At present, my stocks portfolio with COL Financial is experiencing a low. (Even my BDO UITF is on the negative side right now.) I’d like to believe the market is down or having some sort of a correction. It’s been like that since the month started. Brenda, a newbie stock market investor like me, shares the same sentiment here. The last time I checked (which was this morning), one of my stocks even had a loss of -18.50%. Should I be worried? My heart says yes while my mind says no. I choose to listen to the latter. I try to be positive about this because I have faith in my stock picks.
To continue with my Lessons on Stock Market Investing series (you may read Vol. I here), below are some of the things I learned from my nine months (as of April 21st) of investing directly in the stock market:
1. Grab an opportunity when you see one. You don’t just get ready for it, but get very ready for it. Nasa huli talaga ang pagsisisi. Last month, I wanted to sell this particular stock because it had already registered a gain of 20% but I hesitated. I reasoned it hadn’t reached the target price I assigned to it yet so it was okay. After a week, though, the price of that same stock had plummeted which prevented me from locking in gains. Now, I set a gain threshold of 20% (will sell if that has been reached) to all my stock picks except JFC and one other company which I plan not to touch for as long as I can.
2. Plan your investing very well. I bought two different stocks under the speculative category and until now, I haven’t seen a gain. Another case of impulsive buying that I slightly regretted. But you know, I believe in those companies so I guess that wasn’t a product of bad planning, after all. I just have to be patient and wait for them to rise and shine.
3. Do not hesitate to put money into your account. You never know when a good opportunity to buy a certain stock will come, so you better have some spare funds for that. I am guilty of this because I sometimes delay transferring money from my BDO savings account to my COL Financial account. My reason for this is that I am unable to stop myself from buying stocks as long as I see spare funds in my account. Again, I need to learn to practice discipline in this area. I need to remind myself that I should have some spare funds for use in buying good stocks when the market is down.
4. Study, study, study. Stock market investing cannot be mastered overnight given the fact that there’s so much to learn about it. What I do is I continue to study it by following stock market blogs and forums. (I am also still in the process of understanding some basic terms and concepts used in technical analysis.) But I try to filter the wealth of information out there because trust me, not everything you read is true or effective. You still have to decide for yourself because in the end, it’s your money that’s going to grow or disappear.
My stock market journey continues and I’ll surely share with you more lessons from my personal experience in the coming months. I also hope to add more money to my COL Financial account soon. Windfalls, come to me already! 🙂
May you choose happiness always,
My stocks are down too, so you’re not alone. Hang in there and average down if you have extra cash and if that’s part of your plan.
Thanks, Jill! Sayang nga I don’t have extra cash right now. 🙁
Special mention pa ako? hahaha.. i so agree with number 3. May konting delay din kasi when you deposit via fund transfer via BDO or BPI. Sometimes i miss buying a stock on that particular day because i don’t have enough funds in my COL account.
Yes, kasi medyo same tayo ng naisip i-blog eh. Haha. Mabilis lang sa online banking ng BDO in my experience (thru Pay Bills menu), in less than two hours nagre-reflect na, hehe. 🙂
I am hoping na makapag invest din ako sa stock market soon.. I love reading things like this kasi it gives me so much inspiration. Na shock din ako sa -18% juskolerd.. parang aatakihin ako pero sabi nga ng mga books na nabasa ko na din, you can expect things like that pero, tiwala lang..
Go, Jen, kaya mo yan! And yes, tiwala lang talaga. 🙂
If ang goal mo naman ay long term, there’s no need to fret. Tataas uli yan.
I believe that. Minsan lang talaga nakakakaba. Hehe. Meron akong stocks na pang long-term at meron din na tine-trade ko after ilang weeks or months. 🙂
Matagal ko ng gusto mapag aralan ang mag invest sa stock market, madame akong friends na nag oofer na turuan ako. Kahit na nagbabasa ako about it hindi ko pa rin talaga sya maintindihan kelangan talaga upuan. He He He. Kaya nga in the end ung insurance sa Sunlife na lang muna yung kinuha ko sa ngayon. But I think kasi hindi na ko bumabata so parang medyo late na ko.
Ako rin naman marami pang hindi naiintindihan. It’s a continuing education, I must say. Believe me, you are never late, sis. Try mo rin pag ready ka na. Hehe. 🙂
Gusto kong mag-start na sa stock market pero hindi pa ready ang dibdib ko sa ups & down ng value ng mga stocks at di pa rin ako ready financially, heheh.
I’ll just keep reading your post ms edel until such time na ready na ako both financially and emotionally na mag-invest sa stock market.
Thanks ms edel for sharing this info 🙂
Yaan mo Grace marami ka pa mababasa ditong mga lessons na matututunan ko along the way. Open an account when you’re ready, take your time. 🙂
thanks, aabangan ko lagi yang mga post mo rgdg stock market.
naintindihan ko na naman ang systema at galaw sa stock market kaya lang sa diskarte ako mahina tlaga, plus the fact na financially hindi pa ko capable sumugal baka di pa kayanin ng dibdib ko yung downside nito, heheh.
thanks again, ms. edel.
I wish you all the best in your stock market journey and thank you for sharing your experience. Kaya mo yan!
Niño Natividad of the Truly Rich Club Insider
Thank you, Nino! 🙂
Wala pa din akong stocks game plan. Anyway, I’m liking BPI Trade more.
Ako pabago-bago pa rin ang game plan, hehe. Why? Mas user friendly ba doon? 🙂