
Apple stocks worth over 40 times what they were 7 years ago today - ajaimk
http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:AAPL
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ErrantX
My Grandad had a huge "Forest Gump" moment a few months ago when going through
my Gran's estate. He kept waffling on about how he was sure she had some
investments in "fruit farms or something".

Apparently she, for some reason, bought some Apple shares back in the 90's. No
idea why because she had no idea about computers! I wish we could find out
why.

~~~
altano
Maybe she thought it was a fruit farm.

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Anechoic
Heh. Back in Macworld Boston 1996, I bought one share of Apple stock at $16
and got a framed commemorative stock certificate. It went into a box when I
moved later that year and I completely forgot about until I found it a couple
of weeks ago. It's worth almost $1,000 now!

Unfortunately the state seized it as abandoned property (I moved a couple of
times since and I never updated my address with the stock transfer agent) and
I'm in the process of trying to reclaim the stock now. :(

~~~
blhack
Pardon me for not being very knowledgeable about the laws regarding stocks,
but _you have the certificate_... Isn't that your proof?

I mean...don't people keep stock certs in safety deposit boxes and soforth?
Does the sec mail you ever year asking if your heart is still beating or
something?

~~~
Anechoic
Which is exactly the question I asked of the transfer agent, but it seems that
if the TA can't get in contact with you over a certain period, they can
consider the stock "abandoned".

Since I actually have the certificate (well, not anymore, I had to send in the
original certificate to the state as proof of ownership), getting the stock
back is a straightforward process. But until the state relinquishes its claim,
the stock certificate literally isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

See
[http://www.stocktransfer.com/index.cfm?action=shareholders.F...](http://www.stocktransfer.com/index.cfm?action=shareholders.FAQ.transferStock&displayMenu=FAQ&ssl=0#21)

~~~
jrockway
Actually, it is worth the paper it's printed on.

~~~
hugh3
I disagree. Isn't a blank piece of paper worth slightly more than one with
something useless printed on it?

~~~
chaosmachine
It's probably worth significantly more:

<http://www.oldstocks.com/>

People pay good money for cancelled stock certificates.

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rphlx
I have a friend who invested ~$10k in AAPL in 2003. He's considering moving to
NV or TX for a year, to avoid the massive CA 10% long term capital gains tax..
we joke that Steve Jobs is partly responsible for CA's mass exodus.

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jasonlbaptiste
If you spent the money on an original ipod in 2001 on apple stock ($499), you
would have 14,513.78 today.

~~~
gojomo
This calculation cries out for a table, including all Apple products over the
years: if you'd bought AAPL instead of the product, how much would your stock
be worth?

~~~
Derferman
So I decided to do just that <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1292276>

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davidmurphy
Selling my Apple stock a couple years back was what let me quit my day job and
start out on my own. :)

Years ago as a kid, I invested a tiny amount and the broker was so adamant I
was making a mistake that he made me sign an acknowledgement that I was acting
on my own wishes against his advice.

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steveplace
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindsight_bias>

For a more fun example: <http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3Adndn>

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yellowbkpk
My parents bought me 20 shares at $10 for a birthday present several years
ago. They were very close to buying me 200 shares but the broker heard the
wrong number of zeros over the phone.

At least that's their excuse... :)

~~~
lunchbox
If they spoke out the numbers, wouldn't it be hard to confuse "two hundred"
with "twenty"?

~~~
yellowbkpk
That's why I cry foul every time they tell the story. I doubt that's what
actually happened and they just feel bad.

