NEXT 5 YEAR PICKS - AUGUST 2025

 ✅ Completed & Uploaded: Next 5-Year Picks

I’ve shared the latest set of stock picks in Viral’s Long-Term Investing WhatsApp group. These are based on my research and understanding, focusing on companies that are either fairly valued or currently trading at a discount.

📈 Return Expectation: If bought at current prices and held for 5 years, I expect them to deliver ~50–100% returns.

📅 Background:

• On July 26, I uploaded the first batch of 20 picks, which are already up ~4% overall in just one month.

• This month’s list adds another 20 unique names.

• 3 stocks (SOFI, OKTA, FOUR) overlapped between July and August picks — I replaced them with new names so that both months together give you 40 different picks.

💡 How to Approach:

• You can either DCA (Dollar Cost Average) gradually into these,

• Or invest a lump sum upfront — depending on your preference and style.

📑 I’ll also be uploading a blog combining July and August picks for easy reference.

AUGUST 2025 PICKS (FOR NEXT 5 YEARS): 

JULY 2025 PICKS (FOR NEXT 5 YEARS): 

Changes to Long Term Portfolio Daily Buying

Portfolio Daily Buy Update

Making some adjustments to the long-term daily recurring buy pattern:

• CROX & ROOT: Moving from $3 → $2 daily.

• RUN & COIN: Added at $3 daily (replacing CROX & ROOT at the $3 slot).

• VRTX & CFLT: Moving from $2 → $1 daily.

• PRCH & GCT: Moving from $1 → $2 daily.

• Stopping $1 daily buys in TGTX, FTNT, PSEC, MIDD, CHKP
  (all are down more than 20% from initial buy in this bucket).

• Replacing them with $1 daily buys in OTEX, RKLB, SN, RKT, APP.

20 Picks for next 5 years

These are the 20 picks, which has potential to give overall 100% return in next 5 years. Will monitor their performance through Finviz Portfolio.

 

Double Your Money

DOUBLE YOUR MONEY !!!

If you look at last 50 years of data - in USA - US Bonds has CAGR of 5.8%, Real Estate has CAGR of 7.5% and S&P 500 has CAGR of 10.5%. This means, You can double your money in every 12-13 years - if you kept it in US Bonds. You can double your money in every 9-10 years through Real Estate. You can double your money in S&P500 every 7 years. 

If you buy and hold quality individual stocks, you can double your money in every 5 years.

If you gained sufficient knowledge about Trading Stocks, you can double your money in every 3 years. 

Above paths are sustainable for the long term, may be things slow down a bit - and it may take slightly longer time frame but rough estimate and order would remain the same. With some basic knowledge and couple of years of effort - above is doable. 

However, the problem comes, when you try to double your money in shorter duration than 3 years. Crypto has slightly ruined people’s mindset in that way. People want to double their money in less than 3 years, some even promises to do it within 12 months. I like to believe, I am a good stock picker, I have been picking stocks since 2018 (Top 50, Top 20, Top 10 etc), and found that only 2 out of 10 stocks picked managed to double within 12 months period. Its a good exercise that everyone should participate - and pick 10 stocks or 20 at the start of the year, and see how many picks make it to be successful - just to find out How we did. You may find that - the task is not as easy as it seems. There is another short cut - which is to buy Call Option Leaps (which can double your money within 12 months), if done correctly. 

However, the problem comes, when people want to double their money in even shorter duration, like 3 months , 1 months, and try short term options or risky stocks or unknown crypto. Dear Friends - You are in the wrong path, if you are trying that. It may work once a while, but it is not sustainable. You will end up blowing your accounts and more. Also, it will put you in the wrong mindset alltogether - where you would be always looking for that quick money and when you dont get it, you will “Gamble” more and lose more. Be Careful. 

Forget one month, some people want to double their money every day (including myself). You can search hashtag #BadaBingBadaBang, in this whatsapp group or in my Twitter timeline and you will find more than 100 occassions, when I have done that, but it is not recommended. Think of it like - Ciggarette addiction - I am trying to quit - but those who smoke would know - it is difficult thing to achieve - so I am cutting it down as much as possible. Least, I am doing it with the money which is not even 0.01% of the portfolio, so the win or loss, does not matter or impact me to a huge amount. 

Summary: 

✅ “Doubling your money every 5-10 years is realistic and sustainable.”

✅ “Trying to double your money too fast will ruin your mindset and your portfolio.”

✅ “Focus on learning, patience, and process—not gambling for quick money.”

New to stock Market - Follow the following path

 

If someone is very new to stock market, following are the steps to follow: 

1. Day 1 onwards, whatever money that you can save - invest in VOO or SPY, at least your first 10,000$. (Read this: https://viralpatel15.blogspot.com/2021/03/stock-market-beginner-advice.html) 
2. Save 20% of your paycheck then onwards and invest in individual stocks. (Read this: https://viralpatel15.blogspot.com/2024/08/building-stock-portfolio.html)
3. Focus on Learning about stock market. Where? How? What? - Read the following blogs: 
1. https://viralpatel15.blogspot.com/2025/07/time-spend-to-learn-about-stock-market.html
2. https://viralpatel15.blogspot.com/2024/12/where-can-we-learn-about-stock-market.html
3. https://viralpatel15.blogspot.com/2025/05/book-chapters-or-youtube-sessions.html
4. It will take you 1 year to complete step 1, and 3 more years or 10,000 hours to complete step 3. 
5. First 2 steps, will take care of your “Investing” Journey. Third step is your stepping stone for “Trading” journey. 
6. When you start “Trading” - focus on establishing the “Process” or “Method” and not “Profit”. 
7. Once you have established the method - focus on “Consistency” and improvement on areas needed to make it better method. 
8. Spend your first 4 years on 
1. Not Losing Money
2. Learning and Improving the Process 
3. Creating a pool of money to Trade with (prefer 6 digit account). 
9. 5th year onwards, focus is to make 5 digit profit in a year. Think of it, like you get an extra Bonus check through trading gains. 
10. Year 6 onwards, focus needs to be Can I make 3 month of my salary through Trading. 
11. Year 7 onwards, focus needs to be can I make 6 month of my salary through trading. 
12. Year 8-9 onwards, focus needs to be can I make my job as optional. 
13. Year 10 onwards, its about setting a Goal - how much money I need to make in a year - once done, take the rest of the year off - hence the term - “Sell in May, Go Away”. 
14. Can I try Options Trading, as everything else has become too monotonous and boring, I want some excitement and play around fun. 

Method that most people seems to follow early on is 

1. How do I get rich through options trading (something that should be the last step, people want to try it as first step). Eventually they fail - Many dont come back to market - those who do, again start from Step 1. 
2. How do I get rich, buying Penny stocks, or How can I buy something very cheap, so I can become rich quickly. (again fails eventually). 
3. Stock Market is just a casino, I am here to gamble my money. If it works, its ok- If not - I have other means to make money. 

Time Spend To Learn about Stock Market - Each Week

 How much time I spend on market each week:

Early morning 7 to 7.30 read some newsletters, check few news - scan through my twitter feed and subscribed people’s posts. 

8-8.30 - watch cnbc while having breakfast. 

8.30 -9.00 - scan through all the important news from the Bloomberg terminal news, filter few important ones to share it in the whatsapp group. 

9.30 to 10.00 - make necessary adjustments on the two trading portfolios; some sell and some buy - keep looking at options scan in cheddar flow to identify some patterns. Scan through Finviz to see if there is anything breaking out for new buys. 

1100 to 12.00 (keep checking finviz, bloomberg, cheddar flow) to make adjustments if required. 

12.00 to 1.00 Listen to cnbc half time show to identify what the market experts are saying. 

1.00 to 4.00 - Keep scanning finviz, charts,cheddar flow, twitter feed etc (Average 30 minutes)

5.00 to 6.00 - Identify patterns to find out what happened in the market and why it happened. 

7.00 - Watch Bloomberg to hear what experts are saying about what happened in the market. Validate your theory. Look for what and how Asia is going to open. 

9.30 Watch CNBC awaaz to see how Indian market experts are saying and how Indian stock market going to do. 

11.30 to 12.00 Make adjustments to Indian stock portfolio. 

1 Go to Sleep. 

Rinse and Repeat same thing again next day. 

In the weekend scan through minimum of 500 (roughly 1000) charts to find what looks good. Takes now roughly 4 hours. 

Spend 20 minutes to make any adjustments needed on Daily Recurring Buy of investment portfolio. 

Spend 1 hour reading any book on investment or trading. 

Guru Govind

                  गुरु गोविंद दोऊ खड़े, काके लागूं पाए,

    बलिहारी गुरु आपने, गोविन्द दियो बताय। ~ कबीर

Kabir says: “Guru and God (Govind) both are standing before me, whose feet should I touch first? I bow to my Guru first, for showing me the path to God.”

Govind (God) = Goal (the destination you want to reach).

Guru = System / Process (the path and guide that takes you there).

Like Govind, goals inspire you and give direction, but without the Guru (system), you cannot reach them. Just as Kabir bows first to the Guru because the Guru leads you to God, you should prioritize your system/process, because it is what leads you to your goals.

-Baba Nikhalas