The fifth month is now over. Somehow just as volatile as the other months, but this time at least in positive territory. The S&P500 has made up some ground, although it is still down YTD.

In May, I recorded a gain of 2.12%. This corresponds to a value of almost 2500€.

The Dax (+5.06%) has beaten me again. This is already becoming the norm. In May, the HSBC MSCI World (+3.26%) also beat me. However, I am still ahead for the year.

Over the year as a whole (YTD), I have again lost ground to the DAX, which has risen sharply again. This time the MSCI World was also able to catch up strongly. Nevertheless, as you can see above, I am still ahead of the MSCI World this year.

My high and low performers in May were (top 3):

Tesla ($TSLA (-2,68%) ) +22,79%

Microsoft ($MSFT (-0,38%) ) +17,31%

Texas Instruments ($TXN (-0,26%) ) +16,57%

Imperial Brands ($IMB (+0,99%) ) -7,06%

Eli Lilly ($LLY (-0,11%) ) -17,69%

UnitedHealth ($UNH (+0,67%) ) -28,08%

United Health is again among the worst performers. Eli Lilly is now also among them. The pharmaceutical stock has now also fallen quite a bit for me. Nevertheless, I am still well up. Imperial Brands also did very well this year and can therefore correct a little again. Tesla is doing Tesla things again and Microsoft is generally on the up anyway. It is pleasing that Texas Instruments has risen again. This stock is quite volatile due to all the customs issues.

Dividends:

In May, I received €413.70 net from a total of 15 distributions.

Compared to May 2024 (€358.98), this was an increase of 15.24%.

There are now some more dividends in June, before July is by far the worst dividend month.

Investments:

The build-up of the nest egg is still not complete. I haven't received the bill for the car repairs yet, so I still have to set aside some money for that. Apart from that, the nest egg is growing, but it will take some time before it is at a satisfactory level. I'm currently tending to keep it at least €10,000 (because 5 figures is cooler).

Purchases and sales:

There were no sales in May.

I bought or increased United Health (2x)

savings plans (€125 in total):

• Cintas ($CTAS (+0,36%) )
• LVMH ($MC (-0,23%) )
• Microsoft ($MSFT (-0,38%) )

Goals 2025:

My goal is still to have €130,000 in my portfolio at the end of the year. The goal is to be achieved by reinvesting the dividend, making payments and, of course, increasing the share price. The share price increase is of course impossible to predict in any way, so the motto is: if the share price falls or does not rise enough, more cash is needed.

This comes from selling useless stuff on eBay, additional income from e.g. "neighborhood help" etc.

The worse the share price, the more additional cash has to be raised.

Target achievement at the end of May 2025: 38.88%

Thanks to the good May, I have come a good deal closer to the average. Nevertheless, the year could still go a little better for me. But the feel-good factor is still 100%.

How was your May? The Rewind for May is already available. It looks quite nice too.

If you liked the report and would like to read more, feel free to follow me,

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April was here and it's already over again. Trump's liberation day was not as liberating as we now know. Nevertheless, a lot happened and the stock market remained very volatile in April. After initially falling sharply, it stabilized towards the middle of the month and ultimately rose again, leaving the S&P500 at -3.62% at the end of the month.

In April, I recorded a loss of 3.68%. Given the size of my portfolio, this corresponds to a value of almost €4,000.

Thanks to the dividends, which are gross here in the picture (net = €272.65), this amount is then reduced to just under €3,700.

The Dax (+0.80%) has beaten me again, but compared to the HSBC MSCI World (-4.24%) I am doing better again.

Over the year as a whole (YTD), I have lost ground again to the DAX, which has risen again. At the same time, however, I was able to further extend my lead over the MSCI World. However, as can be seen above, the MSCI World caught up considerably towards the end of the month.

April again showed that my portfolio is quite stable. That's the price you pay if you give up positive returns. Of course, everyone has to decide for themselves how well they can sleep.

My high and low performers in April were (top 3):

Nintendo ($7974 (+1,44%) ) +15,32%

Eon ($EOAN (-0,45%) ) +10,42%

Tesla ($TSLA (-2,68%) ) +8,87%

Pepsi ($PEP (+0,08%) ) -14,93%

UnitedHealth ($UNH (+0,67%) ) -20,62%

Petroleo Brasileiro ($PETR4 (-0,78%) ) -20,89%

Interesting that UnitedHealth was the second-worst stock in February, the second-best in March and now the second-worst again. A very volatile stock at the moment. Understandable, however, after the recent events.

Dividends:

In April, I received €272.65 net from a total of 15 distributions.

Compared to March 2024 (€182.13), this was an increase of 49.7%.

I now expect another increase in May before it falls sharply again afterwards.

Investments:

As in February and also in March, I am still building up my nest egg again. This was actually planned to be completed in April or May at the latest. But now the car is broken and the repairs will cost a lot. So the replenishment continues.

The special payment in April went into the $XEON (+0%). I also treated myself to a South African government bond, which will also mature in the year the first loan is due. I'm happy to take the 8% until then and if I don't see the money again, then it was a try and I can cope with it.

Buying and selling:

I sold Monster with a plus of 12.3%. Simply because I want to reduce the size of the portfolio, Monster does not pay a dividend and we were very close to the all-time high in April.

I bought or increased Gladstone Investment (I'm happy to take the special dividend in June), Texas Instruments, LVMH, Rio Tinto, United Health, Lockheed Martin and Waste Management.

Savings plans (125€ in total):

• Cintas ($CTAS (+0,36%) )
• LVMH ($MC (-0,23%) )
• Microsoft ($MSFT (-0,38%) )

Target 2025:

My goal is still to have € 130,000 in my portfolio at the end of the year. The goal is to be achieved by reinvesting the dividend, making payments and, of course, increasing the share price. The share price increase is of course impossible to predict in any way, so the motto is: if the share price falls or does not rise enough, more cash is needed.

This comes from selling useless stuff on eBay, additional income from e.g. "neighborhood help" etc.

The worse the share price, the more additional cash has to be raised.

Target achievement at the end of April 2025: 22.22%

I'm slowly lagging behind the average. It's definitely going to be very sporty this year.

Let's see what else is coming. Now that Trump has probably signed a commodities deal with Ukraine, the share price will rise again somewhat, at least in the next few days. After that it will be uncertain again.

How was your April? As the getquin monthly report for March was not published, I am now looking forward to the April report.

If you liked the report and would like to read more, feel free to follow me,

If you're not interested, you can keep scrolling or use the block function.

Atlas Copco $ATCO B (-1,21%)

BAE Systems $BA. (+1,35%)

Rollins $ROL (-0,13%)

Cintas $CTAS (+0,36%)

Waste Management $WM (-0,55%)

Parker Han$PH (-0,87%)

Which companies do you see as particularly promising for a long-term investment?

March is already over, daylight saving time is on and by the time you read this, it will be "liberation day". Let's see what Mr. Trump does today at noon. But that will probably be the subject of April.

For now, let's take a look back at my March 2025.

I posted a loss of 3.09% in March. With my portfolio size, this corresponds to a value of almost €4,000. The Dax (-1.72%) beat me again, but compared to the HSBC MSCI World (-7.88%) I am still doing very well.

Over the year (YTD), I lost ground to the DAX, which remained fairly stable, but at the same time I was able to extend my lead over the MSCI World. After all...

Overall, however, I am also satisfied in March. As in February, my portfolio is quite stable compared to the MSCI World. Yes, in good phases I forego profits, but I don't have so many losses now. Volatility is supposed to be a real mental challenge for some people. I'm just glad that things are a bit more subdued for me.

My high and low performers in February were (top 3):

$EOAN (-0,45%) EON +13.45%

$UNH (+0,67%) UnitedHealth +7.15%

$ALV (+0,13%) Allianz +6.60%

$RACE (-1%) Ferrari -12.35%

$LLY (-0,11%) Lilly -13.04%

$MC (-0,23%) LVMH -17.71%

Funny that UnitedHealth was the second worst performing stock in February and now the second best.

Dividends:

In March, I received a net €165.60 from a total of 22 distributions.

Compared to March 2024 (€128.38), that was an increase of 28.99%

Investments:

As I mentioned in February, I am still building up my nest egg again. This is also not yet complete.

A special payment is due in April, but this will go into the $XEON (+0%) as I am saving all the special payments for the loan repayment in 5 years' time.

I have actually stopped some savings plans in order to have more money for individual purchases or to build up cash. More on this later.

Buying and selling:

There were no sales this month.

I bought Ferrari, and there is still room here until the position is full.

As I mentioned above, I stopped some savings plans. Realty, STAG, Gladstone Investment and Hercules Capital have been stopped. I would like to add to Realty again to fill the position (I'm still €300 short). The price of the others is moving sideways, so I imagine that I will be able to buy them at a later date at the same price.

Savings plans (total €175):

• Cintas ($CTAS (+0,36%) )
• LVMH ($MC (-0,23%) )
• Monster Beverage ($MNST (+0,85%) )
• Microsoft ($MSFT (-0,38%) )

Goals 2025:

My goal is to have €130,000 in my portfolio at the end of the year. The goal is to be achieved by reinvesting the dividend, making payments and, of course, increasing the share price. The share price increase is of course impossible to predict in any way, so the motto is: if the share price falls or does not rise enough, more cash is needed.

This comes from the sale of useless items on eBay, additional income from e.g. "neighborhood help", etc. The worse the share price, the more additional cash has to be raised.

Target achievement at the end of March 2025: 21.05%

So I'm on the right track (so far), although I would have needed a bit more in March to maintain the average. Well, everything is still open at the moment.

Now I'll wait and see what tariffs come in today (or not), look forward to the dividends and just wait and see. "Because doing nothing often leads to the very best of something."

How was your March? I have the latent hope that, for once, I did better in March than my usual 50% or so of the getquin community.

#washbaerreview

Source: reuters. com

$CTAS (+0,36%)

• Cintas Corp reported adjusted earnings of $1.13 per share for the quarter ended February 28, up from the year-ago quarter when the company reported earnings per share of 96 cents.The average expectation of seventeen analysts for the quarter was earnings of $1.06 per share. Wall Street expected earnings of between 1.03 and 1.10 dollars per share.
• Sales rose 8.4 percent year over year to $2.61 billion; analysts had expected $2.60 billion.
• Cintas Corp's reported EPS for the quarter was $1.13.
• The company reported quarterly net income of $463.5 million.

The second month of 2025 is already over. Time is flying by again at breakneck speed and one event or statement follows the next this year. It's crazy what's going on at the moment and at the same time the market is somehow saying "I don't care".

Up down, up down, the markets are becoming more volatile and yet, or precisely because of this, my February was almost at +/-0.

But one thing at a time.

In February I achieved a plus of 0.8%. With my portfolio size, this corresponds to a value of almost €900. Not particularly good compared to the Dax (+3.77%), but still very respectable compared to the HSBC MSCI World (-2.49%).

Unfortunately, things do not look any better over the year (YTD).

The Dax is running away with 13.3%, while the MSCI World is bobbing along at 1.6%. Here, too, I was at least able to beat the World, but I still lag miles behind the DAX.

Overall, however, I am still very satisfied. As I don't have a lot of tech in my portfolio and my stocks are (mostly) rather stable, there is often no outperformance of the stocks and if there is, it is only marginal.

My high and low performers in February were (top 3):

$HSY (-1,12%) Hershey +15.63%

$T (+2%) AT&T +14.07%

$NESN (-1,01%) Nestle +13.10%

$ADM (+0,77%) Archer Daniels -8.57%

$UNH (+0,67%) United Health -13.16%

$TSLA (-2,68%) Tesla -27.59%

Dividends:

In February, I received a net €123.62 from a total of 10 distributions.

Compared to February 2024 (€99.26), this was an increase of 24.54%

Investments:

Due to the construction work on the house last year, the focus continues to be on building up the nest egg and saving up a "leisure account" again, as everything was really used up completely last year and only the custody account remained.

The savings plans will of course continue unabated, but individual investments are probably not possible for the time being.

Purchases and sales:

I have parted with Mercedes ( $MBG (-1,38%) ) and Medical Properties ( $MPW (-4,19%) ).

I then added to Lockheed Martin ( $LMT (+0,52%) ), Hershey ( $HSY (-1,12%) ) and Petroleo Brasileiro ( $PETR4 (-0,78%) ).

My savings plans remain unchanged, but it is quite possible that I will stop them for the time being in order to build up investment cash again.

Savings plans (350€ in total):

• Realty ($O (+0,38%) )
• STAG Industrial ($STAG (-1,12%) )
• Gladstone Invest ($GAIN (+0,33%) )
• Hercules Capital ($HTGC (+0%) )
• Cintas ($CTAS (+0,36%) )
• LVMH ($MC (-0,23%) )
• Monster Beverage ($MNST (+0,85%) )
• Microsoft ($MSFT (-0,38%) )

Goals 2025:

My goal is to have €130,000 in my portfolio at the end of the year. The goal is to be achieved by reinvesting the dividend, making payments and, of course, increasing the share price. The share price increase is of course impossible to predict in any way, so the motto is: if the share price falls or does not rise enough, more cash is needed.

This comes from selling useless stuff on eBay, additional income from e.g. "neighborhood help" etc. The worse the share price, the more additional cash has to be raised.

Target achievement at the end of February 2025: 37.41%

So I'm on the right track (so far). I'm curious to see what else will happen in 2025 and hope that the crash, which seems to be getting closer and closer, will take a little longer (so that I can continue to accumulate cash).

How was your February? Are you happy so far? I think that, due to the volatility, the portfolios in February are far more spread out than they were in January or even at the end of last year.

My dividend portfolio will soon be one year old. It now consists of 8 positions, each of which is saved with €18 per month.

My latest additions are $CTAS (+0,36%) and $ABBV (+0,96%)

How do you like my portfolio composition?