Why “buy and hold” is nonsense and not the key to successful investing

One of the first major “mindset tips” new investors either directly receive from someone more experienced or stumble upon by themselves is to “buy and hold” stocks. The reasoning seems to make sense, as a longer holding period should level out short term fluctuations and enable a positive investing outcome. However, this concept does not take into account a key component, misleading many investors, often causing avoidable disappointments.

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Have you missed the best stock of the last 25 years? Here’s a second chance!

Last week, I wrote about missed opportunities and their lasting impact on me. Actually, they hurt me more and stay with me longer than realized losses where I have taken my lessons learnt. Today, I want to discuss one of the most successful – if not even THE most successful – stock(s) of the last quarter-century. Nearly self-explanatory, this was a somewhat surprising business development that many (including me) have missed. Is there maybe a second chance?

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Suffered losses or missed opportunities – what’s hurting more?

Over the last days, I was thinking about some personal stock investments that I either sold too early or even never managend to initiate at all – because I was waiting for a correction which never came. To the contrary, I have to really think longer and more intense about realized losses, just to name a few – not because there were none (there were), but because I threw them out of my mind.

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Dividend Investing – high yield or high growth?

A never ending discussion in the field of dividend investing is whether you go for high yielding stocks or dividend growth stocks. Recently, I had a few discussions on Twitter about this topic. Because it is a question many investors have – amateurs and experienced investors alike – I decided to write a Weekly to compare both strategies.

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Label deception behind ESG investing — and a new research report

Wouldn’t it be great if all evil was eliminated and only the good-natured, socially caring businesses remained for investments? At least this is the “mission” of funds and ETFs that focus their investments on ESG-compliant equities. The stocks of the “bad” companies aren’t bought anymore or even get sold, while the “good” entities form the bedrock of these investment vehicles. But how does it look under the hood? What stocks are held by these funds and how did they perform? And: What’s happening on the “dark” side?

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Debt and high inflation – money for nothing or looming meltdown?

Who would complain being relieved of their debt burden? With inflation reaching a 40-year high in many regions, it seems that not only is the purchasing power of money eroding, but so is the burden of debt, measured in real terms. But is it really wise to buy stocks of companies with a lot of debt and hope they pay it off with cheaper money?

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Why you need to remove your portfolio losers regularly

Sooner or later, everyone will discover that an investment did not work out as originally expected. Such losing positions in your portfolio not only affect your overall performance. What can have even worse consequences is the psychological effect these positions have on you as an investor. I also discuss one personal misinvestment of this year.

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How to beat the bear market – inflation, stagflation, recession

It should be clear to almost everyone by now that prices have risen sharply over the past twelve months. At the same time, economies around the world are plummeting. Stagflation at its finest. Unsurprisingly, many stocks have fallen, too. As a result, most people have become poorer in real terms, whether they invest or not. It is time to answer the urgent question of how to successfully weather this painful bear market.

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Buy now pay later or financial independence retire early?

In the last few years, two opposing philosophies about how to manage personal finances have been making the rounds. What’s the difference between the two? What should you learn as soon as possible to find peace of mind, now that the economy is declining while simultaneously interest rates are rising fastly (not falling)? How could they influence your mindset and investment allocation?

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