January was a challenging but generally constructive month.
A strong start to the year was followed by a significant tech correction in the middle of the month, triggered by risk-off flows, interest rate sensitivity and caution after the first US earnings.
Despite this volatility, I closed the month clearly in the plus the month:
👉 Monthly performance: +2.5 %
👉 Portfolio value: € 39,576
1st performance & comparison 🚀
January was characterized by sectoral rotation:
Software & high-beta corrected significantly, while selected cyclicals, commodities and special situations remained stable.
Performance in comparison (31.01.2026):
- My securities account:
+2,50 %
- NASDAQ 100: +0.47 %
- S&P 500: +0.30 %
- DAX: -0.33 %
- FTSE All-World: +0.98 %
👉 The outperformance is not the result not from broad tech exposurebut from targeted themes, anti-cyclical positions and active allocation.
2. purchases, sales & allocation 💶
The focus in January was clearly on Risk management and cash management:
Acquisitions: Siemens ($SIE (-0,95 %)) (twice) - Partial reinvestment of realized gains. Euro Overnight Rate Swap ETF ($XEON (-0 %))- targeted liquidity build-up
Sales: Partial sale Rheinmetall ($RHM (-7,52 %))after an extreme run (+735% since entry)
👉 Currently Cash / cash equivalents at ~4 % of the portfolio - deliberately increased in an environment of increasing uncertainty.
3rd top mover in January 🟢
January was clearly dominated by special situations and cyclical themes carried.
The strongest performer was IREN m($IREN (-7,6 %)), which rose by +40,8 % benefited massively from the recovery in the mining sector. Another strong performer was the VanEck Uranium & Nuclear ETF ($NUKL (-2,75 %))with +21,7 %driven by structural demand, supply shortages and geopolitical reassessment.
American Lithium placed +19,1 % and showed a technical countermovement after months of weakness. Alibaba ($BABA (+1,41 %)) was convincing with +15,9 %supported by valuation levels, margin stabilization and the first signs of regulatory easing.
Also Novo Nordisk ($NOVO B (-7,61 %)) (+15,4 %) also benefited from sustained demand in the GLP-1 segment, while Rheinmetall despite a partial sale again +14,1 % and confirmed its role as a structural profiteer.
4th flop mover in January 🔴
The weaker side of the portfolio was clearly in the high-multiple-tech segment segment.
Cloudflare ($NET (-0,59 %)) lost -11,2 % in the wake of a massive revaluation of AI and infrastructure software. Ferrari ($RACE (-0,92 %)) (-10,9 %) and Snowflake ($SNOW (-0,18 %)) (-10,3 %) suffered from profit-taking and higher expectations after strong previous quarters.
Also CrowdStrike ($CRWD (-0,57 %)) (-6,6 %) and Datadog ($DDOG (-2,69 %)) (-6,4 %) were under pressure, although there was little change in operational quality. Berkshire Hathaway ($BRK.B (+0,13 %)) rounded off the list of losers with -6,1 % burdened by interest rate and insurance discussions.
👉 Important: These are primarily valuation and sentiment moves. valuation and sentiment movesnot fundamental breaks.
5. conclusion 💡
January was not an easy month, but a good start to the year:
- Outperformance against all relevant indices
- Profits realized, cash increased
- Volatility consciously accepted instead of blindly smoothed out
The environment remains challenging:
Interest rates, Fed expectations, political uncertainties and earnings will continue to shape the markets in February.
The focus therefore remains clearly on quality, liquidity and selective opportunities.
❓ Question for the community
Which stock surprised you the most in January - positively or negatively?
👇 Write it in the comments!
