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.

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.

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.

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

Thank you for supporting Investagrams. We promise to bring more great things in our platform soon. 🙂

Hi. I’m opening 3 slots for my fund management services. 

Just a quick intro on myself. My real name is JC Bisnar. Full-time Trader. I’m a Licensed Stock Broker (Certified Securities Reprensentative) in DA Market Securities.

Imbang Klase is my blog / pseudo name in the trading community.

For those who are seriously interested please read my requirements at the end of this post. 

Now why would you entrust your money to me?

I don’t do the usual sales talk that people in this industry practice just so they could get your money. Most in this fund management business over-promise and under-deliver.

Some will even tell you: “hey I made 600%+++ gains, I can triple your money sureball, make you a zillionaire. Let me handle your funds.”

Then after awhile poof. Ipit. Wasak. Deads.

I don’t do that shit. I take great pride in doing the right process and constantly improving as a trader year-after-year-after-year. I don’t trade for one-time jackpots, it’s all about consistency for me. I trade with relentless emphasis in risk management and I utilize strategies that give me a strong edge no matter what the market condition is.

I know talk is cheap, so I’ll just let my experiences and performance do the talking.

Here’s a record of one of my first portfolio snaps during my first year in trading.
Link: https://imbangklase.com/2012/07/31/goal-achieved-whats-next/

This was in 2012. I always visualized trading as a means to achieve financial freedom, but how can a kid start with a significant port immediately? Early on I was already tapping into investors money as leverage–that’s how I started. Fund management is not a new thing to me. Basically since day 1, I was already handling other people’s money–this is how I built myself.

How did I progress as a trader after 5 years?

Here are some sample results

Jan 26, 2017

Jan 27, 2017

Every year I just do my best to trade and beat the markets. That’s how I grew my portfolio and that’s how I make a living.

Besides trading for my own, I also manage the funds of my clients. Mainly, I handle the money of people who are busy with their main businesses/work.

Here’s a sample of my performance for a client that was with me for less than 2-years.

The client started somewhere around March 2015 with Php 1,000,000

This is the account now.

In less than 2 years, the portfolio is up by 60% now doing Php 1,600,000+. (If you qualify as a potential client I will gladly show you my un-shaded trading records)

Just to give insight–how did some of the best mutual funds perform during the same period?

Let’s use PhilEquity (perhaps the most consistent) fund in the Philippines as a benchmark.

Adding their performance for 2015 to 2017 you’d still be in the negative. Their 5 year growth rate pegged at 8%, 10 year growth rate pegged at 10%, not bad, but just steady.

Understandably, mutual funds have a bigger challenge because they mainly follow the PSEi as a benchmark. These mutual funds also go by the billions which makes it harder for them to go in and out.

These are some disadvantages that I do not have, because at any time I can choose whichever stocks are the strongest (even if they’re not part of the index) or I can go all cash in one snap should I sense danger coming.

My Trading Style

For my personal portfolio, I am really aggressive. I can play super speculative stocks, in big exposures and quick time frames. I mainly make a living trading for my own funds. I don’t chase after commissions. I make money when my clients make money, that is my focus.

That’s why hindi ako “hayok or atat” mag-trade pag para sa client. This allows me to emphasize on risk management and go patiently and conservatively every year. For example, when the market sucks I do not force my trades. There were some months in 2015 and 2016 where I was just mainly in cash (no stock positions).

My approach for clients is different–I focus on balancing performance and risk management. My main aim trading for my clients is to beat the PSEi and all mutual fund performances every year.

I make it a point to use a strategy that can be applied regardless of the size of the portfolio–kahit 1m o 100m pa yan I can use the same strategy and I’m still confident I can make money.

Probability wise, I expect myself to outperform 80% to 90% of the time, because this is what I’ve done since I’ve started as a trader. Though I continue to keep this streak I do not let myself become cocky and complacent. If you know me personally, you will know how seriously I take improving my discipline and my trading process every single day.

If ever I have a losing year, I make sure that downsides are controlled and in these scenarios that would most likely mean 95% of all other traders and funds probably lost money as well (unforeseen market crashes, surprise negative events, etc)

Why Do I Manage Other People’s Money?

You’re probably asking: “Why is he still managing other people’s funds if he says he is making a living out of his own trades?”

Besides the monetary gains, what I like about fund management is I’m able to meet great people. Besides being a trader, I am also an aspiring entrepreneur. I highly value and appreciate learning from people who are ten or even hundred steps ahead of me when it comes to business or in life in general.

This is a way for me to expand my knowledge and grow as an individual. Tulungan lang. I help my clients trek the markets and grow their portfolio, and they help me develop myself as an entrepreneur and as a human being.

My requirements are simple:

1. Minimum Investment 1m, Minimum holding period 1 year. 

Why 1 year? Because I need enough time to maneuver in the market and find opportunities and I am looking for clients who will grow with me in the long run.

Also, the amount is not a hindrance for me. I can handle 1m or even 100m, I’d trade it almost the same way. I’ve been training myself to use strategies that can be employed regardless of the portfolio size.

For security–all accounts are under the client’s name and will be opened under DA Market Securities Inc. Meaning while I have the discretion to buy/sell, I cannot withdraw from your account.

2. IMPORTANT: Wag atat. Your allocated capital should be something that you can fully entrust to me. 

I’ve had some clients who were impatient. 2015 the market was crashing, I was mostly in cash and not trading, they took their money out (with a loss around 2-3%, from commission cost and minor market swings) and when the market recovered wala na, their account was not in my hands anymore. While the clients who sticked with me for the whole year was able to ride the 20-30%++ rally.

The sample portfolio I showed you is a client who is approaching her 2nd year with me. I still haven’t took my profit share from her account (dahil di naman ako nag-mamadali sa pera and I prioritize rolling over the profits so the account will grow faster.)

Please understand that in trading it’s all about losing the least money when the market is in a down trend, and focusing aggressively when the market is strong. Hindi araw-araw may trades. I could make money in a year just by having 5 to 10 trades and that would be better than making 100 trades where your money is impulsively put into risk.

3. You must be involved in a business or a relevant field today. I like to deal with people who I can learn from, particularly Entrepreneurs, Industry leaders and Innovators. This is my main criteria.

4. Let me know about your background, what you do for a living, your past experiences in the stockmarket/investing and why you want to invest with me.

For those who are qualified and interested:

Please feel free to send me an email at jcbisnar@yahoo.com or PM me at my Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jc.bisnar.1

If you pass as a client, we’ll set a meeting and I’ll discuss with you the terms.

Should you wish to find more information about me, you may browse through my website https://imbangklase.com/about/ and check out my FB page: https://www.facebook.com/ImbangKlase

Some do find a system, but mid way they overrule the system when it encounters down sides. Meaning pag ‘na-ipit‘ or nag ‘kamali‘ they won’t cut loss. Once you give exceptions to the pain, you will make it a habit, and this habit often leads to the ‘death’ of many traders having the mindset “babawi rin yan, patulugin ko nalang muna“.

 

$CAL

 

$GEO

 

Luck doesn’t always save your ass in these kind of situations. I’ve seen veteran traders, those of around 10 years in experience, never make it back once they had a big hit with majority of their capital stuck just because of one undisciplined call.

Some of the most common reasons would be ‘OK lang may fundamentals naman eh’

Here’s a few names with so-called fundamentals that are still on a slump even after a few precious years.

 

$PCOR

 

 

$SSI

Wag kang papasok ng walang protection. Baka pag-sisihan mo hijo.

Just recently, I’ve reached a personal milestone. But then, what happens when you reach so called goals in your port? Do you spend it out and party like hell? Not for me.

Somehow, I just blurt out a subtle “oh yeahhh”, treat my friends to some ramen, and then focus on the next trade.

Boring right?

but I guess that’s how it is when you set big goals and know you have a long way to go. 

Trading for 5-years, I’ve never withdrew a significant amount in my port.

Why so? I’ll tell you.

Even if trading is all about being rich, I don’t really care much about the superficiality of ‘money‘.

Imagine you have Php 1,000,000 to burn, what would you spend it on?

a Car? Casino? Chicks? Parties? Gadgets? Clothes? Food? Video Games?

Most people in their 20s would probably have these in mind.

Then what?

Your 1m would soon be gone, and the typical person would say “at least I enjoyed“.

Yeah sure, but then you have to go back striving again, and the cycle goes on.

Earn, burn, earn, and burn. 

My motivation is quite different.

Even with all the perks of being a trader, I haven’t really splurged much. I believe you can enjoy the essence of life through simplicity.

I first had a feel of how powerful simplicity can be in a video game.

It was in the game ‘Ragnarok Online’, the first major online game published in the Philippines. There was a saying in that game that really struck me till now.

First MMORPG launched in the PH

The saying goes…

Wala sa porma ang LAKAS.

It was true. In that game there were characters that looked cool and bought expensive ‘looking’ equipment in other words ‘ma-porma‘…

Like this

Yet they were weak in the inside. They were beaten by characters that looked simple, like this.

Sakkat

In-game value, the Angel Wings costed about 5m-10m zenny and the Sakkat (the vietnamese farmer hat) was only worth 200-300k zenny back when I was playing.

I saw tons of instances where supposedly ‘weak’ or ‘low-value’ looking characters were beating the crap out of cool looking, expensive avatars.

So how did that happen?  What was the difference between them?

Pros focus on being good, not looking good. They focus on developing their ‘core’

Builds (how you build your stats and skills)

Strategies (how you plan to use your build)

Execution (how you execute your strategies, how you play your character)

I took this principle seriously.

Realizing that the ‘surface’ was pretty much useless if the core is weak.

Even if your character looked simple on the outside, you could still dominate the game by having strong builds within.

Come to think of it, competitive video games have certain resemblances to trading.

People who never competed in games will think that this is a meager endeavor, but when you look at the top leagues, the prize money for many competitions today surpass the $1,000,000 mark.

Why? Besides that it’s entertaining gathering a big audience, it also requires great skill. Same goes with sports, poker, business and trading.

All of these endeavors require reflexive decision making, constant improvement, extreme focus, and intensity.

In trading you focus on these aspects to win the game.

System (Your strategy in buying / selling decisions)

Risk Management (How much you allocate per trade/stock, how you minimize damage and maximize returns)

Psyche (Your mental approach to trading–money, risk, volatility,etc)

Execution (How you apply your system, how you play the game)

Your success is defined by your performance–not by the noise you make, the number of followers you have, the extravagance you display, and the credentials you have.

I know of traders who wear slippers and shorts and look like normal people. Yet are BEASTS when it comes to the financial markets.

They probably make more money than those who come in suits everyday.

I was just 12-13 years old back then, but Ragnarok definitely taught me a lot. Up to this day, this principle is still on the back of my head…..

Simple on the outside, killer on the ring.

This guy is the epitome of the power of simplicity.

Uulitin ko lang dahil masarap sabihin.

Wala sa porma ang lakas. 

Same goes in real life. Our society has gotten so concerned about “outside imagery” and “formalities” that they forget to focus on their “essence“.

Let’s have one scenario.

They say you need a good car to attract a good girl. haha lol.

Sports car. Wow pogi. Kaso pag-dating sa Maynila pare-pareho lang tayo ng takbo sa sobrang traffic.

You don’t need a car to attract a fine lady. If your partner is overly concerned with your car. then better think twice.

This is just one sample–most guys dream of immediately buying their ‘pogi‘ car, setting Php 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 as budget. There are ways to survive without it. I’ve done it thanks to Grab. Though in some cases it is indeed a necessity, you can get a simple one first.

Imagine, instead of burning 1 mil – 2 mil, roll it first and make it grow 10-fold whether thru trading or business.

Up to now I don’t own a car, because I’d rather build an empire with the money.

Trading is a very interesting and challenging endeavor, it also offers the highest rewards to those who master it. 

If I’m all for this ‘simple‘ life, then what motivates me to trade and to find opportunities?

What am I gonna use the money for?

Well, the initial goal is to cover my ass for the future. In an average person’s lifetime, we spend half of our lives (20 – 60 years old) working for money.

Imagine that, selling your precious time, just to survive. (Assuming you don’t like your day job) You work work work work, then you die. Wow. that’s just really great.

I didn’t want to go through that path so I had to make an effort and sacrifice as early as possible to free up my time.

Now that the early-game farming is paying off–I can now focus on things that have real meaning to me.

Money is our bullets in the game of life. When you have more money you can mobilize and manifest your ideas into reality.

The more you focus your bullets, the greater your impact will be.

And that has been my main motivation.

Investagrams is one of our projects, and we’re just beginning. We still got a long way to go, more ideas to execute. We’re just at 1% of where we want to be. 

Try to forego looking good in the short-term, and focus on building your core first.

Build your war chest.

If done well, your investments will return hundred times of what you would’ve gotten if you took the short term rewards.

I’m not saying we forego every little shit in life.

It’s perfectly fine to spend and enjoy.

Just be aware of how you allocate your resources, and know that there’s a more rewarding path that entails just a bit more patience and sacrifice.

By sacrificing in the short-term,  you get to DOMINATE in the long-term.

Who knew that a simple online game could teach you a lot of things.

Thank you Ragnarok Online for teaching me these lessons.

Peds na, para sa trip-trip lang at libreng pag-share. Does that mean dapat nyoko sundan? Nah. Maaring kumita ka, pero maaring ikamatay mo rin. Point is, you have to know what you’re gonna do based on your strategy.

I am willing to help those who deserved to be helped, pero I never advocate spoon feeding. You can ask me for advice and general questions pero hanggang dun lang. At the end of the day you will have to put in the work.

Kung bigyan kita ng isda, isang araw mo lang kakainin yun, pero kung ma-tuto ka mangisda habang buhay ka mabubusog.

Reflections for 2015

Performance

The Most Important Aspects

• Am I following my system?
• Are the probabilities on my side?
• Is the trade worth taking?
• How is the overall market health?
• How can I exit this play?
• Am I forcing myself or am I just going with the flow of the market?

Challenges and Lessons

2015 has also been the first year where I started to encounter liquidity problems. Since I had an increase in my managed funds (clients), the size thing was a big challenge in an environment like this. And it is a very great lesson for me, there were many instances where I did not follow my cut loss plans because I was hesitating due to the liquidity, little did I know how fast some plays fell down ‘due to lack of liquidity’.

This is an imminent trait in most bear markets, weak small caps are the first one to perish. I realized that in the future there should be no exceptions, I took some unnecessary hits this year just because I wasn’t disciplined enough to take the pain early on. But it’s all good, I still managed to survive, and those lessons will be remembered forever.

Hello 2016

2016 will be a killer year. A killer of those who were invested at the high levels with no cut losses. I expect chaos, but it’s all cool when you’re all in cash. As usual there will be profitable bounces in these critical moments, but we should always remember that the game and environment has changed.. 2015 was probably just an appetizer.

2015 reminds me of 2013.

Strong start, and possibly weak finish. These kind of moves tell you that there are deep implications that may kill the market further in the future. Market held 6600, and is trying to bounce 7200-7300 but then what next? Not unless we take out 7550 and eat 7800 with conviction, that’s the only time this market will be interesting again.

If you plot every potential catalyst, probabilities are heavily skewed to the negative. So don’t be to eager.

Take a look at the performances of some of these equity funds. Most of them are bleeding already.. wait till you see more panic abroad till the contagion hits all of em and redemption goes rampant.

I’m not saying this will happen immediately. But I really believe more pain will come in the following months.. I also think 2016 will be a very difficult year for the average investor. Best thing is to focus on other profitable avenues such as starting your business.

How I attacked this kind of market

at the start of the year my port looked somewhat like this

I positioned in MAXS + SSI since they still looked good back then + they had interesting stories.

At one point I even tried to fool myself and become a fundamental investor

Why I don’t give a f*ck about noise

I base all of my trading decisions mainly on my technical screen. I look at fundamentals, hear out rumors, listen to tips but I don’t really care about any of those if they don’t pass my technical criteria.

Here’s an example…

I’ve been hearing, seeing tons of information about this stock.. and what’s funny is if you were the typical investor you’d already be hyped by all the fuzz.. but look at the last 10 candles before it gapped down.. it was never able to go above the 50 day Moving average or even the 20 day (these are just basic indications of weakness).

Condolences.

My philosophy is simple:

Whatever information–whether fundamentals, rumors, tips, insider–you have will only be valuable if the market acts on that proposition.

In other words, even if you have all the connections, and even if you have the tips of the number 1 analyst in the world. It will all be useless if the only one acting on that information is YOU. If there really is magic in a stock, there should be an impact in the demand & supply showing you signs (no matter how subtle) that there is “something” going on in that stock.

Reminiscing

when the broad market started to weaken, I decide to go back to becoming ruthless. What’s interesting in the weak phases of the market is that’s where you really see whether you have what it takes to make money in the most challenging periods.

1st circle: failure to re-take 8000

2nd circle: Confirmation, support turned resistance– failure to re-take 7800, by this point most blue chips already sucked.

I’ve designed my strategy to identify potential plays as early as possible. That’s when I buy, not when you see noise all around as if you’re being given a free gold mine. (the more obvious something is, the less opportunity.)

Here are some of the plays I fortunately found this year:

Pardon the screenies, but this is what I found in my files

Tapet , PXP

these were the early days..

I wonder why there was no noise back when this was doing 4.00 lol..

FNI

This was the first bottom around 1.17.. Some of the best technical set ups appear when everyone in FB / forums are crying. That’s exactly what happened in this trade.

There seems to be an inverse relationship between “Noise or Fish Enthusiasm” vs “Stock Market Returns“

this FNI bounce play will be memorable for me because I was on the beach with a special someone while taking this trade. Imagine that, making money while enjoying life.

Awesome Memory.

Most of my other plays I usually post in my blogs, or in my FB.

DD

too bad wasn’t able to hold this all the way tho. hehe

FED

YEHEY

I mean it when I say I like to find things early.

If the play is strong, my only focus is on that play till I milk it to the end.

I keep focus fire on that stock and stick with it, until I see no more upside. This is where I become a punter. I swing the stock for as many times as I can as long as I feel that it still has fire in it.

2GO

This is my favorite stock. Been here since the early days. I remember a good old friend of mine called this stock “puGO” back when it was doing 2.00 bucks. hehe. 🙂

Sold then bought back

These are just some of my trades. I have lots of quick trades, minor bounces, day trades etc.. but I don’t usually put much focus on set ups that only give me 5-10% upside. I realize that I’m more of a win big type of player than a rinse and repeat quantity trader. I prefer to sit patiently and wait for potential big moves. I like trading plays that give me 20% or more.

Like any other trader I commit lots of small errors, I proudly incur many 3-5% or even 8-10% losses. Doesn’t matter.

Here are some of my losses this year. 🙂

I appreciate losses because they enable me to step back and learn further–refine myself. I never hesitate admiting mistakes. I never bitch about it, once you get scared of losing money that’s the end of your career in trading.

It’s all part of the probability game. When I get it right though, I make sure that my bullets are really concentrated on that play.

The way I outperform:

Be humble when mistaken, and be overly aggressive when proven correct.

How I’ll attack the next months / 2016

At this point, even if I don’t trade anymore I’m already good for the year. I am merely waiting for really good opportunities to get some bonus. I’m happy that I was able to hit my goals back in my post “Why You Should Never Compare Yourself to a Mutual Fund”

I think the Sept-Oct will be deadly. I’d be on the sides waiting for extreme reactions that I can take advantage off. My strategy is to play tighter in the next few months, ONLY going in when the probabilities are really really high. Like what I’ve been doing for the whole year.. the game is all about finding outliers. If the market fails to take out 7600-7800 then it’s good as shit for me.

This is also a good opportunity for me to start shifting my efforts and capital towards other endeavors, am working on several start-ups as of the moment. The market has been a good stepping stone.. now it’s time to pay back and create real value in this world. 🙂

It won’t be easy… but it will be WORTH IT.