Many many moons ago I was buying into a little gold stock called Andean Resources (ASX). Eventually Andean was taken out at $6.50 by Goldcorp (TSX). I sold plenty on the way up the ladder in the multiple dollar figures but I did make a $mil+ on that investment. I still have stock in Goldcorp atm. I would have to go back in my records, but I would have had only 20/30thou outlayed/invested on that one.
Satisfaction was nice, however I got more satisfaction from the enjoyment of friends (4 whom I got into the stock) who held out to the end and was it life changing for them. There were others but when they saw a 30c stock price after buying in the teens they took profits. They were happy also.
Some spec stocks can make you allot of money. Finding them and holding onto them is extremely hard at times.
