27 July 2007 Day One of Market Correction

This is a wakeup call for all investors including myself. It includes the newbie, the naive and the speculator.

For the newbies, by now, they should understand the risk involved in investing( more maybe speculating to them). Yes market goes up in the long run. But for newbies, with no first hand knowledge of market news will be the one whom get left behind when the market moves (both up and down.)

For the naive who thinks that the market never goes down, they should be sitting and crying of their irrational exuberance. Because they will be the one who will perhaps buy high and sell low. This will occur when the experienced investors/speculators take profit before anyone does.

For the speculators who were playing with penny stocks and pumping up the stock prices, many brokers have intervened but i think it will not stop them. Because as speculators, they do not care of how the company is doing and what they actually do. They just pump the price up and make the profit.

In my opinion, this is a zero-sum game. Because someone has to win and someone has to lose. It's no difference from gambling.

Investing is a different thing as you are investing in a company who will be making profits and in turn will in turn up the value of the share in most cases. Because of demand and supply, if investors are optimistic of the company's growth, price of the stock will increase due to demand and a lack of supply(sellers).

So how has the correction affect the speculators?

The range of type of speculators varies. Speculators without a clear defined strategy will lose out. Brokers & SGX love speculators for their commission. SGX profit doubled to $100 million for this 1H 07.

How did this affect you?

I never saw it coming... Don't let your emotions rule your decisions. No I'm not burnt, just a little pinch...

Reading Body Language

Being able to read body language is a blessing and a pain. The blessing is obvious while the pain is that being aware of it gives you a headache. Imagine being influenced by so many emotional factors from so many people at the same time. Pure headache. And another pain is inaction.

Investing Tip #1

Buy in when the market sentiment overreacts to bad news. But you have to make sure that the fundamentals of the company still stays solid.

Easier said than done.

Acknowledging

How you can use the technique of acknowledging in our daily life as applied in meditation?

I find it very useful in any situations you are not comfortable with.

For example, when you are feeling very angry, you can acknowledge it by telling yourself "angry, angry".

In this, you will be aware of what you are feeling and the consequences it may produce.

By acknowledging it, I feel that you can be more aware and in control of yourself.

Meditation

How do we meditate?

What will you think of when the word meditation comes into mind? Buddhism? Sitting down and not moving?

Meditation needs lots of discipline and perseverance. You have to be discipline when you decide to meditate at a certain timing and perseverance when you are feeling tired in the process of meditation.

Why meditate? I think that it can help you to settle down, strengthen your mental toughness and help you to have better awareness.

Well, our human mind are the most complex organ ever. Our thoughts and decisions are mainly influenced by our emotions. Sometimes, at the extreme, our emotions may overrule logic and common sense.

Sometimes it may be good to let our emotions be free from restrictions. But we have to be aware of situations we must keep ourselves in control. Mind over Emotions.

Meditation can help you to strengthen your mental toughness.

So how do we get along with it?

Try to find a spot where you think you can meditate without anyone disturbing you. You can listen to calming music.

Posture is very important. Sit upright. If halfway you notice you are slouching, acknowledge that you are slouching by saying in your mind "slouching slouching" and sit upright again.

Concentrate on your breathing. Feel how your chest expands and collapse when you breath in and out. Maintain the rythm of breathing.

In the process, if you start to think of anything(not the can drink), you can acknowledge it by telling yourself mentally "thinking thinking" and let it pass, let it go.

If you feel tired, acknowledge it and let it pass. Perseverance is the key.

Self-Centeredness aka Egoism

Everyone is self-centred, including myself.

www.dictionary.com:
Self-centeredness: Concern for your own interests and welfare.

All problems starts from self-centeredness. When we get angry why things don't happen in the way we want, self-centeredness occurs.

For example, why do people commit suicide? I can obviously say that this is a form of self-centeredness. Why?

Why would they commit suicide in the first place? If it is not for themselves, then for what? If they were not thinking of themselves, would they ever do such a thing?

The reason is when they start to think about matters that they cannot accept, they dwell into the matter, do not want to let it go and reached a state of depression.

A depressed person may say "I felt very depressed and I couldnt take it anymore. So I tried to commit suicide."

Look how many 'I's are there in the following example, isn't it obvious.

You see, when people get too attached and obsessed in anything, for example, wealth, once they lose it or cannot attain it, they will feel suffering. The magnitude of suffering will be more than those that are not attached to them.

What does the following example got to do with self-centeredness?

Well, if they weren't, they wouldn't be emphasising on my wealth and my this and my that.

Look around in your daily life, stay in a neutral point of view and you will know what I mean.

Learning to let go of the idea of self may be more life-enriching you can ever imagine. You will realise that you can make better decisions and look at things in an open way. You will see what you never see and feel in life before.

How Fortunate We, Singaporeans Are

Are we living too comfortably till we do not know how to differentiate what is right and wrong?

Do you know how those living in the 3rd world are doing?

Are we, the generation after our fathers and forefathers living too comfortably, without any real hardship to know what's about life?

Yes indeed the generations have got smarter and smarter. Poor integrity though.