I lost my discipline and thought I could time the market
I have a friend who asked me, since I wrote about selling too early and buying too high: How do I then time the market so I can buy at its lows and sell at its peak?
As of today, my total profits are still negative. I like to share these facts upfront as it's part of my learning journey so we can all learn together. I also update my total profits and losses on my profile from time to time (currently - $3100 loss at of 27 Nov).
Why do I tell you this? Well, my point is that if I knew, I wouldn't be at a loss right? The lesson I've learnt is that it is impossible to time the market. Time and again, I've seen gurus boast about their years of experience, only to meet with loss and regret. (I have a gripe against this group because people actually believe them because of past success.) The market is shaken by both internal (our motivation, goals) and external forces (macro economy, market sentiments). It changes fluidly and all we can do is "anticipate". Even then, as a collective market, sentiments can be read wrongly and you may eventually be wrong. I've been wrong more times than I can count.
However, I have learnt to minimize my losses. Since I can't time the market, I buy and hold. One thing I've learnt is never to buy during a surge. FOMO is the worst thing you can have. Once you have identified a good stock, study it. Besides not buying during a surge, you must know what a good entry price is. I have been concentrating on 2 stocks most and I have an idea of what I think a good entry price is. The only thing is, last week, I bought it too early because of FOMO!! It took very long to drop and I was too excited. The discipline to enter at the correct price is just as important as the discipline to hold.
That brings me to my next point, holding. It takes patience and discipline to hold. This is aided by allocating funds and time. By having enough savings and the power to hold, you can then start to hold.
Lastly, it is the discipline to sell. I tried selling when I saw a surge in $DBS GROUP HOLDINGS LTD(D05.SI)$
You will note that I never mentioned timing the market, because it is not part of fundamentals. Buy and sell at your targets and have the discipline to meet them.
Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.
If you are trading, then i would suggest better counters / stocks to trade. Certainly more movement over at US market.