Is it just me or the weather these few days a bit strange?
It feels like year end December rainy season right? And I thought June is supposed to be one of those hotter months...
Not that I am complaining.
I'll chose the cool weather over hot and humid any day! That's until I ran out of underwear to wear...
What?
No dryer lah. I old school. My laundry all sun-dried. Love the smell of sunshine on my clothes.
Quite interesting reading the US financial news recently.
It seems retail is beating the professionals 1st half of 2020. Especially the millennials with their Robinhood accounts!?
What you expect?
Talk about the strength of youth!
Their advantage is they don't know what cannot be done. Wink.
The fastest bear market from January to March has given rise to one of the strongest US bull market since the lows in March!
Hey! Buy The Freaking Dip is still alive and well!?
Even more impressive is all this despite the Wuhan virus (I'm a cat person), the lockdowns, the massive layoffs, and the economic pains in the real US economy....
Of course its never about I can do it, so can you...
Last week, a reader SMS me a story about a young 20 year old US trader who killed himself after amassing a $700.000 loss trading options...
But it will quickly be forgotten.
Market participants know for every tragic story like the above, there will be an "inspirational" story on the other spectrum about that trader in his early 20s that grew his Robinhood account from less than $10,000 to over $2 millions in slightly more than 2 years! (Yup, in percentage terms beat Warren Buffett hands down; trading power or what?)
Make a guess which story will snake oils peddle to wannabes fearing they will miss out?
Hmm...
I wonder whether our local millennials over here are also beating the professionals recently since March?
Or are they like the old fogeys, waiting to breakeven one day....
I always wonder, and I believe some are damn lucky, some are masters in disguise.
ReplyDeletePerhaps there are more master's than sheeps. Bitcoins have made a lot of millionaires too.
But the scary part is really the jealousy, hey he can, why i can't.
I dun know why my Facebook is full of investment courses although I never click on them or visited them on Facebook or whatever.
It starting to feel nauseous, when I hear some of the selling baits. And I am not sure if it's a set up, but there many many comments, likes etc...
3 types of baits I dun like
1) flash wealth, cars, GCB. Button:Greed and jealousy
2) victim, I used to be retrenched, ... Now rag to riches (button: pride)
3) Popularity, ( I dun mind this) how big his class is, how ethus his participants, and throw in some accolades.
4) selective track records. We made X percent in Y time.
( I would like to know how your different portfolio or funds do X returns in Y time)
Sillyinvestor,
DeleteIts all about finding the hole-in-the-hearts of others; and filling them with promises ;)
This technique not only works great in sales, it works especially well with politics and religion too!
Hi SMOL,
ReplyDeleteWith age, some of us will come to realise how much good fortune and wealth we have is a factor of what we have cultivated. And that cultivation is multi faceted.
厚德载物。厚德厚物，无德无物。
是你的不用争，不是你的争不来。
What others have, I may not be good enough to deserve.
I like this from 金庸's 《侠客行》
天地四方为江湖，世人聪明反糊涂
名利场上风浪起，赢到头来却是输
:)
Endrene,
Delete"Luck" is preparation meeting opportunity ;)
You got philosophy! You sexy woman you!
I think quite a few on the FIRE or financially free path don't realize how much they reek of "bronze smell"...
Somehow I don't think we are put on earth for the sole reason of having X amount of passive income per month, or achieving X amounts in Y time...
I often wonder whether these try-hard FIRE seekers have "religion" or not?
Hmmm southwest monsoon? Nice weather for after lunch walks at parks! Been trying to avoid the crowds at malls & hawker centres these few days.
ReplyDeleteOh i finally googled the suicide case. Seems he was confused with how the app displayed uncompleted assigned option trade. His actual losses may have just been a few hundred or couple of thousands (after forced selling of the assigned stocks).
But still, he was trading too much options. Underlying of USD730K!
Some people do use naked puts to get stocks that they want. But only sized such that their capital can cover.
Spur,
DeleteI do like to take my walks in the rain when its not too heavy.
Especially in the night with the street lights reflecting off the puddles seemingly floating off the pavements...
Ideally it would be nicer to have a woman under my umbrella with me, by hey! Do it often enough there will be times I'll get lucky!
LOL!
Options are supposed to be one of the better risk management tools out there, especially for BUYERS - from day 1 we know how much we can lose if we let the option expire worthless.
But when it comes to selling or writing options, that's another story altogether...
When I see snake oils promoting selling options as a source of "passive income", first thing that comes to mind - somebody gonna get hurt real bad...
Large scale School of Options Trading have disappeared. Right?
ReplyDeleteThose days, everyday; ST newspaper got big ads promoting options trading.
CW,
DeleteThe "popularity" of options has since been replaced by CFDs that are more favoured by our local and European brokerages.
Hence you see retail trading "influencers" today talk mostly about CFDs.
Of course options not dead. Its more popular with those who trade US stocks or using US online discount brokerages.
Especially those who have studied or worked in US before.
Come to think of it.
DeleteI wonder where are those pioneering batches of bei kambings who paid $3K for their Master Options courses doing now...
Are they still trading options?
Have they achieved their retirement goals?
Or are they still attending the next flavour of the year Mastery courses? Year after year?
Hi SMOL,
DeleteYou talking about me? As a noob go trade options of course turn into lamb chop oredi lah.
Luckily I 'only' put USD10K into my Interactive Broker account then and plus the school fees to learn from the'expert' who made USD10 million, my total damage was 'only' $20K before I woke up my idea. *roll eyes, shake head *
After that, progressed to play CFD and blew up the account twice. This one damage was a few times more. -.-"
CFD I picked up on my own, didnt go learn from 'master' hor. I'm sure those 'masters' would say, see lah, so cheapskate try to save money, later lose until 扑街! And they will use me as example to create fear. Lol.
If you ask me whether I would still trade options and CFD, my answer is yes. Me in 2005 and 2009 was a different me compared to now. Trading helped me discover my shortcomings and I take the losses as lessons the market taught me. Currently too busy with full time work to dabble in options. But never given up yet. Biding my time. :)
Ya, mmm zai see. Where you fall down, you pick yourself up right there! Lol.
Endrene,
DeleteIts never the tool; its the person wielding it ;)
Options and CFDs are like water and fire.
If we have no clue what doing us, they can drown and burn us; but used judiciously, its like "tiger add wings" ;)
That's why Warren Buffett warned widows and orphans against weapons of mass destruction, but he himself has no qualms using derivatives to turbo charge his winnings...
All of us have paid our share of school fees. That's part of the process towards craftsmanship.
Those who discover they can't stand the pain of losing will gravitate towards SAVE MORE.
CPF good, better, best!
Those "mmm zai see" people like us will just walk off the pain and start all over, again, and again.
The path of EARN MORE is fraught with dangers, but part of the seduction is precisely we know its never about anyone and everyone ;)
Hi SMOL,
ReplyDeleteThe latest craze in Ethereum now is high interest rates from saving accounts. When the craze started last Friday, yields shot up to 230% per annum. Of course, there will be people who get hurt. Some borrow and borrow to put in those saving accounts. Shortly after, one got margin call for borrowing and lost 20k. Just yesterday, another one lost 90k through repeated leveraging.
Then came financially illiterate goody two-shoes saying that collateralizing is one of the worst products of the human mind (can tell that they have never ever touch the financial markets before……).
Next week, a derivatives platform on Ethereum will be launching binary options. More will get slaughtered.
If the people who take the opposite trade from mine thinks like that, that’s more alpha for me then.
Unintelligent Nerd,
DeleteDid I read you right?
230% per annum in yield!!!!????
A 2 bagger just for 1 year of sitting tight?
I think we should keep this information away from yield hogs, widows, and orphans..,
Who would voluntarily contribute to CPF or buy REITs then?
Every generation got their own poisons.
My generation was options, then China stocks, then water stocks, then Myanmar stocks.
Cryptos are for youths like you.
Some will get fabulously rich (those who knew when to sell).
Most will discover buy-and-hold does not go well with speculation...
In negative sum financial game; we either take other hard earned savings or we provide ours. Over long run, either we win or they lose. Middle men will try to find ways to generate revenues for players to play these games.
DeleteAlternatively; one can play the addictive Game of Panadols; over long run can build enough Antibodies and then immune to pains.
CW,
DeleteYup, investing is like playing mahjong or poker. The winner's winnings have to come from the others sitting around the table.
Your Game of Panadols only works if you don't get those zero baggers. If the company goes "kaput" (just ask Hyflux bagholders), the flow of Panadols stops :(
At the end of the day, its optimise; not maximise.
Just like the CPF discussion at your blog.
Even if I can constantly make more than 5%, I don't mind having some money in CPF - just in case... You never know!
Similarly, I wouldn't go full throttle with CPF hacking just for that extra 1.5% interest spread. Pain is When opportunity strikes, our funds are stuck with big daddy...
Ouch!
Middle path.
Hi SMOL,
DeleteYup. No typo. 230% per annum.
Arbitragers arbitraged it down to 7.4% currently. With the huge inflow of new money, liquidity risk has been minimized while new money takes in IT hack risk for lower yield.
Shhh.....I know a few savvy crypto investors were quite annoyed when some big mouth savvy investors spoil market and share the alpha to noobs.
I am a yield hog
Delete*Cues whiplash*
Unintelligent Nerd,
DeleteThe Art of Machiavelli is to quietly load up on a good deal; when we want to get out we loudly share this "great" opportunity to noobs ;)
Those who got in at 230% had a great risk/reward position.
Those who got in at 7.4%... Well...
Shhh...
Buildingmydream,
DeleteWell, it might be a good idea to stay away from abattoirs, sausage factories, and barbeques!
LOL!
P.S. Do also keep and eye out for those bacon and pork chops lovers. Especially when they become too friendly with you...
Hi SMOL,
ReplyDeleteSo far being a (prudent) yield hog have me finding myself wandering about in the kampongs, forest, along the canals and reservoirs. Safe for now at least..
At times, I like to get together with our bacon and pork chop lovers to learn how they marinate their sauces. This includes any homemade recipes or ingredients added into their sauces or as sides to present their voilà mouth-watering fine dine bacon pork chop dish..
PS sotong me! Posted on the wrong 'Reply' again..
Buildingmydream,
DeleteNo worries. I've done it too many times myself. This reply thing can be tricky with this Blogger platform ;)
I don't like forests - got scary insects and spiders. I hated field camps the most during my reservists. Hello? Where's the air-con?
I prefer walking along garden paths. Yeah, I'm dainty and pampered. City walker mah ;)
Now you know why I like forest.. am hoping to make another friend like Charlotte
DeleteI am a yield hog remember 😉
Aircon? Aiyah, we have au natural one this past week or so. . Strange or not, "I'm lovin it!" Cherish it before it disappears hor
Buildingmydream,
DeleteYup, I love walking to the market in the morning when the air is cool with the sun in my face.
The next best thing is to sit on the sunny side of the aircon bus (which other passengers avoid) and feeling this is Swedish summer or spring in Shanghai or Athens ;)
The only downside is soggy underwear...
LOL!