Sometimes it's about more than the money.

Posts: 66 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jun 01, 2006 Posts: 66

krtracer wrote:

And now trading has been halted Eek

Hope someone steps in soon. I sure don't want to wake up no no service.

Well, trading has resumed, but it isn't good news for our friend "smart". VG closed at $1.30 / share today (easily a new 52 week low). Now "smart" needs a 548% gain from VG's current price just to break even on his investment.

Assuming he was telling the truth about his stock purchases, his $497,500 investment in VG is now worth $91,000. No wonder we haven't heard from him lately.

Posts: 154 · Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 8:09 pm Post subject: Re: What next

fanninja wrote:

krtracer wrote:

And now trading has been halted Eek

Hope someone steps in soon. I sure don't want to wake up no no service.

Assuming he was telling the truth about his stock purchases, his $497,500 investment in VG is now worth $91,000. No wonder we haven't heard from him lately.

And if he had waited a little longer, say when the stock reaches close to $0.003 our smart guy could have bought entire the company.

Vonage was such a great idea.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 16, 2007 Posts: 3

Common Sense 101

Investing is different from liking. You may invest in any company even if you don't like the product (or use it). I don't drink alcohol but I own shares of a large alcohol company.

Just because you like a product (of dozens of others that are being manufactured/serviced), does not mean you invest in them.

Posts: 154

userfrom07 wrote:

Common Sense 101

You may invest in any company even if you don't like the product (or use it). I don't drink alcohol but I own shares of a large alcohol company.

Common sense 101...

Fortunately for you, there are enough people out there who like alcohol.

duh.

Posts: 90 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: May 05, 2005 Posts: 90

smart wrote:

I have owned 20,000 shares of Vonage Common stock for some rime now, and kept it through the thick and the thin because I use and love the service, and do not want to see the big guys kill them. In the past I bought and sold stocks to make money. I own these in my retirement accounts, and this is more than half my savings. I have worked very hard for this money. I also kept them of course to make money, because I believe in the company. . . .

I live on Retirement Island in Georgia, and I know some folks in their 70's who are LIVING on Social Security. They made the same mistakes you did.

First of all, DIVERSIFY. You should NEVER EVER have more than half of your retirement savings in one stock or mutual fund, or other investment vehicle. It is just too dangerous. If that company goes belly up, you are going to end up like my friends who fight their dogs for a scrap of puppy chow every night.

A lot of people hurt in the Enron disaster put most or all of their retirement savings into company stock. This was idiotic. If a company stock price is going UP, UP, UP, guess which direction it is going to go next? That's right, DOWN. It is a simple rule, and one that is lost on most folks, as evidenced by today's Real Estate market (I sold out over a year ago, at the peak, because I'm not an idiot).

Second of all, you can't be sentimental about this. Regardless of how you feel about Vonage as a company (you are in love with Vonage? Get a motel room!) you have to be unsentimental about your investments. Put your money into a variety of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, and explore other investment vehicles as well (insurance, etc.).

One thing the last 30 years has taught us is that even blue chip companies can go bankrupt seemingly overnight (Remember Pan Am?). What worked in the past might not work today. On the other hand, modern "internet" and "new economy" companies can disappear from the scene as fast as they appear.

Your only protection is to squirrel away your money in many different investment vehicles. That way, if one goes belly up, at least you have SOMETHING left to retire on.

Unless you like the taste of dog food, that is....

Posts: 43 · Full Forum Member Joined: Dec 27, 2006 Posts: 43

Have always been amused by what I see as a dichotomy..vonage is designed to suceed based on price....working people affording phone without going broke because of long distance; and the bulk of customers are just that; what makes me chuckle are the number of people I see on the forum in all of the thread categories who complain about 'putting up' with the expectable bugaboos of any new technology and can afford to invest a few hundred thousand dollars.......let's try a poll on this: 'how many vonage customers own stock in ANYTHING?"; or, 'how many vonage customers have over $400,000 in an investment of any sort'. Guarantee, very few. People with money to invest are not the bread and butter for revenue for vonage. (Only for the IPO) {have a sense of irony..if not humor}

Posts: 81 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 81

You're roughly $500,000 investment is now worth about $70,000 (less fees and commissions.) The stock is hovering at the $1 point. If it stays consistently below the $1 price the NYSE will delist the stock.

If you haven't already, get out now before you loose the last $70k. This company has no future as an independent entity. My prediction is that they will file bankruptcy making your stock work $0 and one one of the cable companies will buy the assets from the courts and convert the customer base to their current offering. (Comcast?)

Sorry you lost all that money, but I would never put more than 10% of my retirement holdings in ANY investment. It's just not smart.

Posts: 66 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jun 01, 2006 Posts: 66

A quick update on smart's investment:

IPO shares @ $17: 20,000 shares / $340,000
Second purchase @ $3.15: 50,000 shares / $157,500

Total investment: $497,500

Price of VG today: $0.75/share
Total investment value today: $52,500

Total loss on paper: $445,000

Average price point per share for smart: $7.11

Remember smart, it's not a loss until you sell! You can still make your money back! You just need VG to have a 947% gain and you'll be back to even on your investment!

However, if you need some capital losses to offset your huge 2008 capital gains, you may want to lock in your $445,000 loss in before the end of the year.

Posts: 66 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jun 01, 2006 Posts: 66

smart, I have good news for you. All you need to do is buy another 1.7 million shares of VG at $0.74 (total value $1,258,000), and you'll drive your average price point below $1.00! How great is that!

Now, after that it's all about timing... after VG rises to $1.00, you need to act fast and find someone to buy your 1,770,000 shares. If you can do that, you'll have turned your $1,755,500 investment into a tidy $1,770,000! That's a handsome profit (minus long term capital gains, of course) of $14,500!

Posts: 154 · Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 9:18 pm Post subject:

If Smart were to achieve and maintain an average stock price below $1 for more than 6 months, would he be "delisted" by the IRS?

I wish Smart could educate us.