I can't remember how much I was earning per hour, but it seemed like a ton of money to me. One autumn day I was at work early (yes, I was an eager go-getter back then) and I remember making a list of stocks that I'd like to buy as I was so very flush with cash.
That paper went away long ago, but I remember a few on the list: American Skiing Company (back when they owned Sunday River and Sugarloaf), Sam Adams Beer, Disney, Pixar (back when it was its own entity) and Apple.
Of course, I never actually invested. Well, I invested; I bought stuff. CDs and a stereo at first, then DVDs became popular and I bought a slew of them, and well, it was the 1990s. Consumer culture reigned.
Anyway, this week, in case you missed it, Apple stock hit an all-time high.
So this morning I found historical prices for Apple and made a little chart.
Back on October 23, 1998 Apple closed at 8.88 per share. Yesterday it finished the week at 203.94.
That's almost a 2300% climb.
Sure, I probably would have sold it earlier, maybe on one of my moves, or last fall when the unemployment really was kicking us.
But still, if I'd invested $300 just eleven years ago, I'd have $6889.86 today.
Wow.