Thursday, 8 January 2015
Philately and Currencies Trading
No need to check the dictionary, philately is just the fancy word for stamp collecting.
So why didn't I use stamp collecting in the first place?
Bite me. My vocabulary big cannot?
Ever heard of the phrase - "Use it or lose it"?
I was active in stamp collecting during my primary and secondary school days. Even as a working adult, I would be extra nice to the receptionists so that they will give me those used envelopes with stamps for me. But that stopped when companies nowadays use the stupid franking machine...
One of the side benefits of stamp collecting is that if we take an interest and research the subjects depicted on the stamps, we can learn a lot about foreign countries and other general knowledge stuffs not taught in school.
My interest in currencies started when I first moved to China. I quickly realised after my first year that no hedging is needed and it's better to opt for a greater share of my salary to be in RMB. It's nice to have a tailwind as in RMB appreciation against SGD to go with the annual pay raises.
However, my move to Greece was another story. From the get go, it was a painful pay reduction every month with the depreciation of the EUR against SGD.
Drip, drip, drip. It was death by a thousand cuts; hence the greater urgency for me to learn the art of hedging my EUR exposure.
Nothing motivates more than a fire burning at your ass!
What started out as a simple hedging exercise has now been blurred with extra layers of leveraged speculative positions added for extra kick and spice!
I stumbled (I did not planned it) to the this awareness that currency trading is a great vehicle to express my macro economic/political views of the word.
And just like stamp collecting, by taking into an interest to the fundamental drivers of the currency pairs, my knowledge of Geography, History, Economics, and other "Hey, this is interesting!" insights have grown as well.
Did you know there are more sheep than men in New Zealand?
How about the latest Fonterra's diary milk auction price anyone?
No prizes if I ask you what's the main export of New Zealand?
And what's the nickname for NZD?
Trading the EUR, USD, and JPY, following Central Bankers' speeches and statements have never been so hair-pulling frustrating... Lucky I'm bald!
Oh great! The FOMC has removed the "considerable time" phrase in their Dec 14 prepared statement. What does it mean? What does it mean!?
And what the hell are macroprudential policies?
Some readers have feedbacked I can be vague and cryptic in my posts and comments... Compared to Central Bankers, I am crystal :)
Trading the AUD is best if you are into mind-mapping techniques.
All of sudden, you never knew you have such an interest in China's GDP, the Politburo plans, China's under the radar QE programmes (you think why the China local index is outperforming the world? The last one announced was in Nov 14), property cooling measures, etc.
The impact of Gold, Iron Ore, Coal prices, and even the freaking Baltic Dry Index all have their impact and influences too.
Before I knew what I was doing, I have once again blur blur anyhow stumbled into what the professionals call Inter-Market Analysis!? Like that also "boleh"?
So there!
Can you now tell apart those who are in it just for the money versus those who take enjoyment in what they do?
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Like soccer players who claim they join a club for the challenge and not the six-digit salary, it is hard to believe traders who say they are in for the thrill and not the money.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyment only comes when you do not have to worry about bread and butter issues, no?
S-Reit System Investor,
DeleteNo one "joins" a professional football club; you have to be "recruited" or "talent scouted" ;)
And how do we become so good that teams will recruit us?
When these professional football players were young, what made them play and practice football after school? Some even skip school to pursue what they love best despite the damage to their grades...
When you ask these young footballers wannebes what are their dreams - what do you think they would say?
Somehow I don't think they will say its to make a six digit salary as their dream...
There are "easier" pathways like going to law school or investment banking ;)
Well spoken. I get your point of view. :)
DeleteTrading can be good hobby for retirees who have locked in most of their money out of the market.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
CW,
DeleteDuring the winters of our lives, its best not to risk money we cannot afford to lose.
Just like buying Toto with small change, trading using a small speculative account can be useful to keep the brain alert and the heart pumping ;)
A bit like playing Mahjong? Can keep dementia away?
LOL!
ReplyDeleteHi SMOL
First, you got me….. I was almost checking dictionary before reading the contents….
Some people just enjoyed living life dangerously.
Watch Austin Powers who like to live his life dangerously below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkzMA1jrm00
Just for laughs.
Rolf,
DeleteA little excitement in our lives can't be bad ;)
what the hell do you do in this early hour temperament?!
ReplyDeleteactually i woke up at 4am also but went for a drive after seeing the dow up 300 points haha.....
by the way, nice story and i believe even now many are risking what they cannot afford to lose if you take retirement into consideration.
Deletea few days ago a friend of mine told me he invested most of his extra CPF money in one stupid australian mining company, needless to say it is well under water....
Deleteand in the pass 2 weeks, relatives has call me to ask about, you guess it right, keppel corp and sem marine shares cos everybody is advising them to buy buy buy....
Deletebut i told them i know nuts about the companies....buy at your own risk!
oh and genting s'pore too haha...
Deletewhen you invest, you can only make money if the company you invested make money and a lot of these company is not making money or enough money to justify your risk.
Deletemost people do not understand the risk that they are undertaking against the potential returns.
coconut,
DeleteEveryone has a plan until they get punched in the face - Mike Tyson.
Hmm...
ReplyDeleteHow true. I never understand a nut about shipping. Only when I research on YZJ then I realised so much to understand. Containers, bulk, tankers, trade, commodity, etc. All forces playing into market prices...
But unlike u, LDMR set in, I no longer chase market supply demand of iron ore, CPO etc...
Silllyinvestor,
DeleteAh!
So you are one of those men who will do backflips and tricks just to get into her skirt.
Once you "had" her, you cite Law of Diminishing Returns and no longer that much interested...
I guess you were not really into her in the first place ;)
To those who have found their soul mate, they will lyrically how they discover new things about her they never knew when they first met...
That's the difference between 3 minutes passion and doing what we like ;)
temperament,
ReplyDeleteThat's why we have the CPF minimum sum thingy ;)
I invest not to lose; I trade to achieve.
I've ring-fenced the speculative part so even if I blowup, my lifestyle would not suffer.
The trouble starts when people who "have enough" starts getting annoyed that others are earning or making more than them - the old couple in your story - and they start doing silly things just to prove they can be just as "reckless" as the neighbours next door.
a true investor will welcome any black swan as they taste very nice!
ReplyDeletebut most so call investor risk so much just to get a tiny bit of the share of profit and usually in a short term duration, but they will hold when they under water orworst until the company go bust! thats stupidity.
Sounds to me like, if one wants to trade currencies on a "fundamental" basis (as opposed to using technicals), a lot of knowledge is required. People who trade on technicals can get away without that lol - suitable for the lazier folks.
ReplyDeleteRetailTrader,
DeleteI hear you.
As a Trend Follower, I don't need to know what I am trading - it's just a ticker symbol. Come to think of it, I treat most technical analysis as voodoo too.
I just need a simple line chart with volume to get a quick overview, and use mainly Price Action ;)
The fundamental analysis part? It's more an intellectual curiosity so I can fake my way through dinner conversations.
LOL!
temperament,
ReplyDeleteTechnical analysis is about reading people.
Fundamental analysis is about how much you know that others don't.
Fundamental analysis is to help you to decide what to do when market is volatile like now and technical analysis can't help you to decide what to do since either your skill not gd enough or indicators not clear enough.
ReplyDeleteGoogirl Investor,
DeleteInteresting viewpoint!
To me, Fundamental and Technical analysis are mere tools that fall under Method of the 3 Ms of Method, Money, and Mind.
This full trading week of the New Year is indeed VOLATILE!
The decision whether to wade in or stay on the sidelines would come under Mind - call it Investor's Acumen or Trader's Psychology.
That's perhaps why 2 investors invested in the same stock or 2 traders trading the same instrument can have vastly different results!?
HOW we wield our tools may matters more ;)
Oh Googirl,
DeleteJust a heads-up for you.
I find it hard to comment at your blog as it wants me to first register for a G+ profile?
Unless it's deliberate (you work for Google?), I don't think many will do it when an Open-Id nick can let us comment at Wordpress and Blogger :)
temperament,
ReplyDeleteNow you're into coconut's realm as in Quantum Mechanics :)
That's true. The mind unfortunately plays tricks on us and with no conclusion and only guesses to the world events, the markets have been crazy! Haha how can I ever work for Google siah unless I've a tech degree which only ACCICB have and hardly use. Oh shit, I'm so bad at this, let me go and find out how to turn that off!
ReplyDelete