More about Market Timing

There has been talks about end year rally during the earlier parts of this year. Particularly in February to March period when the market was suffering from 'temporary' set back. During that time, even though the European Debt crisis were looming, the Asian economy was still booming. However, as the time passes, the European Debt crisis becomes more apparent. Countries were finding it more and more difficult to cover up. More facts emerge and picture became clearer. The earlier investor pull back and market began the down trend again.

In such time, we will invariably turn to tools that we think will help us to foresee such events. This is where macro economic theory comes in. However, for traders who are not well read on such topics, they want to use some thing faster and easier. Then, Technical Analysis comes into play. Using technology, TA can be very fast and handy.

Here is a classic example of using TA:

http://www.etfguide.com/research/705/8/The-Chart-That-Trumps-Analysts-Call-for-a-Year-End-Rally/

I have been sharing this link because I found this very useful. Nobody can predict the future. However, if we collect data across the masses, the extrapolation will become more reliable and more predictable. That's why I believe using TA to analyze S&P 500 is more accurate than individual stocks, especially less active counters.

Comments

Spanish Debt Issues

There is a lot of talk about Spanish sovereign debts recently. I came across a research paper which I think is very useful for me and wish to share it here. This is taken from www.fundsupermart.com, an online fund broker where you can purchase funds form various fund managers. This portal provides some research and comparisons and it is essentially a self service portal. From the chart provided, we can see that there is a problem for Spain to service their debts for the next 4-5 years if the debts are not re-structured. With this kind of risk, no sane investors would want to risk their money to buy Spanish bonds. They can only turn to European central bank for bail out. The blue arrow is a fictitious line I draw assuming re-structuring is going to happen. Essentially, they have to move the payment of capitals into next 5-20 years to be affordable. In addition to that, they can't make additional loans. This is just taking a very simplistic view of the situation. To have that hap...

How Serious Is Sub-Prime Home Loan Issue?

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Patience is important

Recently, I had missed out the opportunities to make a few thousand dollars due to impatience. In each of the 4 cases, I sold out just before the break out because the counters refused to move while I was holding over a week. That cost me to missed out over $6,000 of profits. I noticed that I had unfounded fear of tying down my capital and not being able to fully utilizing my capital for additional gains. However, the true fact is that I have 75% of my capital sititng there and waiting. So, there is no compelling reasons to sell my existing positions since they had not breached the stop loss point. This is an important lesson to learn. Be patient and committed. Trade with more conviction then trying to hit-and-run. Quote Eckhardt did not want the Turtles to worry about linear decreases in their accounts. The slightest exponential curve from a big trend would eventually surpass the steepest linear curve they saw while losing. Discipline, money management, and patience were the only way...

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