At home in Southern Germany, the passionate stock exchange expert has been accompanying the capital markets for about twenty years. With a soft spot for smaller companies, he is constantly on the lookout for exciting investment stories. That it depends thereby less on large names, but on the future potential and whether the market also recognizes these perspectives, was one of its first learnings at the stock exchange.
On these pages, Nico examines current events at listed companies and takes a closer look at companies that are traded under the radar of the market, in addition to well-known securities.
In order to be able to take advantage of speculative opportunities on the stock exchange, Nico not only focuses on a balanced asset allocation of defensive and opportunity-oriented securities, but also on an intact risk management. "In addition to position size and entry in several tranches, investors should also develop a sense of timing and get to know a stock better before investing," says the columnist.
Commented by Nico Popp
Commented by Nico Popp on January 4th, 2021 | 10:49 CET
Vale, Almonty Resources, Glencore: commodity stocks for 2021
Although the news is primarily dominated by the pandemic and the effects of the lockdown, the economy continues to turn. Many service providers are suffering from the pandemic, and the structural change it has triggered. The situation for producers is quite different: Manufacturers of electrical appliances and electric cars are sitting on full order books and looking to a rosy future. Mining companies are also feeling this optimism: since the pandemic's outbreak, commodity prices have been on the rise. Project financiers and major investors are not backing down or adopting a wait-and-see attitude, even in times of crisis. For private investors, this is a good sign - there is something to be gained in the commodities sector.
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Commented by Nico Popp on December 30th, 2020 | 06:50 CET
NEL ASA, Nikola, Nevada Copper, BHP Group: Be part of the next trend from the start
Copper is considered a rather dull industrial metal. Yet copper is more than many investors think: analysts expect that more copper will be mined in the next thirty years than in the entire history of mankind. What sounds enormous is, in reality, so. Copper mines around the world are producing at the limit of their capacity. New projects are waiting in the wings and are urgently needed. One of the main drivers of the copper boom is electromobility. An electric car contains around three times as much copper as a conventional combustion engine. Hydrogen vehicles also contain copper. Reason enough to take a closer look at some interesting stocks around the trend.
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Commented by Nico Popp on December 29th, 2020 | 10:29 CET
Alibaba, Osino Resources, Barrick Gold: Fantasy + Stability = Returns
The past few years have had a notable impact on investors: Tech companies, in particular, have been well received on the markets, while classic sectors were spurned despite low valuations. But for some months now, the big turnaround has been underway: more and more classic sectors that can score with low valuations are catching up - tech stocks are holding up solidly, but are increasingly facing headwinds. That's what happened with Alibaba. Like its big role model, the Chinese Amazon clone has long been more than just a retailer. Through its Ant Group holding, Alibaba is thick in the fintech business: payment, banking, insurance - all of this, fed by valuable data, promises a thriving business in the future. That is if it were not for the Chinese regulators.
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Commented by Nico Popp on December 28th, 2020 | 10:13 CET
Nornickel, Newcrest Mining, Silver Viper, First Majestic: Does silver have catch-up potential?
When the gold price set records between March and August and reached a new all-time high, silver also performed well. Previously, the two precious metals had diverged widely. The gold-silver ratio, which shows how many ounces of silver can buy an ounce of gold, had risen sharply at the start of the pandemic, indicating that silver was undervalued. In the meantime, this exaggeration has corrected. Silver is still trading in an attractive range with a gold-silver ratio of 80. However, if one looks at the major commodity companies, it is noticeable that silver does not play a significant role and is usually only a by-product of gold.
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Commented by Nico Popp on December 23rd, 2020 | 09:00 CET
Anglo American, Fokus Mining, Newcrest Mining: Strategy and timing lead to success
The fact that gold has lost none of its status as a crisis metal can sometimes be seen in small price movements: While the overall market initially went into reverse gear at the start of the week given the new virus mutation, gold gained ground. For long-term investors, such small movements do not make much difference, but they show that certain correlations are still intact: When nervousness rises in blue chips, gold benefits. Reason enough to also take a closer look at some companies from the sector.
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Commented by Nico Popp on December 23rd, 2020 | 08:00 CET
Bitcoin Group, BIGG Digital Assets, Nvidia: Which crypto stocks can go 100% in 4 weeks?
Bitcoin has been riding high for weeks. In November, Bitcoin was still trading below USD 15,000, and most recently, the digital surrogate currency even reached a level of USD 24,000. Bitcoin is considered the gold standard in the crypto world and has a high reputation. Whenever capital is to be parked within the crypto scene, Bitcoin is the first address. In addition, Bitcoin is the first choice for many private investors when it comes to coins. In the slipstream of Bitcoin and Co., some stocks are also climbing rapidly.
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Commented by Nico Popp on December 22nd, 2020 | 07:50 CET
Barrick Gold, Blackrock Gold, AngloGold Ashanti: Gold shares for every type of investor
Whenever central banks and governments open the money floodgates, it's a positive signal for the gold price. After the initial reactions to the pandemic in March and April, the prices of gold companies went steeply upwards. Shares of many smaller companies in particular multiplied between April and August. Since then, the market has entered a consolidation phase. This phase could be an opportunity for investors - after all, the prices of gold shares, in particular, have fallen back, in some cases, significantly. At the same time, the pandemic is spreading, and governments and central banks are in a certain path dependency: to deny support to the economy now on the home stretch seems unlikely and also counterproductive given the aid already provided. Gold and companies involved in gold production should, therefore continue to have good prospects.
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Commented by Nico Popp on December 21st, 2020 | 08:00 CET
Samsung Electronics, AdTiger, Tencent: Investing in Asian Tigers
Asia has long been the engine of the global economy. This became most apparent in the summer when pictures of people celebrating without masks made the rounds in Wuhan. At the same time, here in Germany, the restrictions of the pandemic were still being felt. The differences are also evident at the moment: while the hard lockdown prevails in Germany, business life in Asia continues - only partially interrupted by restrictions. When looking at promising companies, Asian stocks are increasingly appearing on the buy lists of professional investors. Why? Many Asian companies are technologically far ahead and close to fast-growing future markets. Nowhere else in the world is the middle class growing faster than in Asia. Reason enough to take a close look at stocks from the region.
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Commented by Nico Popp on December 16th, 2020 | 09:55 CET
E.ON, Sartorius, Defense Metals: The scarcer the goods, the higher the price
Only in times of need do you realize what matters, and this is precisely what many businesses and private individuals are experiencing during the lockdown. Industry, too, can quickly find itself in need. The best example was the first few months of the pandemic when global supply chains broke down. Today, Asia is back on the growth path and the cargo ships are fully loaded. But the industry could still be in trouble - for example, if the energy supply collapses. Only recently, it became known that increasing electromobility is causing load peaks in the power grids - for example, after work. Utilities such as E.ON want to take countermeasures and, if need be, implement so-called "peak smoothing." This implementation plan would mean that charging stations would no longer be supplied with electricity when the grid load is high. Anyone still wanting to drive an electric vehicle in the evening would be left out in the cold.
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Commented by Nico Popp on December 15th, 2020 | 14:46 CET
TeamViewer, Dermapharm, Q&M Dental Group: Deciding tomorrow's profits!
When it became apparent in March that millions of employees would suddenly be working from home offices, the market initially focused on the obvious solutions. TeamViewer is a software that many users were already familiar with at the time, allowing them to access PCs remotely. Particularly for people who had previously worked exclusively in the office, the software, some of which was free, was a good solution. But the world keeps turning. In the meantime, many companies have made the switch, offering their employees VPN access to the company network or using other cloud solutions. It is also likely that one or two mobile devices have been distributed to employees in recent months, at least according to sales in the hardware sector.
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