I Don't Teach Investment, But My Performance Are Better Than Most Investment Gurus

Humbly, my performance is 141% for the past 1 year.

I'm not saying this to brag; I want to highlight that performing above average is nothing magical. After all, I’m not an investment Guru and I’ve never spent thousands attending any workshops or buying courses. But of course, if you learn some foundation, it does help - maybe, buying a good book to read or something.

Also, I don't have any investment courses to sell to you. Because there's really nothing much to teach, I think I can share all of my "formulas" in just one newsletter issue.

I'll break it down to sub-topics here:

1. I Lose Money When I First Start

Let's explain my performance a few years ago when I first started. As you can see, it's mostly red in color (red means losing money).

But gradually, it becomes green, and despite the "downs", overall, it continues to go "up". I'll also explain why there are "downs" shortly in this issue.

The first lesson is that when it comes to investment, most of the time, it's a "pay to learn" skill. It's a matter of losing a lot or just a little.

That said, you must keep in mind that you're still likely to lose, and you should treat that as part of your progress toward mastery. If you somehow didn’t lose any money at all, that’s a bonus (again, don’t expect that to happen).

But if you read this newsletter issue, perhaps you can avoid losing a lot.

The good news is that if you know how to play the game, you can reduce your losses to "paper loss," which means that as long as you're still holding the shares, you're just losing it on "paper."

Have you seen headlines saying, "Elon Musk lost $100 million in a day?"

Nah, he didn't lose any money—it's just that the price of the shares he's holding dropped. He'll only lose money if he sells all of them.

Guess what?

A while later, you'll see the headline that says, "Elon Musk just made 200 million dollars in a day." LoL

2. Invest In The Top Companies

I initially lost because I was investing in stocks, hoping to win big.

Then I realized that if I invest in the top companies that have been proven to rise over the years, I'm in good hands.

For instance, there is a list called Magnificent 7 Stocks. Just Google it.

As of Jan 2025 of my writing today, they are:

• Nvidia

• Meta Platforms

• Tesla

• Amazon

• Alphabet (Google)

• Apple

• Microsoft

Most of my investments are simply in these stocks. Here's the most interesting point—if you have invested in these stocks over the past years, you would have gained.

For instance, if I had invested in Meta shares 5 years ago, my ROI would have been about 270%.

Of course, there was a COVID issue many years ago, which could also affect share prices.

If that's the case, let's take other stocks like Microsoft before COVID?

Let's say you invested in Microsoft in 2013, and five years later, your ROI is about 220%. That's before COVID-19.

Now, if you want an extreme example, if you invested in Amazon shares when it first went IPO (listed on the stock exchange), your ROI as of Jan 2025, based on ChatGPT's calculation, would be 296,013%. I honestly don't know how that's calculated, but it's a lot.

Magnificient 7's new entry is Nvdia.

It went public in 1999, and if you still hold it, the ROI is even more than Amazon—it's 350,250% (according to ChatGPT's calculation).

3. Don't Short Sell (Unless You're Highly Experienced, But I'll Still Suggest Not To Do It)

When I started, I did short selling because of my greed to make quick gains.

Basically, Short selling (or "shorting") is a trading strategy where an investor borrows shares of a stock they believe will decrease in price, sells those shares in the open market, and then buys them back later at a lower price to return them to the lender. The difference between the selling and repurchase prices is the investor's profit (or loss if the price increases instead).

I thought it was an easy win.

But my judgment went wrong—I short-sold the shares of top companies, and after they went up, I didn't buy, thinking they'd go down later. Nope. They continue to go up.

Well, short selling has an unlimited loss potential. Unlike buying a stock, where the maximum loss is the initial investment, losses in short selling can be theoretically unlimited if the stock price rises indefinitely.

Short selling requires significant market knowledge and carries high risks, making it a strategy typically used by experienced traders. But I don't learn to trade at all! I was attracted to "easy money".

4. Invest In Companies You Understand

Now, this may not be critical, but it helps. For instance, I buy Meta stocks.

Interestingly, I bought it when Mark Zuckerberg was transitioning from Facebook to Meta. Many were concerned about the company's direction, and if I'm not mistaken, Meta's stock also went down during that period.

However, I bought it. Here are the two main reasons:

1. I was doing research by listening to most of Mark's speeches about his vision. He was also going on a Podcast to share what's happening with Meta. From there, I picked up a critical element of why Mark didn't seem concerned about the downturn then— if I recall well, he was sharing this was a 10-year project.

2. Meta focused on the "metaverse". Many don't get it then because it's the next level of Mark's vision. Because I'm involved in building and growing online businesses, I can relate to what Mark is doing. The future will be a "metaverse" and definitely not just social media. I'm certain that blockchain technology, AI, VR, etc., will explode in the future. Maybe not now, but that's why it's a 10-year plan, isn't it?

When you understand the industry of the stocks you're buying, you're more well-versed on when to buy and also have more confidence in those companies.

This is what investors do – invest in companies they believe will grow.

To wrap things up...

Let's get real. Investing isn't just a hobby; it's a battle of wits, instincts, and perseverance. There's no magic formula or secret course that will hand you success on a silver platter. And if you’re hoping for some investment bot that can automate for you, I hope you’ll find it one day. Truth is, it's about rolling up your sleeves, taking hits, learning from losses, and coming back stronger. And SMARTER.

Ask yourself this: Are you ready to step into the arena and take calculated risks, or are you going to sit on the sidelines, watching others thrive?

The market won’t wait for you to figure it out. Whether you plunge in or hesitate, one thing is sure: the right mindset and proper education can be your greatest weapon.

So, are you in? Until next time, keep your eyes sharp and your intentions clear - be an investor.