22/02/2023
“I was born in Gothenburg in the south of Sweden and lived with my single mom and my
brother. We moved to Ethiopia, where my mom is from, for one year when I was seven.
When I was 13, I wrote my first song and after performing it at my school’s graduation
ceremony,
with a great response, I knew for sure that I wanted to be a musician. I’ve worked
in different countries: London in the UK, Germany, Los Angeles in the United States, and
today Stockholm is once again my home.
“Typically artists and musicians are quite scattered about their finances, but this coronavirus
crisis has taught me the importance of having savings. I realised I need to be disciplined
about saving on a monthly basis and investing what I can, big or small.
Luckily I had just
done two big jobs and therefore had a little money to start off with. I talked to a friend of a
friend and started reading up on the stock market, and at the end of March, right after that
big dip, I started investing.
I started using an app to get a feel for stock price movements and
I have learned something about myself . . . I love trading!
“This market has been a wild ride — I’ve made lots of money in a short period of time on
stocks like Volvo, Power Cell, Arise, Beyond Meat, and Bambuser. In just a few weeks I
made 30% on Volvo and 50% on Bambuser — a Swedish start-up working with live video
shopping technology — and doubled up on my EPR Properties stocks. My portfolio is up
over 60%. I realise it’s not a regular market we’re dealing with and I am trying not to get too
cocky — the market is a fickle lover.” Bishat Araya