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Here’s my story…
I didn’t invest in the stock market until 2020 at age 49—at least not anything significant. Up until that point, I considered real estate a better investment option, so I bought a handful of residential properties. Six, to be exact: four duplexes and two condos. It was small-time stuff in small towns across northern Alberta and B.C., Canada. They brought in a modest monthly income to add to my earnings as a musician.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Everything went into shutdown mode. Nobody was driving; nobody was flying. The world came to a standstill. Consequently, oil prices crashed along with oil stocks. At that point, I thought to myself: If there was ever a time to buy stocks, it would be right now—oil stocks specifically.
To me, it was 100% plain logic. Everything couldn’t stay locked down forever. Sooner or later, governments would have to let people get back to living their lives. I was certain that when that happened, oil stocks would rebound in a massive way. So, in May 2020, I scraped together every penny I could, maxed out my line of credit, and put it all into mid-cap oil stocks. In my mind, it wasn’t a gamble or speculation; it was simple logic.
My decision paid off big time. My investments quadrupled in a year. In April 2021, I sold two of my duplexes in B.C., took the profits, and put that money into the stock market as well. However, I didn’t go back into oil. I had sold my oil stocks when the price hit $60 a barrel, thinking that might be the peak. I was wrong about that, but by then, I had the investment bug.
I started investing in speculative companies. I went the complete opposite direction of oil and bought EV car and charging company stocks. I intended to buy and hold these, thinking I was getting in on a revolutionary industry that would bring me massive profits for the next couple of decades. At first, the stocks made big gains. By mid-November 2021, I had made well over a million dollars—a fortune by my standards—all in just 18 months.
That is when the tide turned. My speculative stock prices started sliding. My portfolio dropped about 20% in the next two months. I thought this was just a dip and a rebound was surely coming, so I held on. The 20% dip turned into a 30% drop, then 40%, 50%, 60%… but I kept holding. After all, almost every financial expert says not to sell when your portfolio is down because the minute you sell might be the minute it starts to rebound.
The rebound never happened. It took three years of steady decline for my profits to deteriorate completely. By the end of 2024, I was in the same financial position I would have been in if I had never invested in the stock market at all. I was far from being a millionaire at that point.
I didn’t know what to do. I still had about $300K, so I put a bit into high-yield ETFs. However, every time Donald Trump spoke about “tariffs,” the value would drop. I sold out of those and sat on cash for most of 2025.
Eventually, while looking into ETFs again, I stumbled across a gold mining ETF (GDMN) and found it had doubled since the beginning of 2025. I did some research and realized that gold and silver had been on a tear all year. I had been oblivious to this until December 2025. I discovered that silver was outpacing gold and that there was an incredible shortage, with supply unable to keep up with demand.
The wheels in my head started turning again. Late in December, I decided to take the leap and invest in silver miners and silver ETFs. No sooner did I do that than the CME decided to raise margin requirements on silver—twice! After the second hike, I sold off all my investments in silver and mining stocks. I don’t want to play a game where the rules can change in an instant and one organization has the power to intentionally sabotage gains in an industry.
The good news is that I didn’t buy futures and I wasn’t leveraged, so I didn’t lose money on my very short-lived silver play. The bad news is that I’m completely at a loss as to how to invest my money now.
That’s my tragic story. I hope it was interesting, if nothing else.
Tim D.
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