In one of our previous articles we interviewed Diolito Igloria Jr., or commonly known as Davinsoy Trader on Investagrams, to share more about himself to the community. As our team prepares for the upcoming Investagrams Trading Cup 2019, we took a look back at last year’s competition and who were some of the participants who stood out among the rest. Almost everyone on our team mentioned Davinsoy Trader, a super trader from Cebu. If anyone’s unfamiliar with Diolito, let us remind you of his achievements:
Investagrams Trading League 2019 Round 1 2nd Runner Up
Investagrams Trading League 2019 Round 2 Champion
Investagrams Trading Cup 2018 4th Runner Up
However, the greatest achievement we believe Davinsoy Trader got from the market was an opportunity to not only become a full time trader, but most importantly the opportunity to become a full time father. Sir Diolito’s story is tremendously heart-warming, especially for those of us who also want to take trading full time. He is a registered Electrical Engineer and former Accounts Manager, two very stable and good paying professions. He decided to go full time into trading during the tail end of the bull market last 2018.
Diolito’s first two years in the market resulted in him losing is entire capital twice without his wife knowing. Even after she found out, she still continued to deposit funds and support Diolito’s trading journey. Despite losing hard earned money to the market, he never gave up. Diolito continued to persevere despite wiping out twice in the market. With continuous learning, hard work, and dedication he was eventually able to recover all of his losses and more during the 2017 bull market.
From that point on, he decided to resign from his job and trade full time. Diolito now has the time to take care of his child while his wife goes to work. He treats his trading a business, not a game. After a few months, he joined the Investagrams Trading Cup 2018. We all know what happened after, Diolito ranked 4th during the Investagrams Trading Cup 2018 out of thousands of competitors who were all looking to grab a spot in the coveted Top 10.
Davinsoy Trader’s story is truly one for the books. He served as an inspiration for those of us who want to take trading full time in order to spend more time with our loved ones. Despite ranking 4th during last year’s competition, he continues to remain a simple and humble person. There is no doubt in our minds that Diolito is on his way to not only becoming one of the best traders in the country, but also one of the best fathers.
The concept of taking control of your financial destiny and supporting yourself by trading the financial markets is a dream almost all retail traders have. However, many don’t understand the risks involved in trading the markets full-time. If you wish to be part of the 10% who make money in the markets, the very first thing you must do to have a good foundation is to commit to mastery. Without that commitment, no matter how much you study about trading, you will not succeed.
No matter how many books you’ve read, videos you’ve watched, or markets you’ve traded; if you don’t commit to master, you will not be able to make a living out of the markets. Trading the markets full-time is very attractive, but everyone must understand that it is a tremendous challenge that requires one to adapt and overcome insurmountable hurdles along the way.
In this article, we will provide you some important points that you have to remember before you choose full-time trading as a means to support your lifestyle.
1. Make sure you are financially stable
This is the most important thing you must remember. If you decide to trade the markets full-time, you should be prepared with whatever that’s coming. The market is volatile, it can make erratic swings in a short period of time, make sure you have the money to pay for all the necessary expenses. It is best to save up money that is equivalent to your annual income before you start trading full-time.
2. Have significant experience in the market
You can’t just jump into full-time trading after three or few months of experience. You should especially reconsider if you’ve only experienced trading in a bull market because once the bears arrive, and they always do, you might get slaughtered. There’s no benchmark to how long you need to be in the market before you can go full-time, but we would suggest that you must have at least experienced different market environments several times.
3. Have a well-tested trading methodology
You can’t go to war without having the right weapons, you also can’t make a living out of the markets without having an effective trading methodology. Whatever strategy you choose to apply, a sufficient amount of backtesting will need to be done in order to prove its effectivity. Most importantly, you will need to have a methodology that can adapt to different kinds of market environments.
4. Do not let your emotions control you
There have been and always will be four types of emotions that have lead to financial destruction for traders: Fear, Greed, Hope, and Regret. There’s so much to tackle about these four emotions that it will require a separate article in the future. Just take note of these emotions and make sure you learn all there is to about them. Reminiscence of a Stock Operator and Trading in the Zone are two great books that talk about these emotions.
5. Never stop learning
Once you feel like you already know everything about trading the financial markets, you’ve already lost. To become a successful trader, you will need to become a perpetual learner. The markets do not remain static, they’re always dynamic and change over time. This means a methodology or framework you may be applying now might not work in the next 5 to 10 years. If you always think of yourself as a student of the market, the process of continuous learning with impact you greatly.
Full-time trading also comes with several advantages and disadvantages that you will need to take into consideration. Let’s take a look.
Advantages
Freedom
This is the main benefit of trading the markets full-time that everyone is after. Once you go trading full-time, you will have the freedom to do and accomplish other things in life. If you are a family man, you will have more time to spend with your loved ones. However, don’t take this freedom for granted. You will still need to put in early mornings and late nights in order to continuously improve as a trader.
A means to maximize wealth
If you’re doing it correctly, and with a sufficient amount of capital, trading the markets can be a way for you to maximize your wealth. The profits you generate can also be more than enough to supply for your living expenses, but it won’t be easy. The financial markets are the ultimate equalizer of wealth, but it can also take back every single cent you’ve made.
You can be your own boss
You don’t have to work with managers or supervisors. When trading the markets full-time, you’re only accountable to yourself. However, there is still one entity you will need to respect to the highest level; the market herself.
Disadvantages
Huge amount of risk involved
When you choose to go full-time trading one mistake will not only wipe out your account, it will also wipe out your means of living. That’s why choosing to resign from a stable job to trade full-time is not always recommended. As mentioned earlier, only take the leap once you have a well tested and defined trading methodology.
It can be emotionally stressful
Trading is not for weak-hearted people, there will be days where you will feel like the market is coming to get you. There is added stress and anxiety involved knowing that you will need to perform at the highest level in order to sustain the lifestyle you are living.
Conclusion
Trading the markets full-time is definitely possible, but it’s not easy. There have been countless of traders around the world who have been humbled by the market throughout the previous decades. If you want to be part of the 10% who make money trading the financial markets, you must be willing to put in tremendous amounts of hard work. Always remember: if you want the things you’ve never had, you got to do the things you’ve never done.
This week’s featured trader is not someone who was able to successfully spot a specific stock before making a significant advance, but rather someone who shared his execution with the intention of helping others. A huge shout out to Gagamba Trader a.k.a. @enzo_gagamba for sharing his execution on his $IDC trade.
Gagamba Trader was able to buy $IDC (Italpinas Development Corporation) when it broke out of its psychological and structural resistance at 6 pesos, his trade idea was confirmed when the volume spiked significantly above the average. His mindset was to nail down a decent swing profit with half of the position, which is why he sold half at 7 pesos, and keep the remaining half for a potential further advance.
One of the details that stood out to us is that he had a CONTINGENCY PLAN ready in case his original plan didn’t pan out as he expected. You don’t hear a lot of traders talk about having a contingency plan, but this is something Mark Minervini taught in his first book. Along with his basic trade plan for a specific position, he also has contingency plans in place for anything that may happen. As for the case of $IDC, Gagamba Trader initially wanted to trail the remaining 50% of his position using the 20 day, but he also had a backstop at 6.50 in case of a sudden sell down.
As we all know, $IDC was sold down significantly in a matter of days which prompted the need follow the 6.50 emergency backstop. He was able to strictly follow his plan and secure his profits. Gagamba Trader also reminds everyone to plan your trade and trade your plan. Kudos to Gagamba Trader for his successful $IDC trade, and for sharing your execution to the Investagrams Community!
On Technicals:
The reason why $IDC was able to make a 40% move in a matter of two weeks is because it was able to breakout of it’s downtrend channel with significant volume.
If you check the hourly chart, you’ll also notice that $IDC gave several continuation patterns. The stock gave four continuation patterns before temporarily topping at 7.35, which was also it’s previous resistance. As of the moment, $IDC will need to break above its previous high at 7.35 to continue the up move.
For the daily chart, you’ll see that $IDC was supported by the 20-day moving average. This is a good sign showing that there’s obvious demand for the stock which supported it during the sudden sell down.
Congratulations to everyone who was able to ride to 40% move of $IDC, and to those who were able to pickup the stock when it dipped towards the 20-day moving average. Lastly, kudos again to Gagamba Trader for sharing his execution, your FREE one-month InvestaJournal is on it’s way!
When you are able to find a good coaching, it’s a huge multiplier in your trading journey.
Here are some success stories that we gathered from D-League, one of the leading premium InvestaGroups in our platform. Javi, Ken, and Matt held a sample “Town Hall” gathering last July 20 and discussed trading techniques with their fellow traders including an $IDC stock where some of the attendees were able to ride the trend and benefited from the discussion.
We have interviewed three D-League members and here are their stories where they have met the team including the breakdown of their $IDC stock trade. The recommendation includes details about their own strategy objectives and set-ups, results analysis, position sizing, risk management, and most importantly — execution in a live market.
I’ve been trading for 2 1/2 years (part-time) and comfortable in swing trades and momentum set-ups. I wanted to look for a kind of support group where you can share your trades and strategies and luckily, I was invited by @anima to join their group.
Our first meet-up was on Sat, July 20 and it was worth it because the learnings gathered that time was already on a different kind of level, you can already ask questions right away. They share to us a technique called “The Rule of 3” which have a success probability of 70-80%. The basics of Elliott Wave Theory was also discussed briefly. And then they shared their technical analysis on our most requested stocks with the application of their technique and wave counts.
One fellow trader asked what can we buy on Monday? And sir Javi said $IDC without hesitation. They show us the chart, and at one glance I saw that it has my momentum set-up. That gave me conviction to buy early in the morning (with a tight cut). Here’s my entries and exits as well as position size when I completed the trade:
I used 1.5% VAR on this $IDC trade. Bought 60% position at 5.68 average and 25% at 5.56 during intra-day re-test. Then 15% at 6.05 the following day. Sold 45% at 6.34 on July 24 expecting it to re-test at 5.8 and make a base there. Bought 30% again at 6.09 on July 25 and sold all shares at average of 7.02 on July 30 during the rallies.
Reason for buying:
Mini consolidation near its break-out point (5.6)
Break-out of 5.6 and RSI (30) 60 confirms its break-out
Reason for selling:
Top of trend line and whole number resistance
No base formed, expecting a steep drop
With this trade I was able to boost my overall portfolio by 8% and generated a profit for the annual payment of the Open Journal Premium Group Subscription.
I’ve been trading for 1 year and 8 months full-time. I’m a trend follower and a momentum trader. I decided to join D-League so I could learn more trading skills from Ken, Matt, and Javi and to see if I’ve made an improvement throughout my trading journey by way of comparing my strategies and set ups with theirs. So far, it’s been a really good experience as they’ve been helpful specially when reading and analyzing charts.
I got in to trade the $IDC because of Javi’s recommendation. When I checked it, the patterns are in line with my system so I decided to buy in the trade. My first entry was from the break of the mini darvas, and then I added my second entry through a momentum entry. I noticed that the price movement is quite fast so I trailed using 5ema.
Here’s the screen shot of my portfolio with the $IDC stock. I was able subcribe to the Open Journal Premium Group Annual Subscription as I gained enough profits from the $IDC trade.
We hope these success stories inspire traders to be more patient in waiting for the right trading set-up, the courage to do what it takes to follow their biases, find good coaches to help you on your trading, and be more focused on their road to consistency.
I opened my stock account way back 2013 and have been on and off trading since then. I only became more serious with it 2 years ago and now an active trader. I am a trend follower. Since I have a day job, I only focus on the daily and weekly time frame.
I am thankful and fortunate enough to have been invited to join D-League. Learning how to effectively trade is exciting yet daunting. Learning is oftentimes in isolation thus a community like D-League is a breather. It’s nice to have a community where you can ask about some techniques that I could not fully grasp or validate some experiences that I’ve had. I think those were the main reasons why I joined D-League.
The first D-League training session was held last July 20, 2019 however, even prior to that, the team, headed by @taylor, @anima, and @meflores, has been generously sharing their knowledge. I highly appreciate those Sunday online sessions that I have attended. I think the session last July 20 was just a continuation of what they have started with D-League, to share their trading style with the public. The discussion was very casual with topics that circulated around what came from the individual stock chart analysis but the emphasis was in the Rule of 3 and some topics on Elliott wave theory.
$IDC was one of the stocks that was analyzed during session. Convinced by the principle of the Rule of 3 and the Elliott Wave Theory, I followed the recommendation and bought the said stock last July 22. I bought the said stock with a trading plan in mind because the team reiterated that the price is king, which means that the current bias may also be wrong. I was preparing to cut my position the following day yet the price soared which gave me the impression that the bias was right. The following day, July 24, the price retraced to a level that has been previously discussed in the community and I was able to add to my position through an O-H order. With bewilderment, when I checked the price after the close of the market, I knew that the price had already bounced and I held unto it. Last August 2, I already sold my positions. Just in time for the Open Journal Premium Group launching, I gained a substantial amount of money to pay for the 1-year subscription. It was a good trade to start my journey with Elliott Wave.
As proven by Scraffycoco who ranked 4th during the Investagrams Trading Cup 2017, it’s possible for students to thrive and come out on top in a very competitive environment filled with competitors from various professions. However, what about those students who didn’t make it to the Top 10? Or even the Top 100? Were the journeys of the youth who weren’t able to make it to the top a failure?
Many might view that not being in the Top 100 in a competition that had thousands of participants is a failure. However, for those perpetual learners, this would only be another hurdle in the process of becoming great. If you view any competition as a place to learn and hone your skills, then you will never come out as a failure no matter what your rank was.
We interviewed Kervin, a long-time user of Investagrams and a student competitor during the Investagrams Trading Cup 2018. Despite still being a student and having only a year of experience in the market at the time, he was not afraid of the pressure of going up against the best traders in the Philippines. Also, he wanted to partake in the competition as an avenue for learning as he aims to continuously improve his trading. “I was never really in a competition with anyone but myself. I saw the Trading Cup not only as a place to learn, but most importantly as a place where I can practice my discipline in executing my setups.”
Q: What was your mindset coming into the Trading Cup?
A: My mindset was to win and keep up with the best traders, but it was also to become a better trader myself. I knew it was going to be a process if ever I would make the Top 100, yet alone the Top 10, and I loved every moment of it.
Q: How difficult was it to handle both your real portfolio and virtual portfolio at the same time?
A: It was very difficult. Especially since it was during a bear market, it was hard to decide which portfolio I would cut my losses first. Often times after cutting losses on my real port, I would forget to cut my losses on the virtual port. Also, I had several positions on my real port that I did not have on my virtual port during the beginning of the Trading Cup.
Q: Did you have difficulty trading during the competition because you were just a student at the time?
A: With my experience, not really, since I trade end-of-day. This means that I usually check the market from 9am to 10am, then again from 2:30pm to 3:30pm. With this approach, I am able to manage my time better between trading and listening in class. Also, I don’t get whipsawed as often since breakouts would have shown signals that it was a fake. On the other hand, there were also several stocks that bounced or broke out intraday that I missed due to my EOD trading. Both approaches have their pros and cons, and it’s up to the trader to decide which approach works best.
Q: What was your most successful setup during the competition?
A: I am a breakout trader, but during the bear market, trading this set up was one of the hardest. What I can say however, is that the bear market improved my criteria in looking for breakout plays. I was able to be more selective with my trades and was more patient in waiting for the right play. It’s very important to focus on the quality of your trades, not just the quantity. Following the 80/20 principle: You make 80% of your profits on 20% of your trades.
Q: What are the tips and advices you would like to give the students who plan to join the Trading Cup 2019?
A: My tip is simple. I encourage all students to join the competition. Because win or lose, at the end of the day, you get to bring valuable lessons when you go trading live. With the current offer more tailored to students, this can be a way for you to jump start and build your investing journey. Also, this year’s Trading Cup is more than just a competition. It’s now also an avenue for learning for those who want to begin their investing journey. If I’m not mistaken, there are bonus webinars and learning modules for student competitors.
Q: How has your experience during the Investagrams Trading Cup 2018 affected your trading today?
A: My discipline has improved tremendously after the competition. When you’re just starting out, this is when you begin to learn different strategies and ways to profit from the market. At first, I was system hopping or trading stocks that weren’t even part of my bread and butter setup. After learning that majority of my losses came from those trades that were forced and didn’t have a proper setup, it reinforced the importance of discipline when it came to execution of the right setup.
Q: How has your experience during the Investagrams Trading Cup 2018 changed your life?
A: First and foremost, it helped me understand that in trading you’re only competing against one person. You don’t compete against other traders, gurus, and especially not the market. Your only competition is yourself, and it’s your responsibility to be a better trader than you were yesterday. It has also showed me how much more I needed to learn and improve on. My goal was to be part of the Top 100, but sadly I didn’t make it. Nevertheless, the competition instilled in me that trading the markets is really a process of perpetual learning.
That’s it for this one! Kervin is a definite example of someone who is a perpetual learner. He came in with a mindset of competing head on with the best traders in the country, but more than that he also wanted to become a better trader himself. He didn’t have any difficulty trading in the competition since he adjusted his trading style based on his circumstances. He chose to be an end-of-day trader and focused on catching setups during the closing hours of the market since he had classes during the day. Also, he highlighted the importance of focusing on the quality rather than the quantity of trades made.
Kervin also encourages students to join the competition as the Trading Cup is also a place to learn and jumpstart one’s investing journey. He also noted that his discipline as improved significantly after experiencing the Trading Cup first-hand, he now focuses on Grade A setups only. Most importantly, he urges everyone to understand that the only competition out there is yourself. On a macro view, your overarching goal should not be to outperform the trader next to you, but to be a better trader than you were yesterday.
Congratulations to BehindTheTrades for spotting a potential market leader as it continues to increase in price. $ROCK (Rockwell Land Corporation) has been moving in an upward channel that began last May 2019, he notes that the important resistance to break in order to make a bigger move is 2.35-2.37. For those who haven’t seen his post, it was posted on our Market Wizards InvestaGroup. This is something the stock has already done and is now on it’s way to retesting multi-year high at 2.78.
Initial Spot
On Technicals
As the property sector has been and is continuously showing strength, $ROCK can be one of the beneficiaries from being in the leading sector of the year. After its 60% run up at late 2017, the stock has declined significantly and has remained dormant throughout the duration of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019. However, $ROCK has now begun to show some signs of strength as it has begun its climb on increasing volume. As highlighted by BehindTheTrades, if the stock can break 2.78, then we may see a potential swing to 3 pesos.
As $ROCK continues on its upwards channel, a conservative buy would be at its channel support at around 2.38. This is also its previous resistance, so we have a SnR flip in play. If volume will continue to increase in the coming weeks, then there’s a big possibility that a bigger move towards 3 pesos may unfold.
On Fundamentals
Looking at its Fundamentals, $ROCK has been a solid company that’s has consistently shown positive earnings. Also, as mentioned earlier, the stock is part of the leading sector of the year. Don’t be surprised if we may see a move similar to what happened at the end of 2017.
Kudos again to BehindTheTrades for spotting a stock that has big potential that almost no one is watching! Your FREE one-month access to InvestaJournal is on its way!
These are the type of plays you can spot at our Market Wizards InvestaGroup, so you don’t want to miss out. For those who are wondering how to be featured, you may visit this link and learn a thing or two. Good luck!
Investagrams’ mission began with wanting to enable Filipinos to have equal access to market data, education, and tools. Being the leading social-financial platform in the Philippines, now with a brokerage underway, we know that we still have greater goals to pursue and more people to serve. Which is why we took a bigger step and introduced the world to the Filipino trading community — an opportunity to also introduce Investagrams to the international trading scene.
Bridging the gap between Filipinos and the Global Markets, we launched the Investagrams trading platform in Singapore last Saturday, July 27, 2019, at the Traders’ Summit Singapore. The aim was to empower traders from across the region to access data on multiple financial markets such as Philippine Stocks, Singapore Stocks, Foreign Exchange, Commodities, and many more. It was truly a feat for Investagrams, but more importantly, it is a game-changer for us all to compete and trade on a global level.
On par with this global event, Investagrams brought the most respected and well-deserved speakers from all over the world to Traders’ Summit Singapore. Our guests were surely in for quite a treat!
The first speaker of the event was none other than Robin Ho, one of the most respected traders in Singapore. He shared his initial journey from being in the navy, to being lucky in the markets, to losing a fortune, before being consistently profitable. Robin’s turning point was being able to grow $100K to $2M in a span of 15 months. The strategy he shared, still being applied today, pinpoints critical levels in preparing for the next market cycle.
The second speaker is every retail trader’s friend, Rayner Teo. Being one of the most followed traders in Singapore, Rayner was not always the trading star he is today. His life transformation inspired hundreds of retail traders and prepped them into a traders’ mindset. There is much to be said for this young man, but above all, it would be respect.
Next up was JC Bisnar, CEO and Co-founder of Investagrams. JC was the youngest in the event’s speaker roster to share his journey to financial freedom. Being able to lead one of the fastest-growing start-ups and live financially free through trading are no easy feats. On top of his passion for trading, JC continues to inspire and educate fellow traders to achieve their fullest potential in trading the markets.
Of course, after gathering Singapore’s most renowned traders, we did not want to miss the opportunity to hear from them as they shared their views on global markets and what we could be expecting soon. Even Kyaw Tun of Sonic R Mastery joined the heated discussion on their macroeconomic views and how stock prices are expected to react. There were multiple opinions extracted by JC at that time, but one thing they all agreed on was that market prices will always go first.
After lunch, Philip Teo of TraderWave took the crowd through the depths of understanding price. The strategies he used revolved more on price action, which was more than enough to make profitable trades. To him, every indicator is a laggard, therefore should only act as guides. The ability to see beyond the candle bars is something that you would not want to miss!
Mark Ritchie stood strong to the title of Market Wizard as the room fell silent to hear him speak. This enthusiastic market veteran shared a very different point of view for traders and investors alike. His belief that “not all are meant to trade the markets” will surely make you rethink if trading is actually for you. More importantly, choosing to be a trader does not stop there. It is with the law of averages, as he discussed, that will determine whether you have what it takes to win this game. As he famously quotes, “Anyone can take a profit, but it takes a pro to take on losses.”
Managing the downside of trading keeps us alive in this game. Managing the upside is what keeps us excited in this game. This is exactly what Mark Ritchie II, the Momentum Master, did. He showed the potential upside to this game, and he shared how you can replicate it. Through entry and exit points, to psychology and mindset setting, up to the point of profit-taking, everyone was able to take a piece of knowledge and apply it in their own trading.
Like Father and Son, they are the Yin and Yang of trading. One who minimizes the downside, and the other who maximizes the upside. Not just that, panel moderator Javi Medina a.k.a. 2017 Trading Cup Champion, took the opportunity to squeeze all there is to know about trading. Let the experts ask the pros, they say. If you expected top-notch strategies and a primed mindset, then their heated discussion would have left your minds and hearts full.
Next was Quants. A lot of traders who attended admitted that they have not heard of quantitative trading since it is as daunting as it sounds, at the start, at least. But Chartered Market Technician Jake Chow broke all barriers that day. Jumpstarting traders to think in Quants was the main attraction of his talk. By building a robust system, free of emotional factors, you too can live up to the statistics that your strategy lives by.
Down to our second to the last speaker, Paul Familiaran re-ignited the crowd as he introduced a new era of trading. If you wish to have someone’s skills and talents, and want to mimic them, then Etoro is the platform for you. As Paul has said, everyone deserves to be rich.
On to our final speaker, Andreas Clenow always puts on a new show in every one of his talks. “I do not repeat my talks,” he says. And this time at the Traders’ Summit Singapore, he opened our eyes to a new style of trading. One that does not require any historical price, or any fundamentals at all. Everyone seemed to doubt this, but not for long. After seeing through the eyes of a veteran hedge fund manager, everyone certainly believed that in the markets, everything is possible.
Quants can be very intimidating to begin with. Luckily, Jet Mojica of BoH was able to interpret their thought process in a more comprehensible manner, step by step, through a friendly discussion. Debunking their talks, Jet got the explanation everyone was hoping for, and more than that, he was able to strike a new topic altogether in the world of Quants.
Another highlight of the summit was at its conclusion. The VIP attendees got to have a meet and greet session with our speakers while also having their books especially dedicated. Some even got to take their pictures together with the legends, taking home a priceless memento for this unforgettable event.
At the end of the day, everyone got to be part of something big. The audience had the opportunity to meet and learn from market wizards, momentum masters, veteran hedge fund managers, and Singapore’s top traders. For the speakers, the privilege to share their experience and knowledge to the next generation of traders. For our partners, the start of more to come from this lasting relationship. And finally for Investagrams, the first step into the global trading arena.
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