Weakening the weak

source: www.money.cnn.com

If you are reading The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko(I am in the last few pages) this phrase might be familiar to you.

http://www.fotosearch.com

The chapter that brought out this phrase is about outpatient care of adult children of the affluent. Back in the Philippines if one is born rich or with a silver spoon we say they are lucky. The fact is there are a few lucky born rich kids who are able to stand on their own. Most would likely be under the roof of their parents even after they finish graduate school. 

Weakening the weak means instead of strengthening somebody by helping out by way of shouldering their first rental by the time they live on their own or continually giving money even if they already have their own family they instead grow dependent on that support which they expect to come. It is like your mother giving you money even if you are already working thus it creates that thinking of yours that it is okay to not save up because financial help is always accessible.

CLICK HERE TO READ WHOLE ARTICLE

CitisecOnline 2011 Mid-Year Briefing on August 1, 2011

Are you in the Philippines? Attend the CitisecOnline Mid-year Briefing titled "Second Half is Looking Better"

With the recent action of mining stocks, surge of PWR(East Asia Power Resources), the new trading rules and system, and the upcoming ASEAN Exchange the PSEi might reach the 5,000 level this second half.

So if you have nothing to do after work on August 1 please signup for the event and take a peek at what is expected for the next half of 2011.

Click here to REGISTER online.

Citiseconline Platform No.3: Company Snapshots

Citisecoline has a report called Company Snapshots where analysis of there certified technicians give an overview of a particular stock. Log in to you Citiseconline account and follow theses steps:

From the Home page go to the Research tab

Click Fundamentals

Click Company Snapshot

Citiseconline Platform No.3: Company Snapshots

Citisecoline has a report called Company Snapshots where analysis of there certified technicians give an overview of a particular stock. Log in to you Citiseconline account and follow theses steps:

From the Home page go to the Research tab

Click Fundamentals

Click Company Snapshot

Citiseconline Platform 2: Off-hour ordering

 

source: http://www.ibf.org.uk/2009/08/about-online-trading/

I have decided to show the Off-hour ordering since the usual ordering is the same as this one only that this order is placed during off hours before the pre-opening and after the run-off time as per PSE time trading hours.

Off-hour ordering allows investors who are in a different time zone to place their order in advance. Such order are queued and will be automatically placed in the system at the opening of the trading at PSE.

For our example below I have use JFC(Jollibee Food Corp.) for our Off-hour ordering:

Log in to your account and click the TRADE/PORTFOLIO tab and click OFF-HOUR ORDER

Enter the the stock you are buying or selling in the field STOCK CODE

Enter the number of shares you wanted to buy and the price you wanted to purchased the said stock. If you look at the other two boxes in the side you will noticed that quotes for the same stock is shown. On the BID ASK box you will notice that there is a size and price column. These columns indicate the number of shares being ordered or being sold with the corresponding price these investors are willing to trade.

At the same time be mindful that the bid or ask price is not limited to the listed prices in the first box. With the new trading system there could be more than three fluctuation as long as it is within the two threshold set by PSE as per the implementing rules and regulation. To know more about the Static and Dynamic threshold you can read my post here. 

You can refer to the other box for other information you need to determine at what price and quantity you can order or sell. But again such decisions entails other factors which will be discussed on other topics.

After entering desired price and quantity you can preview your order details. In the preview below you can see the details of charges and total purchased cost or proceed before continuing your order. Be sure to check the total purchased or proceed before confirming your order. Sometimes you may not have enough funds to support the purchased or your proceeds might be below your cost thus leading you to loss. 

Type in your password and click PLACE BUY ORDER(or SELL if selling) to confirm your order or CANCEL ORDER to cancel which will bring you back to the order section and make revision.

After approving your order the window below will pop out as a confirmation of your order.

To view your orders and still make changes you can go to the OFF-HOURS VIEW/CANCEL(for regular ordering you can go to the VIEW/MODIFY ORDER)

Citiseconline Platform 2: Off-hour ordering

 

source: http://www.ibf.org.uk/2009/08/about-online-trading/

I have decided to show the Off-hour ordering since the usual ordering is the same as this one only that this order is placed during off hours before the pre-opening and after the run-off time as per PSE time trading hours.

Off-hour ordering allows investors who are in a different time zone to place their order in advance. Such order are queued and will be automatically placed in the system at the opening of the trading at PSE.

For our example below I have use JFC(Jollibee Food Corp.) for our Off-hour ordering:

Log in to your account and click the TRADE/PORTFOLIO tab and click OFF-HOUR ORDER

Enter the the stock you are buying or selling in the field STOCK CODE

Enter the number of shares you wanted to buy and the price you wanted to purchased the said stock. If you look at the other two boxes in the side you will noticed that quotes for the same stock is shown. On the BID ASK box you will notice that there is a size and price column. These columns indicate the number of shares being ordered or being sold with the corresponding price these investors are willing to trade.

At the same time be mindful that the bid or ask price is not limited to the listed prices in the first box. With the new trading system there could be more than three fluctuation as long as it is within the two threshold set by PSE as per the implementing rules and regulation. To know more about the Static and Dynamic threshold you can read my post here. 

You can refer to the other box for other information you need to determine at what price and quantity you can order or sell. But again such decisions entails other factors which will be discussed on other topics.

After entering desired price and quantity you can preview your order details. In the preview below you can see the details of charges and total purchased cost or proceed before continuing your order. Be sure to check the total purchased or proceed before confirming your order. Sometimes you may not have enough funds to support the purchased or your proceeds might be below your cost thus leading you to loss. 

Type in your password and click PLACE BUY ORDER(or SELL if selling) to confirm your order or CANCEL ORDER to cancel which will bring you back to the order section and make revision.

After approving your order the window below will pop out as a confirmation of your order.

To view your orders and still make changes you can go to the OFF-HOURS VIEW/CANCEL(for regular ordering you can go to the VIEW/MODIFY ORDER)

Another video about Stock investing: Citiseconline's Corporate AVP

As I browse further I discovered yet another video. I am not paid in posting this video in my blog nor I am promoting to you Citiseconline but I just want to share the idea of stock investing in the Philippines. That even a nurse or a plain housewife can start investing through online stock broker with a minimum capital and know how.



If the above video doesn't work click here.

Another video about Stock investing: Citiseconline's Corporate AVP

As I browse further I discovered yet another video. I am not paid in posting this video in my blog nor I am promoting to you Citiseconline but I just want to share the idea of stock investing in the Philippines. That even a nurse or a plain housewife can start investing through online stock broker with a minimum capital and know how.



If the above video doesn't work click here.

Citiseconline Platform 1: Stock Qoute

     source: http://aprevision.fortunecity.com


As promised I am making a post regarding the features and navigation of the Citiseconline web page.

First we will try to tackle the quote tab of the Citiseconline page specially about the Stock Quote function.

The very first information you will get is seen in the color of the name of the company. When it is yellowish just like CHIB(ChinaBank) it indicates that the stock has no movement comparing today's last traded price form yesterday's. A green means its higher than yesterday while a red mean its lower than yesterday.

If you are already familiar with the BID and ASK columns you might notice the additional numbers beside each Bid or Ask data. Those are the number of bidders or sellers during the trade or those that are on queue. The Last 5 Trades are records of the transactions that affected the said particular stock for this matter CHIB was only traded 3 times. The number in the BUYER and SELLER COLUMN are assigned number for stockbrokers participating in the PSE. You can access that list here.

And lastly the vertical box on the side indicates all the information one needs when making a decision to buy or sell. It contains the price information during the trading hours like the OPEN, HIGH, LOW, CLOSE, and PREVIOUS. 

Also basic information about the stock also are in this box

Citiseconline Platform 1: Stock Qoute

     source: http://aprevision.fortunecity.com


As promised I am making a post regarding the features and navigation of the Citiseconline web page.

First we will try to tackle the quote tab of the Citiseconline page specially about the Stock Quote function.

The very first information you will get is seen in the color of the name of the company. When it is yellowish just like CHIB(ChinaBank) it indicates that the stock has no movement comparing today's last traded price form yesterday's. A green means its higher than yesterday while a red mean its lower than yesterday.

If you are already familiar with the BID and ASK columns you might notice the additional numbers beside each Bid or Ask data. Those are the number of bidders or sellers during the trade or those that are on queue. The Last 5 Trades are records of the transactions that affected the said particular stock for this matter CHIB was only traded 3 times. The number in the BUYER and SELLER COLUMN are assigned number for stockbrokers participating in the PSE. You can access that list here.

And lastly the vertical box on the side indicates all the information one needs when making a decision to buy or sell. It contains the price information during the trading hours like the OPEN, HIGH, LOW, CLOSE, and PREVIOUS. 

Also basic information about the stock also are in this box

My new segments in my blog: The online stockbrokers that I use

                                source: http://www.yourbrokerguide.com/
If you remember I introduced you to the online stockbrokers... if you haven't read that yet click here.

Okay so let me make some introductions first. One might ask me why online stockbrokers? What are the benefits?

Here are my reasons why I opted for online stockbrokers:

1. Online stockbrokers are cheap. Most only charge a commission of

    0.25% to 0.50% per all transaction. Most have no maintaining
    fee, and only charge a small fee for call trading assistance.

2. Online stockbroker's platform are easily accessible online and 

    they are secure. That is why they have to be accredited by both

    SEC and PSE.

3. Online stockbroker's web page are full of information and guides 

    to help you make that buy or trade

4. And lately after the PSE upgraded most have brought back the

   off-hours facility. No more early morning waking up for our stock 

   investors abroad to place their stock trades

Those are the benefits to name a few.

Now as promise I will be posting a series on how to navigate and use the two online stockbrokers I am currently using. I am using Citiseconline and First Metro Securities Brokerage Corp. to know more about these two click on them to go to their website.

Here is a story on how I ended up with these two online stockbroker.

                                     source: www.citiseconline.com
Citiseconline was the first online stockbroker I applied to. I learned about them through Bo Sanchez's book 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich. Long before I have always wanted to enter the stock market. I remember the days when my professor and dean in PSBA-QC would tell us about his masteral class challenging them to buy stock in the Philippine Stock Market and their grade in his class will be based on the performance of their stock investment. It scared me to take an MBA class because back then I really have no idea even how to buy a stock. Is it done just like going to the "sari sari" store asking the "tindera" to sell you stocks? I know it wasn't.

But in the end while working abroad and after mustering my courage to dive in an unknown territory I checked out Citiseconline's website and tried there 15 day or so free pass which I didn't even use because I really have no idea how to do the action in the stock market.  After nearly 6 months I inquired via email and a reply from Jenny Senining gave me hope of opening an account. I planned and I inquired like a little child so afraid to bring and placed my tiny money in to a strange place called "online stockbroker" but finally when I had a chance to get a vacation from my overseas work I made sure it is my first order in my list. Went Tektite to looked for the Citiseconline office and luckily Ms. Senining was there to assist me and that afternoon I funded my account and got may access after a day..that was late November last year.

And then ecstatic that I was I went to my account check this and that and place my first order. After the day nothing happened. After a week nothing happened. After a month still nothing happen. So I asked myself what's wrong with my bid? Then a new thread in the forum where I accustomed to share my ideas and advices opened. It was about stock investing. And from there on my knowledge grew leaps and bounds due to friends who share the same passion for stock investing. My humble thanks to our OFW friend who started that thread, "maraming salamat rich dad ninong :) "
 
I made my first buy on March 2010 and from their on I have been buying, then waiting till it profits around 5-10% net of cost before selling and sometimes when times are good I profit up to 40%

    source: www.firstmetrosec.com.ph

The reason why I opened another online stockbroker account is funds accessibility.

Being the online brokerage arm of Metrobank fund transfer from your Metrobank account to your First Metro Securities account is a breeze through Metrodirect. I am in the process of familiarizing myself about FMSB's online platform and will soon share here my experience in navigating and making the most of their platform.

Also the well known stock analyst Gus Cosio is in FMSB and his blog is linked to their website. With the latest announcement that FMSB can now accept off-hours trading I guess more and more Pinoys can benefit from it. Also to open an account you just need a minimum of Php 5,000.00, of which Php 2,00.00 is for your maintaining  balance for your Metrobank account and the Php 3,000.00  cash is available for stock investment.

My new segments in my blog: The online stockbrokers that I use

                                source: http://www.yourbrokerguide.com/
If you remember I introduced you to the online stockbrokers... if you haven't read that yet click here.

Okay so let me make some introductions first. One might ask me why online stockbrokers? What are the benefits?

Here are my reasons why I opted for online stockbrokers:

1. Online stockbrokers are cheap. Most only charge a commission of

    0.25% to 0.50% per all transaction. Most have no maintaining
    fee, and only charge a small fee for call trading assistance.

2. Online stockbroker's platform are easily accessible online and 

    they are secure. That is why they have to be accredited by both

    SEC and PSE.

3. Online stockbroker's web page are full of information and guides 

    to help you make that buy or trade

4. And lately after the PSE upgraded most have brought back the

   off-hours facility. No more early morning waking up for our stock 

   investors abroad to place their stock trades

Those are the benefits to name a few.

Now as promise I will be posting a series on how to navigate and use the two online stockbrokers I am currently using. I am using Citiseconline and First Metro Securities Brokerage Corp. to know more about these two click on them to go to their website.

Here is a story on how I ended up with these two online stockbroker.

                                     source: www.citiseconline.com
Citiseconline was the first online stockbroker I applied to. I learned about them through Bo Sanchez's book 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich. Long before I have always wanted to enter the stock market. I remember the days when my professor and dean in PSBA-QC would tell us about his masteral class challenging them to buy stock in the Philippine Stock Market and their grade in his class will be based on the performance of their stock investment. It scared me to take an MBA class because back then I really have no idea even how to buy a stock. Is it done just like going to the "sari sari" store asking the "tindera" to sell you stocks? I know it wasn't.

But in the end while working abroad and after mustering my courage to dive in an unknown territory I checked out Citiseconline's website and tried there 15 day or so free pass which I didn't even use because I really have no idea how to do the action in the stock market.  After nearly 6 months I inquired via email and a reply from Jenny Senining gave me hope of opening an account. I planned and I inquired like a little child so afraid to bring and placed my tiny money in to a strange place called "online stockbroker" but finally when I had a chance to get a vacation from my overseas work I made sure it is my first order in my list. Went Tektite to looked for the Citiseconline office and luckily Ms. Senining was there to assist me and that afternoon I funded my account and got may access after a day..that was late November last year.

And then ecstatic that I was I went to my account check this and that and place my first order. After the day nothing happened. After a week nothing happened. After a month still nothing happen. So I asked myself what's wrong with my bid? Then a new thread in the forum where I accustomed to share my ideas and advices opened. It was about stock investing. And from there on my knowledge grew leaps and bounds due to friends who share the same passion for stock investing. My humble thanks to our OFW friend who started that thread, "maraming salamat rich dad ninong :) "
 
I made my first buy on March 2010 and from their on I have been buying, then waiting till it profits around 5-10% net of cost before selling and sometimes when times are good I profit up to 40%

    source: www.firstmetrosec.com.ph

The reason why I opened another online stockbroker account is funds accessibility.

Being the online brokerage arm of Metrobank fund transfer from your Metrobank account to your First Metro Securities account is a breeze through Metrodirect. I am in the process of familiarizing myself about FMSB's online platform and will soon share here my experience in navigating and making the most of their platform.

Also the well known stock analyst Gus Cosio is in FMSB and his blog is linked to their website. With the latest announcement that FMSB can now accept off-hours trading I guess more and more Pinoys can benefit from it. Also to open an account you just need a minimum of Php 5,000.00, of which Php 2,00.00 is for your maintaining  balance for your Metrobank account and the Php 3,000.00  cash is available for stock investment.

How did I start in investing?

source: http://www.debtfreeadventure.com/

I have forgotten that I have been babbling about stock investing and online stock investing for sometime now without sharing how did I start about investing.

Let me share with you a long story of my financial freedom quest and the reason behind it.

My consciousness about the importance of money really started when I was in college. When I was young money was not a problem since it is not my duty to worry about it. Also being and studying in the seminary has taken that away even if I know my mom and dad worry about the tuition(yes some seminaries are not free so if you can donate or sponsor a seminarian please do so). The moment I entered college I learned how money really affects each and every one's life. Studying in Manila is not cheap, living there alone is not cheap.

I enrolled in Philippine School of Business Administration-Q.C. My Alma Mater is primarily focus in the area of Accountancy and Management so I ended up taking B.S. Accountancy. As a newbie in Manila at the same time newbie in accounting I am always fascinated about the course I took. Accountancy is not about how to get rich, it is more of how to analyze the business transaction. If you are also an accounting graduate like me I believe you can do Fundamental Analysis which in our accounting language is Financial Ratio Analysis(the subject you hated besides Accounting 7, Management Accounting, Law, and Tax ). 

I know my story is kinda deviating so here is the reason why I got myself to investing.

source: http://www.shepherdsvoice.com.ph/

I read a book written by Eugenio Sanchez Jr. aka Bo Sanchez. The title of the book was "Simplify and live a Good Life". I have read his magazine, Kerygma, and Thank God, His Boss! but in all his works this one greatly influenced me. With my background as a seminarian and the thoughts Bo wrote in this book it made me think why are so many people are tired everyday. They work and work for no reason. They work hard to pay the house they never really enjoyed because 3/4 of the day they are not in it. Money shouldn't be the problem. One must know how to make money work for them so that one wont go to the trouble waking up even though you really don't want to but because you have a house to pay and expenses to pay you drag yourself out of your bed to go to work. I am not implying that going to work is bad, we need to earn a living but most of us are buried in debt that makes our lives miserable.

At the same time at school, we have this subject Corporate Accounting. My professor and dean of the school, Dr. Raul Addatu, would always tell us to buy stocks of SMC(San Miguel Corp.) and wait till it goes up. Yes I learn about stock, stock rights, stock dividend, and so many things about stocks but never about stock investment and stock trading. Dr. Addatu always tells us that in his MBA class, in order for a candidate to be granted the MBA title one must buy a stock and have a profit at the end of the program. That scared me because I was planning to take my MBA but until now I haven't.

So after all those experience I started looking for answers that bothers my mind. I searched publications about investments. I got a primer from a local paper discussing stock investment and my mind started to swirl when I learned that stock brokers require a minimum of 100,000.00 pesos to open an account. Online stock brokers are not yet around at that time. But it did not stop me from dreaming to own stocks of some famous company the likes of PLDT, SMC, and Ayala.

When I was working in my last employer before working here in Guam I already set my goal to be an investor. I have been setting aside money for it. The very first investment I made was at a mutual fund. I just have to make that first move to keep myself going into that direction. It was just a small and right now I don't know how it is already but hoping to check it after five years to avoid charges of early withdrawal of funds. 

While working here in Guam I always check the websites about stock market like PSE, DOW, Bloomberg, CNBC and TV shows like CNBC watching the World Wide Exchange, Managing Asia hosted by Christine Tan, and other programs. I waited nearly two years until I opened my brokerage account. 

source: http://www.shepherdsvoice.com.ph/

In Bo Sanchez's book 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich he mentioned about Citiseconline. So checked them out and even emailed them on how would I open an account even though I was outside the Philippines. And so last November 2009 while on vacation I opened my account with them placing my initial deposit of 25,000.00 pesos. To tell you the truth I was thinking twice and I was a bit jittery about it. Even though I have read a lot about it and even played the online stock trading game it still makes me think how will I do it.

I have eyed on stock of JFC(Jollibee Food Corp.) and have been placing buy order from January 2010 to early March.  It was only in March that I have my first buy transaction. Then SMPH(SM Prime Holdings). I have been holding this two until it made a profit in around April or May and released it. From their on I started bold buy and sell transactions. It came to the point that I was holding 18 stocks and most of them are at the negative. But it didn't bother me. The years of learning and understanding stock market trading finally sink in to me. 

Also I have joined a forum and started this blog to share what I learned about stock investing. It may be scary because it is your hard earned money that is on the line but knowing how to play it and having knowledge about it makes it easy. And so I will re-iterate my and my friends advice when doing stock trading:

1. Only invest free cash

2. When your portfolio is negative you have not yet loss anything

    unless you sell it

3. Buy low, sell high. Lower your average cost per share and take 

    profits when prices is near your target price 

4. Prepare for market correction. Always have available cash for 

    bargain buying

5. Read, research, and learn. 

6. Don't be afraid to ask, you are an investor

7. Always be humble and share your knowledge to others
8. Trade at your own risk. 

How about you how did you start your stock investment? Share your story here in the comments

How did I start in investing?

source: http://www.debtfreeadventure.com/

I have forgotten that I have been babbling about stock investing and online stock investing for sometime now without sharing how did I start about investing.

Let me share with you a long story of my financial freedom quest and the reason behind it.

My consciousness about the importance of money really started when I was in college. When I was young money was not a problem since it is not my duty to worry about it. Also being and studying in the seminary has taken that away even if I know my mom and dad worry about the tuition(yes some seminaries are not free so if you can donate or sponsor a seminarian please do so). The moment I entered college I learned how money really affects each and every one's life. Studying in Manila is not cheap, living there alone is not cheap.

I enrolled in Philippine School of Business Administration-Q.C. My Alma Mater is primarily focus in the area of Accountancy and Management so I ended up taking B.S. Accountancy. As a newbie in Manila at the same time newbie in accounting I am always fascinated about the course I took. Accountancy is not about how to get rich, it is more of how to analyze the business transaction. If you are also an accounting graduate like me I believe you can do Fundamental Analysis which in our accounting language is Financial Ratio Analysis(the subject you hated besides Accounting 7, Management Accounting, Law, and Tax ). 

I know my story is kinda deviating so here is the reason why I got myself to investing.

source: http://www.shepherdsvoice.com.ph/

I read a book written by Eugenio Sanchez Jr. aka Bo Sanchez. The title of the book was "Simplify and live a Good Life". I have read his magazine, Kerygma, and Thank God, His Boss! but in all his works this one greatly influenced me. With my background as a seminarian and the thoughts Bo wrote in this book it made me think why are so many people are tired everyday. They work and work for no reason. They work hard to pay the house they never really enjoyed because 3/4 of the day they are not in it. Money shouldn't be the problem. One must know how to make money work for them so that one wont go to the trouble waking up even though you really don't want to but because you have a house to pay and expenses to pay you drag yourself out of your bed to go to work. I am not implying that going to work is bad, we need to earn a living but most of us are buried in debt that makes our lives miserable.

At the same time at school, we have this subject Corporate Accounting. My professor and dean of the school, Dr. Raul Addatu, would always tell us to buy stocks of SMC(San Miguel Corp.) and wait till it goes up. Yes I learn about stock, stock rights, stock dividend, and so many things about stocks but never about stock investment and stock trading. Dr. Addatu always tells us that in his MBA class, in order for a candidate to be granted the MBA title one must buy a stock and have a profit at the end of the program. That scared me because I was planning to take my MBA but until now I haven't.

So after all those experience I started looking for answers that bothers my mind. I searched publications about investments. I got a primer from a local paper discussing stock investment and my mind started to swirl when I learned that stock brokers require a minimum of 100,000.00 pesos to open an account. Online stock brokers are not yet around at that time. But it did not stop me from dreaming to own stocks of some famous company the likes of PLDT, SMC, and Ayala.

When I was working in my last employer before working here in Guam I already set my goal to be an investor. I have been setting aside money for it. The very first investment I made was at a mutual fund. I just have to make that first move to keep myself going into that direction. It was just a small and right now I don't know how it is already but hoping to check it after five years to avoid charges of early withdrawal of funds. 

While working here in Guam I always check the websites about stock market like PSE, DOW, Bloomberg, CNBC and TV shows like CNBC watching the World Wide Exchange, Managing Asia hosted by Christine Tan, and other programs. I waited nearly two years until I opened my brokerage account. 

source: http://www.shepherdsvoice.com.ph/

In Bo Sanchez's book 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich he mentioned about Citiseconline. So checked them out and even emailed them on how would I open an account even though I was outside the Philippines. And so last November 2009 while on vacation I opened my account with them placing my initial deposit of 25,000.00 pesos. To tell you the truth I was thinking twice and I was a bit jittery about it. Even though I have read a lot about it and even played the online stock trading game it still makes me think how will I do it.

I have eyed on stock of JFC(Jollibee Food Corp.) and have been placing buy order from January 2010 to early March.  It was only in March that I have my first buy transaction. Then SMPH(SM Prime Holdings). I have been holding this two until it made a profit in around April or May and released it. From their on I started bold buy and sell transactions. It came to the point that I was holding 18 stocks and most of them are at the negative. But it didn't bother me. The years of learning and understanding stock market trading finally sink in to me. 

Also I have joined a forum and started this blog to share what I learned about stock investing. It may be scary because it is your hard earned money that is on the line but knowing how to play it and having knowledge about it makes it easy. And so I will re-iterate my and my friends advice when doing stock trading:

1. Only invest free cash

2. When your portfolio is negative you have not yet loss anything

    unless you sell it

3. Buy low, sell high. Lower your average cost per share and take 

    profits when prices is near your target price 

4. Prepare for market correction. Always have available cash for 

    bargain buying

5. Read, research, and learn. 

6. Don't be afraid to ask, you are an investor

7. Always be humble and share your knowledge to others
8. Trade at your own risk. 

How about you how did you start your stock investment? Share your story here in the comments

How did I start in investing?

source: http://www.debtfreeadventure.com/

I have forgotten that I have been babbling about stock investing and online stock investing for sometime now without sharing how did I start about investing.

Let me share with you a long story of my financial freedom quest and the reason behind it.

My consciousness about the importance of money really started when I was in college. When I was young money was not a problem since it is not my duty to worry about it. Also being and studying in the seminary has taken that away even if I know my mom and dad worry about the tuition(yes some seminaries are not free so if you can donate or sponsor a seminarian please do so). The moment I entered college I learned how money really affects each and every one's life. Studying in Manila is not cheap, living there alone is not cheap.

I enrolled in Philippine School of Business Administration-Q.C. My Alma Mater is primarily focus in the area of Accountancy and Management so I ended up taking B.S. Accountancy. As a newbie in Manila at the same time newbie in accounting I am always fascinated about the course I took. Accountancy is not about how to get rich, it is more of how to analyze the business transaction. If you are also an accounting graduate like me I believe you can do Fundamental Analysis which in our accounting language is Financial Ratio Analysis(the subject you hated besides Accounting 7, Management Accounting, Law, and Tax ). 

I know my story is kinda deviating so here is the reason why I got myself to investing.

source: http://www.shepherdsvoice.com.ph/

I read a book written by Eugenio Sanchez Jr. aka Bo Sanchez. The title of the book was "Simplify and live a Good Life". I have read his magazine, Kerygma, and Thank God, His Boss! but in all his works this one greatly influenced me. With my background as a seminarian and the thoughts Bo wrote in this book it made me think why are so many people are tired everyday. They work and work for no reason. They work hard to pay the house they never really enjoyed because 3/4 of the day they are not in it. Money shouldn't be the problem. One must know how to make money work for them so that one wont go to the trouble waking up even though you really don't want to but because you have a house to pay and expenses to pay you drag yourself out of your bed to go to work. I am not implying that going to work is bad, we need to earn a living but most of us are buried in debt that makes our lives miserable.

At the same time at school, we have this subject Corporate Accounting. My professor and dean of the school, Dr. Raul Addatu, would always tell us to buy stocks of SMC(San Miguel Corp.) and wait till it goes up. Yes I learn about stock, stock rights, stock dividend, and so many things about stocks but never about stock investment and stock trading. Dr. Addatu always tells us that in his MBA class, in order for a candidate to be granted the MBA title one must buy a stock and have a profit at the end of the program. That scared me because I was planning to take my MBA but until now I haven't.

So after all those experience I started looking for answers that bothers my mind. I searched publications about investments. I got a primer from a local paper discussing stock investment and my mind started to swirl when I learned that stock brokers require a minimum of 100,000.00 pesos to open an account. Online stock brokers are not yet around at that time. But it did not stop me from dreaming to own stocks of some famous company the likes of PLDT, SMC, and Ayala.

When I was working in my last employer before working here in Guam I already set my goal to be an investor. I have been setting aside money for it. The very first investment I made was at a mutual fund. I just have to make that first move to keep myself going into that direction. It was just a small and right now I don't know how it is already but hoping to check it after five years to avoid charges of early withdrawal of funds. 

While working here in Guam I always check the websites about stock market like PSE, DOW, Bloomberg, CNBC and TV shows like CNBC watching the World Wide Exchange, Managing Asia hosted by Christine Tan, and other programs. I waited nearly two years until I opened my brokerage account. 

source: http://www.shepherdsvoice.com.ph/

In Bo Sanchez's book 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich he mentioned about Citiseconline. So checked them out and even emailed them on how would I open an account even though I was outside the Philippines. And so last November 2009 while on vacation I opened my account with them placing my initial deposit of 25,000.00 pesos. To tell you the truth I was thinking twice and I was a bit jittery about it. Even though I have read a lot about it and even played the online stock trading game it still makes me think how will I do it.

I have eyed on stock of JFC(Jollibee Food Corp.) and have been placing buy order from January 2010 to early March.  It was only in March that I have my first buy transaction. Then SMPH(SM Prime Holdings). I have been holding this two until it made a profit in around April or May and released it. From their on I started bold buy and sell transactions. It came to the point that I was holding 18 stocks and most of them are at the negative. But it didn't bother me. The years of learning and understanding stock market trading finally sink in to me. 

Also I have joined a forum and started this blog to share what I learned about stock investing. It may be scary because it is your hard earned money that is on the line but knowing how to play it and having knowledge about it makes it easy. And so I will re-iterate my and my friends advice when doing stock trading:

1. Only invest free cash

2. When your portfolio is negative you have not yet loss anything

    unless you sell it

3. Buy low, sell high. Lower your average cost per share and take 

    profits when prices is near your target price 

4. Prepare for market correction. Always have available cash for 

    bargain buying

5. Read, research, and learn. 

6. Don't be afraid to ask, you are an investor

7. Always be humble and share your knowledge to others
8. Trade at your own risk. 

How about you how did you start your stock investment? Share your story here in the comments