Vladimir Vereshchak | Investment notes

Kolobok of the market: the tale of the sector that was not eaten

Once upon a time, there were markets. Big, complex, noisy ones. And among them lived one simple but sturdy sector – not flashy, not hyped, but hardworking. It wasn’t built from fairy tales, but from steel and concrete, from engines and airplanes, from trains, factories, and roads. It was mixed with orders, contracts, and long cycles, tempered by economic growth, and cooled on the windowsill of investor expectations. It sat there for a while… and then it rolled on. ...

Were you expecting a drop? The market wasn’t.

Here you go – the market’s logic. Saturday. Another war. This time in the Middle East. Regular investors: – Oh my God… I knew I should’ve sold everything on Friday! Monday’s going to be a bloodbath! “Rational” investors: – Right. Everything’s about to crash. Perfect. I’ll buy the dip. Non-investors: – Serves them right, those stock market speculators! All these games only last so long. Good thing I own real estate. ...

Yes, you can “draw” returns in Excel. But why would you? An honest portfolio review.

There’s a problem with verifying investment reports like mine, they say. After all, you can “draw” whatever you like in Excel. Sure, you can. But why would you? If you’re investing your own money – as I do – you probably want to measure how effective your activity really is, to understand whether it makes sense at all… or whether you’d be better off just buying an ETF. At least you should want that. It’s your capital. ...

30 words for a language and investing from 6 rubles

Claims that knowing the 30 most commonly used words is enough to speak any foreign language (like Ellochka the Cannibal, I guess), or even 100 words, remind me of “investing from 6 rubles” – lies and marketing. I’ve been stuffing Italian into my head for six months now, the counter passed 2.5 thousand a while ago, and I still understand only about half of beginner texts on the fly. Better every day, but still. Italian from scratch. An experiment. I’m actually curious how this ends. ...

They approved me. You can have me.

Sadly, I don’t get a pretty piece of paper with a coat of arms. ESG, you know, global warming and all that. But I did get a checkmark in a blue circle next to my website address on Yandex, basically saying, “verified, safe.” One condition: in the context of offering investment advisory services, only I get to send you pictures like this. I know those demons. They scatter my documents all over the internet, luring gullible people who knows where. ...

150–250% in 48 Hours

Here’s a fresh one for you. “Hello, could you please tell me, on Instagram they’re offering investments starting at 10 000 rubles and guaranteeing 150 to 250 percent within 48 hours. They sent me a photo of your certificate. Is this really your company doing this?” I’m genuinely curious – what goes on in people’s heads? Fine, scammers, at least they make money off it. But the people who fall for this – what are they thinking? Are they thinking at all? What in life goes up or down by 250% every 48 hours? Your salary? Body temperature? Rainfall? ...