The Bureau of Historic Losses · Counterfactual Division
What if you'd bought Broadcom in 2018?
The year Broadcom's $117bn hostile bid for Qualcomm was blocked by presidential order on national-security grounds. The stock, split-adjusted around $26, was treated as a serial acquirer with no organic growth left. The custom-silicon AI windfall was years from the headlines.
$100 on 2018-01-02, worth today
US$1,812
As of 2026-06-12, $100 of Broadcom bought at 2018's open (US$21.09) is worth US$1,812 — 18.1×.
total return · dividends reinvested · USD
How much would $100 of Broadcom bought in 2018 be worth today?
| You'd have put in | You'd have now | Multiple |
|---|---|---|
| US$100 | US$1,812 | 18.1× |
| US$1,000 | US$18,119 | 18.1× |
| US$10,000 | US$181,190 | 18.1× |
Lump sum on the year's first trading day, total return (dividends reinvested, splits adjusted), valued at the latest close. Past performance isn't a promise — it's a taunt.
What did Broadcom do in 2018?
Opened
US$21.09
2018-01-02
Peaked
US$21.65
2018-06-15
Bottomed
US$16.44
2018-07-13
Closed
US$21.02
2018-12-31
Levels are dividend-adjusted, so historical figures look lower than the headline price of the day — that's the total-return lens, and it's the honest one.
Would steady buying have beaten going all in?
US$44,100 deployed as $100 a week from 2018-01-02, under four temperaments — same money, different nerves.
| All in on day one | US$799,048 |
| Steady weekly buys | US$396,862 |
| Sold dips, rebought rallies | US$265,113 |
| Traded it perfectly | US$500,192 |
“Traded it perfectly” requires knowing the future. Nobody knew the future.
The same $1,000, elsewhere
$1,000 at 2018's open, each valued at the latest close. Hindsight remains undefeated.
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