You can only buy one stock. What is it?

[MediumTex]

If you could only buy one stock today and you would be required to hold it as your only investment for the rest of your life, what would it be?

For me, it's ExxonMobil.

[dragoncar]

Maybe Berkshire or some diversified multi-industry international corporation.

[craigr]

I'll take the behemoth multi-national for $1000, Alex:

General Electric

[l82start]

Anheuser Busch ?      not sure its a great pick, but i don't see people loosing interest in beer anytime soon..

[Pointedstick]

If I couldn't choose one of XOM or GE, then maybe Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). Folks gotta eat.

[MediumTex]

Maybe Berkshire or some diversified multi-industry international corporation.

No maybes.  You must pick one stock.

[AdamA]

Phillip Morris.

SYLG (Soylent Green)

Awesome.   

[Bean]

NY Federal Reserve Bank

If that doesn't count, then PTR (Petro China)

[MediumTex]

SYLG (Soylent Green)

I heard an interview with the CEO of SYLG one time, and like all CEOs he was full of optimism and platitudes, but the one comment that really stuck with me was when he said: "It's our people that have made this company great."

[dragoncar]

Maybe Berkshire or some diversified multi-industry international corporation.

No maybes.  You must pick one stock.

Maybe Berkshire then (MBRKB)

[dualstow]

Chevron / CVX

Phillip Morris.

Domestic or International, that is MO or PM?

[AdamA]

Chevron / CVX

Phillip Morris.

Domestic or International, that is MO or PM?

International, I think. 

[MediumTex]

Chevron / CVX

Phillip Morris.

Domestic or International, that is MO or PM?

International, I think.

When you watch a loved one die from lung cancer, it makes you realize what a great investment tobacco companies are.  Tobacco use will kill you, but people just can't stop doing it.  What's amazing is that it's legal.

A tobacco company is as close to a pure play on heroin as you will find in the stock market.

The only real risk is an unfavorable regulatory climate.

My dad died of lung cancer in 2005 and I've had MO in my mom's account for several years now.  It's been a great investment.  Up 50% from when she bought it and juicy dividends all along the way.

[Ad Orientem]

Big Blue... IBM

[Reub]

Facebook....Last week!

No, seriously, Google because they are taking over the world one search at a time.

[MediumTex]

Facebook....Last week!

No, seriously, Google because they are taking over the world one search at a time.

Google.  Really?

For the rest of your life?

Google is great, but maintaining a competitive advantage in the technology industry over long periods has proven very elusive for even the finest companies.  Even if you manage to fight off all of your competitors, sometimes your margins just get pinched to the point that your business no longer makes a lot of sense.  PC makers are sort of in this boat right now.

IBM is the lone exception to this general rule, but it would have been impossible 40 years ago to know that IBM would be the survivor and basically everyone else would be gone within 10-20 years, to be replaced by the companies of the Bill Gates/Steve Jobs generation.

As much as I love Apple, I would be afraid to bet too much on its continued dominance in its markets for more than the next five years or so, while I feel really good about ExxonMobil's market position 5, 10, or 15 years from now.

Strong arguments could also be made for McDonald's, which is sort of the Phillip Morris of fast food, and Freeport McMoRan, which is undergoing a very exciting transition from a mining company to a mining/oil and gas company.  In a resource constrained word, FCX should have a bright future for a long time. 

[AdamA]

A tobacco company is as close to a pure play on heroin as you will find in the stock market.

Definitely true.  Both MO and PM have more than doubled the performance of the S&P over the past five years. 

The only real risk is an unfavorable regulatory climate.

That's why I'd probably go with PM, although I'm not sure if my logic is correct.  It just seems like it would be harder to regulate tobacco internationally.  Also, it seems less likely that the international community would care to regulate it.  I could see the US deciding to regulate it, though.

[craigr]

That's why I'd probably go with PM, although I'm not sure if my logic is correct.  It just seems like it would be harder to regulate tobacco internationally.  Also, it seems less likely that the international community would care to regulate it.  I could see the US deciding to regulate it, though.

Consider this: As states legalize marijuana, what corporation is in the perfect position to begin converting tobacco operations over to production and distribution of marijuana cigarettes?

Instead of Marlboro man you will have Marley man.

[MediumTex]

Instead of Marlboro man you will have Marley man.

The Marley Man:

Yo man, I like smokin' Marlboro Greens.  I wear this helmet because sometimes when I smoke that stuff I get so high I fall off my horse.

[craigr]

Instead of Marlboro man you will have Marley man.

The Marley Man:

Yo man, I like smokin' Marlboro Greens.  I wear this helmet because sometimes when I smoke that stuff I get so high I fall off my horse.

We'll see who's laughing in 10 years. Philip Morris probably optioned that guy already.

[dualstow]

Philip Morris was one of my first stocks and I still have it. Received PM and Kraft via spinoffs. It's been beddy beddy good to me.
And yes, they are well-positioned for cannabis.

If I had to pick a tech company, I'd pick Google. They just seem like they could do anything, and what they can't do, they can acquire.
Self-driving cars, databases powered by ocean waves (or was that just a dream?)...Google will do it all.

But I'm sticking with Chevron.

[MediumTex]

Philip Morris was one of my first stocks and I still have it. Received PM and Kraft via spinoffs. It's been beddy beddy good to me.
And yes, they are well-positioned for cannabis.

If I had to pick a tech company, I'd pick Google. They just seem like they could do anything, and what they can't do, they can acquire.
Self-driving cars, databases powered by ocean waves (or was that just a dream?)...Google will do it all.

But I'm sticking with Chevron.

If you took all of the stocks that have been and will be listed in this thread and put together a portfolio consisting of 50% those stocks and 50% 10 year treasuries and rebalanced it annually, I believe most people would be pleased with the results.  That's just my intuition.

[Ad Orientem]

Philip Morris was one of my first stocks and I still have it. Received PM and Kraft via spinoffs. It's been beddy beddy good to me.
And yes, they are well-positioned for cannabis.

If I had to pick a tech company, I'd pick Google. They just seem like they could do anything, and what they can't do, they can acquire.
Self-driving cars, databases powered by ocean waves (or was that just a dream?)...Google will do it all.

But I'm sticking with Chevron.

If you took all of the stocks that have been and will be listed in this thread and put together a portfolio consisting of 50% those stocks and 50% 10 year treasuries and rebalanced it annually, I believe most people would be pleased with the results.  That's just my intuition.

In recent years Jack Bogle has moved away from his 1% in bonds for every year of your age rule. He has instead been telling people to just put 50% in a total bond index fund and the other 50% in a total stock index fund, and rebalance at 60/40 forever. Barring an SHTF I think that would work pretty well over time.

[Bob]

I would agree with MT.  My choice is also ExxonMobil. Bought my first 30 shares in 1982 and have been adding to it ever since.  I add to my position at least quarterly through XOM's DRIP plan.  Makes up a substantial portion of my VP.

[MediumTex]

I would agree with MT.  My choice is also ExxonMobil. Bought my first 30 shares in 1982 and have been adding to it ever since.  I add to my position at least quarterly through XOM's DRIP plan.  Makes up a substantial portion of my VP.

Some people might be surprised at the number of employees at companies like ExxonMobil who have 100% of their 401(k) accounts invested in company stock.

In some ways that's crazy, and in other ways it sort of makes sense if you happen to work at one of the companies we have listed in this thread so far.