Green vs. Blue?
As I mentioned before, I started trading with Alfa just to snag their ₽5,000 bonus. The terms were simple: top up and buy stocks worth ₽1,000. While I was opening my account, their rep said, “Everyone just buys
$VTBR stocks” and, without missing a beat, placed a market order for me. 🤦
It’s been oscillating ever since—never really growing—and is still dangling in my portfolio. I even picked up a few more shares when it tanked, hoping for a big rebound.
A few months later, I decided to invest in
$SBER and picked up 10 stocks. Although it also saw a decline when the market was down, it’s slowly been picking up and showing some growth.
So, what’s the deal with these two government-majority banks? Why does
$VTBR seem to perform so much worse than
$SBER, or am I missing something? I see that Sberbank pays consistent dividends, while VTB hasn’t paid anything since 2021.
Is this just a difference in management styles, or something more fundamental? And most importantly: should I cut my losses with $VTBR while I still can, or keep holding for whenever we see an upward tick?