Most day traders have amassed their own collection of war stories about their most profitable trades ever, and at the same time have their sob stories over the “sure thing” that could have gone sour. Here, we have collected 10 of the most profitable stock trades ever. They are, of course also 10 of the least profitable stock trades in history.... had you been on the other side of the trade! We aren’t including anything like blue chip or high dividend-paying sites in this list... just the 10 biggest winners (or losers) in recent history!
Buy Medifast Inc, 1999.
As a small medical equipment company in the 90's, Medifast was barely on the radar at 20 cents per share. A series of lucrative contracts aided by lucrative patents had it trading at $30.58, a staggering profit of 16,000% to a long term investor! While a short stellar would have stopped out early, the pangs of regret would have been as painful as any financial loss.
Buying Ebay, 1994
Some thought the idea of auctioning off people's junk was ludicrous. Others just didn't see where the profits would come from. One of the few .COM sensations of the 90's to mature into a a stable investment, ebay was certainly helped along by the fact that its payment processor, paypal, essentially became the international standard for online transactions. Ebay's rise was typical of .coms at the time, opening at $2 per share in September of 2008, reaching an early peak of $10 per share by December. During the ensuing .com recession, ebay bucked the odds by hitting $56 per share in November 2004, a profit of 2800% for 1st day investors! Short sellers, of course ate their hearts.
Buy Google, 2006
Offered at a near blue-chip price of $80 per share during the 2006 IPO, Google has, since then, surged to over $600 per share, making the undisputed king of the Nasdaq.
Shorting the Dow on September 3rd, 1929.
Most trading historians would regard the Stock market crash of 1929 as one of the biggest catastrophes in history. However, a trader able to read the signs (Overheating economy, high volumes of risky trades on high margin, and a complete lack of oversight) opening a short-sale futures position on the index would have seen the index drop from 381 to 198 by November 13. An investment of $100,000 with 30% margin posting would have witnessed a 178% profit. Betting the market would have gone higher, of course, would have made you a candidate for that autumn’s fad of window-diving.
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