What is this MARIUSZ “Poland’s Markku” SKONIECZNY story all about? Thousands were supposed to turn into millions? Well, Voxtur certainly didn’t. The micro-cap guy is going in for back surgery, but he’s also talking about investigations against him and other difficulties. Could someone briefly summarize?
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The rookie has a sample size that’s too small, and maybe picked the wrong horse along the way. Don’t fall in love with a stock; move on to something better. Always remember to buy rising stocks and sell when they start crawling. A basic -20% is a good point to sell at a loss. Never try to catch falling knives.
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Yeah, even that was a short sample—I’ve been investing for about 9 years now, and I’m roughly at break-even.
I’ve often sold too quickly, and most of the time I’ve only jumped in during the final stages of a rally - I’ve bought the wrong kind of gainers. 
I’ve definitely bought falling knives too. I can’t seem to get the buys or the sells right. 
I don’t really tend to fall in love with stocks, but I should also learn how to hold better.
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As a veteran “Markku-enjoyer,” I can try to explain the “Markku-lore” as much as one can convey in text about such an interesting and exceptional individual. Polish Markku (so called because no one can spell the guy’s name) is a classic industrious immigrant hustler who ended up in the U.S., studied economics at university, worked in real estate before the Great Recession started in 2008, and founded numerous small firms with quirky business ideas (including as a dance instructor and an importer of certain specialty goods), through which he rose from rags to become an individual who had amassed some form of wealth.
He then started investing this money into the stock market using the same principles and wrote several very basic books on investing and his own experiences, as well as founding his own site for value investors, Classic Value Investors. For the information of younger investors, value investing was still fashionable and sexy at that time.
Markku gained greater fame within the Inderes community only through tankers, mining companies, and the annual-fee-based MicroCap Explosions site founded during the retail investing boom. In tankers, Markku had an almost perfect thesis, but he exited them too early. Oroco was the biggest breakthrough, and an allegedly 100x hit made him a multi-millionaire. Markku took money from companies for advertising and arranged private placements for small caps through MicroCap Explosions.
Then came iLookoutabout, which changed its name to Voxtur. Markku had extensive experience in real estate brokerage, plenty of experience in micro-cap investing, and a track record of strong stock picks, so what could go wrong? Absolutely everything, and Voxtur destroyed the money of those who invested in the company and ruined Markku’s credibility. This was naturally followed by significant lawsuits because Markku had promoted the company aggressively. On the Inderes forum, there was also a significant community of Voxtur investors who eventually withdrew from the forum into their own private message thread when the constant aggressive “bearishness” (including myself, @Verneri_Pulkkinen, and many others) started to annoy them.
His latest major stock pitch has been Aduro Clean Technologies, which has proven to be an excellent pick. I personally made the mistake of considering that investment poor and one that would lead the man to total ruin, but Markku was right after all and seems to be making some kind of comeback as a micro-cap stock-picking genius:
Unfortunately, stress, health difficulties, and the loss of subscribers caused by the “un-trendiness” of Voxtur and small caps are visible in his output, and recent videos haven’t reached his former level. It might be excellent for everyone involved if he took at least a couple of years off.
What is it about “Polish Markku” that appeals? In some of his videos, a kind of cosmic wisdom regarding micro-cap investing emerges that you won’t find in the much-praised Buffett letters or other generic sources respected in the investment world. Unfortunately, many of these best “Markku videos” have already disappeared or been removed from YouTube due to legal issues, and I don’t know if anyone realized to save them. Additionally, it is quite spectacular to watch a guy stake a large portion of his investment wealth and credibility on a few individual large micro-cap bets.
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To add to that, of course being in the red hurts sometimes. 
I spend a huge amount of time on this myself, and yet I still end up deep in the negatives occasionally. The same applies to many others: a lot of time is spent, but returns don’t always follow—this is indeed a difficult game.
That’s why I think your numbers are quite okay
, considering that as I understand it, you haven’t spent that much time on this yet, and you haven’t been investing for very long – though I haven’t been investing for very long either. I’m not generally bothered by things I’m not good at if I haven’t put much time into them - though investment stuff takes an awful lot of time, but so far it’s mostly been fun. But especially in school and when studying with the help of others, when I read an insane amount with help - maybe even too much, it sucked when I sometimes couldn’t even pass the exams; but things you haven’t invested much effort in (maybe the same as others) and you’re terrible at them, it doesn’t bother me because that’s how it’s supposed to go.
If you don’t find joy in this otherwise, then those index things you mentioned are especially good, or why not anyway (though I haven’t returned to them myself yet 
). 
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Thanks for the quite interesting and enlightening summary! Mariusz seems to be a “crushing victory or total knockout” style of investor.
Small mining operators, in particular, are a bit of a Wild West. Juho Järvelä, an enthusiast of the subject, was a guest on Trader’s Club, and I wondered just how much research, timing, and sheer luck investing in this sector requires. It is not at all suitable for a “faith and hope” retail investor. Well, I’m personally playing it “safe” with a larger player, Barrick Mining.
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Investors’ confidence in their own abilities has recovered
The index measuring investor self-confidence rose from 4.67 in March 2026 to 4.76 in June. The index is based on the question: “How confident are you currently in your own ability to select new investments? (1 = Not at all confident, 7 = Very confident)”. The uncertainty from the beginning of the year seems to have dissipated, and investors are once again trusting their own decision-making more strongly.
Investor confidence took a welcome step forward during the spring after some slight caution at the beginning of the year. A certain level of adaptation to geopolitical uncertainty is directly reflected in the increased self-confidence of investors. Although the global political situation and economic news continue to be topics of discussion, investors have regained their mental balance and trust in their long-term strategy.
Let’s do a similar poll for the forum!
How confident are you currently in your own ability to select new investments? (1 = Not at all confident, 7 = Very confident)
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
0
äänestäjää
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Meanwhile, live footage of current SmartEye shareholders after reading about @Sijoittaja-alokas’s entry
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Why don’t you just become a passive index investor? You have missed out on a lot of returns by stock picking.
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Thanks for the excellent question!
Yeah, in the long run, I believe with 98 percent certainty that I would get better returns if I just put it into “indexes.” and it seems that over 90 percent of retail investors in general lose out to passive index investing.
This “full-scale stock picking” is fun, but then, when it starts being less fun, I’ll put more into indexes and maybe eventually go all in. 
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You probably addressed that comment to a large portion of the forum members. Dear Alokas, our standard-bearer, we stand behind you in great numbers.
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Esa Juntunen noticed that he hasn’t been beating his chosen indices and drew his conclusions from that. In the future, he will invest passively in indices. This will provide a better return with lower risk.
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This sounds exactly like my own investment notes. 
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Has @Sijoittaja-alokas ever considered a core/satellite model for investing? The majority of investments go into, for example, a passive world index (the core). Then, with a smaller portion (the satellite, 10-40% depending on your preference), you can engage in more active play. For example, riskier stock picking in small caps, value stocks, etc.
With this method, investing is both boringly passive but reliable, while at the same time, you can seek the joy of success, activity, excitement, whatever, with that smaller satellite.
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Another good question, thank you for that!
Yeah, I might gradually move towards that, and who knows, maybe in the end I’ll go completely “passive” style. 
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By investing in an index, you don’t get to experience +100% surges or crashes! Or rather, you might, but it doesn’t feel the same as when a stock rockets to the moon or craters into a hole in a single month. I suppose I personally enjoy a bit of gambling; after all, I was involved in those “mangoes” (frenzy stocks) for a while 
It was wonderful to be along for the ride with QT from €13 → €170 and back down to €18. I even managed to sell some at the peak 
Surprisingly often, I have found investments yielding +50%. Unfortunately, my investment style has also led to taking a few big losses. Overall, my own returns have probably been much worse than the index.
There is something fascinating about people participating in IPOs to make some “coffee money.” The perceived ease of the game is appealing, even if it usually isn’t that easy at all.
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It’s that classic choice: do I invest for the excitement or for the returns?
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If everyone were index investors (which 99% of us should be), we could almost close down this site.
It brings good content to one’s life, even if it doesn’t necessarily build wealth, at least not optimally.
I’m personally so boring and, at least to some extent, security-oriented that I have a 60/40 split between ETFs and individual stocks. It allows me to mess around quite enough, but hopefully, something still ends up in the savings.
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You can always choose both. For example, you could invest the majority passively in an index and maintain an active portfolio in an equity savings account (OST) for the love of the game. That active side also makes for better discussions.
Then, in a league of their own, are those who invest everything actively and beat the index.
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Ultimately, everyone here wants to make money. And personally, I also like to think that one can develop as an investor. At least for me, I didn’t fully grasp how irrationally the market can operate for long periods until actually experiencing those different situations.
The QT story was educational as well. My conviction was at its peak that “this makes no sense,” and in the end, it didn’t. Yet, when analysis firms constantly raise their forecasts, you start to wonder, “is there something here I don’t understand? Surely these analysts know better”… but it’s not quite that simple.
The same situation has occurred with many other companies, and I would assume it’s the case for many AI companies as well. These can be absolutely brilliant investments, but one must remember to sell occasionally and cut losses in time.
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