3 simple steps to start stock investing

I seldom have guest post in my blog. In fact, almost never. But since I'm using Investingnote as my preferred charting platform and Evan who is our guest writer below is from Investingnote, I don't mind sharing this space with him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a previous article titled ‘5 reasons why stock investing is so difficult to start’, I’ve mentioned the reasons that often become excuses, serving as inhibitions to the journey of stock investing. Many people have asked me how to address these reasons and the answer is simple: confidence.

However, not many people notice that it is their lack of confidence that affects their first step to investing, as opposed to risk appetite.

These are the 3 simple steps to boost your confidence, which will help you make your first investment.

1.Acquire financial literacy

Financial knowledge and literacy is essential for anyone to start investing. The fundamentals of stock investing are best found in their original state: books. Learn financial terms, explanations, logic and theories traditionally at your own pace. Grab a coffee and start hitting the books like you’re a student again. 

The only drawback? There are many financial books out there that are similar but different. In that case, maybe just textbooks will suffice? 

Alternatively, you can also go for courses conducted by stock educators. Most courses require a fee to attend, but some are free. The SIAS and SGX Academy both provide some basic investing courses for free. You can check them out here www.sias.org.sg or www.sgxacademy.com. Otherwise, there are many organizations and stock educators out in the market that charge a substantial fee for advanced courses. 

Also, start reading business and financial news that often highlight the more important things. For example, what affects the distribution per unit (DPU) for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)? How do companies restructure in recession to sustain equity value? How does economic data like purchasing managers’ index (PMI) and non-farm payroll affect markets and stocks? What stocks are most affected by currency and interest rates?

News will highlight the important things that every investor should know. While saving you a fair amount of time, it also lets you familiarize with the myriad of financial terms and jargons, and keeps you updated on market happenings. 

2.Practise through simulation

Regardless of whether you choose to get the basics via the traditional way of reading books or by attending some courses, the overall learning process is incomplete without practice. What better way to practice other than simulation? 

Simulation boosts your confidence by allowing you to mimic the actions you would take in reality, without having to bear the costs. 

Practising through simulation is also particularly useful to gauge your own investment decisions. If you’ve predicted the stock price to either go up or down, simulate the trade. This way, you can know how accurate your analysis is. 

3.Learn from experts

The last step for your journey in learning how to invest is to learn from professionals or experienced investors themselves. Start attending free talks, seminars and fairs. Invest Carnival, Invest Fairs and private seminars are often held by ShareInvestor, SGX and brokerage firms like PhillipCapital. Attending such talks and seminars given by experts will give you a better idea of the significant things that are relevant to beginners.

If you’re the keen learner who’s always asking questions, try leveraging on the experts found on social networks like Facebook discussion groups or the social trading network InvestingNote. Being within a social network not only allows you to see what experts are thinking when they post, but also includes you as a part of the stock investing community. Never be afraid to ask questions and interact with the experts and the experienced. Learning is at its best when transformed into a two-way interaction. Information becomes communication and it empowers personal learning. Also, keeping up to date with the latest financial news and trending insights will give you that edge which traditional textbooks won’t. 

It becomes a virtual classroom. It’s almost like you’re having a tutor at your fingertips, except that there isn’t only one but many. By tapping on social networks, it will expand your personal network and interaction with experts and the experienced who are otherwise remotely located. 

If you’re lucky, you just might find an expert whose investment style suits you the best and doubles as your mentor. Mentorship is equally as important when it comes to stock investing. 

After you’ve taken these 3 important steps, you will gain more confidence to start investing, and build good investing acumen.

At which step are you currently at now?  

Written by Ethan Ho 

From InvestingNote

The social network exclusively for stock investing, InvestingNote is a free, social network platform designed specifically for crowdsource investment ideas, news and interaction for the stock investing community. Besides having access to stock data, users can upload research reports, utilize technical charts and make stock price targets that will be visible to the entire community. Users can also gain reputation points when they have followers, likes and posts. 

www.investingnote.com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've been using investingnote for some time and I still think their online charting platform is still the best out there that is not tied to any brokerage. And of course it's free. Personally I'm using the charting services only and not so much about the social trading. But I must say, the community there is actually quite friendly. I'm sure there are people out there who will help you if you genuinely seek their help. Just do yourself a favour and don't just trade on the recommendations there. Trading ideas and talk are free, so do your own due diligence. If you can't make money, at least learn some lessons. 

Read More

China - the origin of the next crisis?

Financial times had a very good video that I thought will be good to share here. It's about 15 mins long and it talks abut the end of the China's miraculous growth which is fueled by the influx of migrant workers streaming into the factories and offering their labour for a low wage. This video shows the plight of the migrant workers as the economy slows down and what they intend to do when they go back to their rural villages.

As I watch this video, I was quite taken aback by some of the things in it - things that you don't expect to happen for China. They talked about the increase in the wages of workers there but factories not having enough orders, so a portion of the factories went bust and the workers have to seek employment elsewhere. They are not talking about Singapore, but about China. I mean, we have pretty high wages and fixed cost of rentals and so the cost of manufacturing in Singapore is considered high. That's why you don't see a lot of lower end manufacturing factories (making shoes, t-shirts etc) over here. But isn't everything made in China these days? If even China factories are facing a downturn in orders, then who are taking over the orders? Which country has even lower cost of manufacturing than China? You will have to watch the video to catch a hint of it.


The second thing that shocked me was how fast economically China had progressed since the last 30 years. I think they are currently facing the situations that many developing-turned-developed countries faced as they progressed - that of higher expectations by their labour force and also the higher cost of living and wages, which will mean that they are no longer attracting new investments that are okay in the past because everything is relatively cheap. As many countries around the world are annoyed by the influx of China migrant workers going into their country to seek better paying jobs, the Chinese are also facing cheaper and harder workers from other countries going into their borders to seek better job opportunities. I totally didn't expect that. But I guess globalization is like a knife - it really cuts both ways.


The last point I'm going to talk about is an interesting financial/investing topic - that of the impending failure of the Chinese economy as it heats up and bringing the world economy down with it. The talking heads had been saying that since I first started investing in the stock market in 2006. They had been speculating that China will be the cause of the next crisis. But it didn't happen and the great financial crisis happened over at US side as their mortgage-debt-housing market exploded. Then the Brazil/Spain/Portugal/Greece saga over at the EU side came to dominate the scene. And now we're back one full circle to point at China again? You really have to watch the video to find out a little more about it, or the link here to read up.


I think it's better to just know what we're going to do should something major happens, instead of debating to no end where the next financial crisis will originate. I know what I'll do. I'll freaking save up and build up my warchest now so that I can declare war! LOL

Read More

SMART expo

SMART expo had been around organizing events and seminars for quite a while. This March is their 38th one running in the series. The event is free and it's good if you're interested or want to find out more about investing in properties around the region or if you want to know more about investing/trading in the stock market and achieving financial freedom. The list of speakers include Ken Chee, Dato Eric Cheng, Conrad Alvin Lim, Vina Ip from Property Soul, Jeff Sun, Getty Goh, Calvin Yeo from DrWealth and many more.


There are many interesting seminars and I even discovered one of my long lost secondary school classmates giving one of the talk! What a coincidence! Here's some of the seminars that I'm personally interested in:


1. The mastery of money, what I didn't learn in school - Jameson Chia
2. How to setup basic asset allocation - Calvin Yeo
3. Dirty truths and profitable secrets to building wealth through properties - Vina Ip


There are many many more such free seminar, so do check the full timetable for the different seminars and their timing by clicking here.

Frankly, I'm not so interested in the property part of the seminar, especially those that deal with overseas market. I think it's the lack of information and mostly fear from the unknown. I'm more interested in the personal finance, stock market investing/trading and perhaps some fortune telling, tarot reading and fengshui seminars. Nevertheless, this seminar provides a free platform for people who want to find out more. No obligations of course, so just take this as an opportunity to educate yourself further.


Venue: Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Hall B
Date: 28th and 29th March
Time: 11am to 7pm
Price: Free with registration


For the first 150 visitors each day, you can also stand a chance to win free supermarket gift vouchers worth $10 SGD. No harm right? Free to attend, can educate yourself and possibly get some gift vouchers for your supermarket groceries. So if you're free to attend, do register early if you want a shot at the free gifts ;)

Good luck!

Read More

Online loans

Online Quick Loans—Great Solution to Overdrafts


Payday loans are now one of the most convenient ways to borrow money. Banks offer loans with low interests however; approval takes some time because of several factors. Cheapest pay day loans UK offer online quick loans to borrowers who need loan for emergency situations. People have been using bank loans but recently, payday loans have become relatively popular than banks. “Cash loan instant” is now being chosen by people to get immediate money without undergoing long process and extended wait.


Payday loans can be costly because of the high interest. But still, this type of loan is fast and reliable since it can be approved in a short period of time. As long as the borrower completes all documents and meet the requirements, lenders can release the loan within the day. The loan amount is also dependent on the borrower’s salary figure.


Banks versus Payday Loans


Interest on payday loans can reach as much as 25 percent and must be paid in a short period of time. In a month’s time, borrowers should make the repayment of the whole amount plus the interest rate. Banks offer a minimal percent and it’s done on an annual basis. However, borrowers can be charge of a higher interest during bank overdrafts. These overdrafts are limits set by the bank on accounts. When limits have exceeded and extended, borrowers will get high interests and should be paid sooner than the expected time. Cheapest payday loans UK offers a one off payment in a month’s time. This process is more convenient since payday loans will not go through overdraft. People are now resorting to payday loans because of overdraft experiences. Some of these are unauthorized and cause problems due to high interest rates given by banks. Overdrafts are required to be paid in days or months which are expensive on borrower’s end.  Online quick loans can be easily accessed through the Internet. This can be a cash loan instant thing because of its simple process. Applications can be done online and once approved; it will be deposited on the borrower’s active account. This is a very convenient way because it’s a one day process as long as documents and requirements are complete. People who have experienced troubles with overdrafts have resorted to payday loans for their emergency needs.


Cheapest payday loans UK can offer you as much as £750 and can get it the same day. There are also other online quick loans that provide higher amount. Approval of applications is dependent on the capacity to pay and salary range per month or per annum. If you want a cash loan instant approval, you can check the Internet for more information.


Payday loans have become popular because of their accessibility. These types of loans are ideal for people who are in need of urgent financial assistance. There’s no need to wait for a long process and approval. As long as you meet the entire requirement, you will instantly get the money deposited into your account. It will not also give you headache on overdrafts because payday loans are set to a one off payment.

Read More