The own every stock portfolio is a interesting long term project I decide to start for fun.  I thought why not try and own as many different stocks as I can and track the performance of each stock.  While I realize this may not be the best, or even a good, investment strategy, I enjoy buying, monitoring, and tracking the performance of all the different stocks.  Over time I expect to have some big winners, some losers, and a fair share of sideways moving stocks.  My theory is that the losing stocks will shrink in relative value to the overall portfolio while the winning stocks will grow, thus reducing the impact of consisently underperforming stocks.  Time will tell whether or not my theory makes sense or cents.

When I originally started the OwnEveryStock portfolio back in September of 2007, I decided it would be a good idea to build a solid base of well known stocks before working into more obscure stock investments.  As a result, I decided my first 30 stock purchases would comprise the components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.  In general, I like to purchase at least $50 worth of a stock, so if the share price is below that price, I will purchase enough shares to make the initial holding greater than $50.  However, on some of my early purchases, I hadn't decided what my minimum initial holding was going to be, so a few of these early purchases are less than the $50 initial holding rule.

After obtaining the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones, I decided to start looking at stocks with good dividend yields.  I figured even if the market doesn't perform very well for a while, I will at least get some returns from dividends.  My plan is to reinvest the dividends into future stock purchases.  Also, when a stock in the OwnEveryStock portfolio earns enough dividends to purchase another share of itself I will subsequently buy another share of that stock.  For example, XYZ Company is currently worth $65 per share, when XYZ company has paid out $65 worth of dividends, I will purchase another share of XYZ Company.

Unfortunately, my timing for starting this project hasn't been very good for short term results.  With the housing market breakdown leading to credit tighting by financial institutions and a possible recession or economic slowdown, I didn't feel real confident about the short term results of having all my stocks based primarily in the United States.  Add in the weakening dollar from Fed rate cuts and the recent rise in energy and commodity prices and I thought I should start investing in stocks from countries outside the United States as well.

Finally, in the midst of acquiring some ADRs, American Depository Receipts, which are basically foreign stocks trading on U.S. Exchanges, I decided to buy Google and Apple as well.  Once again, my timing for purchasing these stocks was less than stellar, but over time I expect these stocks to do fine.  At the time of purchase, these two well known tech stocks were the only two stocks in the portfolio that were not paying a dividend.

In upcoming posts I will present the current holdings of the Own Every Stock portfolio as well as the initial cost of each stock.  From there, I will add the dividends I have received so far and list the gains or losses on each stock in the portfolio.  Finally, I will be adding a weekly summary of the overall portfolio, listing the number of stocks in the portfolio as well as the overall cost, overall value, and cummulative gain or loss.  As you will discover from my upcoming posts, the overall market declines have not been kind to the portfolio thus far.  However, I started this project with a very long term outlook and I am in no way discouraged by my short term results so far.  I hope you enjoy watching the ups and downs of the Own Every Stock portfolio and maybe you will be able to gain some insights and knowledge from the successes and mistakes I am sure to make along the way. 

For the record, all information contained on this website is intended for educational and informational purposes only.  Before making any investment decisions, a financial professional should be consulted.