Dear Hopfried Stutz, should I buy shares now?
Hopfried Stutz: Oh sure. If not now, then when else?
Reader: I think there is another chlap.
OS: Quite possible.
Reader: But then I’d better not buy shares.
OS: Yes, if it’s really lagging behind, you shouldn’t have bought the stock.
Reader: Why do you say buy shares now?
OS: Because I don’t know if it really works.
Reader: What do you think?
OS: I have no idea.
Reader: Inflation, war in Ukraine, nuclear threat, supply cuts. How can you be so optimistic?
OS: Because everything you just listed is also known to all exchange participants around the world. That’s why stock prices fell accordingly.
Reader: Did you buy special promotions?
OS: Yes, stock exchange funds, so-called ETFs. For example, Ishare Swiss Dividend.
Reader: This is good?
OS: For me yes, for you too, I cannot and do not want to judge.
Reader: What if it’s wrong?
OS: Then the price of the purchased shares of the fund will continue to fall, and I will still sleep peacefully. Then I will buy more shares and wait for the dividend that comes next year.
Reader: Have you purchased any other products?
OS: Yes, stocks from the SMIM stock index. Ishare SMIM invests in the top 30 Swiss companies not included in the Swiss Market Index (SMI). From the 21st to the 50th largest joint-stock company.
Reader: Why this one? Does it also pay high dividends?
OS: Not all of these 30 companies pay large dividends. But I want to be widely diversified. And I didn’t invest in that fund anymore.
Reader: Never ever?
OS: I sold my shares in July 2020 for 268 francs and got a nice price increase.
Reader: Wait a minute: if I’m not mistaken, you sold too early. The share price rose to 370 francs. That’s 38 percent above the price you sold for.
OS: Well?
Reader: You would have made a much higher profit if you had been waiting to sell.
OS: It’s right.
Reader: Didn’t that annoy you?
OS: Absolutely not. At the time, I was looking forward to a proud price win. And now I’m glad I had the patience to wait for the price to drop below the July 2020 sale price.
Reader: But now I still don’t know if I should buy shares.
OS: Me neither.
This conversation never happened.