Baptism of Fire

There was this certain gentleman who messaged me one sunny afternoon. Let's call him John. 

The man started investing in the second half of 2009 when the stock market was starting to recover. It was the best time to invest. John was a fundamentalist and a farmer by profession and understood the concept of the seasons. He was taught that farming and investing are very much alike - That just like farming, it takes time before you can reap your harvest. It was the best time to buy long-term investments.

 Several years later, he was able to grow his investments from 6 to 8 figures. Now that's a lot of zeroes! But as he continued with his story, John said he was lost on his investments and needed help. He explained that in the past 5 years, his investments stopped growing and even eroded chunks of his profits. 

All these years he was loyal to his stocks, which has now become a big fund, and was rewarded handsomely. But this time, his loyalty was being tested.

John confessed to lightening his positions in the first quarter of 2018 to buy his new set of "investment winners." A few months later, he found himself in a slump - His fund almost halved.

"-40% na ako sir. Ano gagawin ko sir Zee?"

It was his first time to experience such a terrible thing in such a short amount of time. And to make matters worse, he took a substantial loan to add to the losing position. What happened? What was the cause?

As I started to probe, It seemed that John discovered Facebook Trading Groups like how Magellan "discovered" the Philippines.

And the rest was history.

This was the exact moment John knew, he f****d up.

He thought he was a fundamentalist. But he wasn't. He thought he was because he got lucky. He was a speculator but didn't realize it. Because a true fundamentalist wouldn't be fazed by bear markets.

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Many traders who start out are like John. I was also like John. A few jackpot trades and we think we can trade for a living - until the season for bears come.

For those of you who seek the truth, here it is:

The market rewards us for the discipline in our trading system, not the loyalty to our stocks.

If you consider trading for a living, then you should ask yourself during a bear market when things are in chaos and the atmosphere is filled with fear. Not during times when the fields are green. If you can confidently tell yourself that you'll be alright with utmost certainty, then 

You 

Are 

Ready.

This is the ultimate "litmust" test. This is every full-time trader's Baptism of Fire.

 Because if you have the ability and the belief that you can build even in the harshest environments, then you will definitely thrive when the good times come.

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It's a bear market. Are you ready to go full time?

The Disease of The Mind

When we enter the markets, we aren't just spectators of events that unfold right before our very eyes. We are first and foremost, participants in a non-ending battle arena. And there are no allies nor are there friends, there is only you and the beast that is the market. But not everyone knows this. Most of us are taught from the very beginning, the fundamentals of loving beautiful beasts. That if you love these big, unfailing and mystical beasts long enough, you will be rewarded.

Dahil may forever... 

... sa friendzone.

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(Click here to read the thread)

For those of you who want to know how much that trader has lost, it's around 1.1M. I know tons of traders and investors who have lost more. I've read countless of letters like these. And if there's one truth that the market tells us about these stories, it's Learn before you Earn. 

These losses don't become the dreadful numbers that they are overnight. They always start as a small, tolerable disease. And rather than finding a cure and dealing with it immediately, beginners let it run the course.

"Liit lang na paper loss to. Kaya pa."

Then one day, you find yourself paralyzed and in the verge of death. "I'd like to trade and learn. But it's too late for me to cut." So you accept your sorry position and leave everything to fate.

But it hasn't have to be this way.

Imagine for a second that traders are warriors. Do you think a warrior can fight effectively with a dreaded disease? Definitely not. The most they can do is spread the disease to the enemy - which is funny because this is what's happening to a lot of stock market communities. Damn. I've such a dark sense of humor.

Before one can learn how to fight properly, the disease must be stopped.

This is where the purge comes in. Purging isn't just selling everything in your bloody portfolio. It's also cleansing of the mind. Because trading isn't a physical game but a mental game. How can you move on if you are bringing a ton of emotional and mental baggage with you? 

Selling everything in your portfolio ensures you have nothing left in the physical and absolutely nothing to worry about in the markets. It's a painful process but it is necessary. 

And after clearing your portfolio, the next thing you'll have to deal with is bitterness. You know you were wrong. You were humbled by the markets and you paid the costly price of ignorance and falling prey to false gurus. But in order to move forward you will have to forgive yourself and accept where and what you currently have in the present. Forget about the losses you made. Face the markets once again as if it was your first day to see it.

From here, you are ready to learn how to fight. The only things you'll have to deal with are the bad habits you caught before you started purging - Listening to market gurus, rumors, tips, the reading of disclosures and news, and all your misconceptions of the markets and the fears from the scars you presently have.

Don't listen to those who can only talk. Don't fall for it again. For it is too easy to quote wisdom of old. Seek out people who can talk about winning and back them up by consistently showing you how they are made. 

And how would you know if you are right this time around and what you're learning isn't another disease? Here's a simple acid test: If what you learned makes you money, that is truth. If it doesn't, consider it cancer. 

2015 Trophy Trades

We in ZFT strive for excellence.

#Realtrades more than mere #Realtalk

For what is all your talk of wealth if you can't even show proof?

Here are the few trophy trades from my hunting for this year.

Click Images to Enlarge.

 Baseline From Jan-Jul : 2M

Withdrawals : 2.8M

Baseline From Jul-Present : 3M

Withdrawals : 1.49M

Total Withdrawals : 4.29M

*Current as of 12.28.2015 Closing

Hopefully some of the ZFTs would share their 
hunting results as well.

2015 was a Blast. 2016 would hopefully be Epic.

Wishing everyone in the trading community a prosperous 2016!

Personal Notes Series 002 : Life and Trading

Sometimes it scares me when I'm able to shut down my emotions

 when trading. When I win or lose to the extreme, like you know

 (6-7 Figures) in a day, and it doesn't faze me one bit.

Trading is a lot like life.

And there are times when I think that if I've fully integrated the

 system completely in my life, I might come to a point wherein 

my relationships and the people I meet would just be like 

stock-picks. That If a relationship goes bad, I'd simply

 "cut my losses" and move on. Or If a relationship doesn't 

go anywhere, I'd just sell and realize my "commission losses."

Last night I was able to talk to a few traders. They told me their

 story about how their group were hyped into buying a stock, got

 ipit, and are just waiting for it to go up. They've been holding the

 stock for almost a year. And a beautiful bond was created.

I was once In a trading group and had multiple 

experiences like this.

The root cause of all of this, why people in a group-buy don't sell

 and move on, isn't because of the stock or the hype - But the trust

 that was built in the corporate decision of buying the 

particular stock.

"Nagbenta ka na ba?" 

"Tiwala lang"

"Aakyat na yan"

"Buying pa ako"

These are the phrases you commonly hear when you 

group-buy-and-hold a stock.

If a stock is going down (or up) and you sold earlier without

 notifying or consenting with your group, there's fear that you have

 betrayed the goodwill of what your group started. You feel like if

 you sell, the relationship with your group, your bond, 

might somehow be broken.

"What? Nagbenta ka na? Traider! (Traitor + Trader)"

Then you don't get to be part of the core group anymore

and you're like...

"We rise as a group, we fall as a group"

What couldn't be more noble?

But this is the stockmarket. Not life. It's your money, not their's.

 We have to understand that we are responsible for our own actions.

So if you decide to sell. Don't feel guilty.

"Cut loss lang. Walang personalan."

We should draw a clear line. A distinction of the 

realities of Life and Investments.

And even if I say that Trading is a lot like life. It isn't so that we

 should cut loss our non performing or losing relationships. 

For these things should be cherished and worked out.

I thank God for keeping me sane. That even If I have lost hundreds

 of thousands and even millions, I can still give praise and
 appreciate the little things in life.

For not many are able to do so - especially the rich.

I'm not completly detached from money. I'm getting there. And I'm
 glad that it's only God who can satisfy me. For life is more than
 riches, wealth, and power, but of purpose.