Chart the trends!!!

Left the market in 2003, after trading for about 7 years and back into this market this January.
Don't know anything about charting in that 7 years.
Every entry was like a bet, and depended on Lady Luck to give me the fortune.
Obviously, I don't have the luck. Or else I won't leave the market.

Come to think of it, not only I don't have the skill to chart, there were too many odds against me.

First, I don't have the most important element in trading - capital.
Imagine I bought1 lot of Reca-pacific of $0.33. How many bids do I need for it to move up (with the minimum commission) before I can break even?

Second, I can only get to view the price through 'Teletext', which was delayed by about 5 to 15 mins(?). Even if the delay is seconds, it is good enough to kill you. By the time I want to sell it, it was not that price anymore.

Third, my trades were done via broker. That commission rate was so much higher, compared to the trading online.

When I came back this January, I am still doing the same thing - not charting and trading with the trend. But this time I have slightly more capital, and trading online. I have some luck in the beginning. Within 5 months, I earned 2 times of my capital. Then, I started trading using 'Contract For Difference' with the 5x leverage. Within 1 month, I earned 2 times of my capital with profit again. I knew it was purely on luck. I told myself, before the luck leaves me, I need to go for some courses to learn the charting skills. But it was too late. Before I started attending the course (as courses don't start immediately right after you signed up), I am already starting to sink deeper into the mud. Don't believe in cutting losses, as throughout that 8 months of trading, I will keep averaging down, whenever the prices went lower. And so many times, I got out alive with profit.

Main problem of averaging down was digging your grave bigger. This time, the holes got even bigger, and at a even faster rate because of the leverage power of CFD, when I shorted Jardine Cycle & Carriage (C&C) and Singapore Exchange (SGX). These 2 counters moved up with STI, as they are STI component stocks. I kept averaging up my short prices, till I overtraded. Remember the day when SGX shot up $2 in one day, and $1.80 the following day? And C&C moved up too at that same period. The holes got worse till I received margin call everyday, and I have to top up everyday, with the money I can find (liquidation and credit lines especially) till I can't take it anymore. Then, at that time, I learnt and felt the pain and relief of cutting loss.
To make things worse, I am not trading that 2 counters alone. I have Rowsley, Penguin etc on hand - long and short positions. Seriously overtrade!

After I have attended the courses, I know the importance of trading with the trends, and not against them. There are many trends in every counters - primary and secondary.
I begin to learn how to manage my money better, though still not good and still learning it everyday.

Decided to start this blog as the diary of my trading, which I can make reference easily, but not to tell you what to trade. This blog is meant for a discussion area for traders, if you are willing to participate. I am not responsible for any of the profit and loss you have made. In short, TRADE AT YOUR OWN RISK!