Updates

"Young men speak of the future because they have no past but old men speak of the past because they have no future" - from the cartoon Pickles in the Sunday Times.

"Just because you're an old guy, you don't have to sit around drooling in the corner. Get out and do something" - Bush senior turns skydiver again on 85th birthday.

Caught up with some ex-floor traders trading from home at the town hall meeting for traders last night. Many complained that trading has been very tough recently with falling volume and reduce interest. I agreed with them wholeheartedly and noted their frustration that echoes the similar sentiments of many traders at the trading arcade too.

Yes, the cake is getting smaller and the best survive. Traders are getting more sophisticated, investors getting more knowledgeable and fools losing their fortunes. Are old traders having no future? No!!! There is a old Chinese saying "ginger grow hotter with age", old men like us are more experienced, no doubt about it, so "try me".

I asked those traders who were still struggling very bluntly, "what is your monthly expectation?" Their expectation ranged from S$3,000/- to S$10,000/- a month and they would be very happy. For $10,000/- divided by 22 trading days is $455/- a day, that's about 13 Nikkei tics, 23 Simsci tics or 32 Taiwan tics. Is it difficult to achieve this target consistently on a daily basis?

Why not? I have been able to achieve the monthly target of S$10,000 consistently, of course with some days that I lose money while I make more on other days to cover up. The secret to my success is to trade small, very small to eliminate the fear of losing, with a small daily target, it is much easier to achieve on a consistent manner. That's money management.

For taking such small risk, I have to work much longer hours to wait patiently for the "YUM" trades such as market orders or stop loss orders. I can only do so with a fast, stable trading platform, good Internet speed and support which only the trading arcade can provide. That's my competitive edge that suits my trading strategies.

There are also many successful traders operating from home, they have also found their edge using strategies that suits their personality and risk tolerance.

We need to be flexible to be a successful trader, when the market condition does not allow us to trade bigger volume, reduce the size of the trading. Lower down the expectation, the market will roar again one day and be ready and prepared to seize the opportunity.

Profit to date is S$7,391, not much improvement from a month ago. Still holding long 4 Topix/Nikkei spread position, will accumulate more positions if it goes down further.