Howdy Everybody,
Like everybody else, my 401(k) had been on a downhill slide. Every week, I put money into my 401(k) and the next week I had less money. More stock, but less money.
So, something like March '08 I took all my 401(k) and put it into a total bond fund. It was at $9.97 a share/unit. On Nov. 20, 2008 it was worth $9.98 a share/unit. I didn't make any money, but atlest I stopped losing money.
So, on Nov. 20, 2008, I took half of my 401(k) and bought company stock on the company that I work for. General Cable.
http://www.generalcable.com/GeneralCable/. I bought in at $7.02 a share. Then, on Nov 21, 2008, I took the remainded of my 401(k) money and bought BGC at $7.62 a share.
Today, April 30, 2009, BGC closed at $27.14 a share.
http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NYSE:BGC
Gee basic math.......
$1,000.00 divided by $7.02 share= 142.45 shares
142.45 shares X's $27.14= $3,866.09
Gee, this works out to about 386.6% increase.
Then $1,000.00 divided by $7.62 share= 131.23 shares
131.23 shares X's $27.14= $3561.58
Gee, this works out to about 356.1% increase
Add all this up, add in my contribution amount and based on the stock market's closing prices yesterday ( the online statement is always a day behind) and my rate of return was 79.9%
I'm not sure how this works, but it's what was stated on my online statement.
All the General Cable plants in the USA and Canada ( GC owns plants worldwide) are union plants. Myself and all my union brothers and sisters can buy company stock with our 401(k). Since we can do this and most do, it is my/our best interest that the company is profitable. The vast majority of us, sure there's a few dead beats, try to do our best. We have made a marked reduction in waste, and have cut operational cost as much as we can. Plus we are still working on this. The more profit the company makes, the more money we make. Plus the better the corporation preforms profit wise, the more the value of the stock goes up. This means my 401(k) is worth more. Plus my/our job doesn't move to Mexico or China.
Kinda a WIN-WIN for everybody.
Check out the link to the stock price. It had been on a steady roll since 9/11 until everything kinda went south. Looks like it's back on a roll again.
Paul