The Old Has Gone, The New Has Come

To all of us lucky enough to witness a new year, hello. And may we not waste this blessing. 

I've promised some of you that I will collate some of my trades in 2017 for your dissecting pleasure.


Trend-Following

ANI was sold on the same day of the snap.

This GERI trade was the only time I went all-in on one stock and would be probably be the last. I realized that my heart just couldn't take it yet. This snap was taken at the highs, but I was able to sell this on EOD at 1.69, 45%.

Notice the time of the snap, 2:41 AM? I went to bed right after and slept like a baby. Little did I know that come sunrise, COL would royally screw up its clients. Ito yung sinumpang araw na 'yon. A little past 9:30 in the morning, COL just flat-out froze, along with all my hopes and dreams. Meanwhile, PXP was dropping like waterfalls. Sold intraday at 8.55, 51%.

MAC Round 1. 

MAC Round 2. 

MAC Round 3.

MAC Round 4.

I just had to milk it. This stock is a trend-follower's dream. I wonder if 2018 would gift us with another one like this. 

Swing

Initially had a TF objective, but the set-up did not materialize. Sold intraday.

Again, this was TF material but the stock showed signs of weakness and I normally would ride it out but my AEP was high. It couldn't take the beating. You know what they say, last one in, first one out. 

ANI was also a supposed TF pero mabagal pa sa pila ng MRT on a rush-hour. There were other good setups materializing at that time so I had to sell the laggard to make room for a faster horse. IDC, sold intraday via minute charting. 



Re-entered IDC during a quick consolidation. Sold intraday. On hindsight, I should've trend-followed the heck out of this stock. I would have had less stress and bigger profits. Hindsight is always 20/20 they say. But here lies the beauty of keeping a trading journal, you get to answer the questions: What did I do right? What did I do wrong? What could I have done better? So many traders take this practice for granted and fail to realize that this is their missing recipe to improvement. 

Had to sell intra because I won't be able to check the market the entire day, and I didn't trust MJC's volatility enough to leave it unmonitored. 


Jerk (also swing but bought on EOD, sold on the following day's open, still a work-in-progress)

Ceiling play.







Here's to all of you employees out there asking if profitable trading is possible while you're maintaining a full-time day job. I ended 2017 at 112.84% while fully-employed, rotating between the day shift and the night shift every 2 months. It was NOT easy. I've been very familiar with sleepless nights, an almost-declining health and a sub-par work performance. Don't get me wrong, I did not neglect my responsibilities. I was still doing pretty solid at work, just not as much as I used to. When I decided to make trading my priority, I had to accept that my job had to take a backseat. No one can serve two masters at the same time, after all. 

So yes. You can trade while you work. But you have to be prepared to make the sacrifices. 

We Went Out on a Fridate

A typical Friday in the metro:

• Even more intolerable traffic where every hour becomes a rush hour
• Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines
• Often a payday, other times a petsa de peligro
• Millennials going: “Let’s tonight?” “G!”
• People feeling like they’re licensed to have a much-deserved night out, or for others, a night in

A typical Friday in the market:

• Profit-taking here and there
• Positioning for the following week’s spotted plays

December 9, 2016 (Friday)

But today is not a typical Friday. We battle the same traffic, we meet the same deadline. But today, we do it not for ourselves, but for people we do not even know. Today, our ports are placed on auto-pilot as we planned to meet up with a few kids and hope to give them a morning filled with laughter, surprises, sunshine and rainbows. 

Today, we shared the spirit of giving.

It was to be our batch’s first RAK (random act of kindness) and we decided to spend it at a Gawad Kalinga compound south of the metro amongst thirty little rascals. 

So let me tell you a story about the day six people made a fool of themselves. 

The walls of the room were adorned with the children’s artworks, an end-table housed various trophies, bookshelves lined up the corners. It looked just like your usual classroom. But sitting on the floor were the kids with their expectant stares fixed right in front of them. This was when a familiar upbeat music wafted through the stereo. And suddenly, awkward limbs were flying in every direction. Some of the kids laughed, others looked on with a mix of amusement and confusion. We didn’t know how to dance, surely we didn’t know what we were doing. It was mighty embarrassing, but we grooved to the music anyway—whatever would break the ice, whatever would make the kids give even just the hint of a smile. 

This Friday, we tell ourselves, is not about us.  

Her name is Jessam, she is 10 years-old. My favorite dessert, she said, is chocolate cake. When I grow up I want to be a doctor. A year younger than Jessam is Clarenz. This Christmas, he smiled shyly, I just want new clothes. To his left is Gabby, who is almost 3. She had curly hair and expressive little eyes. She would nod when she likes something, frown when she doesn’t, and cry out when annoyed.

And there were dozens more we met, who welcomed us with such warmth and energy that we felt like little kids again. The games got a little competitive, the lunch was well-awaited for and the gift sharing was such a joy to take part in. There were toy bags for the children and food packages for their families. It was almost noon and our program has not ended yet. The room had little ventilation, the air feels stuffy. We were starting to get drenched in sweat, but we couldn’t care less. Watching them get excited opening their presents, hearing their thank yous and seeing smiles plastered on their faces make it all worth it.

So much has been said about giving. We watch as some give as much as they could purely out of the abundance of their hearts, others do reluctantly out of perceived responsibilities. And just as much, we see those hide their skeletons under the pretense of selfless giving when really, all they want are recognition and bigger egos.

Whatever the reason may be, the Lord has said:

“Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.” Deutronomy 16:17.

Just as we love because God first loved us, we give because He has first given us.