feeling there will be quite a few current holders of IBM stock that will not have to worry about capital gains tax ;)
Cramer (CNBC) says BUY, BUY, BUY... IBM stock
Darn - I had a sell order for 500 at a limit price of 145. Never made it there and is now declining. What-up dog?
I sold all of my IBM stock over 2 years ago and invested in Apple, they have a dividend and also doubled my value. I think it is an easy decision on where you should have your hard earned money.
I won’t put too many eggs in the same basket, i.e. betting a lot of money in IBM and betting your career on IBM.
Warren Buffett
Need we say more?
A few thousand gets you a good dividend check. Depends what your $ cost avg is and what your profit will be compared to your quarter dividend check you're getting.
Sell, sell, sell… and invest in Apple.
If it's no more than 10% of your portfolio it might be worth keeping only for the dividend. If you are heavily weighted in the sector and/or hold a lot of IBM (or any one stock), that is not good. Ask the guys that hung onto GE.
Personally, I'd sell on the bump and use a loss to do some Roth conversions. Talk to your tax guy.
Even Buffet bailed out on IBM.
That's bold. A few thousand IBM shares is a lot of money to have tied up in one place... If you are well balanced, you're doing great (and don't need my advice).... if this represents a big chunk of net worth, it's time to take some of that off the table.