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A tale of two stocks

Once in a while say a year or two later, I will be very kaypoh and look at the past stocks that I’ve analysed before just to see how it’s doing. I may or may not have invested or traded in that stock but it just takes one second to click on the link and see the chart. I would have remembered it’s previous price so the current chart can either make me have 3 reactions. Oh chey, it’s the same or not much difference, Wow look at it go to heaven or Wah Kao this one die liao.  For the first reaction I usually just leave the stock be but for the other two reactions, I will go and take a look at my past analysis to see whether I’ve “predicted” it’s future. Two stocks caught my eye as one went to the sky and one straight to hell. Both were similar in the sense that they faced crises except that one managed to turnaround whereas the one in the depths of hell have a long way to go. Let’s start with the one in hell which is  Capita  which I did a sort of write up on in 2014. I last saw it

Investments of a lifetime

We have all invested in something in our lifetimes. It could be stocks, bonds, mutual funds, unit trusts or relationships, friendships, career, hobby or even ourselves. Does it all give us some sort of positive returns? Do we know what we are investing in? We sure know when we act in a certain way due to our vested interests so maybe vaguely subconsciously we know we have invested and would like to see a positive return.  We read charts, oscillators, analyst reports, reviews or speak to people to get an insight on our investments. We have a certain mindset when we invest and our emotions are definitely charged if things don’t turn out well. Amongst all your investments, which ones are you most happy with? Which ones would you like to cut out from your portfolio or even your life?  Our times horizons vary depending on the type of investments and our own expectations. Some investment would only yield results in years to come whereas others could bring a smile to us in a few minu

Are you exchanging time for money?

Time is the most precious commodity on Earth. Or maybe it should be oxygen because without it we would just die! Assuming that our basic needs are met ensuring our survival, then time is more valuable than money although some may argue that money can be used to buy time. It's true in some situations and not in others. For example, money can help to relieve you of some mundane tasks so that you have more time to do things that you like. But money can't buy you time with your loved ones if their time is up. If you hate your job, you may feel like you are exchanging your time for money especially as you count down the minutes, days, weeks, months or even years to a new job or to a new endeavour that hopefully won't make you dread getting out of bed everyday. Sometimes I think we forget how precious time is and waste it like it is always there. In a way time is like oxygen, we breathe every second until we forget its very existence until it is taken away from us. The tim

Believe in yourself

I recently took profit on 2 stocks which I invested in 2 years ago. The reason was because only now are they in the black therefore I quickly cut off ties! I still have a few investments from 2 years back which are still in the red despite dividends so it is frustrating and also shows that I definitely didn't buy at the right time. One of them was CDL which showed a spectacular run which I've no idea why and don't care why as it has been two long years with no dividends I think. However despite all the dividends, I'm still just barely breaking even for Suntec REIT which I also intend to sell off if only it would go up a bit more!   I guess the question should be why didn't I add to these stocks during those two years as it went lower or even as it was recovering. I was preoccupied with trading and stopped investing although I do monitor the price levels of existing investments. All available funds went into trading and investment took a backseat although re

Never say never

I've learnt to not say never because it seems the more I say never I end up doing it or it ends up happening. It's like the law of attraction...of sorts...the more certain you are about a certain thing..you attract it to you and ta da before you know it, it has occurred!  I saw some dips in REITS which I sold off and now it's at a price level which seems more palatable so I bought some lots two days ago and will look to buy more if the price is right. For the rest of my current SG stocks holdings, they are recovering but I'm not inclined to increase my holdings to average down or whatever you would like to call it. I'm still looking to dispose of them once the price is right which is like taking forever! I'm beginning to favour just holding a few REITS which I'm familiar with for my SG holdings. Most of my time has been spent on trading as my trading strategy seems to be a mish mash of multiple styles and timelines which so far has been working out we

Reflections and Resolutions

I sold off some of my investments in REITS once they broke even a few months ago and am still on the lookout to sell off more but it is really far from its cost price and with the pittance of dividends, I don't know when I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Recently their prices have dropped so it was a good move to sell them earlier on.  On the other hand, my trading has improved in the last few months and I'm booking higher profits with no losing trades so that's great news in the sense that I'm slowly but surely getting better. I've yet to fully optimize each trade's profits as I'm still very much a novice but am learning along the way so that's an area I need to work on. Definitely need to work on exits more than entries it seems.  I think the greatest lesson so far for me would be the fact that I continue to trade even if my current positions are in a loss making position or if I cut loss. Previously, I would fret and be upset and

Christmas is coming

I absolutely love Christmas and would love to spend every Christmas and New Year in a different country, to soak in the lights, the atmosphere and the general happiness of it all. That has yet to happen so it's definitely on my bucket list! Last year around this time, I received the best gift of my life and since then Christmas takes on a different meaning for me.  The only awful part of December is the fact that it rains more often than usual which means our dog don't get to walk out much and too much rain does make everything look depressing. But there were a couple of wonderful sunny and windy days which ACCICB tells me is perfect CNY weather. Which means 2017 CNY weather would not be like that...it could probably end up being scorching hot!  There's also lesser trading volume in the market and so while it was tempting to execute trades, I chose not to. It seems to be the right call so far and with Christmas just 3 days away it is time to be merry and rejoice..s