Just received a small windfall.
Funny how things come along nicely.
Very grateful but it’s come right at the time when I might have one big expense upcoming.
So it is very timely.
I have to really derisk very aggressively.
Thinking of stopping all my margin trading altogether.
Just whack risky stocks at best. Search for more 2, 5, even 10 baggers.
Huat ah!
Aaaaaand the market is coming down.
The NASDAQ has reached 17,000 while flirting with ATH of 18,500 just a week ago.
NVDA was done 10% to $760 last night.
TSLA is at $147 last night too.
And this night just be the start.
Even after the war in the Middle East was deescalated.
War in Ukraine still ongoing. Hope Ukraine can find a way to win and soon.
Tensions in the Taiwan Straits rising. Hope nothing happens there.
But the real reason is this.
Markets are worried inflation is too sticky (I really told you so!).
That means we might NOT even have an interest rate cut this year, when stupid market was pricing in up to six cuts this year! How misaligned is that?!
USD Treasury debt is growing uncontrollably.
At this rate all industries relying on loans will struggle. The leveraged banks. Tech. IT. Property. REITs. BDCs.
Crypto is a conundrum. No one really knows what’s gonna happen after the halving. And that is happening tonight.
Gold is flying through the roof, hitting past $2,400 yesterday.
All I can say is to keep some powder dry and have some cash in hand to seize any good opportunities. It feels like volatility is coming back in quite a big way.
Good luck and stay safe!
Argh.
I feel so stupid.
Knew this would happen but I let it play out the way it did anyway.
Bet too heavy of ultra-leveraged USDJPY.
Kept feeling like the BOJ would intervene at some point.
Also kept pushing my stop too close so it was really easy to get stop-hunted.
And it happened.
Ended up losing $6K.
Ouch so painful :(
Feeling a little worried lately about global developments recently.
Ukraine seems to be losing the war against Russia the aggressor. In the war of attrition, it is already quite a miracle that they’ve held strong on for three years now, but they are beginning to lose ground quickly as more supporting countries turn more right winged.
Israel’s invasion of Gaza over Hamas’ Oct 7th atrocities has turn global moral opinion against them and now seems to be escalating wider with Iran and the US possibly drawn in.
Myanmar civil war where the resistance appears to be gaining ground is a positive thing considering the repressive junta. The junta’s recent law to draft conscripts is so worrying.
Philippines’ South China sea confrontations with China over their nine-dotted line claims appears to be escalating.
Trump looking more and more likely to win the coming US elections and then he’s going to cause a lot of havoc in global affairs such as stopping support for NATO, escalating trade wars with China and totally neglecting SEA. So worrying.
These current affairs make me think about how and what I need to do to position myself financially, mentally, emotionally and maybe even physically!
Boooooooo…
The best high yield savings account (HYSA) has been nerfed, but still quite good among the rest.
Probably in anticipation of interest rate cuts in the US, UOB has gone ahead to nerf their power HYSA, what a pity.
From earning 5% pa with a monthly average balance of $100K, now it has been reduced to earning 4% pa with a monthly average balance of $150K.
Sadly we can’t complain too much as there are not many better alternatives out there.
So I’ll still to it and pump some more savings that way.
The next best is still OCBC360 but it might be a matter of time before that one is nerfed too.
I know some have mentioned Maribank, but right now I use Trust as the third option. Maybe I’ll open an account with Maribank and try too.
This REIT I have followed closely since the popular finance blogger ASSI took a big position in it.
Unfortunately the price keeps dropping because of the uncertainty in global interest rates and uncertainty in Europe (its properties are entirely in Europe).
Yet, when it is dividends time, this REIT continues to pay really well, yet without overtaxing itself. It is prudent and management makes very good decisions aimed to benefit shareholders.
What a bumper dividend this time round! I will use the proceeds to either reinvest or to buy something else undervalued in Europe (I like that its dividends I’ve chosen to pay out in EUR), as I’ve done with the last few years of its dividends.
But the market keeps devaluing it.
I do question myself what’s wrong but I can find as much issues as another big holding of mine, PSNY.
So I do feel quite convicted to not only keep holding but to find some opportunities to average down.
Hopefully they are as undervalued as I see them.
HUAT AH!!!
In any case wanted to mention my taste of retirement.
This week is the school holidays so I took a whole week off.
We travelled to Ipoh which I’ll blog about later but came back on a Wednesday.
Then yesterday I took to exercising the whole morning to burn off that 2-3kg of awesome Ipoh food. By noon the kids had come home and I just nuahed around and napped from 3-5pm.
By evening we had a dinner and then I binged on Netflix this new Korean drama called Dr Slump.
Could this be my early taste of retirement?
PSNY continues to bleed and taking a toll on my overall portfolio.
Market feels toppish so I’ve actually reverted to a little more cash. Took profits where I could.
I have this bad habit of letting my losers run for years and that’s what I’m still doing.
Crypto is on a tear and basically more than 2x for me already. Think I’ll need to take some profits before April’s halving.
Cash is king now and UOBOne and OCBC360 combo is super awesome. Up and coming is Trust which could be my third liquid cash pillar once I max the earlier two out.
No berserker rages yet this year! This is a really big achievement for me and hope to keep that going. All my little punts are smaller and more rational, resulting in a higher win rate even if at small amounts.
Also shorted XAUUSD to earn really good and sticky carry.
Huat ah!
One of my worst investments ever!
In a good year for me financially, this has continued to turn in a fail report card as it just keeps sliding down to oblivion.
Mind you, this was once my largest single investment for a good while. Today it is but a mid table investment that I might have to write off.
Pui!
Feb early signs point to spending more money.
PSNY’s drop is unrelenting. Not sure what to make of it.
Everything else is going good.
The NASDAQ is just powering up and up and up.
All else being equal, basically not taking more risks than necessary this month and let everything cruise.
Crypto is powering up and up and up too! It’s definitely printing :)