Once upon a time, Mr. Bigman the Engineer invested in a little stock car named JDSU. It was just a caboose at $3.91 per share, and having been such a good little caboose in flippers past, Mr. Bigman bought 702 shares expecting another fabulous flip-trip.
The year was 2006 B.C., which in Bigman terms means “Before the Crash.”
But JDSU didn’t have enough gas in the engine to chug a 702-car train back up that hill, so six months later it reverse-split its engine, shrugged off a bunch of stock cars, and permanently retired them so that Mr. Bigman was only left with 87 stock cars at a cost of $31.74 each instead of $3.91, once the discoupling fee was added on.
In a fog of deep sorrow at having lost most of his stock cars, Mr. Bigman and his little caboose went silent and closed the door, wanting to see JDSU’s remaining stock cars no more.
The years passed by, and Mr. Bigman forgot about his lost choo-choo train that once zipped up and down the mountains with ease, until nine years later in the year 2015, something strange happened.
JDSU was still chugging along, but he wasn’t quite right this time having fallen and bumped his head after hitting an upended crosstie, and he spun out of control flinging train cars in every direction.
By the time JDSU stopped spinning, something magical had taken place, and JDSU existed no more. Instead, he’d morphed into VIAV and LITE, and Mr. Bigman’s 87 stock cars had multiplied into 17 shares of LITE and 87 shares of VIAV, totaling 104 stock cars.
And again Mr. Bigman’s cost for each stock car had changed. In order to break even, Mr. Bigman would have to sell VIAV at $18.24 per share, and LITE at $69.32 per share. The only trouble was that LITE was only charging $18.60 per stock car, with VIAV at $6.30.
| JDSU original cost $3.91 | |||
| Stock Ticker | New Cost Basis ** | 1st Market Price | Shot Up To |
| LITE | $69.32 | $18.60 | $68.63 |
| VIAV | $18.24 | $6.30 | $11.89 |
| ** Your cost basis will be different ** | |||
It seemed hopeless that Mr. Bigman’s split and spun stock cars could ever recover his losses, but two more years passed and it was now 2017, where something truly amazing happened — the LITE train shot up to $68.63 before descending the mountain to regain its speed for an even bigger climb, while VIAV had reached a climax of $11.89.
Mr. Bigman had long forgotten about his magically spun and morphed stock cars, and he missed the LITE train when it hit the peak. But all hope is not lost.
The conductors who control all the trains set a price-point of $77 for LITE, and a simple urge to Buy for VIAV, giving Mr. Bigman another run at the races.
** For those of you whose JDSU trains split and spun like Mr. Bigman’s, your mileage will vary. Your numbers will not be reflected in Mr. Bigman’s numbers, so you’d be doing yourself a great boon to have a professional figure out your basis so that you’ll know when to ride the train, and when to hop off.
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Did you catch the part where I’m an author? If you believe in ancient astronaut theory, here are two books that I’ve written on the subject. If ancient aliens aren’t your thing, check out books that I’ve written or narrated in the sidebar of this blog post. It’s a way of saying Thank You! 😀
