First Post of the Year

Its quite strange but this is actually my first post of the year despite the fact that three months have past since the new year.

My eyes are now blurred and mired with numbers and facts, yet my brain seems somewhat refreshed. Somehow five months has passed since my last post on this blog, which to many may seem a pretty long time indeed. Well, I'm not exactly a person who tends to update my blog daily unless I really have deep felt thoughts within me.

Just finished part of my grueling Financial Instruments, Institutions and Markets a.k.a Fnce 102 report. Basically this report puts you through the role of an investment analyst whereby you have to research on a particular Singapore stock exchange listed company and provide recommendations whether to buy, sell or hold the stock. May sound easy, but I'm like at page 22 and still not even half done. Haha......plus the fact that submission is like two and a half weeks from now and it doesn't help that I've got 3 reports to submit and 4 exams to fight before I end this term and proceed to Year 3 (YAY!!!!)

Seriously, I'm not complaining. Though working on projects is tough, its enjoyable as it is when you truly learn how to work and not just memorize theory. Its quite strange, but I actually like practical more than theory despite being a typical JC boy. I think working life is all about doing and not knowing. If you know but do not know how to use, then you are pretty much handicapped I suppose. Despite the fact that the company that I'm doing on, Food Empire is not a share which I'm particularly interested in, I believe it will give me the experience in future when I do research on stocks which I want to buy. Believe it or not, its super tiring to go through tonnes and tonnes of analyst reports and stuff, but its just so enjoyable and interesting to see how companies earn their buck.

Since young, I have always been interested in the stock market. It just never fails to fascinate me that how numbers changing on the teletext can affect people so much. When I was in primary 2, I could always remember helping my mum monitor her stocks on our 15 year old Sony tv as she was doing her part time work at office or doing housework at home. "Buy", "sell", "last done" and "volume" became my best friends as I would update her on the prices. Times were good then and share prices just surged. It made my mum rich. Of course, being fascinated, I did my first trade at yes, P2 too. Haha....convinced that I had observed a certain trend pattern I asked my mum to trade on my behalf through her account my savings on a particular stock. I still remember its name: DBS Land Preference Share. Of course I profited from that foray. A cool $800 out of a $2000 that I invested. Bad times came in 1998 with Asian Financial Crisis. Mum's investments were busted and some of her capital was stuck to this day. I think she lost something like $15 to $20k on assorted stocks.

Fast forward to today. I'm 23, have my own trading account and am still fascinated by stocks. This is something that I love despite the risk, its where I call home.Weird it seems, but Wall St, Dow Jones and SGX all seem to arouse my interest more than anything else. I've traded again and have earned some profit, even though the sub prime problem has resulted in me at present being stuck in a few trades that I'm waiting to get out. I know people love to say that people who trade stocks aren't realistic, they ae greedy and so on. But to me, its not that, its a passion, an art. You don't just enter the market thinking that it is a casino. Neither do you not respect it like some clowns in SMU and call it your "playground". The market is neither. I yearn to make it big in stocks, to be like Mr Warren Buffet. I have made some profits though, but I think I still ain't good enough. I need to improve. While some people think that being a stock trader is all that glamorous with the profits you earn, I personally find it not my cup of tea. True, I love money, but who doesn't? Being better in stocks than my peers does not make me feel like all great and up above when people in school keep asking you what do you think will happen to the market. I know some people do, but I don't. Rather I only wish to excel in stocks for three reasons:

1. Its my passion/interest
2. Earn money and achieve financial freedom soon
3. To earn a lot so I can donate to charity next time

Truly, whenever I walk past SMU's Li Ka Shing Library, I will always start thinking of the man who dropped out of high school, did his business well, and contributed back to society by plonking a spanking solid library in town. We live and will finally die. Do we want to leave the world leaving nothing for others, or do we want to leave the world leaving wonderful stuff for others? I choose the latter, thus, I must fulfill this dream. Not that I do not believe in working for world peace like what my mentor Daisaku Ikeda believes. Its just that we have different perspectives and I feel that world peace is not something that I will get to see when I finally leave the world. Thus, the thought to leave something different to benefit all man.

I've just applied my internship today with Reuters. Applying one more with Octagon Advisors next week. My previous applications all bounced. Not too good enough (myself). I must really find the door to banking and investments. I need someone expert to really learn from and strengthen all my fundamentals and develop a solid world class mental framework which makes Warren Buffet Warren Buffet. Even if I work for free for such a person, I really do not mind if I can learn and improve. What matters most is the end of the road.

I'll put such thoughts behind me for now. My brain is now clouded with shit like ROE, Debt-Equity ratio, financial leverage, derivative instruments and spot forex transactions. I am going to sleep before I freaking conk out. Damm dead tired. Its 1.42 am, time to hit the sack.