Friday, January 2, 2015

2014: So-so year

Honestly, I sucked. My main investment accounts grew 3.2%. Shame on me. Retirement accounts did a little better, in line with S&P 500. And fixed income account had a stellar year: almost 20%.
Lessons learned. First lesson: don't chase performance. Ever. I had pretty good 2013, and thought what worked then would work in 2014. Wrong!  I bought a lot of stuff in the beginning of the year, which didn't perform. Second lesson: think twice or more, before buying any transports. I bought Diana Containerships (DCIX) in 2013, it was one of my worst investments. Third lesson: take at least some profit when you have it. True, I traded around Polaris (PII), but possibilities were endless and I didn't use most of them.
Last but not least. My European investment didn't work. I think they still deserve a chance.

Full disclosure: I have a long position in PII, no positions in DCIX and long positions in several European stocks.