JB's Adventures In Investing

JB’s Adventures In Investing

Published February 2, 2011

The Continuing Story Of Javabird…

With the economy starting to show some signs of life, (albeit pretty minor ones), Javabird was ready to start fresh and go back into business building bird houses. True, his resources were pretty meager at the beginning, but after following all the money saving tips in this really great blog he found (i.e. all the ones listed here), and after finding some neat ideas like harvesting hidden wealth and bootstrapping a business, he soon gathered enough capital to get underway. At least there was some hope for a better day.

Back In The Black

It was tough going on his first couple of bird house deals. He barely broke even on the first one, lost some money on the second, but finally scored big on his third one after partnering up with a friend. In fact, in a matter of a few months things were beginning to look a whole lot better. JB moved out of the swamp, rented an apartment, and started eating a better grade of algae. Then before he quite knew how it happened, he realized he had accumulated a tidy little nest egg of $10,000 in his savings account.

One Percent? That’s It?

When the lady at the bank told him he was earning a paltry 1% on his savings account, JB decided he wanted to start putting some of his money back into the stock market. That, he seemed to recall, was where he made his really big money in the past. The trouble was, he had been out of stocks a couple years, and he realized he didn’t have a clue where to start investing. He had also been so busy with his building projects that he completely missed a recent post on dividend paying stocks and another one a couple months back on diversification. Who knows…either might have given him some ideas.

That’s Brilliant!

As he went home that night to check his email, JB came across a letter in his spam folder for an investor advisory newsletter which suggested he invest in certain stocks. The letter promised unbelievable returns. It said he could turn $10,000 into $435,329.14 in a matter of days. “Hey,” he said, “I just happen to have $10,000. I like this idea!”

But Wait! If You Order Now…

With nary a thought, JB pulled out his brand new credit card, one he’d just received from his bank, and typed in the numbers for a $2400 one year membership in “The Stockbanger’s Investment Club”. For the fee, the club promised to send him one black, over-sized Stockbanger’s t-shirt with an embroidered Stockbanger’s logo, a matching pair of shorts, a 4-part DVD series that included “100 Investing Secrets For Getting Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams”, an annual subscription to the “Stockbanger’s Wealth Unlimited” monthly newsletter, and a secret Stockbanger’s Decoder Ring (without which the monthly newsletter would be unreadable). Plus, since he was ordering today, the company also promised to throw in a brand new Apple i-Pad, which they would send separately as soon as the next shipment came in. “Wow,” he said as he pressed enter to complete his transaction, “this is a fantastic deal!

You’ve Got Mail

True to it’s word, The Stockbanger’s Investment Club overnighted a parcel on Ducksederal Express. JB was thrilled. He couldn’t open the box fast enough. Skipping right past the clothing and various inserts for other cool-looking money making offers, he grabbed his first Stockbanger’s newsletter and decoder ring, before racing off to his computer to start investing…