Market Thoughts : The Quest for Financial Freedom

In the quest for financial freedom, 

everybody starts somewhere. 

This is my story.

I knew there was money in stocks. But I had this mindset that 
it was just for Rich people. And I don't come from a rich family.

I was a graduating student. 
The words Job, Money and Future were always a point of pressure
 to me. I was waiting for my internship, and going abroad was the
 most 'sensible' course of action for everyone that time. 
Even now I guess. Maybe that's just our culture. 

While waiting for my internship, I remember I had an online
 trading/investing account my brother opened for me on 2006.
And I thought it would be such a waste for my internship 
money to just sit there and rot with me.

So in the last quarter of 2010 I decided to try out stocks.
Making extra money on the side wouldn't hurt right?

I started my search.

I was like sponge and believed almost everything the 'experts' said.
 I never missed reading the business section on the newspapers, 
and I followed almost every forum personality that was known
to be an expert in their field of the markets.

And because of this, I was able to ride a few good stocks.

Behold the RSA Plays of 2010:

(Click Images to Enlarge)

 

I never got to buy that phone. #Greed 

Got Whipsawed here. 

"So this is stocks." I thought to myself. 

The feeling of making money out of money 

in just a short amount of time was magical.

I felt like I could conquer the world. Finding a job? 

Who needs one if you can earn all you want in stocks.

Of course I needed to Graduate first. There's that unspoken rule of 

Philippine culture that you need to graduate so people would know

 you're worth something when they see your diploma hanging on

 the sala wall. And of course to make your parents proud.

But after these plays, I started losing.

I realized that I was just lucky. Beginner's luck? Maybe.

But the little gains I made from my jackpot trades 

were enough to start a passion for Trading.

Fundamentals, Tips, Rumors, Techs. 
This was my order of priority.

Fundamentals

I guess everybody starts out as a fundamentalist wannabee. 

We always want the 'sure thing.'  

"A solid company that has lasted for years, A strong balance sheet,

 A good track record, etc." 

"Only a dumb person would ignore these numbers."

So who wouldn't buy that shit? I don't like reading books.

 Especially doing computations. I'm too lazy for that. 

So I figured it would be easier to have the experts do all the work.

 Give them a day or two, and they'll show you 

everything you need to know. 

Heck! There's even tons of stocks fundamental research 

material out there if you know where to find it.

Whenever a friend would start asking about the stock market, 

I would immediately find myself trying to mimic 

how and what the experts say.

This is how I imagine myself whenever 

I attempt to explain fundamentals.

I've held on to many fundamentally sound stocks and ask my self

 "why the hell am I not getting enough?" or 

"why are these solid stocks going south if they're THAT SOLID?"

I've seen stocks that are really good but don't get much attention or action. 

And I've seen stocks that are completely crap from inside-out but

 shoot up to prices like there's no tomorrow. 

"Has the world gone mad? With all that available information, we get THIS?"

There's nothing wrong about fundamentals. But I think it's only

 good for those with lots of cash and time. Like... you know, 

100M+ 

I don't have that.

Tips and Rumors

Have you ever had a known and respected market personality give
 you a tip? Or perhaps a juicy rumor about a certain stock that's
 "about to explode?" How about market buddies who tell you
 they've got real inside info? - you know, disclosures that 
haven't been properly released to the public.

Who wouldn't want to be ahead of the markets?

And because of this desire, I immersed myself in looking for 
allies who knew something about the insides of the market. 

At some point, I even became a hardcore, blind follower of some
 market gurus - to the point of going "All In" on whatever 
stock they say is good.

In the beginning, it was good. The feeling of being ahead 
of everyone, outwitting even those seasoned players gave 
off a different 'high' - that feeling that you're
part of some elite class and society.

But all was just an illusion.

I found myself ahead alright. Losing ahead 

and getting stuck before anyone else.

Whether we like it or not, our market has a certain degree of
 manipulation, insider trading, front running, or whatever you 
may want to call it.

Yes I have some buddies who might have access to these
 contraband goodies. But after careful thinking, how am I sure the
 info they pass around is legit and not something 
fabricated out of one's imagination? 
Only God knows.

But I am no God. Nor am I an insider. 

Techs

This was my reaction the first time I peered into the world of techs.

I hated math and physics. And techs made me remember all those
 bitter, cold nights i spent studying in high school and college. 
It was like teaching a kindergarten student (me) quantum physics 
or some complex math equation because of the terminologies 
and other stuff.

"Dude. Seriously. Why do I see more alphabets than numbers?"

But what intrigued my naive mind the most about techs was the
 consistency of profits some people claim to have. I personally
 know someone who hasn't touched his retirement money, 
built his house and funded his travels, all thanks to 
his technical trades.

It was all numbers and patterns. No flowery words that could be
 double talk. No lengthy research and computations. No news. 

No Jedi mind tricks from market experts and gurus. 

No bullshit.

Just numbers and patterns.

I could live with this.
Because all those lenghthy disclosures?

I've been a gamer all my life. 

And Gaming was an innate craft I had.

Then I thought to myself,

"This could be a nice game."

But learning the game was a real challenge. I almost gave up after
 experiencing many losses. But in the end, as what many gamers would say...

"G.G."

Here's a throwback trophy trade.