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Lots of reds today in the Asian markets. Not surprising though given Dow wasn't performing well day before. However, I still had some surprises. The FerroChina I bought is doing well, with good volume too. Quite please with that!
The SGX - Yanlord on the other hand fell, and had reached my auto stop point where I'm not too keen to keep it. I surfured a lost of 8%. *sigh! But I'm really grateful for habit of setting auto stop price. The speaker I heard last night was emphasising it even to the extend to suggest doing so before placing an order. It's very useful for me as the nature of my work does not allow me the luxury of monitoring the market as and when I like.
The other point I was going to bring up is the percentage of loss one is ready to sacrifice. Last night's seminar suggested at 8%. I guess everyone has a different risk profile, but being a less adventurous person, I am planning to keep it about 4% or less if it's a risky trade.
There are a few stocks under my watchful eyes. First is KLSE - Gamuda. It's showing classic rebound candlestick patterns, including clear support line turning into resistance line. I think long position is quite favourable as both RSI says it's still in uptrend.
SGX - Hupsteel is also demonstrating some strong buying signals. I am trying out the RSI as indicator theory I learned yesterday. Should it worked, shall keep this method.
I've decided to try a short position as well, with SGX - ChinaFish. It is definately in the downtrend at the moment and just broke the support line at $1.37 and no signs of recovery soon.
I shall be reading about position seizing soon....
Two tips of the day:
1. Toni TURNER - Beginner's Guide to Day Trading Online
2. There's a Invest Fair in Sg in the coming weeks on 16 & 17 August 2008... details at http://www.investfair.com.sg/about.html
Sorry, I'm not trying to be lazy, but the more I learn about the share market, the more homework to do.... Hence, the delay or hesisitance in making new trades.
Yesterday I attended a seminar by a seasoned Aussie trader. He talked about few things, including the importance of journal keeping, risk management and RSI (relative strength index). Well, at least those were the messages I understood. Shall share with you later tonight after work (too bad I have early shift this week).
I need to screen and research more on some stocks before making new trades, so today will not make new moves. Just saw the rumour that Temasek (biggiest investor in Sg) is planning to buy Merrill Lynch as it's writing down more for the next quarter. Erm, only good if you're an investor. Traders, think better stay away from the financial sector for now.
Til then, stay tight on the market today as I expect some volatility. The IMF issued some unfavourable news in US which made the financial sector there even paler.
I know it's not exactly fifth day, but the beauty of trading is to allow for public holidays and weekends so we could all take a break from the nerve-wrecking, heart-stopping stock market!
A quick recap is me closing my two trades on HKSE - HSBC and SGX - SGX.
I attended a seminar on Sat regarding choosing stocks. The 'hot' tip I got is S-shares for the coming week. I have since checked out the charts of some of them. There are two that I quite like SGX - Yanlord and SGX - FerroChina.
Yanlord is showing signs of rebound. It's slowly moving uptrend, turning the support line into resistance line. Though it closed lower on 25/7 (Fri), I am certain it can continue the trend with strong volume.
The second trand is FerroChina as it demonstrates some uptrend signals. It would be interesting to see how this stock plays out as I'm trying to test my chart reading skills.
It's quite important to be able to back test theories or principles one decided to apply to tradings. Only trading systems that can correlate with back testing result are useful, otherwise either 'abandon ship' or create new system!
Rule number one of Warren Buffet is not to lose money and number two is not to forget rule number one.
Today news had not been bright in the US. Some Asian stocks didn't perform well in the Dow. I'm predicting a down fall in the Asian market this morning.
So, I've resolve to close two of my trades, even though I might not make much profit from them. The first one to sell is HKSE - HSBC for two reasons, first as mentioned but more importantly the huge jump from 16/7 at HKD112 to HKD130 as of yesterday's closing. I do believe in its fundamental but the 16% surge may need some consolidation particularly when news in US not favourable, I better keep my nest with tiny profit of 5%.
Next to close trade is the SGX - SGX. I didn't really have much faith it will rally much anyway to begin with. Hence, need to pull out before the market slide this morning.
Just a quick finish, I have my eyes on KLSE - MASTELL.
Nothing much to add on day 3 as I did not make any new trades, merely waiting on the market to turn favourable.
As you probably know by now the markets did well on 23rd July. All sectors in SGX gone uptrend and HSBC is doing well. I'm less familiar with HKSE so, it was a risk I took.
Choosing a stock.... It's an important and yet difficult decisions. There's simply too many things to consider. Do you use fundamental or technical analysis? Well, personally I think if planning for a long position, screen the market for the fundamentally sound stock. Then back the decision by checking the charts for momentum and any signals of buying.
For short position, I believe in constant monitoring of charts. I've yet to make a short position so, not much to add to this.
Regardless, getting ahead of the market reactions is crucial. Being in Singapore, the first thing I do in the morning is to check on news at Dow Jones. To a certain extend, the markets in the world is dependent on each other. Some issues can make the anxious market react dramatically. Guess this is part of the psychological side of tradings.
Last thing to keep in mind, read only 'neutral' news. Note the difference between news and analysis. News is fact for people to interpret, analysise and put into context while analysis is the product of other people's research who may or may not be bias.
Time to update my current trading journal now...
Before I continue on with my trades, just want to share the template of my trading journal. It may not be perfect, but it's a starting point and I might improve it as I go.
I include the following details:
1. Date
2. Time
3. Trade - which market, which stock and what position
4. Quantity of share purchased
5. Unit price of each share
6. Cost
7. Reasons of this trade - very important for learning purposes
8. Closing price of the trade
9. Commision fees
10. Interests to pay, if it's CFD
11. Auto stop price - certainly crucial as damage control, or to eliminate the emotional factors interfering trades
12. Daily monitoring notes
So, today the markets opened with a little loss. Yet, I decided to go ahead with my 3 trades in addition to my long positions yesterday.
1. SGX - SGX Ltd (long) - The chart was showing signs of rebound as it reaches the support line, and the momentum as shown in RSI (Relative Strength Index).
2. KLSE - MISC (long) - I have been watching the stock reaching its support line and yesterday it gap up with big volume too. I decided to 'chase' or take a ride today.
3. HKSE - HSBC (long) - Heard some good news abt this stock on the Bloomberg.com and the chart was looking good too.
At the end of the trading day, all three stocks closed abit lower. I was mad of myself at the MISC stock. It hit a high of RM9.50 which would have me earning 75 cents per share if only I set a sell off trigger.
Hence, the lesson for today is to set sell-off trigger. *sigh
Let me end by attaching some websites I get news from:
http://www.bloomberg.com/
24 hours news of the world and interviews of traders - free
http://money.cnn.com/
Comprehensive and user friendly layout with charts available
http://www.cnbc.com/
Online free webcast only available for certain periods of the day, I watch the Monday morning Asian market news
http://btstocks.asiaone.com/keyIndices.html
A quick check at the SGX, quite real time
Okie... day one trading on paper. I know, it's only on paper value, but I'm taking this seriously to form a good habit from the very beginning.
You know, I was never educated in finance and eco at all until Iast year. So, if I can master these skills, I believe so can anyone!
Well, after looking at the market and discussed with my mentor, I've picked two stocks to trade, both long (buy) positions. The first one was Wing Tai in SGX. I bought it at $1.53 for 1000 shares. The second was from KLSE, the Hovid for 23.5 cents per share. I took 1000 shares as well.
To maintain a good trading habit and for learning purposes, I keep a trading journal. When I figured out how to include an excel file on the blog, I shall share the template I've created.
Well, I was very eager to check out my trades after work. WingTai closed at the same price as it opens, so I made no profit. Hovid is better where it climbed to 25 cent at closing but the takings I made doesn't cover my commission fees for the broker, so I will keep holding the long position. In fact, I am tempted to buy a little more of Hovid as it is starting to rebound.
My next tast is to learn more about indicators on technical charts to better pick up signals. Currently I am reading from the following two sites:
http://www.investopedia.com/?viewed=1
http://stockcharts.com/school/doku.php?id=chart_school:overview:technical_analysis
Alright, need to get back to more work.... til the next trading day...
Hello fellows,
Just thought it's a courtesy to welcome you to my humble blog space and to introduce myself as your host.
I'm a healthcare professional by day, and for patients confidentiality reasons I shall not disclose my practice location.
Anyway, one day I suddenly realised, as much as I love my profession, I need something else to grow abit of personal wealth safety bird nest for the unforeseenable future. Hence, I've embarked on a journey to fulfill my goal. This blog, in general will witness my progress towards it.
The simple reasons behind this are to ensure I keep myself in check with reality by documenting it and to help anyone out there who's in the same boat as me.
So, fellow readers, I welcome you again to share my quest....
