2025 - A stock market year that has so far been more reminiscent of rough seas. It goes uphill and the next moment it goes abruptly downhill again.

The January began with a lot of Trump euphoria on the markets, before this was halted by DeepSeek in the second half of January.

The February recovered relatively quickly from this shock before falling again in the second half of the month. The Trump euphoria has turned into a Trump shock for the time being.

Nevertheless, I will continue to hold a 75-80% USA quota with a high proportion of tea.

I can get over the fact that after 2 years of outperformance against my benchmarks, there may be an underperformance this year.

Monthly view:

In total, February was -3,2%. This corresponds to price losses of almost 10.000€.

The MSCI World (benchmark) was down -2.5% and the S&P500 -1.4%.

Winners & losers:

A look at the winners and losers nevertheless reveals a surprising picture for the top performer in February.

But first a look at the losersThe biggest loser by far is Alphabet $GOOG (+0.1%) With losses of almost €3,000, the share price took a heavy hit in February. This is followed by a total of almost €5,000 in price losses Bitcoin
$BTC (-3.66%) & Ethereum
$ETH (-4.32%) . 4th & 5th place goes to Salesforce
$CRM (-1.41%) and TSMC $TSM (-1.21%) two more tech stocks

On the winning side are actually at the top, much to my own surprise NVIDIA
$NVDA (+0.22%) with a price gain of almost €1,000. And this despite the fact that NVIDIA lost over 10% on the penultimate trading day in February. Nevertheless, the recovery after the DeepSeek shock in February was greater than expected.

The top 5 includes Amgen
$AMGN (+0.39%) and Johnson & Johnson
$JNJ (+0.29%) two stocks from the healthcare sector, a rather defensive sector. These are joined by MercadoLibre $MELI (-2.34%) and Palo Alto Networks $PANW (-0.26%) but also two tech stocks.

The performance-neutral movements were positive again in February at € 900, after January was clearly negative due to a property purchase.

current year:

In the YTD my portfolio is still just in the plus with +0,6%. However, the MSCI World is up +1.9% and I am currently underperforming my benchmark.

In total, my portfolio currently stands at ~288.000€. This corresponds to an absolute growth of ~€3,000 in the current year 2025. ~1.000€ of this comes from price increases, ~500€ from dividends / interest and ~1.500€ from additional investments.

Dividend:

• Dividends in February were 19% above the previous year at ~€188
• At the top of the list Procter & Gamble
  $PG (+0.21%) with now over €50 (gross) dividend every 3 months
• In the current year, the dividends after 2 months are +24% over the first 2 months of 2025 at ~350€

Buys & sells:

• I bought in November for ~800€
• 520€ shares
• 210€ ETFs
• Here I took up a new ETF via a savings plan, an ETF that normally does not correspond to my strategy at all. This is a Covered Call ETF on the NASDAQ $JEPQ (+0.5%) - The ETF uses a covered call strategy to aim for a distribution of ~10% p.a. and still generate price gains. I know that this doesn't make sense from a tax perspective, but what the heck: you can have fun sometimes 😉
• 100€ crypto
• sales there were none in February

YouTube:

I uploaded a few new videos to YouTube in February and I'm starting to feel less stupid talking into a microphone.

I've also uploaded my portfolio update there as a video if anyone would like to see some more information about the portfolio performance in February:

https://youtu.be/iJZ0i3EO5Hs

Here I act according to the motto: Let's see what happens - What will happen!

Goal 2025

Building a house makes it particularly difficult to formulate a goal this year.

A certain savings rate? Difficult if additional costs are suddenly added

A certain deposit value? Also difficult, as I can't really back this up with my savings rate this year and the markets are very volatile.

The current portfolio balance is ~€290,000. I would estimate additional investments at ~€15,000. This would bring me to just over €300,000. I originally assumed a market return of 7% for this year. However, after the first two months it is difficult for me to estimate how this year will go.

That's why I'm being honest: A target doesn't make sense for me this year.

The goal is to build a successful house and for the portfolio we'll just see what happens.

#dividends

#dividende

#rückblick

#depotupdate

#aktie

#stocks

#etfs

#crypto

#personalstrategy

MercadoLibre ($MELI (-2.34%) ) is the undisputed market leader for e-commerce and FinTech in Latin America. Often referred to as the "Amazon of South America", the company dominates with its marketplace, digital payment services and its own logistics infrastructure. But after years of growth and a correction, the question arises: Can MercadoLibre take off again in 2025?

🚀 The MercadoLibre business model

✅ MercadoLibre (e-commerce): The largest online marketplace in Latin America with strong growth. In 2024, sales increased by 20%which shows the continuing demand.

✅ Mercado Pago (FinTech): One of the leading digital payment platforms in the region, used both online and in brick-and-mortar retail.

✅ Mercado Envios (logistics): Own logistics network for faster and more efficient delivery - a major advantage over Amazon.

✅ Mercado Credito (Lending): Enables buyers and sellers to access credit and expands the business model in the direction of FinTech.

Thanks to this broad diversification MercadoLibre is not only an e-commerce company, but also a FinTech and logistics player with strong growth potential.

🏆 Competition - Who can be a threat to MercadoLibre?

🔸 Amazon $AMZN (-1.56%)
: Global giant, but with lower market penetration in Latin America.

🔸 Sea Limited (Shopee) $SE: (-3.09%) An emerging threat in e-commerce, especially in Brazil.

🔸 Nubank & StoneCo $NU (+1.01%)
: Strong FinTech competitors entering the payments market.

🔸 Alibaba (AliExpress) $9988 (-0.22%)
: Focuses on low-cost imported products - but without its own logistics in the region.

Despite tough competition, MercadoLibre remains the market leader - mainly due to its logistics network, which Amazon and Shopee do not yet offer at this level in Latin America.

📈 Growth potential: why MercadoLibre could take off in 2025

✅ E-commerce boom: Online retail in Latin America continues to grow. Annual growth of 15% is expected until 2026 (Statista).

✅ Digitalization:
In 2024, internet usage in Latin America increased by 8%which creates the basis for further growth in online retail and digital financial services.

✅ Logistics advantage: MercadoLibre has acquired Mercado Envios an infrastructure that dominates the market.

✅ FinTech growth: With Mercado Pago and Mercado Credito the company is developing into a kind of "PayPal $PYPL (+2.64%)
& Klarna of Latin America".

✅ Latin America as a growth market: While markets such as the USA and Europe are more mature, Latin America still offers still offers enormous potential for increasing online purchases.

⚠️ Risks: What are the challenges?

⚠️ Currency risks: The High inflation and currency fluctuations in countries such as Brazil or Argentina could depress profits.

⚠️ Fierce competition: Shopee in Brazil in particular is putting MercadoLibre under pressure.

⚠️ Regulations: Political uncertainties and possible new regulations for digital financial services could slow down growth.

⚠️ Rising financing costs:
Mercado Credito is growing, but higher interest rates could weigh on the lending business.

📊 Conclusion: turnaround candidate for 2025?

MercadoLibre remains the dominant player in Latin America and is benefiting from growing digitalization and rising e-commerce sales. Despite currency risks and competition the company has strong growth driversthat make it interesting in the long term.

🔥 Turnaround candidate or long-term winner? What do you think - will MercadoLibre remain number 1 or will the competition catch up?

Personally, I am currently very fond of Latin American companies. I see good growth and rising share prices, which is currently lacking a little in US equities. That's why I've shared some insights from MercaoLibre ($MELI (-2.34%) ) here:

MercadoLibre presented impressive results in its Q4 2024 analyst conference, further cementing the company's position as a leading e-commerce and FinTech player in Latin America. CFO Martin de Los Santos highlighted that the company gained market share in key markets such as Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, while key financial metrics outperformed industry growth. Most notably, MercadoLibre surpassed the 100 million unique shoppers mark on the marketplace and has 60 million monthly active users on the FinTech platform.

A key growth driver was the continuous improvement of logistics. MercadoLibre invested heavily in fulfillment centers, optimized shipping options and achieved record levels of supply chain productivity. These measures led to more and more customers using the platform for their daily shopping. Expansion in the financial sector also remained a focus: 5.9 million new credit cards were issued in 2024, more than doubling the credit card portfolio.

In the fashion segment, standardized size filters were introduced to improve product search, while returns were facilitated by the exchange service at MELI points. In the food segment, "Full Super" was launched - a feature that enables optimized navigation in the food categories. Sellers benefit from new tools such as "My Page", with which they can individualize their product presentations and use vouchers and advertisements in a targeted manner. The introduction of dynamic pricing helps them to automatically adapt their offers to market developments.

MercadoLibre was particularly successful in expanding the credit card business. The portfolio grew sustainably thanks to an improved user selection and higher credit limits. It was also made easier for customers to collect pre-approved cards directly when making a purchase on the platform.

A key topic of the Q&A session was the development of the credit portfolio, particularly in Brazil, where rising interest rates represent a potential risk. However, MercadoLibre does not see any immediate deterioration in portfolio quality here. To counteract possible risks, the company has reduced the granting of microloans and adjusted the repayment periods for new loans. Despite this cautious strategy, the scope for increasing credit penetration in e-commerce remains high, and the loan book grew by 74% year-on-year in the fourth quarter.

The focus was also on business in Argentina. Despite macroeconomic challenges, MercadoLibre recorded a strong recovery there, with growth in items sold of 18 % in the fourth quarter (compared to 10 % in the previous quarter). The loan book quadrupled in Argentina - a sign of the growing acceptance of FinTech offerings. In Brazil, on the other hand, the expansion of the credit card led to margin compression, but this is seen as a strategic investment in long-term growth.

The analysts were interested in the latest investments in new fulfillment centers. MercadoLibre opened fewer new warehouses in 2024 than in previous years, but the additional capacity was used specifically for the peak season. The company continues to see great potential in the shift of consumption from offline to online channels in Latin America and plans to further expand its logistics infrastructure accordingly.

Another key topic was the development of items with a lower ASP (Average Selling Price). Growth in this segment was above the industry average in Brazil, Mexico and other Latin American markets. This shows that more and more customers are relying on MercadoLibre to purchase everyday products.

Another important point was the monetization of the platform through advertising. MercadoLibre sees great potential for long-term growth here. Revenue from advertising as a share of GMV has improved, but the company continues to work on expanding its relationships with brands and agencies, further developing its product offering and optimizing technical solutions for retailers.

The analysts were particularly interested in the growth of the FinTech business in Argentina. The loan portfolio there grew almost fourfold in 2024 - a clear sign of the high demand for financial services. As access to credit for private customers in Argentina is still low compared to other Latin American countries, MercadoLibre sees enormous potential here. The company emphasized that no banking license is required for the further expansion of the loan book, which enables faster scaling.

MercadoLibre has proven once again in 2024 that it is a dominant player in both the e-commerce and FinTech sectors in Latin America. The company is focusing on long-term strategic investments in logistics, lending and advertising monetization to further expand its market position.

With a combination of data-driven credit management, a further optimized logistics infrastructure and a growing user base, MercadoLibre remains one of the most exciting growth stories in Latin America - both in the e-commerce and FinTech sectors!

I hope you enjoyed the summary!

• $MELI (-2.34%) MercadoLibre (MELI) reported sales of USD 6.06 billion for the quarter ended December 2024, an increase of 42.2% year-on-year.

• Earnings per share (EPS) of USD 12.61 for the same period compares to USD 3.25 in the previous year.

• The reported revenue is above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.84 billion, which is a surprise of +3.71%.

• The company delivered an EPS surprise of +73.69%, where the consensus EPS estimate was $7.26.

• Gross merchandise volume was $14.55 billion compared to the average estimate of $14.71 billion based on four analysts.

• Total payment volume amounted to USD 58.91 billion compared to the average estimate of USD 59.80 billion based on two analysts.

• Geographic revenue - Argentina: $1.31 billion compared to the average estimate of $941.23 million based on two analysts.

Greetings.

I'm currently somewhat liquid again and looking around for opportunities.

The FOMO has really hit me hard and is making me very unhappy. But I'm sure a few more opportunities will come up.

Why?

I've been on the stock market since 04/2024 (very short-term) and have had a few companies on my radar since then. On the one hand $HIMS (+4.16%) which I was advised against by some analyses (price at around €13)

Then it was $1810 (-1.13%) Xiaomi at €2.80

I bought a cell phone from Xiaomi 3 years ago and was more than impressed. But I didn't buy it because I read that it was stupid to invest in Chinese companies.

At $PLTR (+3.47%) I waited for a correction at €17 and then unfortunately missed the train completely and lost sight of it.

The last one was $RKT RocketLab, which I took a look at at €10. I assumed that they had no future here, as Space X would take over the market as a more than major competitor.

$MC (-2.24%) I actually missed out on this too, as the share price rose faster than I would have liked.

I was on the verge of investing in all 5 and blocked myself from doing so. That's why it really hurts to see other people's returns and not have done it. (I wish everyone here all the best) That's what the community is for.

The pain will remain, but I am currently looking to the future.

My current watchlist consists of:

$AMD (+0.74%) I am still waiting for a bottom to form here. But I don't think it will fall significantly. With the new Playstation and the huge demand that Nvidia cannot meet on its own and the decreasing competition from Intel, I think it is very interesting.

Target price to buy/tranche at €105 or €115, depending on how it develops.

$GRAB (-0.34%) I wanted to get in here a few days ago and suddenly the +15% came.

In my opinion, it has a lot of potential and is very well known in certain regions. Competition is also limited and Uber is not interested in the market.

Target price to buy/tranche at 5€

$RKLB (-0.29%) will hopefully come back to €20. That's where I would get in. I see a lot of opportunities for Space in the long term, as it could be a future trend.

$MELI (-2.34%) If it corrects again and at $NU (+1.01%) I am currently waiting again.

Also exciting is $SUNN (+3.36%) or $BABA (-0.46%)

What is your opinion? And what is on your watchlist and when would you buy? I find what you have on your radar pretty exciting at the moment.

Sea Limited ($SE (-3.09%) ) is a versatile company from Singapore that has developed a super app has built a strong ecosystem of e-commerce, gaming and FinTech. After explosive growth in recent years and a subsequent fall in the share price, many investors are asking themselves: Does Sea Ltd still have potential for a turnaround?

Overview: What does Sea Limited do?

Sea Limited is active in three core areas:

✅ Shopee (e-commerce): One of the largest e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Brazil. Competition for Alibaba (Lazada), Tokopedia and MercadoLibre.

✅ Garena (Gaming): Developer of the globally successful mobile game Free Fire. Formerly the engine of growth, now weakening.

✅ SeaMoney (FinTech): Digital financial services, including lending and payment processing, strongly integrated into Shopee.

Sea Limited pursues a vertical business model where the different divisions reinforce each other - Shopee drives SeaMoney, while Garena used to deliver high profits to fund expansions.

Competition: Who are the competitors?

🔸 Alibaba $BABA (-0.46%)
(Lazada.) & Tokopedia - Strong e-commerce competition in Southeast Asia.

🔸 Amazon
$AMZN (-1.56%) - A growing threat, especially in markets such as Brazil

🔸 MercadoLibre $MELI (-2.34%) - The market leader in Latin America and a direct opponent in Brazil.

🔸 Tencent $TCEHY (-1.57%)
& NetEase
$NTES (+0.53%) - Strong competition in the gaming segment, especially in China.

🔸 Revolut, Grab $GRAB (-0.34%)
& Ant Group - FinTech competitors that offer similar services.

Opportunities: Why could Sea Limited be a comeback story?

✅ E-commerce remains strong: Shopee remains the market leader in several Asian countries. Despite economic uncertainties, online retail is growing in the long term.

✅ SeaMoney as a silent winner: The FinTech segment is growing steadily and can become a new source of income for Sea Ltd through digital payment services and loans.

✅ Profitability focus: After years of aggressive growth with high losses, the company is now focusing more on cost reductions and profitability - a sign that Sea Ltd wants to operate more sustainably.

✅ Expansion in Latin America: Shopee has grown particularly strongly in Brazil. If the company can establish itself there permanently, that would be a big plus.

✅ Gaming as untapped potential: If Free Fire stabilizes or Sea Ltd develops new successful games, Garena could become a growth driver again.

Risks: What could continue to weigh on Sea Limited?

⚠️ Declining gaming sales:
Free Fire was once the biggest profit generator, but user numbers are falling. Without a new hit, Garena could continue to weaken.

⚠️ Competitive pressure in e-commerce: Alibaba, Tokopedia and Amazon are putting massive pressure on Sea Ltd in Asia and Latin America. Defending market share will be expensive.

⚠️ Regulatory risks: In Asia in particular, there are always new regulations for FinTechs and online retailers that could slow down Sea Ltd's growth.

⚠️ Macroeconomic uncertainties: Rising interest rates and weak consumer behavior could have a negative impact on business - both in e-commerce and in the lending business.

⚠️ Cost cutting vs. growth: Sea Ltd is trying to become more profitable while expanding into new markets. The balancing act between growth and cost control is not easy.

Conclusion: turnaround opportunity or value trap?

Sea Limited is still one of the most exciting technology companies in Asia. The focus on profitability is positive, but success depends heavily on whether the company can stabilize its gaming division and defend Shopee against the competition.

Those who believe in the long-term potential of the Southeast Asian market and are prepared to accept short-term volatility could find a promising turnaround in Sea Ltd could be a promising turnaround opportunity.

What do you think? Is Sea Limited on its way to a comeback or is it still a risky bet?🚀

I think half of the GQ community (including me) will probably be particularly interested in $NU (+1.01%) but there are still other exciting companies like

$ANET (-3.45%)
$CDNS (-1.14%)
$SQ (-0.47%)
$BKNG (-1.03%)
$INOD (-1.18%)
$MELI (-2.34%)
$WMT (-3.53%) who will present their figures 😬

THE BIG QUESTION NEXT WEEK IS STILL

UP📈 or DOWN📉 for $NU (+1.01%) ?

Hello,

I currently have 5000€ that I would like to invest in individual stocks. I am following a core satellite strategy and as I am still young and in training, I am a bit more risk-averse (hence the relatively small core of 50%).

I would like to invest in stable growth stocks on the one hand, but also take a little more risk on the other.

My current plan would look something like this:

500€ $NU (+1.01%) (came across Nu through the community)

700€ $NOVO B (-1.34%) (upgrade to 1000€)

1000€ $GOOGL (+0.19%) (stable outperformance of the market)

1000€ $ASML (+1.4%) (monopoly position and good future prospects)

1000€ $CRWD /$PLTR (+3.47%) / $SNOW (some of the stocks have done very well, so I'm a little unsure exactly which ones and whether I'm still waiting for a correction in the respective stock. But I find cybersecurity, cloud and big data very interesting with a lot of future potential)

I am also watching, for example: $SOFI , $SHOP (-3.07%) , $MELI (-2.34%) , $ENR (-2.8%) .

If you have any suggestions for improvement or ideas as to which companies could benefit my strategy, I am open to them. Perhaps also expand other existing positions

Thank you very much#

Hello everyone,

I'm currently looking at which stocks could develop wonderfully over the next few years and have enormous growth potential.

As I personally and many others have an investment horizon of over 40 years, I find these stocks quite exciting.

Ideas would be:

$SOFI SoFi Tech

$TOST Toast

$MELI (-2.34%) Mercadolibre

$HOOD Robin Hood

$NU (+1.01%) Nu Holdings

$1810 (-1.13%) Xiaomi

$9868 XPeng

$3690 Meituan

$ALB Albermale

$RKLB (-0.29%) RocketLab

$GRAB (-0.34%) Grab Holdings

What do you think about this topic? And what would be your favorites here?