Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda - JLP Laments

I read in today's Wall Street Journal that Adidas is buying Reebok. A look at the latest quote shows Reebok is trading at nearly $57 per share. All I could think when I read the news was "coulda, woulda, shoulda..."

Why?

Well, way back in December 1999, Oprah Winfrey did one of her "Oprah Loves..." shows. Anyway, she went on and on about this particular shoe from Reebok. I remember sitting there thinking that this was going to be huge for Reebok. So, I went and looked up their stock price. They were trading around $8.00 per share. I seriously thought about buying 100-200 shares. But,... I DIDN'T.

Anyway, right after that Oprah show, the stock started moving up and six months later was trading in the mid-teens. One year after the show, it was trading at $23 per share - a 187.5% gain. Had I purchased the shares at $8 per share and held on to them until today, I would have had an annualized rate of return of just under 42% (not including dividends).

Oh well, such is life. Shoulda, woulda, coulda,... I guess.