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Many people think that the stock market is complex and that trading is hard. Maybe that was true before, but nowadays there are many ways to make stock trading easy and hassle-free. One way is to use the tools, services, and information here on Investagrams!
Here’s how we can help you on your stock market journey:
Learn using our free videos and articles
If you’re a beginner in the stock market, or even if you have no idea about how stocks work, we have learning modules that can help you.
If you’re starting from nothing, you can read the Investagrams guide on How to Start Investing in the Stock Market first. For concepts that are more advanced, like how to read charts and understanding moving averages, you can follow Investa Daily—your trusted source for investing tips and stock market advice.
Find your ideal stocks using our automated stock screener
Once you’ve learned the basics of stock analysis, you can start to develop your own strategies and trading system. Use InvestaScreener to quickly and easily find stocks that match your criteria. Filter stocks based on the 52 week high, support, resistance, and much more.
InvestaScreener is a powerful and flexible tool that will help you save tons of time and effort when analyzing stocks. With this powerful stock screener, you can do what would normally take hours in just a few clicks.
Practice using our virtual trading platform
If you’re excited to trade but afraid to risk money, don’t worry! You can practice with the Investagrams virtual trading platform. It shows real companies and actual price movements in the Philippine stock market. Why is that important? Because you get to practice under real market conditions, and you’re prepared to jump straight into trading with real money any time!
Buy, sell, and manage your portfolio just like the real thing to test your strategies before putting real money on the line.
Monitor stocks and charts in real-time
Use Investagrams to get complete and up-to-date information on any stock listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange. Easily access all the numbers you need to make smarter decisions and better trades.
You can also study the price movements of your stocks using our real-time charting tool. Here you will easily be able to monitor the historical movement of price and volume, understand the context of supply and demand, and identify patterns that are forming in the market.
Stay up-to-date on the latest stock-specific news
Instead of spending hours gathering information from tons of different sources, now you can just look atthe Investagrams News Feed. See all the business, economic, and stock-specific news organized in just one page. Not only will you save time, but you’ll also find it easier to monitor important news that could affect your stock picks.
You can even follow and interact with other traders on Investagrams’ social platform to see what people think and how the news may affect the stock market.
Save time with our price and disclosure alerts
We’re all busy with our lives, whether it’s because of work, school, or our families — we all know how important our time is. But becoming financially free is important too, right?
With InvestaWatcher,you can receive instantalerts whenever your stocks hit your buy point, target price, and cut loss level. You will instantly get notified when your stocks have disclosures such as the earnings report, company buy backs, acquisitions,and other important announcements.
The best part? You can receive the alerts everywhere — SMS, e-mail, in-app notifications, and even Facebook Messenger! Forget about spending hours monitoring the stock market and let us do the work for you.
Get help on-the-go with the Investagrams Facebook chatbot
Investagrams is fully integrated with the Facebook Messenger through the InvestaChatbot.
Just chat the Investagrams FB page to get instant information on the current stock price, news, financial reports, and more!
Improve your skills by joining events and competitions
Investagrams holds many competitions and on-ground stock trading seminars throughout the year. Follow our Facebook page for announcements, and join us to take your trading to the next level. Plus, we’d love to meet you!
Our mission is to make your stock market journey easier and, of course, more profitable. We’re always developing new features and services to serve you better, so keep checking back to see if we’ve added anything new! If you have a question or a request, just let us know in the comments below!
We’ve all heard the saying, “Practice makes perfect,” but practicing in the stock market can get very expensive very quickly! Don’t worry though, because we’ve got good news for you—now you can practice trading stocks without risking any money!
With our virtual trading platform, you can buy stocks, test strategies, and manage a portfolio under real market conditions. Learn about actual companies listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange, and jump straight into real trading whenever you’re ready.
Already have an account on Investagrams? Just follow these simple steps to get started with your virtual trading account:
STEP 1: How to use the virtual trading platform (vTrade)
Once you are logged in to Investagrams, simply click ‘Virtual Trade‘ on the top left navigation bar. You will see a dropdown menu that corresponds to ‘Virtual Trade’ menu option. Click ‘My Portfolio‘ to go to your virtual trading page. You will see the overview of your Portfolio, Records, Order History (left side) and the Buy and Sell box on the right for you to start trading. Choose your preferred Stock and enter the number of quantity that you want to trade in. Click ‘Buy’ if you want to buy stocks or Sell Order’ if you want to sell stocks.
STEP 2: How to buy a stock
On the Buy Order page, use the drop down menu to find the stock you want. You can also type the stock name or stock code to find your stock faster. Enter the quantity or number of shares you want to buy, and simply click the “BUY” button at the bottom of the page.
Other important information you will see on the page include: your available cash, the current price of the stock, the boardlot or minimum number of shares you can buy, and more.
STEP 3: How to sell a stock
To sell shares of a stock you own, simply follow the same steps on the Sell Order page—use the drop down menu or simply type in the stock name to find the stock you want to sell. Then, enter the number of shares you want to sell and click the “SELL” button below.
Important information such as the current price, boardlot, and more can also be seen here.
STEP 4: How to manage your virtual portfolio
To view your portfolio, simply go to the Portfolio page. Here you will see a summary of the stocks you currently have—the number of shares for each stock, the total cost, current market value, profit or loss so far, and more. You can also see the amount of cash you have available (at the top left corner) and the total value of your assets (stocks + cash).
Easy, right?
Don’t wait another second and start practicing today! You have nothing to lose!
Have you tried the virtual trading platform? Tell us about your experience in the comments below!
Being profitable in the stock market is not easy as it requires not only your belief, patience, and discipline, but also a great deal of your time to research and adequate understanding of the market, among many others.
Here’s a list of common stock market terminologies that you will inevitably come across in your investing journey. We’ve also added the gist of their definitions to get you ahead as learning these jargons (for newbies) is of extreme importance especially when you are starting out.
The goal here is not to memorize every terminology but use it as a guide to understand each vocabulary so you may take value from it:
GENERAL INVESTING TERMS
Invest – putting your money where it can grow
Stock – a share in the company
Dividends – the amount of money paid by the company to its shareholders
Common Stock – the type of stock that is least prioritized when declaring dividends and mostly profits through price appreciation
Preferred Stock – the type of stock that is first prioritized when declaring dividends
Risk – the potential of either gaining profits or losing your capital
Returns or Rewards – profits earned by investors
Short Term – less than six weeks (may vary)
Medium Term – six weeks to nine months (may vary)
Long Term – more than nine months (may vary)
Investors – people who invest their money with the expectation of gaining returns over a longer timeframe
Traders – people who buy and sell stocks to earn from price growth over a shorter timeframe
Blue-Chip Stocks – stocks of the biggest companies in the country
Growth Stocks – stocks which have high growth potential
Value Stocks – stocks which have low price-to-earnings or P/E ratio
Speculative Stocks – stocks which carry high risk compared to similar stocks
Defensive Stocks – stocks which do not decrease in price immediately, even when the market is down
Penny Stocks – stocks which trade at a very low price
Stock Market – where investors or traders buy and sell company stocks
Stock Market Index – a measurement of the value of the entire stock market or a particular industry in the market
PSEi (aka PSE Composite Index) – the stock market index of Philippine Stock Exchange which consists of top 30 listed companies based on market capitalization
Industry Index – the index of a group of companies which are classified based on their business activities (i.e. Financial, Holdings, Industries, Mining & Oil, Properties, Services)
Bullish – used to describe a particular stock market or stock when its value is going up
Bearish – used to describe a particular stock market or stock when its value is going down
Initial Public Offering (IPO) – when firms are selling their company shares for the first time in the public to raise capital
Market Value – the value at which a stock can be sold in the market at a specific point in time
Unrealized P/L – profits or losses which have not yet been converted to cash because the investor has not sold the stock
Buying Power – the available money an investor has in his account for buying stocks
Buy Order – a request made by an investor when he or she wants to buy stocks
Sell Order – a request made by an investor when he or she wants to sell stocks
Volume – number of shares bought and sold in a particular day
Bid – the prices at which the buyers want to buy a particular stock
Ask – the prices at which the sellers want to sell a particular stock
Bid-Ask Spread – the price difference between the bid and the ask
Trade – made when the bid and ask price have matched
Brokers – firms or individuals who are licensed to execute the buy and sell orders in exchange for a commission fee
Portfolio – a group of financial assets such as stocks held by the investor
Average Cost/Price – the total price at which you bought a group of shares plus the commission fees, divided by the total number of shares
Shares – units of capitalization that represent part-ownership of a company (i.e. buying 1 share means you contributed capital to the company and therefore own an equivalent portion of it)
Board Lot – the standardized minimum and multiple number of shares to be traded for a particular stock, depends per price range
Cash Dividends – dividends given in the form of cash
Stock Dividends – dividends given in the form of additional shares
Profits/Gains – the amount that an investor earns when he sells stocks at a price higher than his average costs
Losses – the amount that an investor loses in his capital when he sells stocks at price lower than his average costs
Stock Split – when a company divides its shares according to a particular ratio, increasing the number of shares and lowering the price of each share (i.e. 1 share becomes 2 shares)
Reverse Stock Split – the opposite of stock split, when a company decides to combine its shares in a particular ratio to decrease number of shares and increase price (i.e. 2 shares become 1 share)
Most Active – most active stocks in a particular day in terms of volume traded
Top Gainers – list of stocks which had the largest increase in price in a particular day
Worst Losers – list of stocks which had the largest decrease in price in a particular day
Year to Date (YTD) – the period from the beginning of the year (January 1) to present
Investment Strategy – set of rules and behaviors an investor practices towards his investment portfolio
Peso Cost Averaging – an investment strategy where you put the same amount of money into a particular stock in a regular schedule to get a lower average cost
Value Investing – an investment strategy where investors look for undervalued stocks
Growth Investing – an investment strategy where investors look for companies which have a high growth potential
Margin – the equity value an investor has in his account/portfolio
Average Down – buying additional shares of a stock for a price that is lower than your current average cost
Long Position – A “long” or “long position” is the buying of a security such as a stock, commodity or currency with the expectation that the asset will rise in value.
Short Position – A “short”, “short position”, or “short selling” is a trading strategy where the investor sells shares of borrowed stock in the open market. The expectation of the investor is that the price of the stock will decrease over time, at which point the he will purchase the shares to replace those that he initially borrowed.
MARKET STATUSES
Pre-Open Period – trading participants can modify and cancel existing orders or enter new orders
Pre-Open No-Cancel Period – trading participants may enter new orders but may not modify or cancel open orders
Opening Period – opening prices are calculated during this period
Continuous Trading – the period where trading participants’ orders are matched and may enter, cancel, and edit orders
Market Recess – the period where trading-related activities are halted
Pre-Close Period – indicates the last two minutes to open new orders but can’t cancel or modify orders
Run-off Period – trading participants can still enter limit and market orders but matching for both is executed at the closing price of the stock
ORDER TERMS
Stock Order – a request to either buy or sell a stock
Normal Orders – orders which follow the normal board lot
Oddlot Orders – orders which are less than the minimum board lot
Good to Day (GTD) – an option in ordering where your order will expire at the end of trading day when not fulfilled
Good to Week (GTW) – an option in ordering where your order will last for a week
Good to Month (GTM) – an option in ordering where your order will last for a month
Good to Cancel (GTC) – an option in ordering where your order will last until you cancel
ORDER TYPES
Market Order – these are buy and sell orders that transacts the current bid and ask prices
Limit Order – this type of order allows you to set the price you’re willing to buy or sell a stock far from the current prices
Iceberg Orders– allows you to hide a portion of the volume of your order
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Fundamental Analysis – a method of stock market analysis that evaluates the economic and financial factors affecting the intrinsic value of a company
Intrinsic Value – the actual and true value of the company based on all aspects of its businesses
Overvalued – when the current price or market value of the stock is higher than its intrinsic value or the average industry price-to-earnings ratio
Undervalued – when the current price or market value of the stock is below its intrinsic value or the average industry price-to-earnings ratio
Income Statement – provides an overview of revenues, expenses and net income
Balance Sheet – provides an overview of assets, liabilities and equity
Statement of Cash Flows – traces the company’s cash movement from operating, investing and financial activities
Financial Ratios – ratios derived from the financial statements of the companies which are used for evaluating the overall condition of its company performance
Price-to-Earnings Ratio (P/E Ratio) – measures the current price of a stock over its company earnings per share, the lower the better
Earnings per Share (EPS) – company earnings for the year divided by the number of shares
Leverage – borrowed capital or loans used to fund company activities
Debt Ratio – the total debt of the company divided by its total assets, the lower the better
Debt-to-Equity Ratio or Leverage Ratio – a company’s debts divided by the value of its equity (based on preferred and common stocks)
Dividend Payout Ratio – the dividends paid divided by the company’s net income
Dividend Yield – the percentage of dividends declared in relation to the stock’s current price
Par Value per Share – the price of the stock during its Initial Public Offering (IPO)
Book Value per Share – the value of the stock in the company’s books (total equity divided by number of shares)
Price to Book Value Ratio – the ratio used to compare company’s current price or market value to its book value, the lower the better
Sector – a subsection in the exchange of companies that share similar characteristics in operation
Sub-sector – a subset of a sector of a group of stocks that have the most similarities in terms of operation
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Technical Analysis – a method of stock market analysis that uses past data and statistics to predict future movements in the market
Trend – the general direction of a market, a stock, or the price of an asset based on a chart of its historical value
Uptrend – when price movements consistently reach higher highs and higher lows
Downtrend – when price movements consistently reach lower highs and lower lows
Sideways – when the price of a stock moves in a generally flat manner
Chart – a visual summary of a stock’s prices within a certain period
Open – the first price at which a stock is sold for a particular day
High – the highest price at which a stock is sold for a particular day
Low – the lowest price at which a stock is sold for a particular day
Close – the last price at which a stock is sold for a particular day
Volume – the number of shares that are bought and sold on a particular day
Value Traded – volume multiplied by the price that investors have paid for a stock
Indicators/Oscillators – measurements that investors use to anticipate price movements, momentum, and other behaviors of a particular stock or market
Support – a price level at which, historically, a stock has had difficulty falling below
Resistance – a price level which historically, a stock has had difficulty breaking above
Breakdown – a situation where the price falls below the support level
Breakout – a situation where the price rises above the resistance level
Reversal – the change of a price level from resistance/support to support/resistance after a breakout/breakdown
Cut Loss/Stop Loss – realizing or actualizing your loss by selling the stock to save you from a bigger loss
Bottom-Picking– the act of buying a stock with the anticipation that it has bottomed out from its downtrend
Divergence – this happens when a technical indicator and price action are headed into opposite directions
Bullish Divergence – a signal that indicates an impending upward move
Bullish Signal – signal that is given by a technical indicator that indicates a possible bullish move
Bearish Divergence – a signal that indicates an impending downward move
Bearish Signal – a signal that is given by a technical indicator that indicates a possible bearish move
Volatility– the proportion or rate wherein the price of a stock is increasing or decreasing
Confluence – this occurs when multiple indicators or strategies share the same sentiment/bias
Insider Trading – this is done by someone who has non-disclosed, nonpublic information about a company and trades its shares based on it
Rally – a period of continuous surges, whether downward or upward, in price
Parabolic Move – an upward movement in price where it moves in the manner of a parabola
Oversold – a reading made by a technical indicator that indicates that it’s below its period’s “true” value
Overbought – a reading made by a technical indicator that indicates that it’s above its period’s “true” value
Momentum – the rate of the acceleration of a stock’s price
Momentum Trading – the method of buying a stock while there’s buying pressure from other investors or traders
Range Trading – a strategy where a trader buys at support and sells at resistance during a sideways movement
Target Price (TP) – the price point where you plan to sell a position
Time Stop – a way to sell a stock when it isn’t moving within your bias in a specified time
Trail Stop – an amount below the current trading price of a stock that you plan to sell it for a profit
Tranche Buying – the action of buying a stock in portions
Tranche Selling – the action of selling a stock in portions
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In my opinion, he is someone who can confidently grow his investment portfolio through realistic means and without much stress. This confidence enables him to do what really matters to him as money is not the main objective of what he does. A happy and effective investor epitomizes “true financial freedom” because he knows that he can rely on the returns of his investment portfolio when he retires.
Contrary to popular belief, a happy and effective investor does not need to have a degree in finance or be an analyst (like me) or a stock broker. He just needs to have certain habits that are easy to adopt.
In this article, I’ll be sharing what I believe are some of the essential habits of happy and effective investors.
HABIT 1: INVEST CONSISTENTLY
A lot of people don’t invest because they think that getting a high paying job is enough to guarantee financial freedom. Ironically though, having a high paying job is not enough to guarantee financial freedom. If it were so, why are numerous highly paid celebrities and athletes bankrupt a few years after retirement? Moreover, according to a study by LIMRA on “when 25 year olds today reach 60”, a vast majority will be broke (63%), while 5% will still need to work. Only 1% will be wealthy and 4% will be financially independent.
Although getting a job that pays well is important, it is also equally important to invest consistently to become a happy and effective investor.
How much should you set aside? The 50-20-30 rule stipulates that you should consistently set aside 20% of what you earn on financial priorities which include investments. When you get a bonus, strive to set aside 50%for investments.
Resist the temptation to buy things that you want but don’t really need. Just remember that when you choose investments over your wants, your investments will eventually allow you to buy what you want. Every year, my husband and I set aside a certain amount for my children’s investment accounts because we believe giving gifts that keep on giving.
While investing consistently can be difficult like sticking to a diet or an exercise plan, you can do something to help you stay the course. For example, you can schedule an automatic fund transfer out of your payroll account equivalent to 20% of your salary every payday that will go towards the purchase of mutual funds or UITFs. COL Financial already has a function that allows automatic monthly investing of stocks and mutual funds.
HABIT 2: AVOID TIMING THE MARKET
When the market corrects,investors usually sell their positions with the intention of buying back when the market recovers. Intuitively, this should be a more profitable strategy as investors avoid big draw downs in the value of their portfolios.
However, studies show that timing the market is a very dangerous habit. According to a study conducted by Davis Advisors (using Bloomberg data), investors who just stayed invested in the S&P 500 from 1994 to 2013 would have generated an annual return of 9.5%. On the other hand, investors who had missed the 10 best days of the market during the same period would have seen their returns diminish to only 5.5% annually,while those who had missed the best 60 days would have generated a loss.
The same holds true for the Philippine stock market. In fact, market timers are hurt even more significantly given the greater volatility of local stocks. While investors who just stayed invested in the PSEi from 1996 to 2016 would have generated an annual return of 9.4%, those who had only missed the 10 best days would have already generated a loss of 0.4%!
HABIT 3: AVOID BEING EMOTIONAL
Investing in the stock market can be a very exhilarating exercise which is why many investors choose to trade actively instead of sticking to an investment plan that simply involves buying funds and some individual stocks on a regular basis. After all, a lucky investor who makes the right bet could more than double his money in a short span of time. For example, earlier this year, MAC was trading at less than Php3.00/share. Now it’s worth almost three times more at Php8.50/share! Assuming that you were the lucky investor who bought MAC earlier this year, you would be much richer today! People might also say that you are a genius for spotting MAC at such a good price making you feel proud of your achievement.
Most of the time though, investors are unlucky. According to a study by Dalbar and Lipper, the average stock fund investor returns from 1994 to 2013 is only 5.0%, trailing behind the average stock fund return of 8.4%. This is because investors typically buy at the top and sell at the low as they are overcome by greed and fear. This is why Warren Buffett said to “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.”
HABIT 4: ACCEPT VOLATILITY
Investing a certain portion of your portfolio in the stock market is important if you want to beat inflation and retire comfortably. However, a lot of people avoid investing in the stock market because of volatility. Unlike bank deposits, returns of stocks are very volatile. Even worse, they can go down in value and there are always many reasons why the market can go down in value (Examples: election of Trump as U.S. president, the declaration of martial law in Mindanao, Fed rate hike).
Although stocks are volatile, they also generate significantly higher returns compared to bank deposits. Moreover, the market goes up more frequently than down. For example, during the last 29 years, the market was up 20 years while it was down only 9 years. Total return during the said period was also substantial at 795%, significantly beating returns of bank deposits!
HABIT 5: BUY WHEN THE MARKET GOES ON SALE
January and July are my favorite times to go shopping since shops have their semi-annual sales. Like me, most people get excited to go shopping when stores go on sale.
However, the opposite is true when the stock market goes on sale. Instead of buying stocks, typical investors avoid the stock market, worrying that there must be something wrong.
In contrast, the happy and effective investor gets excited when the market goes on sale. He understands that buying when the market goes on sale allows him to generate even higher returns as history has shown that markets eventually recover after falling substantially in reaction to negative developments such as the Asian Financial Crisis and the Global Financial Crisis.
HABIT 6: DO YOUR HOMEWORK
People normally rely on tips when choosing which stocks to buy.
However, a happy and effective investor understands that to pick the right stock, he needs to do his homework. He knows that for share prices to remain in an uptrend, profits also have to be rising. This is based on the logic that profitable businesses are worth more. After all, who would want to buy a business that is losing money? He tries to understand what drives companies’ earnings, and determines whether these drivers are currently favorable for the company.
For example, from 2011 to 2013, CEB’s share price was on a downtrend because the price of oil was rising and oil is one of CEB’s major costs. At the same time, the airline industry was suffering from overcapacity as the growing popularity of low cost carriers encouraged new players to come in. This led to price wars that negatively affected CEB’s profitability.
However, towards the second half of 2014, oil prices started to fall. The industry also consolidated as airlines that were losing money either closed shop or were bought out by the bigger players. The said factors led to the rebound of CEB’s profitability and its share price.
Aside from knowing where profits are headed, the happy and effective investor makes sure that he is paying a reasonable price for the stock he is buying. This is measured by the price relative to the amount of earnings that the company is expected to generate or the P/E ratio. The lower the P/E ratio, the better, as this would improve a stock’s return potential.
A happy and effective investor avoids buying penny stocks based on tips. He understands the dangers of buying penny stocks, which could lead to his investment becoming worthless.
For example, in 2012, CAL was one of the most popular IPOs as its share price rallied by 219% in 9 days! However, at the peak, CAL was trading at 73.7X P/E which was very expensive considering that the PSEi was trading well below the said level. Moreover, instead of going up, CAL’s profits went down. As a result, share prices fell significantly.
HABIT 7: BE COST CONSCIOUS
The happy and effective investor understands that active trading, while exciting, is very costly. Did you know that the cost of buying and selling a stock (including taxes and commissions) is around 1.1%?
When buying funds, the happy and effective investor also studies fees that are charged by asset management companies. These include front load and back load fees, penalties for early redemption, management fees (0.25% to 2.15%) and other costs (up to 2.25%). Unfortunately, higher fees do not necessarily translate to better performance.
While costs of 1% to 2% may seem small, the slight reduction in portfolio returns spells a big difference when compounded annually over a long period of time. For example, a Php100,000 portfolio that generates a compounded annual return of 10% would be worth Php259,000 in 10 years. This is 8.7% more than a portfolio that generates a compounded annual return of 9.0% (because of a 1% cost annually) and 16.8% more than a portfolio that generates a compounded annual return of 8.0% (because of a 2% cost annually)! The difference increases even more over time as can be observed in the table below.
HABIT 8: DIVERSIFY
When I was a teenager, I remember envying classmates who had Sony Walkman. During my teenage years, having a Sony Walkman meant that you were “cool”.
When I had my first baby, I wanted to make sure that all the pictures I took of my baby were perfect. This was why I always bought Kodak film since I didn’t want to leave anything to chance.
However, cassette tapes and film cameras are now obsolete. And if you had only bought shares of Sony and Kodak because of the popularity of the Walkman and film cameras twenty years ago, the performance of your portfolio would be very disappointing.
The happy and effective investor understands that diversification is important to manage risks. Aside from protecting his portfolio from significant volatility resulting from unforeseen incidents (such as obsolescence of products), diversification also helps him manage the cash flow of his investments, so that he will not be forced to sell investments at a bad time.
Below are some basic types of diversification.
HABIT 9: THINK LONG TERM
The happy and effective investor is a long-term investor. He understands that by investing long term, he is maximizing the power of compounding to grow the value of his portfolio.
Did you know that by age 65, someone who invested Php5,000 a month starting at the age of 26 will have significantly more than someone who invested Php10,000 a month starting at the age of 46? This is despite the fact that both have set aside the same amount of Php2.4 Mil as investments.
The happy and effective investor also knows that when investing in the stock market, the risk of losses diminishes in the long run. Based on the study of the S&P 500’s performance from 1802-1997, it was impossible for an investor to register a loss assuming that he had a investment time horizon of at least 20 years. The same holds true for the Philippine stock market based on the study of the PSEi’s performance from 1987-2016.
HABIT 10: REVIEW YOUR PORTFOLIO
A happy and effective investor diligently reviews his portfolio on an annual basis. He determines whether he can increase the amount of money that he sets aside as investments. For example, did he get a pay increase or a big bonus that will allow him to invest more?
He also checks whether his portfolio allocation between different asset classes (such as stocks or bonds) is still appropriate given his current situation. For example, will he have a major expenditure soon that will require him to reduce his equity exposure?
He also tries to see whether he still likes to keep the individual stocks in his portfolio and whether his allocation to the different issues is still balanced or acceptable. Have fundamentals changed? Or is the stock now too expensive, making it a good time to lock in gains?
In summary, here are the 10 habits of happy and effective investors. I hope that you can adopt these habits so that you can become a happy and effective investor.
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We’ve all been there—one minute you’re just going through your day as usual and the next minute you’re swept off your feet by the sight of something breathtaking. Without any warning, the pretty girl walking down the street smiles at you; or the cute guy in front stops to hold the door open for you. In the same way, you might just be browsing your news feed when suddenly you see a stock chart that’s about to break out at any moment. You feel a rush of adrenaline and, without waiting another second, decide to go all-in.
Sometimes, we get blinded. We fall hard and we feel in our gut that this is it. We put everything we have on the line and just hope for the best. Sounds romantic, right? But is that really how we should be making our decisions? Can we trust ourselves to make the right choices in these situations?
In many ways, stock picking is very similar to dating. When we see a person or a stock that we really like, it’s exhilarating. We get so excited that we don’t realize how dangerous the situation is. We make impulsive decisions and invest much more than we should. We dive too deep too quickly—all without getting to know the person or the stock at all.
It’s true, there are times when we have to take risks, both in dating and in trading, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make smart decisions about when to jump in and when to hold back.
Before you go all-in, here are three important things you should know before risking it all:
1. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing
Sometimes, excitement can get the better of us. We see something we want and we want to have it right away. We feel like if we don’t grab the opportunity now, then it will be gone forever. While that is true in some cases, it’s not true for all of them. Often, we can easily take things one step at a time without any real consequences.
In dating for example, you don’t have to propose right away when you meet a beautiful woman. You can start by asking her out on a date and getting to know her. If you get along, then you can go on more dates and eventually, when you know each other very well, you may even get married.
In trading, if you see a stock with potential, then buy a few shares first. Monitor it to see how it performs. If things go well, then buy more shares. Wait for positive signals each step of the way and build up your investment slowly. There might be some opportunity cost if the stock performs very well, but at least you won’t lose all your money if the stock performs badly.
2. High risk, high reward
We’ve all heard the saying, “High risk, high reward.” But how many of us really understand what this means? It means that you will first have to take a big risk if you want the possibility of getting a big reward. The key word here is “possibility.” It does not mean that if you take a big risk then you will get a big reward. (Oh, how we wish!)
Yes, it’s true that sometimes things work out and the risk pays off. It’s easy for us to see the positive side because we see it all the time—in movies, TV shows, and even the news. Everyone is constantly talking about the success stories of people who took big risks that paid off—and that’s great! Especially when we’re struggling, we want to know that there is hope and that good things can happen. The problem is that a lot of people act like all stories will end this way, and that’s just not true.
Stephen King said, “Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.” Do you agree? Isn’t it true that people are willing to risk it all, in love and in stocks, because they have hope that it will all pay off? Maybe a little too much hope? Hope is good in small doses, but when there is too much, it becomes very dangerous. Too much hope makes people lazy. They become convinced that things will work out, so they don’t bother putting in the work. They forget that success in dating and in stock trading are not based on one “big break”. Both require time, dedication, patience, and so much more.
Don’t fall into this trap. If you’re going to go all-in, know what you are risking and know that there is a very real chance that you could lose it all. Ask yourself: If this doesn’t work, will I be okay with that?
3. Information is power
Once you’re sure that you really want to go all-in—whether your risk ends up paying off or not—then it’s time to be smart about it. You don’t have to go in blind. Do your research. Do the work, and you’ll give yourself a much higher chance of success.
For example, if you want to win a girl’s heart, you have to get to know her first. Find out what makes her smile or what her favorite flowers are. Find out about her fears and dreams. That is how you can give yourself the best chance at success.
It’s the same with stocks. Before you go all-in, you should do your research first. Study the company’s history. Find out what their plans are. What is the best price where you should buy? At what price should you sell? What is your cut loss point if things don’t go your way? What signal will confirm if your theory is right or wrong? These are all questions you need to answer, so that you are prepared to give yourself the best chance of success. Don’t just invest all your hard-earned money and then leave it up to the market. You can increase your chance of success. That’s what they call calculated risk, and that’s also why investing is not the same as gambling.
So whether you’re going after the man or woman of your dreams, or that perfect investment opportunity, always remember:
You don’t have to go all-in. You can take it one step at a time.
If you have to go all in, be sure you know what you’re risking.
Just because you’re taking a risk, doesn’t mean you should be lazy. Find out how to give yourself the best chance at succeeding.
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If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done. – Thomas Jefferson
A lot of people think that investing is just for rich people — that you need a lot of money to be able to buy stocks and hire good financial advisers — but that’s just not true! Today, it’s easier than ever to start investing in stocks and here are 5 reasons why you should start, especially when you feel like you are overworked and underpaid:
Time is Money
Let us be clear about one thing: Successful investing takes time! It’s not magic. Don’t expect your money to grow 5 to 10 times in just a few days if you aren’t doing anything. Investing in the stock market is not a get-rich-quick scheme like what we usually see in coffee shops these days (If you know what I mean, POWER!). Just like establishing a business, there are risks involved in stock trading. But with proper risk management, discipline, and patience, your hard-earned money can grow not just by the thousands but by the millions!How does that happen? Through the concept of compounding interest! Many people have used compounding interest to achieve success in investing, and there’s no reason why you can’t too.
Basically, interest is compounded when the profit you’ve earned from your investment is added to your principal which can now also earn interest.
For example, if you invest Php 10,000 in a stock and it earns 10% interest, you would get an additional Php 1,000. Instead of spending that Php 1,000, you can add it to your investment to increase your capital to Php 11,000. Now if you earn another 10%, you will earn Php 1,100. That’s Php 100 more than what you earned the first time! Just keep doing this—add your earnings to your capital—and your money will grow much faster.
Be a Part-Owner of Big Companies
Whether we want to admit it or not, all of us wish we could own a successful business at some point—to be like the famous tycoons who earn millions every day or even just a small business owner who can manage his own time. At least you wouldn’t have to go to work every day and get paid so little!
But the sad reality is that not all of us will be able to give the time, effort, and money it takes to establish a huge business. Not every business is successful, and even successful businesses don’t make money right away. Sometimes it takes years for a business to start earning, and many of us cannot afford to do something like that. We have other responsibilities. We have families to take care of. So what do we do now?
Well, the answer is simple! You can easily become part-owner of a successful business simply by buying shares of successful companies in the stock market! Be part of their exponential growth—like in the case of Jollibee! Did you know that if you invested Php 10,000 in Jollibee in 1994, your investment would now be worth Php 309,000! Take note: that doesn’t even include the dividends yet! You don’t even need to go through the hassle of owning and operating a business to share in their profits!
Beat Inflation
Are you familiar with the concept of inflation? Inflation is a general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money. (Source: Investopedia) In other words, inflation is what makes the value of your money go down as products and services become more expensive. This is one of the main reasons why you need to invest your money—because if you just save it, your money actually becomes less and less valuable as time passes.
Let’s look at an example: This 2017, the average inflation rate from January to July was 3.1%. If you put your money in the bank, a time deposit would have given you a maximum of 2-3% interest. That means that the real value of your money decreased by at least 1%—if you could use that money to buy 100 cups of rice before, now you can only buy 99. But if you invested in something like the stock market, you would be in a very different situation. On average, the Philippine Stock Exchange Index* produced a whopping average of 18% annual interest from January 2000 to August 2017—and that’s just the average. You can actually beat that by investing more in individual high-performing stocks!
*The Philippine Stock Exchange index is a collection of the 30 best-performing stocks in the market. These stocks are used to measure the movement and performance of the Philippine stock market in general.
Have Your Dream Retirement
A lot of us have a picture of the life we want to have—a life without deadlines, strict bosses, traffic, and stress. We work so hard and for so many years because we want to save enough money to do the things we dream about. We want to travel the world, build a home, and enjoy new experiences.
Unfortunately, a lot of us don’t realize that just working and saving won’t be enough to achieve these things. By the time you think you’ve saved enough money, you’ll realize that your body has become too weak or that you have other things to pay for—medicines, tuition for your kids, etc. It’s not that these are bad things to spend on, but what we’re saying is that you shouldn’t keep putting your dreams on hold. There’s more to life than working from 9 to 5 until you’re 60, and sometimes you need to step out of your comfort zone to do the things that will make you successful and happy! Through investing, you are not just striving towards your goal, but you are also moving forward at the fastest possible pace so that you still have time to enjoy the fruits of your hard work.
Live Your Purpose
You cannot give what you don’t have.
It feels great to help other people, but it also takes money to help other people. Investing isn’t just for those who want to buy cars and houses or go on vacations. The best part about investing is that it can help secure your family’s future and do good things for the people around you. It can help you improve people’s lives—especially in a developing country like the Philippines. Investing can help make a positive impact in the community and that, in our opinion, is priceless.
These are just five out of a lot more reasons for you to start investing. We hope this helped you realize the full potential of the stock market and your full potential as a person, too!
Interested in investing in the stock market? Here are a few links you might want to check out:
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How many of us have heard or used these phrases before?
“Gusto ko sana mag-invest sa stock market pero busy ako sa work e.”
“I can’t keep checking the stock market while I’m at work.”
“Marami na kasi akong inaasikaso e. Wala nang oras magbantay ng stocks.”
“I want to try investing in the stock market but I have a full-time job.”
There are so many Filipinos who want to start investing in the stock market but don’t because they think it requires too much time and attention—something most of us can’t give. But did you know that there are people who successfully trade stocks while balancing work, family, friends, and personal time? Yes, it’s possible! So, how do they do it?
Before we tell you our tips for trading stocks while working a full-time job, let us explain the difference between what most people THINK stock trading is vs. what it ACTUALLY is. One of the most important things you should know is that there are many kinds of traders who create different systems and styles to suit their own lifestyle. One common way of classifying them is into day traders and swing traders.
Day traders are those who buy and sell stocks multiple times in one day. They rely heavily on Technical Analysis and make money from price changes that happen within a few hours. This is why they have to monitor the market very closely and execute trades as soon as the stock hits a specific price. Day trading takes a lot of time, which is why most day traders are full-time stock traders—they are what people usually think of when imagining what a stock trader should look like.
Swing traders on the other hand are those who wait days between transactions, holding onto stocks for days or weeks before selling them. These traders rely more on Fundamental Analysis and hold on to the stocks for a longer period of time. Because this style requires less time than day trading, many swing traders work full-time jobs as well.
Swing trading is a great option for most beginners, simply because it is too risky for most people to become a full-time trader right away. Swing trading allows you to maintain your current income so that you won’t rely completely on the profits from your trades—which realistically won’t be a big amount when you’re just starting out. This will minimize stress and pressure that could negatively affect your performance as a trader.
Still, like anything in the stock market, swing trading carries its share of risks and rewards. So here are a few tips to help you get started on the right foot:
TIP 1: Find time to research and analyze
Swing trading may require less time than day trading, but you still need to do the work. No strategy will succeed if you just blindly buy stocks. The good news is that you can do your research and analysis whenever you have free time—before work, after work, or even on the weekends. Take the time to research and analyze thoroughly because the more information you have, the better you will be able to plan your strategy for the coming days.
TIP 2: Set buy and sell prices ahead of time
Once you have done your research and analysis, pick the stocks you want to monitor and identify the prices where you will buy and sell even before the market opens. Your goal is simply to buy low and sell high, so use your research and analysis to identify the acceptable prices beforehand. Not only will this allow you to execute quickly during trading hours (i.e. in between meetings and other tasks at work), but it will also help you avoid making trades based on emotion.
TIP 3: Use ranges instead of exact prices
As a swing trader, you won’t be able to monitor price movements every minute of the day. That is why you should use price ranges rather than exact prices. This will give you some flexibility, but be careful not to take it too far. You still need to be strict with yourself when executing your plan. You might get impatient when the price gets close to your defined range, but don’t be carried away by your emotions. That’s a recipe for disaster. Stick to your plan.
TIP 4: Stay consistent when executing your plan
Because you already planned your trades ahead of time, you won’t need a lot of time to execute them. Set aside even just 15 minutes of your lunch or merienda break to check on your stocks. If you see that the prices have reached the buy or sell range that you set during planning, then simply execute the trade. If the prices have not reached the defined when you were planning your strategy, hold your position and check the market again tomorrow. Do this once a day, five days a week.
TIP 5: Let technology help you monitor your stocks
Nowadays, you can access everything with just your mobile phone and an internet connection. There are many free services and apps like Investagrams that can help you monitor your stocks on the go. If you have a very demanding or unpredictable schedule, you can also avail of affordable services like InvestaWatcher so you can get SMS and FB messenger alerts whenever a stock hits your defined buy and sell prices. Either way, take advantage of the many free and affordable services to help you succeed.
With so much information and new technology available on the internet, investing in the stock market has become easier and more feasible than ever before—even if you have a 9 to 5 job. You still won’t make money without putting in the effort, but at least you have resources. You don’t even need a big amount of capital. For just P5,000 and a few hours a week, you can already start trading in the Philippine Stock Market. Just start small and stay disciplined. Stay consistent and keep learning, and your hard work will eventually pay off.
Do you have tips for balancing work, life, and trading? Let us know in the comments below!
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