Five Cents Ten Cents

Financial freedom, one realistic step at a time.

Panzer Equity Trading Rules of Thumb


Flickr image rule of thumb by greeneydmantis

Flickr image "rule of thumb" by greeneydmantis

Many of us who are working our way towards financial freedom also engage in the frequent occasional bout of speculative activity of buying/selling shares and selling/buying intra-day or within a few days.

This type of activity comes with risks and rewards.

The risks are being stuck in counters and wishing one had not had a case of “itchy fingers”.

The rewards are both the “high” of thinking that one just managed to out-smart the market as well as earning some kopi money.

Panzer also engages in this type of activity on occasion and sometimes makes and sometimes loses money. In the end, Panzer learns more about the market and himself as he will encounter Mr. Greed and Mr. Fear whispering into his ear when he is thinking if he should “jeep” (buy or take a long position on a counter) or “pang” (throw or sell a counter).

Whether he “jeep” or “pang”, one thing’s for sure, his blood pressure and heart rate usually goes up. So Panzer has decided to put up his equity trading rules of thumb as he reflects on what happened when he made the right speculative bets.

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Volatility is the name of October


Flickr image Dancing Child and Bear by tasteful_tn

October brings back images of stock market crashes, the falling of the sky and other doomsday scenarios on the scale of apocalypses. It is not surprising that weak employment data last Friday in the US has made equity markets jumpy.

Currently, I’m adopting a nimble strategy of being overweight in cash and eyeing the bluest of blue chips for medium to long term growth and not over-committing to having up to 80-90% of my investible capital in equities (as I used to in the past) as I’ve learnt the value of having some portion of your investible capital in cash and cash equivalents because the world changes too fast. Even quick punts can net one returns exceeding 2 x fixed deposits.

What is your current strategy in the light of October volatility?

Share with Panzer in the comments page.

Be well and prosper.

Beating Temasek Holdings


Flickr image Temasek Top by Singapor3

Flickr image "Temasek Top" by Singapor3

I’ve done some rationalisation of my equity portfolio and realised that at least for calendar year 2008, I actually beat Temasek holdings -$40 billion losses.

My calendar 2008 realised returns were around 4%+ and mark-to-market (paper) losses as at 31 December 2008 were around -55%.

My 2009 calendar year to date realised returns are -2.9% with a mark-to-market paper gains of 12.13%.

So I’ve managed to out-perform a sovereign wealth fund even though my total net worth is possibly not even 1 month’s wage for the CEO (whoever it is) of Temasek Holdings.

What does that say about the performance of people who are paid plenty of money to outperform their benchmarks full-time compared to a hobbyist like me who has a regular 9 to 5 job while managing my own equity portfolio?

Of course, the common refrain is “LONG TERM” but I’m not sure why equities in some US and UK financials by Temasek were bought and sold within 1 year at great losses when the overall approach is “LONG TERM”.

Did your equity or investment portfolio outperform Temasek for 2008 or 2009?

Be well and prosper.

How movable is your net-worth?


Flickr image Apartments Croatia by Kavanjin Croatia Apartments

Flickr image "Apartments Croatia" by Kavanjin Croatia Apartments

The more I experiment and try out different ways to achieve financial freedom, the more I learn about real concepts of financial management of my own money.

Moving from One Asset Class to Another

As you live within your means, you start to have savings. Most personal finance books advise you to keep some buffer or emergency funds enough for 3 to 6 months of expenses or income. The additional savings you should invest in fixed deposits, mutual funds, stocks and shares or other asset classes that fit your risk-reward profile.

Different asset classes have different liquidity. Liquidity refers to how easy it is to sell your assets and convert it to cash. Sounds simple but can be fraught with challenges as I found out now that I’m selling most of my equity portfolio into the currently rising market to move into property investment.

Why am I moving most of my net-worth out of equities at this point in time? Continue reading