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Showing posts from February, 2015

Million Dollar Traders

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Source: Wikipedia Over the week I ran out of K-dramas to watch while I dry my hair. I chanced upon this show called Million Dollar Traders which you can find on YouTube.com . It is a 3 part series reality show whereby a current hedge fund manager Lex van Dam gave 1 million sterling equivalent of his own money to 8 trading newbies to trade for 2 months.  Ex city trader Anton Kreil was appointed as the manager of the group and his resume and how he came to learn about trading is rather interesting. The show was filmed during the global financial crisis period of 2008 - 2009 and yes they were trained before being let loose on the trading floor.  I find it rather fascinating given that I'm no trader material since you have to be good at math and be able to handle stress well. Plus I think they left out the fact that you must be able to handle very little sleep as you work like say from 6am to 9pm.  Plus there are many other attributes that a trader should possess whic

Osim International Limited (O23)

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Source: OSIM website Happy CNY to all readers! It has taken me forever to post this as I've been busy and truth be told, I don't blog about all the stocks I research on a daily basis as I just can't afford the time. Time = $$$ and I need to make some $$$ everyday. It seems that most readers who drop by are interested in local stocks so I'm trying to do more of such posts. ACCICB was looking at Osim International Limited (Osim) so I was curious and decided to take a look since TWG Tea is definitely what I would call a rising star under the BCG product matrix. Plus he told me that the price had plunged since the issuance of convertible bonds in September last year so I figured it was worth a look. Osim's revenue stream come from 4 business units namely OSIM, GNC, RichLife and TWG Tea. I find these 4 brands compliment each other as they are all within the realm of the health and lifestyle industry. It is reminiscent of  Reckitt Benckiser Group plc  focus alb

10 Common Newbie Investing Mistakes to Avoid

I haven't been feeling very inspired to blog lately as markets have been exciting and I wonder whether the bear is coming. Both ACCICB and I still feel like a newbie at times in front of Mr Market therefore I decided to write the following post. 1. Forget about waiting for the ideal price to buy or sell which may either never happen or you may have to wait for a very long time for it to happen. It is better to have a range of prices say +/- ?% and just execute your order. I left the % as a ? as it is up to each individual's level of comfort. 2. Try to resist being greedy and take profit when it hits your target price. It is far better to have $$$ in your pocket rather than trying to attain the near possible by selling at the all time high. Similarly, why try to save a couple of bucks by obsessing at buying at the all time low when you could end up missing the opportunity of upside gains. Sometimes instead of thinking in %, think of it in actual $, this changes your whole p

Remembering my first overseas foray

Since CNY is coming, it was time for me to do spring cleaning and I chanced upon some documents which brought back memories of me buying my first overseas stock. I had watched it for ages and it finally fell to the levels where I want to buy in at. Back then, I don't have much cash so I can't exactly buy whenever I want. I still remember buying two lots separately on the same day as I averaged out my purchase price and it recovered before the market closed for that day. It was such an exciting day although the exchange rates were much higher than what was reflected in xe.com I just wished that I had transfer money into my online trading account months earlier when the rates were lower and then purchase the counters when the price was right. I also kind of like stumbled around trying to figure out how to do it correctly so the experience was not pleasant but rather stressful!  I will slowly but surely accumulate this counter throughout the years. How I will fund it will

Levelling up from ABC with BAT

I am not sure how many people who read my ABC (Antecedent, Behaviour, Consequences) article previously tried it out but it has changed my life and that of ACCICB. Of course it was made easier since our puppy reinforced that concept to us every single day. Recently we changed our harness for our puppy and had our trainer come by to teach us how to use it. During that training session, we learned about BAT which stands for Behaviour Adjustment Training and is more powerful than ABC. BAT is a training method to help dogs who experience fear, frustration and aggression. Which sounds like what a lot of us are facing on a daily basis as well. I think our puppy had a lot of frustration as the communication between us humans and him ain't working out that well. Even when it is human to human communication, there is so much miscommunication! Thankfully, he has very little fear and zero aggression. Now how does BAT applies to humans you may ask after all we are better than dogs right?

10 Things I wish I knew before I started Investing

1. Decide whether you are looking for capital gains, dividends or am greedy like me and want both! This will help you to narrow down the industries to look at and then the companies which you would like to own 2. Have a sizeable sum of money (a couple of thousands would be good enough) to start off. With the new and smaller 100 lots per counter, you have so much more options and at a cheaper price especially if you are going to use iOCBC since they have a current promotion with lower fees! Click here  for more details 3. It is better to invest in one solid counter rather than small lots here and there. If a counter is worth your investment, you can build up your stake in it rather than diversifying as diversification means you need to spend much more time just trying to ensure that your entire portfolio is doing well  4. Only invest in what you can afford to lose (touch wood) so you won't have a panic attack if you do lose your money. This ensures that your life goes o