Chipotle was one of those stocks for me that “got away”. I’ve been a fan of Chipotle since 2002. I had one of their burritos on the suggestion of a friend and my life was changed for the next 12 years. Back in 2006 I bought the stock after the IPO. But back in 2006 I knew far less about trading, identifying big winners, holding onto big winners, having a strategy, bull and bear markets etc. Hopefully in another 8 years I’ll know far more than I did in 2014. But back then I sold the stock somewhere in 2007, taking a gain, but I never participated in the stock again. I always would go back and look at it sometimes and think why didn’t I just hold that and buy more? Why did I buy other things and not get back into CMG?
Clearly if you held it in 2008 you suffered big losses. But if you got back in in early 2009 you made huge profits into 2012. Think about the difference between getting in at 50 or lower or getting in at 100. In 2009 it was a matter of months between those two prices but the difference in entry point turns a 4-bagger into an 8- bagger the earlier you got in. And more than a 10-bagger now if you bought in early 2009 and held until now. Goes to show how buying early in new bull markets can produce huge profits. Notice in 2009 how Chipotle was already making higher highs while the market didn’t bottom until March 2009. That’s the sign of a winning stock.
People still love Chipotle burritos to this day, myself included. But I think the big gains are already in this stock unfortunately. It’s expensive and had a monster run, and when a bear market rolls around it will need a rest.
