2017 was an insanely magnificent year!

This time last year, we were all bracing for a stock market crash... two years ago, we were all fearing the worst market meltdown of the century... This time three years ago,... you guessed it right: we were preparing for the bubbles to burst... 

At the beginning of the year, we tried to make sense of it all by asking ourselves 'what does Warren Buffett say and do? Surely, the market's insanity should and will come to an end.' As we went through the year, one all-time high got followed by another. We waited for 'the tides to go down to expose those who were swimming naked.' And the tide has not pulled back yet. To add insult to injury: Bitcoin happened!

Even if Bitcoin gets crushed back to a few puny cents a piece, it doesn't change the facts that someone sold his stash before the crash and pocketed thousands of percentage growth in less than a year. Meanwhile, we were carefully researching and hand-selecting portfolio stocks. Of course, our portfolio outperformed the stock market. However, what we were hoping to achieve in a few years, our neighbors claim to have attained in 9 months.  It was an insane year to be an intelligent investor! Or, was it?

​No one can predict the market! Accept it!
Times like this, when the trends, market cycles, and patterns cannot explain the reality, are a testament to the fact that no one can predict the market. It was inconceivable to any of us (even for the Winklevoss twins) that a few cents per Bitcoin price tag would ever grow to such all-time high. Understanding that no one can predict the markets and no amount of historical data can be used to predict the future with uncertainty is crucial to be an intelligent investor. It's easy to say it when markets are just following the historical trends, but with times such as 2017, our intelligent investing powers are put to the test. So thank you 2017 for reminding us how unpredictable the markets are despite everything that the historical trends say.

​Stock market investing pays off!
The second reason that 2017 was an insanely magnificent year to be an intelligent investor is that all great companies were rewarded for their performance. Look at Nvidia and Juno for example. These are the companies that are shaping the future. The future of work, the future of health, the future period... It is a widespread belief that the stock market cannot generate massive returns. People run away from the stock market, take massive amounts of risk, invest in other things with almost zero amount of data and information and try to gamble their way into financial success. Meanwhile, we sit down at our desks, use technology to pull, aggregate and review hundreds of data points and invest in companies that are shaping the future, collecting magnificent returns such as what we achieved in 2017. So, thank you 2017 and our top 4 outperforming stocks (see below), for your wonderful returns! 

And thank you to all of you, early adopters of Stock Card! As we look at our usage dashboard and see more log-ins, more of you send Stock Card requests, join the intelligent investing on our Facebook group and even more of you have started to create a portfolio, monitor your watchlist and truly measure your progress against the market, we are getting energized and excited for the next year. You have made it possible for us to celebrate 2017 and look forward to an amazing 2018. 

That's it for this last edition of Stock Card Weekly in 2017. Visit our website to see the newly published Stock Cards. The next newsletter will be in your inbox on Sunday, January 7th. Expect a few new features and surprises. From all of us here at Stock Card HQ, thank you and Happy Holidays! May 2018 be a year of financial happiness and wealth for you and your family!

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