are you a gambler? no, just a FOREX trader

:lol
FOREX is my new hobby. By a twist of fate....nah, just by coincidence my sister heard the ad and wanted to drag me along.... I signed up for a free course in which they introduced students to basic FOREX concepts and practices, and promoted subscription to ProAct, a FOREX charting software to help guide traders in market direction, but that's a topic for another blog entry.

Now, for this post, why do I think FOREX is risky, yet still happily explore it?

First of all, since I was lucky enough that the FOREX club I belong was able to negotiate with the broker to allow their students to open and play around with the micro accounts if they wish. Micro account means we're trading at 1/100 the standard cost. Fair enough, I opened a $500 account with FXDD (www.fxdd.com) to play with, since paper-trading isn't doing too much to my blood (or blood pressure :P) and I can't learn too well that way. $500 is still small enough for me to risk, as a tuition to my learning. It would have been a whole different mentality if I had to open a $50000 account to learn FOREX trading!!!

The FOREX risk factor?
Lets look at traditional stock trading, say you'll need to lay out $100 to by a share of $100 stock. It is a 1:1 leverage. If that stock goes up or down 1%, your gain/loss is $1. The riskier stock traders sometimes trade on margin, so you'll be trading on 1:5, 1:10, 1:25 margin, yeah? And be very careful when there's a margin call. In FOREX, the leverage is typically 1:100 (or 1:200), that is a huge leverage power, which also translate to huge risk. When I lay out $100 I can buy $10000 worth of currency, and when that currency pair fluctuates by 1%, you either double your investment or wash it out.

Why is it still ok to trade?
Because if you can train yourself to be disciplined, statistically if you don't trade more than 2-5% of your account, then you'll be very unlikely (1/million probability) to bankrupt your investment. It sounds small I know - but if you think about the 1:100 leverage, that 2% already allows you a buying power double the amount of your investment.

Like the stock market, FOREX market is speculation based. Market goes up and down every day, so there's opportunity for trades every single day; so don't worry about missing out, just concentrade on discipline, discipline, discipline.

FOREX market opens 24/7, Sunday 1pm through Friday 1pm, and you're not limited to trading only in the US market (New York), you're trading global market. I can typically trade the London opening market (which opens around midnight PST) and New York openning market (which opens 5am PST, 8am EST), to work around my day job.

Am I winning so far?
Well, what do you expect? :P
With my $500 account, I was down to $450 at one point and up to $630 at one point. I credit and blame it to my learning curve. I am still a student nowhere remotely close to an actual trader, leave alone a professional trader. Though I can unbiasedly say that so far the winning trades seemed pretty good, where greed and inexperienced reaction contributed to many or most of the loosing trades.

I will be VERY VERY nervous, though, when I start making good profit on my tiny $500 account, and ready to advance to the real account. I will probably be trading with a slightly different mentality and slightly skewed discipline, though I try not to o_o

Life is like a box of chocolate...

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I wanted a strawberry filled white chocolate - but it looks like I'm getting a brandy filled dark choco right now. Though it tastes somewhat bitter and gets me a bit on the tipsy side, it's still comforting to know its a nice gourmet piece of chocolate...just different....at the end it is still a sweet taste.

Why dogs are people's best friend ?

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When we hear people say dogs are loyal, we get a general idea of what they mean, though the axact definition of loyalty may be a little different and specific to each owner. It is the same as love, there are always this generally defined effection and commitment that bound the two persons in love, but the specific examples of effection and commitment are profound, and each couple have their own subsets.

Having always grown up with dogs around the house, my definition of raising a dog doesn't simply mean feeding food and providing shelter, it involves the bonding time, the cuddling, the baby talk and everything else that build the effection and trust between the owner and his/her dog. I often see people oversimplify the task of having a pet - they give him a dog house, a bowl full of food and water, then leave him home alone all day long; even when they are home, still they are emotionally absent. The poor dog would run, play, sit, alone, nobody pays attention to him/her, like an unwanted household member. Think deeper, having a dog is like having a baby. Parents who define the task of parenting only as feeding, dressing and providing shelter and neglect the task of bonding and nurturing their babies' emotional world, are setting themselves up for future failure. How rewarding would it be after 18 years of "raising" your children, the kids turn out indifferent and couldn't care less about you, their parents? Wouldn't that be a wasted effort this whole 18 years? If we already decide to put in that effort, why don't we put in the right level and the right aspect of effort? the reward would be exponential.

Now, why are dogs human's best friends? Call me pessimistic, but I find loyalty and friendship in dogs that sometimes I don't find in people.

Do you ever have that relative who is a loader but never a giver, whose whole purpose is to take advantage of you because they know they could - and you, reluctantly but have no choice, have to continue haboring their selfishness for one reason or another? Or do you have that cousin or friend who would never call to say hi (b/c you're not worth the long distant minutes on their Verizon plan), but when they do call, it always is a favor to ask. If and when you do, you would question the principle of fairness in human relationship, the return on investment (for those of you that have a business mind). Monetary or not, it is the same concept to me. If I invest my love, emotion, trust, etc. into somebody, I expect a return, or else it is a losing deal and it only makes sense to stop investing into that person. I know how that sounds, but in all fairness, I think that is as human as human can be. "Unconditional love" is great, idealistic yet unrealistic. I don't remember where I read or heard this analogy from, or mayabe I even made this up myself (hehe), but my analogy of human relationship is like a bank account. I can only credit people with so much upfront, but they are gonna need to make some deposits if they plan to continue making withdrawals. If they deposit love, care, trust, etc. into my bank, its gonna grow interest with time. Vice versa, if they never make a deposit and only withdraw, that credit is eventually going to run out and my "love bank" account is now bankrupt. OK, now that I introduce you to the concept of a love bank, think, how many people are in the financial meltdown in your love bank? haha :P

With my dog, I never have to encounter this problem. If I put time, love, care into him, he knows axactly that, and he gives me back axactly that. He is simple, he will tell me when he's hungry or will come to me when he wants a pad, I never have to guess. He learns and understands my routine; he waits patiently during the day and looks forward to me returning home each evening, happily wagging his tail to show me just how happy he is to see me. When he has me around, he would couragously chase and bark at other cats, birds, etc...When he's scared, he would run to me and stay behind looking for protection. If I am in a bad mood and snap, he would forgive me, all I have to do is to come rub his head and make up for it. Do you believe that dogs can totally pick up one's energy and mood? For example, when I am happy, he can pick up that positive energy and would playfully share the time with me and be hyper with me. When I'm sad, he would curl up right against my lap to offer me his hug. Have you ever talked to your pet, especially when you're unhappy? Next time you do, pay attention to his response. My baby dog blinks his eyes while listening to my complaints, he looks up at me every so often, and I just felt heard and understood. That is the bond between us. He never fails to return on my emotional investment. He may misbehave sometimes, or may be a little spoiled brat one too often, but he never fails me. From him I find absolute loyalty absolute friendship and uncalculated love. That is the bond between us. Oh, not to mention one biggest bonus, dogs don't talk, so there's never gonna be arguments, in other words you win every argument (given you train him well on his commands...haha...j/k)
That is what a dog friend can give and not every human friend in my life can.

Now that I tell you my definition of loyalty and friendship - did I convince you a little bit that doggie friends sometimes can offer you the loyalty and friendship that some human can't ?

Cheers,
with my half-empty glass (may it become half-full some day)

Dress For Success

Though I admitted I loved the comfort of sweat pants, t-shirts, shorts, etc. even in college I've always tried not to dress too casual to all my classes. Not that I suggest one should dress up (nor did we have the budget to dress up - as poor college students), but try to dress appropriately, a decent pair of jeans or pants, and blouse or nice t-shirt would do. Think of your classes as meetings; if your professors come to class in pants and button-shirts, why would we show up in short and t-shirt, right? Have you heard of the phrase "dress for success" ? People's first impression of us is based on our appearance, and remember you only have one chance to make that first impression.

Well some of you may argue that one's appearance is secondary to one's true ability; people will realize and respect our ability once they work with us. Yes. But the first impression earns you that opportunity to work with these people. Before they can realize your capability through your work ethics, they see you as you dress and present yourself at the interview. As confident and technically capable as you know you are, will you still show up for an interview, dressed in ripped jeans and sweater? And then you may further argue that once a person is already in a job, why should he/she continue to impress? isn't the first impression already taken care of ? That is not true. You'll find out that every day, every week on the job, you will be presented with constant opportunities to meet with potential customers, potential partners, potential auditors, etc. If they aren't impressed, that contract is going somewhere else. So the point is, once we start working in a professional environment, we are bound to have to make that first impression every day. No need for Gucci's, but a respectable khakis/pants and button-shirts combition will do (if you are in technical field like I do).

As I am on this trend of thought, I remember spending the first 2 years at my job trying to dress and act "older". As politically incorrect as it sounds, coworkers and managements do seem to respect and pay more attention to us if they perceive us as mature individuals. So here I was 22-23 years old, starting my first professional job, already tried to be 25-26. If you ask me, I will honestly tell you that I didn't like it sometimes. But it indeed helped. The bright side is, now that I actually am older, I no longer have to bridge that gap - I look and act "older" naturally ! haha

Buying a car

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My very first own car was an used Corolla, which my brother fished out for me. It wasn't the studdiest thing in the world, but clean and ran well and did its job. I remember paying what I call "one-way insurance", meaning only liability but no collision, to keep my insurance cost down.

That real job out of college actually paid very decent (considering my standard of a poor college student life for the prior 5 years), so I decided to get myself a new car. It would be my first brand new vehicle. I hesitated at first about the monthly payment, but Mr. TST (the boyfriend then) convinced me that anybody who works hard to earn a decent-paid job and career should deserve to have a pulling-off-the-lot experience. I just needed a little push to justify it, and there we go!

Mr. TST helped me do most of the research. I was able to narrow down to mini to mid size SUVs. The reason I chose to buy an SUV was because I wanted more cargo space. I'm not usually a fast driver so I'll still be safe in an SUV, and I like the fact that I can get better visibility of the road when I sit higher in an SUV, as oppopsed to a sedan. Ofcourse, back in 2002 gasoline price wasn't as inflated as it is now, so SUV was less of an uneconomical choice as it has become recently.

Here are some of our tips on researching before making our purchase, hopefully it can helpful to you too if you're in the market to buy a car:

We looked into consumer report (http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/) for same class comparison and rating. Also, kelly blue book (http://www.kbb.com/) is a good place to get a feel for prices. Another useful tool for us was the local newspaper, where dealerships would advertise about their one-at-this-price deals. What this means is the dealership would have 1-2 cars that they would sell at or below invoice price, first come first serve, and buyers usually don't have the option to choose colors or to upgrade, the car sells as it is on their lot. I believe the LA Times Friday paper has these type of ads. These deals are usually pretty good, you can save a few grands, but they go fast. If you're not good at haggling on prices and aiming for this type of deal, I recommend that you do all your research and decision up front. You need to decide at which price do you consider it's a deal, which options are important and must-have's for you and which you can live without, which colors (give yourself a first, second, third preference for colors, and no more, you don't want to regret everytime you look at your car, right?) . Once the car within your specs appears on the ad, quick! be the first in line and go get it. When I say first in line, it can really mean showing up at the dealership at 5am and grab the first salesman you see. You really don't have much time to research and decide once the ad is out.

That's kind of how we bought mine. We turned down the first one-at-this-price deal because we didn't like the hidden costs the dealership tagged on, and also the color wasn't what I had in mind. A month later, Mr. TST found a deal for my SUV model through CarDirect (http://www.cardirect.com/), this time the price was fair and luckily the color I wanted. CarDirect works as a car broker; you submit a price bid with your specifications, and it'll find a local dealership who is willing to sell you a car at your bid price.

You can choose to have a car loan with a bank of your choice, or go with the financing options the dealership offers. For us, we just did the loan with the dealership since they offered a pretty comparable rate anyways, just made things convenient for us. Buying new car from a dealership has its perk is that they'll take care of all the paperwork for you, like getting the license plate, smog check, registration, etc. The down side is they will force you to buy full insurance, so no saving on that part, even if you are a careful driver.

Some tips on saving on insurance :
+ Research and compare prices from different insurance companies. We didn't have (or maybe we just didn't know) things like Progressive Direct (http://www.progressive.com/) when we bought mine. So we just basically called up and ask for their rate, sometimes they made us fill out a form, no big deal, we filled out with semi-true information, whatever it takes to get us a quote.
+ Always ask them for discounts: Most companies give discount for good students, professionals, honor or professional society members. Multiple car discount if you and your family have multiple cars already insured with them. Discount if you or your family already have their house or business insured with them. Always ask, it doesn't hurt to ask.
+ If you have been driving for 8-10 years, tell them that (depends on the company, that cut-off number may vary), and if your age is above 29 or 30 (i think?) you'll get a discount as well.

Dating

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Unless you are that studdy studdy kid in highschool, you're probably like me, no highschool sweethearts. I doubt if alot of people actually aim to be college bound at the hope for a larger pool of dating prospects, but it just actually happens that we do have a very high chance to meet somebody at college. Well, the rule of typicality onces again applies to me.

Funny thing though, is when you started meeting one prospect, you started getting multiple. All showed up at your door step around the same time, and sometimes I knew about them, sometimes I didn't. Well, I've always had this principle against double-timing, so it basically sux when all of a sudden I was presented with this oppportunity to choose and reject, at the risk of rejecting the right one, while in reality I have not had a chance to really got to know any one really well. It's almost like life's first lesson at, not so much of what choice you make, but rather how to handle your choice-making. There's no right or wrong approach, I can't blame you for wanting to keep all the candidates around until you know more of what choices to make. Personally for me, I chose to go with my instinct, and if God-forbidden it didn't work out, I would move on to the next; it would cost me time but I rather that than keeping everybody, including myself, all tangled in a mess of confusion. That was just how I handle my choice. How would you handle your choice if you were presented with the same scenario?

Hello out there

Just a shout-out to all the twenty-something thirty years-old folks out there **waving** !!!

Look, an average person lives 70-80 years, and I believe one of the most, if not THE most, significant decade of their lives is the twenty-to-thirty years. As for me, the twenty to thirty period is such a transitional period. I transitioned from a student to a professional, from single to married, and on the intellectual and mental side I've also matured into a more well rounded, socially correct (whether that's good or bad) and financially responsible individual.

As I go through my various humble experiences, learning, discoveries, mistakes, I hope this blog will be a little corner for me to share my laughters and frowns, braggings and vents, and hopefully there will be other twenty something thirty folks out there who can relate to me and my blog.

Cheers,