Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy Revisited

Recent events and a fun discussion with a landowner yesterday made me realise I can resurrect this old post below.

But be warned. Its not light reading. Move on if you're not into critical thinking.


Orthodoxy vs Orthopraxy 





Most of us do not have the time, competence, or right attributes to be intraday traders. Its just too damn difficult!

What do most people do when we find we suck at something? We demonise it of course! 

Saw the US indexes last night?

When I went to sleep around midnight, it was all green. What do I see this morning? Man! Talk about heart stopping reversals!



My long held "Correct Belief" is: Real money is made on the longer term trending trades.

My "Correct Practice" recently is: Close all my freaking positions every night!

(Of course that's until things calmed down so I can go back to holding my trading positions for multimonth periods)



Why? Because I've been brutalised by the wild volatility in recent weeks! 

I not smart. I learn from crash got sound.



If the mountain don't turn, I turn.





Oh! We were talking about Warren Buffett yesterday and I just remembered the question I posed for Warren Buffettt acolytes in my old post:

If your "Correct Belief" is Buy and Hold, and you swear by Warren Buffett's remember rule 1 and 2....

How do you reconcile the two with your "Correct Practice"?

Traded My Brains Out Yesterday

What a day!

From morning till midnight. From pre-market to after hours market.

Made money but was totally wrecked mentally...



There were 2 new trading setups that presented itself: one at around 10:30 pm and another at around 12:30 am...

Too tired mentally to add on new positions; I was more in the mode to square off my existing positions so I can be flat this weekend.  

Could have doubled my yesterday's profits; that 12:30 am setup had a huge move during the night while I slept. Nice long candlestick.

I rode the move up and took profit. Didn't have the mental strength (not aggressive enough) to short the move down when I saw the technicals breaking (that's why I took profit).

But its OK. This morning checking the aftermath, feels good the price has gone down to near where I had entered previously. Let's hope can rinse and repeat next week!



I learned something yesterday.

I need to pace myself.

The trouble with stock index futures and currencies trading is the near round-the-clock 24 hours of trading!

Must focus.

Not only on my choice of trading vehicles, but also on the trading window when I'm most alert and fresh!



Kaizen.

Preaching to the Choir Boys

Yes, I know... Another rerun of an old topic...


Preaching to the choir boys on CPF top-ups


What? 

If TV stations can do it, so can I! LOL!



We all live in our little bubbles.

Some larger, some smaller. 

We live happily ever after... 

That's until some evangelist or influencer tries to crossover his bubble into ours, and tell us his way is better!?



For us in our little financial freedom bubble, everything seems so "natural"! So logical! 

Got good news must spread to everyone! 

Hey! What's wrong with self-appointing oueselves as the next Indian Chief Messiah?

Look! I can't be wrong! I have so many followers! And they all "yalor, yalor" to what I say!


Eh... How many of the 12 apostles get to die of old age? 



Then there are some personality traits or behaviours that are not socially welcomed in the real world:

Greed, avarice, rapacity on one end; miserly, niggardly, and parsimonious on the other end (yes, I'm showing off my england).

Put on the euphemism mask of Financial Freedom, we are finally accepted inside here! We find our kindred spirits! Black attracts black! Even soot!

This "lie" only works if we stay INSIDE the bubble. Gilded cage anyone? 

Ironic isn't it?

Considering we put finanical "freedom" on our lips all the time... So much for "conditional" freedom...



I'll give 3 examples of opposite spectrums to show how others may view us:


1)  The entrepreneurs

Guess what they would be more interested in? Networking; public speaking skills; art of motivating others; how to attract funding; leadership; and or creating visions for others to follow?

When we talk about leaving a legacy behind... How do ours compared to theirs?

Theirs is about leaving their names on buildings!

They make their money by selling; we try to make money by buying. Pause and think about it for a moment.  


2)  The tree-huggers and save the animal people

Try telling these do-gooders who gave up promising careers for $2-3K per month to focus on Financial Independence Retire Early!

You'll feel so red-faced and awkward. 

Especially when all you have to show is: Open mouth money... Close mouth money... Go to sleep dream of money...


3)  The religious people

You pray they don't preach to us happy already! You want to "influence" them to focus on this current life?

Their focus is on the hereafter. 

They'll probably look at us with pitiful eyes as avarice is one of the 7 sins and clinging on to material stuffs is what brings unhappiness...  (Don't lie that save more is not clinging to cash/money)

I guess the only religious people that would embrace us would be the Prosperity Gospel converts!?

And that's not saying much...

Ouch!



We are not any better

Just take the recent Suzie Orman comment she dislike the FIRE movement. 

See how some of us behaved towards those who have a different opinion from us?

Are we good listeners ourselves?

Yet we expect others outside our little bubble to listen to us?
 


We are a community of snakes and dragons.

There you go!

If you got any ambitions to crossover to other people's bubbles, be prepare to spill some of your own blood... 


Unless you think you can do better than the 12 apostles.

Who knows?

You may be the next Kong Hee!









  

Anyone and Everyone Can Have a 10 Bagger! Bao Jiak One!

I guarantee it!


How?


Easy!


Start with $10K. 

Put it under your mattress or biscuit tin.

Every year add the same $10K amount to it.

Wah lah!

10 years later, you can have bragging rights on how you've turned your "investment" portfolio into a 10 bagger!



If cannot earn and save $10K per year, no worries!

Can reduce the bar to $1K per year!

We are counting in percentages remember? 

So any amount also can. Even $1 per year!!!



I don’t want percentages; I want money!

Singapore Best Place to Work and Live for Expats

We lucky or what?

Talk about blind cat catching dead mice!


The Best Countries to Work and Live in - And to Boost Your Salary


Not easy to get Singaporeans to move overseas right? Not when we are already so well paid...

Funny how those who are hungrier and more ambitious are eager to come and work here, yet we have Singaporeans eager to stop work ASAP!?


I'll take this as good news?

Especially those who owned rental/investment properties or shares in companies that profit from population growth in Singapore.

I mean even if we are not "investors", can't be good for Singapore if nobody wants to work in Singapore right?

If maids find they can earn more in neighbouring cities other than Singapore, that's probably when our graduates have to move overseas to find better paying jobs?

Eeks!

Take Risks

The Free Trade - The Utility and Limitations of Stop Orders

When I enter into a trade, once the order is filled, I immediately enter my stop loss order into my trading platform.

Yes, its mechanical and not a mental stop; I don't trust myself. 

Then I can go walk here, walk there!


Hello, the currency market is near 24 hours. How to stare at the screen all the time? I need my beauty sleep OK?


What happens next is either I'll be stopped-out at a pre-determined $ amount I can afford to lose, or this trade has become "in the money".

If its the latter, nothing is more satisfying than moving my stop to my entry price plus 2 pips/ticks to cover my transaction costs.


Now I have a "free" trading position!

That's the best risk/reward or what?


If market continues to move in my favour, I'll make more.

If market suddenly turns against me, I can get out without a scratch!


The only way for me to lose money is when the market has a big gap move. It can and has happened.  Mercifully, I wasn't in that EUR/CHF massacre some time back.

That's when many discovered stop orders can't protect us on big gap days :(


When enough clients go bankrupt, brokers went bankrupt too.

Friend and Bullshit

Everyone wears masks

East, west, we all same same.

Below is how we present ourselves to the world.

Only young children don't wear masks; they have not learned how not to say what we really feel, what not to say in public, and the art of hollywood in the workplace!

What happened to your Bucket List?

Everything is about cycles and fashion right?

Once upon a time, it was "fashionable" to have a Bucket List. Just like the FIRE goals many parrots are now mimicking...

Others have you don't have, cannot!



For those old enough to remember Bucket Lists and used to have one, well, what happened?

Forgotten about them right?

They are there somewhere collecting dusts...

And to think once upon a time, the items on your Bucket List were so "meaningful" to you that you must cross them out before you die! 



Would you believe your own self next time you feel like having a goal or a plan?









Oh! Want to bet 10 years from now anyone would mention about FIRE goals?