It’s the run-up to Christmas. Gingerbread and speculoos cookies are on the table. The Christmas lights create a cozy atmosphere as darkness falls early. Some traders are positioning themselves for the year-end rally. Time for the November monthly review.

As always, I’ll start with stocks, followed by ETFs, where I—like many others, I’m sure—have seen strong performance. Next comes my personal saga with P2P. Readers of previous reviews know what I’m referring to. And of course, there are still the cryptos; here, I’ll soon be taking my strategy to the next level.

I’ll also take a general look at my overall financial situation and, finally, offer a preview of the new year.

👉Stocks

My stock portfolio took a positive turn last month. No doubt things look similar for you as well. We all had a supportive tailwind from the stock market. 🌬️(For simplicity’s sake, I’m counting December 1 as part of November).

While stock prices were soaring, the first snow fell outside. Here in Leipzig, significant amounts fell, and the thermometer had hovered around 0°C since the Day of Repentance and Prayer, dropping well below 0°C all day long as we entered December. Winter dreams ❄️, while things were heating up in my portfolio.

Measured by position volume, $MSFT (-1,14 %) , $AVGO (+1,83 %) , $FDX (-1,09 %) ,$FAST (-0,08 %) and $AAPL (-1,28 %) were locked in a thrilling race at the top. It felt like every day last month, a new one of these stocks fought its way to the top. Attentive readers of my recent reviews are probably wondering where the former frontrunner has gone. Yes, $WMT (-0,41 %) it’s no longer in first place for me, but has dropped all the way to sixth place.

Will that change again in the New Year, once Christmas, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday are over? Speaking of retail, did you also notice the jump from $TGT (-1,2 %) on November 15? Is this the turnaround? I’d be happy if it were. Walmart apparently did the exact opposite on November 16.

I’m sticking with both retail giants. A comparable competitor $COST (-0,23 %) is also on my watchlist. Another exciting new position for me would be $UPS (-1,73 %) to counterbalance my FedEx position. I’m also keeping an eye on the food industry. Maybe $CPB (+4,06 %) top up or $SJM (-0,53 %) open a new position soon?

At the very end of my portfolio is $VLTO WI (-0,71 %) a stock I’ve never mentioned before. The $DHR (+0,3 %) spin-off is on my sell list; I simply missed the chance to exit quickly after the spin-off and am waiting for a more favorable price. Otherwise, I’m sticking with "buy and hold".

Another stock I currently don’t have access to—and would like to add back to my savings plans—is $CP . This one is still not tradable in its “post-merger” form. I find that frustrating given its great price performance—I want to buy more!

At the end of my list are $CVX (+0,93 %) , $LTC (+2,75 %) and $O (-1,27 %) . I believe in all three companies. The REITs will perform better again as soon as the interest rate environment improves, and I have no concerns about Chevron—the numbers add up for this undervalued value stock. Just in my October review, I expressed how strongly I believe in the oil sector.

I can only reiterate that. Just this past November, I used the credit from my annual utility bill to $XOM (-0,22 %) .

👉 ETFs

The ETFs in my portfolios are doing exactly what they’re supposed to. That alone would be enough for this investment vehicle: broad diversification across the entire global economy. They’re the perfect asset for anyone who wants to keep things particularly simple—in the fight against poverty in old age.

My current ETF portfolio, into which I’m contributing, isn’t a high-flyer, but it’s performing exactly as I anticipated. It’s growing steadily in line with market returns and also generates income. I’m very satisfied.

However, I made a change to one of my two old portfolios, which included, among other things, reinvesting ETFs from the early days. Due to the upcoming flat-rate withholding tax, I replaced the old holdings of reinvesting ETFs with distributing ones. My approach is to keep my hard-earned, taxed capital gains on hand as funds to cover the advance lump-sum tax. Fortunately, the old portfolio was small enough that the capital gains tax on price gains and the order fees weren’t a big deal.

Otherwise, the same rule applies: Keep buying more every month, stubbornly and steadily.

👉 P2P Loans

P2P loans remain a bad investment for me (with one exception). I still have double-digit amounts in Peerberry and Mintos that I’ve essentially written off entirely. With Bondora Portfolio Pro, I didn’t even get a “token cent” toward repayment.

I was finally able to withdraw a small sum from EstateGuru, which I then reallocated to Bondora Go&Grow. This is the only product that’s performed reliably for me since day one. Let’s hope it stays that way. When I decided to get out of P2P, I was sure it would be all wrapped up by the end of the year. Fat chance!

👉 Crypto

The crypto market’s star performer has behaved admirably, settling into a range between USD 35K and 37K over the course of the month. Here’s the next step in my strategy: Starting in the new year, I’ll adjust my two crypto savings plans for $BTC (-0,9 %) and $ETH (-0,15 %) and will allocate the amount from my net salary to my other savings plans. Why? For one thing, Bitcoin doesn’t generate any returns while I hold it.

Second, I want to (and only with this asset class) actively play the crypto cycle. During the bear market, I steadily built up my holdings via savings plans using DCA and occasionally made additional purchases; the same goes for ETH. I’ll re-accumulate the holdings I’m selling during the upcoming bear market at lower prices than during the upcoming bull market. Since I can’t time the top, I’ll cash out via DCA as soon as the last ATH is significantly behind us.

I’m stepping out of crypto entirely for now, because one person’s profits will simply be another’s losses. Especially with Bitcoin, due to its fixed maximum supply, there’s no way to generate returns over the holding period, and lending is too risky for me. We’ll see if I’ll succeed with the strategy of selling tax-free.

One investment I don’t even mention anymore—and which I wrote off long ago—is DefiChain. I found the concept very exciting at the time, but in the end, it was a total flop :\

Time and again, whenever I check the DFI and dUSD tokens on CoinMarketCap at intervals, I notice that they’ve plummeted even further. It seems like a bottomless pit to me. It’s a shame, really, because the concept of tokenized stocks and the potential returns really appealed to me back then.

👉 General Notes & Outlook

With the latest securities savings plans I’ve implemented, I’ve realized that I’ve just barely reached my investment goal from the start of this year. That makes me happy. Even if I hadn’t reached it, I’m more of a fan of setting ambitious goals than of setting them too low. My net worth is also growing steadily. I’m still a long way from financial freedom, but I’m on track.

In November, I also received a rent increase (excluding utilities) and higher insurance premiums. These increases are minor, but I’ll still need to adjust my budget. It’s good that the declining income tax burden in the new year will essentially offset this. For the current calendar year, I’m now only focusing on my salary increase and annual performance review at work.

As mentioned above, I’ll reallocate the funds for my crypto savings plans into ETF or stock savings plans. I’ll finalize that in December.

Last month, I spent only about 840 € without having to go without anything. I bought a new jacket, had to replace some insoles, and even added to my Christmas decorations. If I were receiving basic income, I’d be entitled to a total of about €896. It’s a great feeling to not have to go without anything and still be able to live on so little. Simply because you don’t tie yourself down with major expenses or unnecessary subscriptions, and you just spend money mainly on things that add value to your life (e.g., day trips and hikes). And now I’m enjoying the run-up to Christmas.

I wish you all a peaceful and reflective time with your loved ones!