1 The brains behind Liberty Stock Markets

What began as a family project in 2012 has since developed into a real success story. We have learned from setbacks and have never tired of constantly expanding our expertise and improving our actions. We have been successful equity and ETF investors since 2016. We want to share this expertise with you.

Andrea Kraus is a wealth advisor and, as an international accountant, can look back on years of experience in the fields of company valuation, real estate and financial investments. She acquired her first shares and real estate in her early 20s. Her balance sheet and financial analysis is the first step in assessing companies. She uncovers weaknesses and strengths and decides whether a company is an interesting investment for us.

Michael Kaiser is a financial advisor and has been successfully trading shares, ETFs and financial derivatives for over 20 years. He specialized in technical chart analysis early on and perfected the Elliott Wave Method. The share and ETF price movements he analyzes consistently correspond to over 85% of his precise predictions. Together with his team, he is responsible for ongoing portfolio management with the main focus on the correct timing of purchases and sales. He decides when to buy or sell a security.

2012

Foundation
Family Offices

2012 until

2014

Focus on
real estate

2014 until

2016

Expansion
Investments in
shares and ETFs

2016 until

today

Establishment
Long-term portfolio

2 How do we find and value interesting stocks?

We are your financial navigator for better decisions.

The first step in our selection process is a basic company screening. Here we ask very basic questions, such as the following:

  1. What does the company produce?
  2. Do we understand it or the products?
  3. Can the products or the business model be copied?
  4. Does the company have a dominant market position?
  5. What is the competitive environment like?
  6. How is the management set up?
  7. What do the company’s balance sheets look like?
  8. What is the company’s outlook, both in terms of figures and market opportunities or risks?
  9. What does the share price look like? Is the share price ahead of a major price decline, in the middle of one, or at the beginning of a price increase?

Screening
scoring
Rating

The first step in our selection process is a basic company screening. Here we ask very basic questions, such as the following:

  1. What does the company produce?
  2. Do we understand it or the products?
  3. Can the products or the business model be copied?
  4. Does the company have a dominant market position?
  5. What is the competitive environment like?
  6. How is the management set up?
  7. What do the company’s balance sheets look like?
  8. What is the company’s outlook, both in terms of figures and market opportunities or risks?
  9. What does the share price look like? Is the share price ahead of a major price decline, in the middle of one, or at the beginning of a price increase?

In the second step, we transfer all the collected data and facts into our scoring.

There, we convert the data from our first step into internal valuation ratios in order to improve comparability. In the final valuation step, we carry out the
rating. This key figure determines how we rate the company at the time of preparing our pre-selection.

A graphic overview of our decision-making process:

Only in the final step do we decide what to do with the share. Either we buy it and add it directly to our portfolio, keep it under observation in our watchlist, or we sort it out and, if necessary, include it in our valuation process again at a later date.

3 We don’t just talk, we act!

Our sample portfolio at your fingertips.

Full insight through our model portfolio. The real proof of our success – we don’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk.

You will not only receive up-to-date analyses of all the stocks we hold in the portfolio, but also a notification when we make changes to the portfolio. So you are always informed about our actions.

The team of experts at Liberty Stock Markets specializes in selecting the right stocks and ETFs. Clever diversification plays just as important a role as avoiding risks. We achieve this through constant professional portfolio management.

Trade now.
Liberty Stock Markets sample portfolio.

How is our model portfolio structured?

Our model portfolio is structured like any real portfolio. Namely as an ongoing portfolio with a savings ratio. We do not start afresh every year, but continue to maintain our portfolio endlessly. There is no starting value and no target value, but a constantly growing portfolio through monthly savings deposits and reinvested profits, just as everyone can and should do.

In our portfolio overview, you can see at any time which securities we currently hold and which we have bought or sold, when and on what terms.

Liberty Stock Markets stands for top performance and transparency.
You can measure us by our actions every day.
A long-term project from which everyone benefits.

4 Knowing where the market is going is our key to success!

The analyses.

Our analyses of indices, ETFs and equities form the core of our business. We set ourselves apart from the market with our analyses because we already know where the market is going and where the important points are that require our action.

We know exactly when to buy in order to achieve the highest possible return.
We know exactly where we need to exit or realize profits. Our mathematical-analytical method allows us to
us to do what most people can’t, namely act counter-cyclically: buy at bottoms and sell at tops.

We provide you with fully understandable and clear analysis on numerous indices, ETFs and a wide range of stocks.
These are all the stocks that we currently hold in our portfolio and all the stocks that are on our watchlist.

Our
forecast.
Our
strength.

Full navigation through our analyses – the core of our expertise.

Our
forecast.
Our
strength.

Our analyses of indices, ETFs and equities form the core of our business. We set ourselves apart from the market with our analyses because we already know where the market is going and where the important points are that require our action.

We know exactly when to buy in order to achieve the highest possible return.
We know exactly where we need to exit or realize profits. Our mathematical-analytical method allows us to
us to do what most people can’t, namely act counter-cyclically: buy at bottoms and sell at tops.

We provide you with fully understandable and clear analysis on numerous indices, ETFs and a wide range of stocks.
These are all the stocks that we currently hold in our portfolio and all the stocks that are on our watchlist.

How our analysis works

Explained in 6 steps:

  • 1 1
  • 2 2
  • 3 3
  • 4 4
  • 5 5
  • 6 6

Without our method

the EuroStoxx 600 Index shown here looks like this.
Simply a price trend.

What are candle displays?

The price performance of securities tradable on the stock exchange (e.g. ETFs and shares) is shown in so-called candlestick charts.

Each candle represents a unit of time. For example, a day. The candles are lined up in the chart according to their price position and thus produce the price trend.


If the candle is green, the closing price (in our example after one hour of trading) is higher than its start. A higher price level than at the beginning of the measured hour.

If it is red, the closing price is lower than the starting price.

Now we place our formulas over the course.

The basic idea

Our method is based on the further development of the so-called Elliott Wave Theory, which was created by Ralf Nelson Elliott in the 1930s.

– The reasons for trading lie in the psychology of investors and not in events or (stock market) news.

– Investors’ actions leave patterns in the price charts.

– These patterns are based on mathematical relationships.

– Like all other natural events, they can be explained using mathematics.

– Our calculation of price movements and our forecasts are based on this.

And derive the most likely upcoming movement from this.

The blue arrows indicate the expected direction and movement of prices.

We put the individual price movements into mathematical ratios and use them to calculate target prices.

The colored boxes

The red boxes

indicate an expected turning point in the price on the upside. For us, this area describes an opportunity to sell or partially sell in order to realize profits. Depending on the individual case, however, it may also make sense to hold the position.

The purple boxes

indicate an expected turning point for the price on the downside. For us, this area describes an opportunity to buy.
This is a so-called bottom, as the price is likely to rise from there over a long period of time.
For us, these are the perfect buying regions for long-term investments.

Alternative route

For each situation in which we now find ourselves, we work out two paths that we believe the course can take with the highest probability.

In our example, the alternative route is shown in dashed arrows and labeled “alt.”.

Arrows and lines

The dotted arrows

show the alternative route (alt.) that the course will take if our first forecast no longer applies.

The purple circles indicate significant turning points on the alternative route. They are analogous to the red or purple boxes (see above).

The horizontal lines

indicate important price levels in the chart. For example, resistances above which the price must rise or supports below which it should no longer fall.

We combine both routes in one figure in our analyses.

We show the direction of the main trend at the top left of the image. In our example, we assume that prices will initially rise.

Wedges

The wedge upwards in the purple circle

symbolizes a rising main trend
This symbol can be found at the top left of the chart

The downward wedge in the red circle

symbolizes a falling main trend
This symbol can be found at the top left of the chart

5 Always focus on the essentials.

The real-time messages to you.

Push
Messages

You never have to deal with complicated stock gobbledygook if you don’t want to. We make it as simple as possible for you.

That’s why you’ll find everything really important in your personal mailbox in your login area. There you will always find a message from us when we want to tell you something important, such as that we are buying a share, reducing a share position, selling completely or that new analyses are available for you.

If you would like to receive our news, it is important that you allow us to send you emails and/or newsletters either when you book a product or in your personal settings.
e-mails and/or newsletters. Please note that this service is only included from the STANDARD module onwards.

Push
Messages

An example

Subject (e.g. buy, sell, new analyses)
Name of the security/securities (index, ETF, share)
Date: we give you the date (day.month.year)
Units: we tell you the number of units we are buying (only for buys and sells)
Price: we tell you the price at which we are buying (only for purchases and sales)

6 And where will the journey take us in the future?

Our watchlist.

Watchlist

Watchlist

Selecting the right stocks is a key part of our expertise. This is why we also monitor numerous shares and ETFs that we consider promising but are not yet ready for our portfolio.

Our watchlist contains all the titles that we might buy in the future. Of course, we are also happy to share these with you. And best of all: we analyze all the stocks on our watchlist on a daily basis, as well as the stocks that are already in our portfolio. Perhaps you already have one or two in your portfolio.

7 Our golden rules of share and ETF trading

Here we briefly present our golden stock trading rules, which we strictly adhere to once we have selected our stocks. In this way, we ensure that we strategically minimize our risk.

Risk
Minimization

1 Maximum 5 % of our total portfolio value

We trade a maximum of 5% of our total portfolio value per purchase. In this way, we limit our risk to just 5% of our capital. For example: with a total portfolio value of € 5,000 (total shares/ETFs held + money in your account), we only use 5% of this for a further purchase. In our example, that is € 250.

2 We rely on smart diversification

To further minimize our risk, we rely on clever diversification in our portfolio. We achieve this on the one hand through ETFs, which are usually already very broadly diversified, and on the other hand through the composition of the shares. These should cover several independent sectors. In this way, we avoid sector risk. If one sector is doing badly, this only affects a small proportion of our shares.

3 We mainly choose blue chips

We mainly focus on so-called blue chips. These are large companies that are preferred stocks due to their market capitalization and trading volume. In addition, before we analyze and trade them, all stocks undergo a rigorous evaluation based on a wide range of criteria. For example, we attach great importance to the business model, the associated opportunities or risks and the company’s growth prospects.

A small proportion of the shares in our portfolio are somewhat riskier stocks, which have considerable potential, but due to their size also represent a certain risk of disappearing from the market again. These stocks only make up a maximum of 20% of our portfolio.

4 We do not act in the short term

We do not act in the short term and always take a strategic approach to our trading. In our opinion, short-term trading does not lead to sustainable success. A share needs time and space to develop its full potential. The growth potential is particularly high after longer downward phases. The higher the price, the longer it takes for the movement to develop its full profit potential.

Strategically, we position ourselves in such a way that we do not sell all of our shares/ETFs at highs, for example, but only part of them. We reduce our holdings in order to reinvest the resulting profits at the lows. However, this approach only makes sense if the first position remains in positive territory even when selling off. In other cases, it also makes sense to exit the entire position in order to re-enter at a later date at better conditions (lower price).

Another very helpful tool is the so-called stop. This is a type of order that most brokers offer. By means of a stop, we can tell the broker to sell the position if the price falls below a certain level. For example: a share is currently trading at € 87. However, we do not want to accept a price drop below € 80. This is where the stop comes into play. We tell our broker to sell at € 80. This takes the risk out of the position and we don’t have to worry about it any further. The sale is carried out automatically by the broker.

5 We prefer home exchanges

We generally prefer to trade shares on the respective home stock exchanges. For US shares, for example, this is the New York Stock Exchange (the stock exchange in New York), and for a German share, such as Siemens, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange XETRA. The big advantage with US shares is that you are entered in the commercial register there when you buy a share. This is an additional guarantee that you really are the owner of the share.

However, everyone has to weigh up for themselves whether the trading fees are an important criterion. Trading on the stock exchanges mentioned above costs a fee, while over-the-counter trading is generally free of charge, with the disadvantage that the share is not purchased directly from the stock exchange, but from an intermediary. The unit price may be higher here than on the (home) stock exchange.

Risk
Minimization

8 The basics of building up solid assets

You can see the ideal asset distribution in the following overview

Depending on your basic financial situation, it is always advisable not to put all your eggs in one basket, but to include several.

There is probably no single best way to build up a solid fortune. Nevertheless, there are a few important things we would like to share with you.

The following example reflects the ideal way to invest your money.

This may seem difficult at first glance. But it is not, if you are consistent and have enough time (more than 10 to 15 years).

Shares and ETFs

Both shares and ETFs are becoming increasingly popular. Even comparatively small sums of money can generate high profits over time. You can put as much money aside each month as you can spare. You can invest it whenever opportunities arise. Everything is completely flexible and simple. Over 12 million people in Germany already trade shares and ETFs*. And the trend is rising sharply.

The advantages of shares and ETFs are obvious

Thanks to the internet, trading shares and ETFs has become very easy. Everything can be done conveniently via computer or smartphone. You can access your shares almost anywhere in the world at any time. You can trade them daily, except on public holidays, from Monday to Friday during the respective stock exchange opening hours.

We don’t think the risk associated with shares and ETFs is particularly high. Or how likely do you think it is that Apple, Tesla or McDonald’s will go bust in the next 10 years? Rather low, we would think. Of course, we don’t have any certainties either, but based on our calculations we assume that we can expect strong growth rates that are higher than for other asset classes such as real estate. All the more reason to set the right course now.

The dividend is often underestimated. This is a form of interest on your shares. You automatically receive money several times a year for each share you hold, simply because you hold the share. Incidentally, this also applies to most ETFs.

The most important thing is the strategy. And you have us for that. We focus on broad diversification in order to minimize risks. We achieve this, for example, with an ETF on the broadest and strongest index in the USA, the S&P 500.

When putting together our portfolio, we not only make sure that we only hold shares in companies that have great potential and a solid business, but also that they are not dependent on each other. McDonald’s and Apple operate in completely different sectors.

The disadvantages of shares and ETFs

As with any other business, you are fully responsible for yourself and your investments. You have to decide for yourself when and where to get in and out. But that’s why you have us now.

*Source: Deutsches Aktieninstitut

Real estate

How many Germans do you think own a property? You will probably estimate the percentage far too high. Unfortunately, the Germans are at the bottom of the European rankings with a share of 51.1%, behind Austria (55.2%) and ahead of Switzerland (42.5%). By comparison, in Romania (the leader in Europe) over 95% of the population own their own property*.

The advantages of real estate

If the property is rented out rather than used by the owner, it can be financed by the rental income. This means you don’t have to use your own funds. This type of financing allows you to build up solid capital over the years. In old age, this is a good reserve and also good security that you can use for other projects at the bank.

The disadvantages of real estate

You enter into a long-term commitment with the financing and you can’t take the property with you. It is and remains in one place. If you want to live abroad, you may have to look for new tenants from there. If you have bad tenants, you may have to spend money on renovations or even refurbishments. Although rent losses are rare, they are also part of your risk. In addition, the market is not as easy to predict as the stock market. Whether your property will increase in value is not certain.

*Source: Eurostat (as at: 2019)

Gold

The reason why central banks, for example, also invest a portion in gold is material hedging. However, we do not consider the collapse of the Western world to be very likely. We therefore believe that only around 5% of assets in gold makes sense.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and reserves are much more important. You need these for unforeseen expenses such as replacing a broken washing machine or repairing your car. And, of course, to have enough cash if you are about to invest in shares or ETFs.