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My Portfolios Are Up 12% This Year!

So we are going to year-end and I like to review my portfolio performance year-to-date. Before I talk about my own performance I like to show you the performance of the Dow Jones index which is 7.54% up year-to-date. The S&P 500 gained 13.43% and the NASDAQ is finally up 15.64%.

2012 was in total a good year for stock market investors. It was also a very good year for dividend stock buyer and dividend growth stock investors. Since the peak of the financial crisis and the aftereffects from the Lehman bankruptcy, the stock market turned in March 2009 and demonstrated a strong recovery.

Between October 2008 and March 2009 I put all my available for trading money into the stock market and lend me additional cash from my brokers. Yes I bought shares on margin and as you see, my idea paid-off.

Since March 2009 the Dow Jones is up 78.37%, the S&P 500 increased by 85.26% and NASDAQ doubled. My stocks quadrupled. All this was the result of my research and the process of selecting and time-weighted stock buys from the best dividend paying companies worldwide.

I've two mainstream portfolios. My first portfolio is mainly filled with U.S. large caps that generate high amounts of foreign sales on corporate level. This portfolio gained around 26.44% year-to-date.

This is no net return because I have still some loans on it for which I have to pay interest. In addition I have realized some foreign exchange losses because I am an euro investor and all my transactions be converted into the euro currency.

Not enough, I have to pay taxes on my dividends like everybody else. Summarized, this portfolio generated a net return, dividends included, of 14.04%.

My second portfolio is free of depth and has enough cash to pay-off the total debt from my first portfolio. The total return from this portfolio was around 8%.

My second portfolio is a bit smaller than the first one. That’s the reason my whole return is still in a double-digit region. I did not beat the performance of the broad market this year but I also did not underperform him.

Why is stock investing so difficult? Why isn’t it so easy to buy stocks low and sell them high? So I don't have an idea how to make money at the stock market. I can’t tell you without having a bad conscience how the market works. Everybody needs to train their skills and learn from mistakes. Everything is the result of fine fundamental in-depth analysis.

All I do is fundamental research for my investment process. I evaluate stocks, discover growth potential and market strength. I could not predict if the stock price goes up or down. I'm not a stock market guru and I don't have a prediction tool which let me know if it's the time is right to buy stocks now nor to sell them.

Within the next days I need to discover some stocks to buy for next year in order to adjust my current portfolio allocation. I've no idea where it will end but I have too much cash I need to invest.

Maybe you have some interesting ideas for me. I would be happy if you could tell them and share it here like I do. We are all humans and we all make mistakes in investing but if we talk about and share our thoughts, it could reduce our trading-errors and save money.

How was your performance this year? Do you have had some special trades, something spectacular you like to share with me? Let me know in the comment box below!

Happy Investing!
Tom