My way in the stock market

My way in the stock market

My way in the stock market

I have been active on the stock exchange with passion for almost 15 years now. A lot has changed since my first trade on November 6th, 2007 and if you are interested in my path, the mistakes I have made and the things I have learned from them - please read on.
I have been active on the stock exchange with passion for almost 15 years now. A lot has changed since my first trade on November 6th, 2007 and if you are interested in my path, the mistakes I have made and the things I have learned from them - please read on.

The beginnings in 2007: My first depot and the global financial crisis

The beginnings in 2007: My first depot and the global financial crisis

Until I was 18, my money was in a savings account (yes, there was still interest back then). I wasn't able to do it until I was 18 and then, without much prior knowledge, I opened a deposit account at the Sparbuchbank. My first purchase was an equity fund and here I invested almost 1/3 of the money that I had saved through years of giving up consumption and delivering newspapers.

Unfortunately, the timing was not so good, because autumn 2007 was shortly before the financial crisis and therefore the worst possible time (the level of my purchase was actually not reached again until 2013). Almost everyone who invested back then lost a lot of money. And many then turned their backs on the stock market forever. But I stuck with it, which was probably a mix of luck and ambition. Lucky because I had only invested 1/3 and was then able to invest the next third in 2008 when prices continued to fall (and the last third then at the end of 2008/beginning of 2009 pretty much at the absolute low point). And ambition because I hate losing and wanted my money back.

In 2008/2009 I bought my first individual shares: BASF, CropEnergies (still in the depot today), German Lufthansa and German Telekom. I think I came to the individual stocks because the fund was simply too boring for me, despite the wild price swings surrounding the financial crisis and the bankruptcy of Lehmann Brothers. Why settle for 1-2% movement a day when individual stocks sometimes fluctuate in double digits?

Lesson learned: don't invest everything at once - but gradually. No matter how sure you are...
Until I was 18, my money was in a savings account (yes, there was still interest back then). I wasn't able to do it until I was 18 and then, without much prior knowledge, I opened a deposit account at the Sparbuchbank. My first purchase was an equity fund and here I invested almost 1/3 of the money that I had saved through years of giving up consumption and delivering newspapers.

Unfortunately, the timing was not so good, because autumn 2007 was shortly before the financial crisis and therefore the worst possible time (the level of my purchase was actually not reached again until 2013). Almost everyone who invested back then lost a lot of money. And many then turned their backs on the stock market forever. But I stuck with it, which was probably a mix of luck and ambition. Lucky because I had only invested 1/3 and was then able to invest the next third in 2008 when prices continued to fall (and the last third then at the end of 2008/beginning of 2009 pretty much at the absolute low point). And ambition because I hate losing and wanted my money back.

In 2008/2009 I bought my first individual shares: BASF, CropEnergies (still in the depot today), German Lufthansa and German Telekom. I think I came to the individual stocks because the fund was simply too boring for me, despite the wild price swings surrounding the financial crisis and the bankruptcy of Lehmann Brothers. Why settle for 1-2% movement a day when individual stocks sometimes fluctuate in double digits?

Lesson learned: don't invest everything at once - but gradually. No matter how sure you are...

Rookie Mistake I: Greed for a quick buck

Rookie Mistake I: Greed for a quick buck

In 2010, I began to delve a little deeper into the subject of the stock market. I read the Handelsblatt and the “Aktärer” website. In addition in a few exchange forums. This is where the painful part begins, as I got caught up in the lure of making a quick buck with the smallest gambler stocks (commodity explorers and tech stocks). In addition, there was an offer from a bank to trade for a fixed 1% of the volume instead of 20 euros per trade as at my house bank. Thank God I only put amounts between 50 and 100 euros into the gambling titles - but these losses also hurt. But since I didn't keep an investment diary, I didn't even realize HOW bad I was. At the end of the year it was enough to get the full tax allowance by selling the few winning shares - and the losses just remained book losses. But I had more luck than plan here: the two biggest purchases by far were SMT Scharf and Dt. Telekom, two quality values that compensated for my other losses to some extent.

Lesson learned (the most important for me on the stock market): Greed is not a good advisor - and anyone who promises quick profits is dubious. Check everything and keep the good.
In 2010, I began to delve a little deeper into the subject of the stock market. I read the Handelsblatt and the “Aktärer” website. In addition in a few exchange forums. This is where the painful part begins, as I got caught up in the lure of making a quick buck with the smallest gambler stocks (commodity explorers and tech stocks). In addition, there was an offer from a bank to trade for a fixed 1% of the volume instead of 20 euros per trade as at my house bank. Thank God I only put amounts between 50 and 100 euros into the gambling titles - but these losses also hurt. But since I didn't keep an investment diary, I didn't even realize HOW bad I was. At the end of the year it was enough to get the full tax allowance by selling the few winning shares - and the losses just remained book losses. But I had more luck than plan here: the two biggest purchases by far were SMT Scharf and Dt. Telekom, two quality values that compensated for my other losses to some extent.

Lesson learned (the most important for me on the stock market): Greed is not a good advisor - and anyone who promises quick profits is dubious. Check everything and keep the good.

Beginner's mistakes II 2011: Emotions instead of facts

Beginner's mistakes II 2011: Emotions instead of facts

2011 was the year in which I learned a lot about the stock market with a subscription to WirtschaftsWoche and also began to invest more systematically in shares, look at business models and annual reports – but above all continue to follow the opinions of others. During this time, I read a lot on stock market forums and then bought the stocks that other people thought were good. I used the first crisis in 2011, the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima, like a total expert: nuclear power is dead – purely in renewable energies. That also worked – but in the second crisis, the euro debt crisis, I sold all these shares again, and at a significant loss. Simply because prices fell. And then a few months later to watch the rising prices.

Lesson learned: good companies remain good companies - no matter what the stock market price does.
2011 was the year in which I learned a lot about the stock market with a subscription to WirtschaftsWoche and also began to invest more systematically in shares, look at business models and annual reports – but above all continue to follow the opinions of others. During this time, I read a lot on stock market forums and then bought the stocks that other people thought were good. I used the first crisis in 2011, the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima, like a total expert: nuclear power is dead – purely in renewable energies. That also worked – but in the second crisis, the euro debt crisis, I sold all these shares again, and at a significant loss. Simply because prices fell. And then a few months later to watch the rising prices.

Lesson learned: good companies remain good companies - no matter what the stock market price does.

Options and certificates 2012: You can also leverage losses...

Options and certificates 2012: You can also leverage losses...

2012 was the next humble year. Because in order to recoup the losses from 2011 (I REALLY don't like to lose), I started speculating with warrants - without understanding how they work at all. And of course I kept buying tips from other experts without even understanding what the business model of these companies was.

Lesson Learned: Stay away from warrants and certificates, especially if you don't understand them.
2012 was the next humble year. Because in order to recoup the losses from 2011 (I REALLY don't like to lose) I started speculating with warrants - without understanding how they work at all. And of course I kept buying tips from other experts without even understanding what the business model of these companies was.

Lesson Learned: Stay away from warrants and certificates, especially if you don't understand them.

Breakthrough 2013: What distinguishes a good investor?

Breakthrough 2013: What distinguishes a good investor?

In terms of performance, 2013 was also a mixed stock market year, although the Dax was able to gain almost 20%. The reason was warrants again. For my investment strategy, however, it was a breakthrough year, because I found a thread on Wallstreet-Online.de about German small caps as a long-term investment. The creator there made his strategy transparent and I suddenly understood much better why and when it makes sense to buy a stock: when you see something (a connection or a business opportunity, etc.) that others don't see on a superficial look . However, due to my negative experience with "Tips," I only bought a few titles that he recommended. However, it paid off and my confidence naturally increased.

Lesson Learned: see who gives you tips and how they explain what they do to help you decide what to do. And if you want to invest in individual stocks, then there's no getting around a deeper analysis. Otherwise you can also buy ETFs directly.
In terms of performance, 2013 was also a mixed stock market year, although the Dax was able to gain almost 20%. The reason was warrants again. For my investment strategy, however, it was a breakthrough year, because I found a thread on Wallstreet-Online.de about German small caps as a long-term investment. The creator there made his strategy transparent and I suddenly understood much better why and when it makes sense to buy a stock: when you see something (a connection or a business opportunity, etc.) that others don't see on a superficial look . However, due to my negative experience with "Tips," I only bought a few titles that he recommended. However, it paid off and my confidence naturally increased.

Lesson Learned: see who gives you tips and how they explain what they do to help you decide what to do. And if you want to invest in individual stocks, then there's no getting around a deeper analysis. Otherwise you can also buy ETFs directly.

Portfolio growth ahead 2014-2016: Your own strategy is taking shape!

Portfolio growth ahead 2014-2016: Your own strategy is taking shape!

In 2014 and 2015, I then implemented significantly more tips from this forum, which was enough to generate a respectable annual return.
In 2016 I did an internship as an analyst at a private bank. Here I learned a lot about how to build a valuation model for stocks, how to test it for plausibility and what the important questions are. This is also where I started to develop, test and refine my own investment models and strategies.

Lesson Learned: With a phone call and good questions, you can often get much more information than you might expect.
In 2014 and 2015, I then implemented significantly more tips from this forum, which was enough to generate a respectable annual return.
In 2016 I did an internship as an analyst at a private bank. Here I learned a lot about how to build a valuation model for stocks, how to test it for plausibility and what the important questions are. This is also where I started to develop, test and refine my own investment models and strategies.

Lesson Learned: With a phone call and good questions, you can often get much more information than you might expect.

Investment mistake III: Don't forget the liquidity of the assets

Investment mistake III: Don't forget the liquidity of the assets

In 2017, the stock market was basically all up, which is why it was very easy to make a profit here. For tax reasons, I also wanted to sell part of my old inventory from 2008 - and was tricked. You have to know that I had got into the habit of placing automatic sell orders (stop-loss orders) on the stocks I wanted to sell in order not to sell too early when prices were rising. Unfortunately, this only works if you do it on exchanges that have a large volume - but not after 10 p.m. on Tradegate. Due to the low trading volume, it was possible to sell a small number of shares with unlimited prices so that my shares were also sold. And I wondered what had happened the next day, because the price was about the same as the day before - just someone else had my shares.

Lesson Learned: Stop-loss only on Xetra or in my head.
In 2017, the stock market was basically all up, which is why it was very easy to make a profit here. For tax reasons, I also wanted to sell part of my old stock from 2008 - and was tricked. You have to know that I had got into the habit of placing automatic sell orders (stop-loss orders) on the stocks I wanted to sell in order not to sell too early when prices were rising. Unfortunately, this only works if you do it on exchanges that have a large volume - but not after 10 p.m. on Tradegate. Due to the low trading volume, it was possible to sell a small number of shares with unlimited prices so that my shares were also sold. And I wondered what had happened the next day, because the price was about the same as the day before - just someone else had my shares.

Lesson Learned: Stop-loss only on Xetra or in my head.
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