"We need small amounts of pain to make the gains that prevent our existing skills from atrophying. In small doses, stress helps us grow our future skills and knowledge and helps us anticipate and solve complex challenges."
- The concept of Hormesis
________________________________________________________________
 |
| The Beginning |
I started investing in the PH stock market late 2013. I discovered stock investing from a friend and the first book I read was Bo Sanchez' My Maid Invests in the Stock Market. I was an "investor" type from the start. Peso-cost-averaging, as they say. My first 3 stocks were MEG DNL & SMPH, they gave me significant gains come Q1 of 2014. So I sold all of them discovering that "trading" is much faster way to earn. Though I don't have any idea about the market - literally zero knowledge on any analysis, I discovered the glorious recommendations found in FB groups. And yes, years 2014-2015 I blindly followed those recos and got hyped in the most conventional way to lose money. I just stopped "trading" 2nd half of 2015. I did "bodega" on the "legal-wife material" from the recos of the "gurus" but ended up with a "kangkong". I realized I'm doing the wrong thing.
Come 1st quarter of 2016, I became aware of technical analysis. Credits to The Trading Code book and ZeeFreaks' blog which paved the way in understanding the fundamentals of technicals. Since April 2016, I studied trading on my own. I recorded every trade entry/exit through a journal while going through the process of developing an 'unknown' system. I got rid of all the noise, quit all FB trading groups and just followed notable traders in the PH stock market. I sought guidance from other traders as well. But the chances are not favorable to me. I had to go through series of errors/losses not finding enough clarity in my trading system. By Dec 2016, I made more than 150+ trades in a span of 9 months and lost almost -60% of my portfolio. I had to recoup and make a restart.
 |
| The Start of 2017 |
1st half of 2017 has been remarkable for my trading journey. A lot of trading lessons came through, the most important aspect is the mental analysis. Whereas in trading, losing is part of the process. I shouldn't agonize whether I will win or get stopped out. What's important is always getting up for the next trade. Doesn't really matter if I lose often, as long as it's controlled and there's always something to learn. Sometimes, doing the wrong thing is beneficial since it will be the perfect breakout to see what the right thing is.
No one can avoid losing. Avoiding to fail isn't the goal. The goal is to become better by eating those bite-size failures. I must stay in the game and continue to improve. The stock market is an infinite game, there's no beginning and no end. There are no rules to ensure that it will not end. Ms. Market is always there and the rules are fluid. If by chance there's a risk to make the stock market a finite game, I must be willing to adapt, else I will start to lose. The rules in an infinite game like the stock market is simple yet hard to do and that is: to keep on playing.
With that, this is my 'proof piece' - the tip of the iceberg. These are the results of my 1st half of 2017. After the struggle of losing, reverse-engineering successful trades and thinking how to be while in a trade, I finally established a 'known' system. I'm still coping up with the losses but I don't bother. Good thing is there's clarity now. It's a start of something new. Sure, there will be a lot more to learn and more reasons to be humble.
More to follow.
