2016 Full Year Trading Performance

This is not totally bad.

I am now trying to consolidate as much of my trading activity into one account.

Saxo Capital Markets does that perfectly by giving me a very good and comprehensive performance report.

My other investment activities, particularly the buy and hold stuff are housed elsewhere.

It has been a good year by my standards.

This is after a terrible first half, straightening out what I really wanted to do and how I really wanted to trade, and eventually coming back strong. This is also considering that my last three years have generated negative returns as well. Hopefully this is the start of something beautiful.

Onwards and upwards.

When The Ice Cream Truck Rolls Into The Office

$1,000 for 100 cups of Llao Llao for all employees, in he office premises!

Considering so many people were OOO, everyone around in office needed to eat at least 2 cups!

Was it worth it? 

Definitely. 

A once a year publicity stunt and staff welfare like this sure brought smiles and envy across social media and internally. It lifted employee spirits and gave employees valuable Christmas cheer. This is how to motivate an existing high performing workforce.

Market Is Looking Irrational

The market is looking irrational.

Since Donald Trump's victory during the US Elections, the market has been on an almost-straight line trajectory upwards, defying most analysts expectations of doom and gloom.

The USD has also been soaring, appreciating against just about every other currency.

A large part of this is due to his victory speeches calling for rebuilding of infrastructure and protectionism rhetoric.

Yet there are some serious points to consider:

1) How is he going to pay for renewed spending? Print more money? Then why is USD appreciating?

2) How clear are his policies? No one really knows for sure what he wants to do globally and how he intends to execute his plans. Probably only he himself does.

3) Just prior to the elections, the markets were all consolidating or contracting on the back of poorer and poorer numbers. Oil was crashing and commodities were dying. How has the world situation changed to be so positive now?

4) Case in point, DBS is close to hitting $18, a higher never seen in more than 10+years. Yet the external scenario of falling oil prices, reducing bank margins and failing O&G sector keeps DBS exposed to plentiful risks. 

5) Today's supposed biggie event, the Italian Referendum delivered a crushing defeat that forced the Italian Prime Minister to resign. The markets took a slight jolt downwards, and then by mid noon started heading up again. What gives?

There are plenty more scenarios to illustrate that seem to beg at irrationality.

Are we at the crux of an impending reversal?

Here's a very good pessimist's guide to 2017 :)

FOMO

FOMO
ˈfəʊməʊ/
nouninformal
anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website.
"I realized I was a lifelong sufferer of FOMO"

It is an acronym for the phrase, Fear Of Missing Out.

With the S&P hitting an all time high, there are irrational entrants caused by the above phenomenon.

Trade safe.

An Uncertain Investment Climate In 2017

We are slowly but surely treading into 2017 with more uncertainty than ever. Particularly for Our little sunny island of Singapore, a lot of global events are slowly unfolding that gives me worries for the coming new year.

The Trump presidency obviously is the biggest question mark. What will he bring to the table for the rest of the world? How will the world react to his protectionist policies? Will the USA even bother about Asia and Singapore anymore? What lies ahead for the markets given the euphoric surging stock jump in the US?

The Terrex incident where China is threatening to confiscate our nine Terrexes (ICVs) that were impounded in Hong Kong. This is a chance for China to flex its muscles by bullying us into breaking off relations with Taiwan. Will we yield? I hope we won't, but how far will China lowball us if we stand our ground?

Over in Europe there are smaller events unfolding. BREXIT, the Italian referendum, the Middle-Eastern migrant crisis. Will the EU still be relevant in the coming year ahead? Will we see a breakup of the EU? Will it be the breeding ground for extremism?

Again China in the South China Sea dispute. How will this unfold in the new year? Will we see a drastic deescalation now that the US has signal a less aggressive posture in APAC? What of all the other claimants' reactions?

Climate change and global warming is also a big worry. The winters are getting colder and the summers are getting warmer. Even in Singapore it is December and the nights are 25 degrees cold. The ice sheets in both poles are melting faster and faster, sea levels are rising.

What can we do to make money out of the above?

What can we do to worry less?

Are we prepared for black swans ahead?

Stay safe. Trade safe.

Singapore FinTech Festival 2016

We had a booth at the event, so I got a chance to get an overview of the landscape.

I'm seriously happy and proud of he fact that the Singapore government is pushing for our little red dot to drive the FinTech space.

It was an amazing Expo event with all the various latest FinTech-related products on offer, from block chain, robo-advisory, kyc authentication, security and all the other aggregators and apps on show.

It is true that many companies in this space suffer from either becoming too Fin or too Tech in FinTech. And that defines how each evolves as an entity as this industry develops.

I am very hopeful that we will see even more developments in this space originating out of Singapore.

Watch this space!

Oh and I even got interviewed to give my take on the event and the progress of FinTech!

Fourth Berserker Rage of 2016

And so it had to happen again :(

After the last time it happened I was really hoping to be more disciplined with my trading.

Instead, i succumbed to the online casino that is IG Markets. I have documented the dangers of this before.

Funny how I can clearly talk about its dangers, yet feel so drawn to make a bet and try and fightback to earn back my money, and before I know it, it is all gone.

Dammit.

Really need to work on that online trading discipline.

By the end (and the end came really quickly), the final damage came up to almost SGD4,000.

FML

Donald Trump Is The New POTUS

What a stunning upset.

I am disappointed tbh, as I had hoped for a HRC win.

Yet there is nothing much anyone can do about it and the American electorate has spoken.

All we can hope for is that things are not as bad as forecasted and Trump governs with a rational mind.

Look how markets were affected:

During thre course of counting, just like BREXIT, the initial counts had Clinton leading and the market started off a wee it optimistic. Then it slowly became clearer and clearer that Trump would win, which led to a violent tanking of the S&P and a spike in Gold as risk came off.

Finally it was confirmed that Trump won. Maybe the markets felt overreacted, maybe his victory speech gave hope (he spoke of infrastructure spend), maybe the market was just irrational.

S&P suddenly began rising, slowly and apprehensively at first, and then jumping higher near the day's closing. Gold conversely plunged as risk off took control.

I still think markets are going to be very volatile for a few more weeks as markets adjust to Trump's intentions, policies and plans.

Stay safe out there.

Noble Group (N21) EGM

Was at the EGM to vote on the sale of NAES.

The board. Richard Elman is third from right.

The voting device is so cool! And we had only 45s to key in our vote!

And the results! Almost instantaneous!

With the sale, hopefully Noble Group stock price will start to surge upwards.

Huat ah!

Trying To Look Smart For A Day

Me at the CFAS Investment Conference 2016. There were some really good conversations thrown around.

Key considerations in the next decade.

Can you spot my contribution?

Stop-Loss Stops Working

This is a great article about the perils of having stop-losses when trading FX, courtesy of today's edition of The Wall Street Journal.

IG Markets: Ultimate Online Casino

Not sure the fuss about the gahmen allowing online gambling is all about when there already is a licensed broker operating gambling mechanisms right under the MAS's noses.

Enter IG Markets' Sprint betting.

As if their hourly and two hourly Binary Options availability arn't enough of a gambling mechanism with almost zero investing or markets acumen required, the Sprint betting takes things up several notches.

This is a ONE MINUTE gambling option just simply betting whether within a minute, a currency pair will be above or below the strike price (which is at Market when bought/sold).

Some key highlights:

1) Only one minute time frame. So it is VERY quickly over.

2) The chart simply shows the per second chart. Very drastic moves.

3) For a minimum bet of SGD$45, you stand to either lose 100%, or win SGD$81.45, an 81% potential payout.

4) See screenshot below, notice the time on the phone clock vs the expiry time - that's right, have I already mentioned it is a straightforward one-minute bet?

5) In the case of a draw, i.e. the expiration price equals your open price, you actually lose HALF! I know right?! Just like in the casino!!!

And the authorities are allowing this? While those online betting debates are ongoing?

Noble Group (N21) II

Sigh.

This stock has been rallying at such a rapid pace lately.

All thanks to this piece of news.

The sale of NAES will really shore up capital for the company and bring back confidence on the stock.

today it hit a high of 0.200/205

Hopefully it will continue to surge towards a very high price!!!

Huat ah!

THAT 7% GBPUSD Drop

Yesterday morning at 7am, the GBPUSD spiked down 7% to as low as 1.15 from 1.26+. This was blamed on illiquidity and algo triggers.

A stark reminder of the perils of leveraged trading in a hugely volatile and opaque FX market.

Trade safe.

What's Your Purpose?

The Singapore Economy Is Worsening

Time to hunker down, upgrade your skills if you can, and appreciate what you already have.

High Cost Of F&B

Met up with a friend recently in Bangkok. He's recently shifted his restaurant business from Singapore to Thailand because the high costs of everything was pushing him towards a loss-making business.

Here is a very successful chef, who has been priced out of the Singapore market.

Here's a comparison of the costs he has saved by moving his business to Thailand from Singapore.

Singapore (SGD)

Monthly Rent: 22,000

Monthly Staff Salary: 1,500

Renovation: 100,000

Daily Profit: Breakeven

Bangkok (SGD)

Monthly Rent: 3,000

Monthly Staff Salary: 500

Renovation: 30,000

Daily Profit: 1,000

What a change in costs for him.

Sure there are pros and cons still, but this is quite a drastic especially in the rental side of things. And already being in business for 2 months, he's turning in a healthy daily profit whereas in Singapore he was barely breaking even.

And this is how hard it is to run a small F&B business in Singapore when rents are sky high.

Noble Group (N21)

Decided to take a punt on this infamous stock.

From a high of more than $1.13 some five years ago, it has plummeted so low to the current $0.112 yesterday. The commodity downturn, targeted by short sellers and the overall scrutiny of its accounting practices have all contributed to its downfall today.

There should be some upside considering how they are currently deconstructing their business.

Their Founder and Executive Chairman had this to say, during the company's first six months interim results address, which somewhat inspired me.

"At a personal level, and while for the second time in my Noble career I have announced that I will be stepping down from the role of Executive Chairman, I am determined to be involved in the process of renewal and will not quit until we have restored value.

Few of you will recall that it was almost twenty years ago, as we had just gone public before the Asian financial crisis that our share price fell by 90 per cent. At that time we pledged ourselves to restore the business’s value.

We achieved it then, and we will achieve it this time. That this task will take longer than a few quarters is a fact of life, and not a reflection of our effort or determination."

You can read the rest of his address here.

It is quite a risky punt though, given that their bonds have already reached junk status.

Hopefully it will pay off.

Super-Forecasting - The Art & Science Of Prediction

Gonna try my hand at improving my forecasting skills.

This seems like an interesting read.

Covered Calls

Recently getting in to this low risk strategy with better success on a personal level.

There is enough information on covered call strategies online so I won't bore you with the fundamentals with this post.

What I do realise, however, is that the covered call strategy works not on with stocks as an asset class, but also FX.

Trading this with Saxo is possible because they are one of the few brokers who offer FX Options. These are OTC European options which are very liquid and full of Greek information.

One concern has always been leverage, so it is very important when doing FX covered calls or covered puts, to manage your trade size. Be wary that FX moves can be huge in a single day.

As compared to stock covered calls which I normally buy monthly, FX ones I normally buy weekly or fortnightly.

Pokemon Go And Nintendo

Pokemon Go was just launched in Singapore today! And look at the response! Most downloads of any app ever!

And having downloaded it and playing it since morning, it is no wonder why this augmented reality (AR) game is such a game changer.

Without going into specifics of the game, there are very addictive aspects that draw people of all tech savviness to this game.

From a business standpoint, this game is phenomenal. Earning revenue from in-game purchases, there's no reason why this game cannot surpass Supercell's Clash Of Clans.

Its development company is Niantic while owner of Pokemon rights is Nintendo. And look at how much Nintendo's price has skyrocketed since the launch of Polemon Go!

Yet from a social behaviourial standpoint, this is where the game is a true game changer. When reflected upon business metrics, the possibilities become mind boggling. 

Firstly, people will be very active and on the move because of the requirements of the game. They will be glued to their phones without looking at where they're walking. Sooner or later, someone will develop technology to help save lives.

Secondly, the reliance of phone location services, camera and battery is particularly acute. Phone data usage will surge through the roof. Probably a great time to buy telco stocks.

Thirdly, demand for phones will increase even further as the need to change to newer more powerful handsets become more fundamental. People will be changing phone more regularly due to wear of use. Probably a great time to buy stocks of phone producing companies and it's entirely supply chain.

Lastly, this is the beginning of a new reality. Augmented Reality. AR will redefine the way we play games, interact, use our phones and many other ways. Expect more technology companies to roll out even more AR-related games and utilities which may be even bigger and more popular.

Will AR ever come into the FinTech space? You betcha! I bet AR could be used for a myriad of uses in finance, from simulating a retail banking branch environment, streaming prices against reality, to verification of documentation and many other uses.

Meanwhile let's just sit back, download Pokemon Go from the App Store and stay in touch with the latest advancement in the tech space!

Cash Is King

This has been the theme all year.

Yet nothing spectacular has happened in spite of all this anxiety across the globe. No black swans, no crazy markets, no investment inspiration.

And the market quietly keeps chugging higher and higher.

It is weird out there.

As they say, still waters run deep. Who knows what might be churning beneath.

And so it might be more appropriate to just keep cash and earn miserable interest rather than risk a sudden market meltdown.

Trade safe.

That BREXIT Option

Bought a GBPUSD Option with a strike of 1.20, expiry on Dec 31st 2016.

C'mon BREXIT, go do what you're supposed to do!

The Disruption Of Product Pitching

A friend asked me recently why I've been in sales for so long and have been so successful, and yet have never been seen pushing my company's products or making a sales pitch to anyone before.

My answer was fairly simple and direct.

Firstly, I don't sell to friends or relatives something that I think they do not need, or are not suitable for. Neither do I sell when they do not specifically ask for it. And what I have to offer, is a very specific product.

Secondly, I pick and choose who I want to sell to. This means that in my world, if you're going to consume too much of my resources, generating negligible volume, then you're not worth my time. Even if you were a super rich individual. It is a firm matter of ROI to me, as with most things I do in business.

In this current world of FinTech and Disruptive Technology, therein lies the key to how financial sales have evolved over the last decade.

- Why are some of the largest consumer banks failing? 

- Why are they struggling to make money the conventional way anymore? 

- Why are they closing branches and cutting headcount while others are thriving?

- who are the ones thriving and why?

Answer these questions and you can unlock the potential of your business today, whichever field you might be in.

It is getting very apparent that the slowest companies to embrace technology bare the hardest hit. Those that fear change just cannot keep up with the times anymore.

Here are some simple notes that could help:

> No one trusts the banks anymore with investment advice

> No one wants to pay exorbitant fees for financial products anymore

> it is not easy to make money in financial products anymore due to regulation and deleveraging

> No one wants to buy something that they do not need, that costs a lot of money, anymore

> The rich do not want to buy things off the rack

> Selling a product now is more about selling a relationship rather than selling the benefits of the product

BREXIT

So today the UK chose to exit the EU.

The next months and years ahead will be tough for the British.

It's time to short GBPUSD!

I figure there is a possibility that if this is not properly handled, GBP could reach parity with the USD.

Good luck to them!

I think the EU is going to make an example out of them.

One Second Ahead

My current travelling companion.

Mindfulness.

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In this space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."

- Viktor Frankl

FX Trading Risk Management

Given my propensity to over-trade and blow up, I have found an insofar successful circumvent.

How long this will last, I'm not sure, but so far it has managed to satiate my yearn to be in the FX markets while limiting any potential drawdown from stupid itchy fingers-inspired over-trading.

I have now started to use an FX broker which allows minimum trade sizes of 1 unit. You read that right. Not one standard lot, not one micro lot, one unit.

This means a position of 1 unit gives you a per pip equivalent of approximately 0.0001 USD hahahah.

Now I obviously don't play such small sizes, but I now start at 1,000 (a micro lot) or 500 units.

All this action and I need only fund my account with a couple of hundred dollars to get started.

Moreover the trade sizes are so small that I don't bother with monitoring the prices all the time anymore. So much more carefree, so much less stressed. I have better life balance and can spend more time on my kids and family without having any worries at the back of my head.

That's why all trade gurus always recommend trading in small sizes and with amounts you can afford to lose. Yet it is easy to preach, but the reality is that it is far harder to resist that one good trade, that air of consecutive-profit confidence, that cannot-go-any lower/higher price.

How to blow up with this strategy? I don't know yet.

All I know is that even if I blow up, all I lose is tens of dollars rather than a few thousand bucks.

Which is a great deal for me these days.

It is time to have more savings in my coffers.

:P

Let's give it a few months and how things go.

Trade safe.

Global Logistic Properties (GLP) II

Is this a good buy or what?

Such a low price/market valuation right now in the market that I'm not sure what gives?

Daily share buy backs.

0.6c dividend coming.

Business doing great in all the markets it is in.

The Motley Fool gave an interesting take on the stock back in April as well.

LinkedIn Social Sales Summit 2016

Was invited to this event last week and what an eye-opener it was.

Basically this was an event organized by LinkedIn to showcase how Social Selling works and how it has enabled salespeople to outperform and exceed expectations. I guess it is safe to say that Social Selling is becoming the norm in today's corporate world where disruptive technology, big data and FinTech are the key buzzwords.

The event itself was a series of speakers stretched over a full afternoon presenting various ideas, success stories, and key experiences, topped off with ALOT of networking opportunities.

It was also held in a very nice location (the 73-12 building along Mhd Sultan) and the event hall was peppered with nice little booths/corners to help entertain. There was the standard demo booth, F&B area, also a profile pic booth (I loved this!), some profile enhancement booth yada yada. The only sore point was the extremely long toilet queue.

Participants were also given this really nifty folder with the day's program. Most early registrants had their folders personalized even! 

Of course we came for the content! 

While not every speaker was perfect and some even bordered putting me to sleep, I felt most were generally good and entertaining. I could even catch some key takeaways even if I forgot a pen to take notes, I took pictures instead. In fact it was encouraged to add those speakers that we liked, on LinkedIn.

Here are some of them.

Mark Dick, Director, LinkedIn Sales Solutions, gave a very good presentation about the Social Selling Index (SSI). It was like a mini game within your social network that you aimed at beefing up and expanding your horizons. It became a lot clearer for me how we could use the SSI to properly assess our guys involved in this project, and better gauge the success of enhancing our brand through their individual LinkedIn profiles.

Marcus Westling, Commercial Lead, CEB, was probably my choice for best speaker of the day. He was somewhat funny to boot. Here, he spoke of very engaging topics such as, Key Drivers of Customer Loyalty, The Five Profiles of Sales Reps, and Portrait of the New High Performer, all of which were very relevant to my current work. These are very interesting ideas to think about as we evolve in the dynamic business landscape of today.

Mathew Williams, Sales Director, APAC, Elsevier, also gave a candid success story review of how LinkedIn has changed the way his company sells. He spoke of how the company evolved in its selling with the help of Social Selling. Some of the examples I definitely could use for our team.

All in all this was a fantastic event and I give it the thumbs up and a good job well done to all the folks at LinkedIn. Still a lot of digestion needed but I have a very good idea of the possibilities, potential, and what we ought to do, to maximize our own Social Selling opportunities now.

Maybe they'll invite me again next year ;)

#socialsalessummit_2016

Accordia Golf Trust (AGT) III

It has paid off!

What a payout!

Global Logistic Properties (GLP)

Initiated a position recently.

This is a blue chip that's going through a down wave.

Pricing-wise is very enticing and IMHO rather irrational.

There are rumours that privatization could be on the cards, although the I personally see this as very unlikely. 

Full year results will be out on 19th May. It looks to be solid.

Hence once again unable to explain this sell down.

More to follow after results are out.

CasiNO

The casinos in Singapore have never been a good hunting ground for wealth. Particularly so in my case.

Must always remember that the odds are always in the house's favour.

I lost 1K in 2hrs of madness.

Sigh.

Back to the drawing board.

Accordia Golf Trust (AGT) II

This is one of the counters that I've been holding for the longest time.

In fact way back when, I wrote an article about how the investment came to be.

The fundamentals haven't changed much and I'm still holding on to it, expecting some good results to come in.

They have released a statement that results will be announced on 26th May. Hoping for good news!

Some people have also wondered about the impact of the recent Kyushu earthquake in Japan on AGT. To that end, the company has also announced the following statement here.

Skill Over Luck Vs Luck Over Skill

This article was actually about this year's Golden State Warriors and their 73-9 regular season run being more skill that luck.

Yet I feel as though on the trading front it is proving that all my trading is more luck than skill.

:(

View the Bloomberg article here.

The below illustration says it all...

Third Berserker Rage Of 2016

Just when I thought I could avoid another meltdown. 

It all happened so fast.

I just wanted to do a quick refund of my trading account, make a quick trade and withdraw the funds out.

Being under the influence of alcohol absolutely didn't help. In fact, it was probably the main cause.

The one trade I wanted to do became 20+ in and out trades of attempted quick money bets. Each small win was accompanied by a big loss.

By the end of the night, the final damage came up to almost SGD6,000.

FML.

Guess I still need a certain discipline in my life.

Cash Is King

I have a bad feeling about this current market, even though it seems to be going up relentlessly everyday.

Something bad seems to be about to happen,

I'm holding on to cash now.

Trade safe.

CAIA Toasted

I'm so done with you.

Maybe a tinge of regret that I never studied harder for it, but I'm done.

Covered Calls

The best invention since sliced bread!

Covered Call Options are simply buying an underlying stock while selling a Call Option at a high strike price.

You end up either earning the premium if the option is OTM (Out of The Money), or the option getting exercised and your stocks assigned at your desired strike price if the option is ITM (In The Money).

The only downsides are that there are not many brokers that have an extensive list of options to trade in. Cost is also a factor, since it eats at your returns. 

Most importantly, you will not participate in a large upside if the stock price soars, so good management and choice of option strike price are very important. So selling a call that is too long dated will also eat at any opportunity costs where your stocks are 'locked up' for the duration that you hold the option, particularly when the option is ATM (At The Money) or shallowly ITM such that it is not exercised. Then all you can do is wait.

But otherwise they are a great way to enhance your returns on a stock portfolio.

Freeport McMoran (FCX) III

This baby is flying! 

Too bad I think it is way overbought now.

Creativity

No one is too young to be creative.

Kudos to Ikea for inspiring.

Freeport McMoran (FCX) II

A lot of good news that I'm expecting to help boost Freeport McMoran's share price.

Rising copper prices.

Rising oil prices.

Rising gold prices.

Waiting for $20!

Huat ah!

Second Berserker Rage Of 2016

Oops I did it again.

I feel like crap each time I do it. 

Yet I somehow manage to find it in myself to keep repeating the same mistakes I make.

USDJPY again. Tight stops again. Maxed leverage again. WTF. I feel like banning myself from having trading accounts each time this happens.

All I did was woke up, checked the FX rates today, fingers felt itchy, gambler mentality kicks in, go in for a quick punt, lose the first round, not happy, try to double up and make it back, lose it again, try again, lose again, try once more, a small win, try again with a bigger position, lose again. 

End of the morning, I'm already down SGD4,037.

I really need to find some way to stop this before I burn through my entire net worth.

I am scared, but it keeps rearing its ugly head.

I need to start to strengthen up emotionally, otherwise this is going to affect not only me but my whole family as well.

God bless me.

Why I Have To Stop Trading With IG Markets

I have been trading IG Markets for a long time now. Primarily I have been impressed with how the keep up with mobile technology, given that most of my trading is via my phone. 

Yet even with several online brokerage accounts (5 at the last count, don't ask why), I have lost far more money with IG compared to every other account combined! Why is this so?

There are two main reasons to this and I have to clarify that it is not because their platform is bad, nor do they give very bad slippage. In fact I quite like to use their platform all the time. Here are the two key reasons why.

1) Their Reduced Margin

Based on my experience, I can safely say that the Monetary Authority of Singapore has stipulated that FX leverage cannot be more than 50X. This means for every $1,000 in your trading account, you cannot place a trade of more than $50,000.

Yet IG has somehow circumvented this with an ingenious margin calculation algorithm that basically reduces the required margin as long as a Stop Order is placed! Fair play to them, with a stop order that is likely to be filled, the downside risks are somewhat limited. For a gambler like me that is awesome, knowing that I can actually trade larger sizes (maybe 2-3X more) than other MAS-licensed brokers could!

But unfortunately for me, greater leverage has translated to far greater losses because this whole scheme encourages me to place very tight stop losses in order to attain maximum leverage :( and I just can't control it sometimes!

2) Binary Options  

IG I think are the only MAS-licensed broker who offer Binary Options. Now, Binary Options are not for the faint-hearted. To the layman, they are simply a gambling tool where you bet on one side or the other, hence the name.

It is akin to betting during a football match as to whether which team would win, simple as that. How is this allowed in Singapore, I don't know, but once again, I love it!

In fact previously IG even offered 20min FX binaries, meaning that you guessed the whether FX prices were going higher or lower within 20mins! How exciting is that!? Now they only offer hourlies and 2 hourlies maybe to stem the whole gambling facade.

And this is why I need to stop trading with them. Because I'm a compulsive gambler at heart!

Freeport McMoran (FCX)

While doing my regular treasure trove stock hunting, I chanced upon several articles which made me decide very quickly that I wanted in on this stock.

Here are several articles you can read for inspiration. Not a recommendation to buy!!! Below is also a printscreen for Seeking Alpha, one of the best apps out there IMHO.

Initiated a position @ 4.70

A brief look at its historical monthly chart via Saxo's latest SaxotraderGO mobile platform shows that just a few years ago the stock was as high as $60!

I believe FCX has turned the corner and all the bad news is priced in. There may be a bumpy ride ahead, but do a Google search and read up properly to get a better idea of what this company does and what are all the risks it currently faces.

Hopefully we can see those levels again soon! Then it would turn out to be a 10-bagger for me!

Huat ah!

First Berserker Rage Of 2016

I did it again!

Dammit!

The news of BOJ announcing that they were going into negative interest rate (NIRP) territory started it all.

From a spike stop out (I was short USDJPY), it all spiraled into madness as I went in and out, in and out, with very tight stops and larger and larger wagers, all in the vain hope of chasing small gains.

A classic FX trader's mistake, failure to control emotions.

The losses kept piling up. Hundreds upon hundreds into the thousands.

By the end of the night I was staring at a total loss of SGD10,024.

This really hurts man. 

I thought it wouldn't happen to me again.

Now to pick up the pieces. 

And stop any trading for awhile (or ever), so that I can consolidate my finances.

CAIA Musings

A result is statistically significant if it is unlikely to have occurred merely by chance.

Meditation

Today I attended yet another training course, this time by a pretty known trainer named Marion Neubronner.

This one was to senior executives who want training more on psychology andself-awareness in order to manage better.

Did you know that all the most successful people in the world meditate?

Well I had my first dose of it today and I must say, I somewhat liked it :) 

Some key concepts also included:

> Mindfulness ~ Self-awareness 

> Attention -> Meta-attention

> Journaling

Oil @ $27

Just when I said it was too cheap to ignore.

I'm still holding my positions since entering and accumulating bit by bit at $34 and below.

I have the capacity to hold out until $10.

Let's see how low oil is willing to go?

Personal Financial Review 2015 - Consolidation

2015 has been a year of consolidation.

2016 will be another year of consolidation but the worst is definitely over.

As part of 2016 resolutions, the aim is for 6 months worth of cold hard cash AND $500/mth in passive income.

This means 2016 Dividend Accumulator is coming back!

Hopefully this can be achieved, particularly for the dividends, where I've gone through 2 consecutive years of failure.