Been a long time since I last posted here. I’ll share to you one of my biggest trades as a beginner — one that I was lucky to execute despite shitty internet connection.

Starting days

Back then, I didn’t really have the capital. I successfully traded 25k++ but I knew i needed to boost my capital if I wanted to make trading seriously impact my life. I raised money from Investors, so that I could trade a more significant account. It was my 4th month of trading in April 2012, where I was able to raise around Php 600k.

I was still learning the ropes, I was reading lots of books but I didn’t have a well-defined system yet. My 600k became as high as 666k but then I was on vacation and I got complacent trading illiquid stocks, my portfolio went crashing to around 570k.

Then this IPO came. Calata.

(I know many of you are pissed, I understand, but please spare me from your hatred of him, I am sharing this story for learning purposes)

So-called youngest billionaire. Flashy dude, looking like a hybrid between Dragon Ball and Twilight, plus the fact that he had some pretty interesting Advisors. He also came from the same alma matter as me. I thought that there might be a play in $CAL.

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The Trade

I just watched the stock trade from 7 to 9 to 11 then.. when it was trading at 13. I just realized that there was indeed something happening with the stock. Consistently fat bids being posted, very stable price action. The intraday charts looked like a stairway. Sabi ko sa sarili ko… “Sige.. banatan natin to”, I bought around 380k Php worth at around 13.00+

I watched for the next 2 days, and I was so happy when my portfolio was showing around 70%+ in profits when the price hit 22+, my portfolio had a profit of 260k++, I was just 6 months into trading back then. I was so happy. But I already felt that the top was near, the manipulators seemed to have a hard time to push the stock up. I didn’t have any solid technical rules back then, it was just purely my gut.

Then the next freakin day. SHIT Happened. When I woke up our wifi at home got busted, data was also weak at our house. $CAL was trading at 22+ but I already knew that it was weakening.. suddenly it broke below 20, I couldn’t sell. My platform wasn’t loading, internet was bad. After a few minutes it broke down 18… then 17.

I was cursing my internet provider: “F@#$@#%!!! In@!!” That was my first big trade as a beginner 260k php disappeared. From 70% my profits dwindled to around Php 20k+ when the stock was trading at 16+, I was just desperate to take any profit I had.

When the platform loaded, it asked me to confirm my password, but when I was about to press the OK button already… something happened. One of the active brokers that pushed the stock was buying at 15, the stock made a support there. I gained hope. I held and just watched, like magic, the stock recovered.

The next day I was already on the watch. It was trying the same ‘chunky bid moves’ but it was becoming really heavy, it failed to break above 24+. When 23.95 got sold down, I instantly sold everything at 23.80s+. The stock collapsed and closed at 12.88 at the end of that day.

I was lucky to be able to sell and secure my profits almost at the top. I made 280k+ php. This was the first trade that really boosted my port.

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Lessons Learned

Did I just get lucky?

Perhaps. But in those moments, I was also able to prove to myself that I had a certain level of gut feel for the market. I knew the top was nearing, and I was really planning to sell on that day. It was just that there was a blackswan moment.

What did I learn?

In case the stock didn’t recover back to its highs, so what? I just lost profits, and of course, I couldn’t have done anything about it. The internet connection being crappy was beyond my control.

When these kinds of things happen to you, I understand that you’ll also be cursing… but then when you calm down, you’ll realize… “Ok. What next?”

All your anger and rants won’t do anything to improve the situation. Pick yourself up and strategize your next move.

Life will always throw you shit. But remember, one trade shouldn’t define you. Focus on what you can control.

You may have lost one opportunity, but the market will always provide you with a lot more in the future. Calm your self down, make yourself stronger, so that when the right moments come, you can pull the trigger perfectly.

Lastly, if you are playing the speculation game. Whatever happens, do not fall in love with a speculative stock. 80-90% of them would kill you at some point, if you choose to hold them forever.

Yes, there will be times that speculative stocks may recover and go back up, but I’ve seen too many situations like this where undisciplined investors/traders get trapped forever and lose hope in the market just because they didn’t protect themselves (via risk management, cutting losses, balancing allocations)

Always have a plan B, then have a plan Z. If all the shit happens in the world, what would you do to survive as a trader? When you can handle that, then that means you’re ready to trade at higher levels.

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That’s it for this post. Hope you enjoyed. I’ll be focusing more this year.

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