Life Of A Typical Malay - November 1999

Monday 1/11/1999

This morning I put in a solid 6 hours without any breaks, printing reports, checking forums, updating charts etc but I must admit I could have had a break if I wanted. When it came time for lunch, however, I was no longer hungry so I continued working through, or at least trying to. After days like today I wish I had someone to talk to instead of just staring at this tiny 2 bedroom apartment.

3-15 pm :

Zul, you have to do something this week, tonight I mean. Coffee is going to explode.

Really? How do you know?

It was dry in Brazil during the weekend and dryness will continue until Wednesday. So you better get in today, and hold the positions overnight at least. I suspect a massive pullback will occur Friday, or even Thursday.

Keep me posted then, I'll see if I can get onboard, so, is this what you call "riding the wave"?

Yeah, riding or surfing coffee wave...hehehe...and don't forget, starting tonight market opens at 10-15 pm, not 9-15 pm. It's winter time.

7-30 pm : I really am nervous. Coming to works is like going to a war zone now. And I feel like I'm a toy soldier. I have to "fight" with "big boys" - trading on New York Market is a dangerous game. There are far too many "pit sharks". Dang.

3-15 am:

I lost USD 9875-50 in less than 30 seconds. Yeah. Right. I lost USD 9875-50 in less than half a minute.

But I'm happy.

You wot?

I'm happy.....

....I made "floating profits" of USD 12,250-00 and I have 2 buys at the bottom and 2 sells at the top. And what I'm trying to do next is to get at least one more sell at higher price so that when market tumbles (this Friday), I'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

*They* were so surprised to hear the news ( well, I did not tell them about profits I made...)

Oh, sorry to know you lost that much of money. See, I told you so....

I'm confused. You said you lost nearly 10K but you don't even look sad.

....hehehe...

I love to confuse people, or maybe that's my way of getting attentions? Oh shit!....

Tuesday 2/11/1999

I felt a bit ok today, I mean, I was not that tense knowing the fact I won't be affected by price movements, north or south , it doesn't really matter, I had them "locked" last night. Just that I have to be careful when "unlocking" them, or else my floating profits will burst. Help me God...I've been a good guy..hehehe...( don't get me wrong, I'm laughing *at myself*). In times like this I can just tawakkal.

Dominic called when I was about to go out for lunch so in less than 20 mins I was already at his apartment. We went for lunch at a very nice quiet place at IOI Mall, Puchong. Took me quite sometimes to make him understand my plans.

No, I don't understand this, why don't you just take whatever profits, then you can enter new positions. The account looks a bit messy now.

Yea, it looks messy to you but not to me. I see money there. Ok, now just tell me, what do you want me to do with those 4 positions? Dispose them off? Don't blame me if I lose our margin capital should I enter new position at the wrong time. Market is so unpredictable these few weeks, it skyrockets one day only to nose-dive 24 hours later.

Look, you are the one doing all the transactions, I think you know your stuff. I leave it to you. Really.

Good, that is what I want to hear....

...hmmmm....a man hears what he wants to hear....

Azizan messaged me a few times but he was out everytime I called his office, almost every 5 minutes. Managed to get thru' to him just when the office was about to close, he was clearing his desk.

Your payment has been approved, they are in the process of preparing a checque.

Thank Goodness....at last, after more than 4 years of waiting.....You know what? En Mahadi calls me almost every day and he has been pestering me to go see your big boss to ask him to expedite the payment. I guess I can't blame him, he needs the money very urgently, his daughter is getting married on the 15th.

I'm sure you'll get it by then, just don't forget me when you get the money.

Hey, I don't like to bribe people, so please do not ask. I will definitely share the money with those involved in the project. You are one of them.

Note:
1. almost every day [ should read: he called me once, last month]
2. 15th [ should read: 28th]

 * * * * * *

Ouch...ouch....market dropped like a stone I had to make a few trips to the gents. The 3 telephone lines were not working so there was no way to get access to the internet to check news etc. I managed to exercise 2 positions, lost a little bit but the damage was not too bad.

Wednesday 3/11/1999

11-45 pm:

Our pool account, the one being managed by Yati and Kak Zainap looks certain to burst.

Told ya to do something at the re-opening today, the indication was so very clear yet you chosed to listen to *them*. Now it's too late to take action, if the price goes south by 0.70 point , that's it, margin call...

I "think" the price will go up, everyone says so.

Look, you are not trading commodity anymore now, you basically are trading our account.

* * * * *

Time: 3-15 am:

Location: Estana, KL

Mike, my pool account hancur nampak gayanya.I have to put in more money to re-activate it.

So, what are you going to do?

Well, I called our principal office in Singapore just now, they asked me to put in another 5K.

What about our account?

I'm not going to do any transactions , not until next week, let the price drop, let it go down.

Just be careful.

I will...

Thursday 4/11/1999

We are not going to Taiping this Deepavali holidays. Teh has something to do Saturday, so has abang The. So I'm thinking of going somewhere, just for Saturday and Sunday (Deepavali), have no idea where to go to but Kumar wants to tag along. He doesn't want to spend the festival (he's Hindu) with his family and is looking for excuses to be away. Dominic is leaving for Penang tonight, so basically I have to "go" somewhere, take a break or something...Malacca, Port Dickson, Lumut or perhaps Cameron Highlands, somewhere within 3 to 4 hours' drive.

Or maybe...

I'm going soul searching... hahaha...

I certainly let tremendous advantage slip away in coffee. It gave great rides but left me hitch hiking with my thumb out....*LOL*...I'm going to spend some time sorting out what that means and how to deal with similar situations in the future.

I'm also going "to try" to learn more about options, how they work, writing, covered writing et al. It'd be great to use them as comfortably and as confidently as other traders on the forum. I am not a quick study. My learning style requires me to immerse myself in the topic matter. To try to feel it out and experience various textures, distinctions, movements, relationships and interactions as I go about trying to gain understanding. I want to be knowledgeable, that's it.

I know, it sounds corny but I've always been that way. It is the long way around but I generally get the feel of the nuiances and use them to try to stack multiple minor advantages in my favor - regardless of the subject matter.

Friday 5/11/1999
...*LOL*....another "coffee thought"...

* * * * *

It just seems that so many other very powerful opportunities exist (non directionals - spreads - straddles - various combinations of futures and options, options and options et al) and I am currently helpless to take decent advantage of them. It really looks good when several different minor advantages can be stacked in such a way that increases the odds of success.

I don't plan to trade a lot of markets. Therefore I would like to be able to exploit what my expectation is of the select markets I do follow. That would require a fuller arsenal to apply to the current situation. Position recovery and repair also requires other stratigies that effectively make profitable lemonade out of potentially disasterous lemons.

It seems that most American traders can do this with their eyes closed. I am still not too sure how this actually works but it sure demonstrated a solid understanding of the various components they were working with. This stepping in crap, but coming out smelling like roses recovery sort of thinking has to open up greater possibilities.

I have given back much more than they would have when the market moved against me. I am looking forward to not doing that anymore. Most of the time in my life where I've screwed up is because I didn't use the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid !) approach like some people do.

If I get permanent bruises and decide to simplify, I'll let you know.

But, you know what?.....

I'm stronger than dirt.

Saturday 6/11/1999
Left KL for Malacca just before 8-00 am, sleepy, tired and did not talk much. I did not even laugh at Kumar's stupid jokes. I got angry sometimes when he tried to cheer me up by making even more jokes.

We made a small mistake (and wasted an hour there) by going to Tanjung Bidara, a quiet little fishing community. Too quiet perhaps, not to my liking so we drove off.

Driving thru' Malacca's narrow, busy streets was a nightmare. The only consolation was that we had the chance of seeing all those antic shops, pre-war buildings etc without having to get offf the car.

Finding a place to stay was another headache. Tried a few resorts and hotels in the city and along the beach. Fully booked. Fully booked. Had no choice other than to stay at Riviera Bay Resort, about 10 km from the city. The only available room was deluxe suite. Shit. We took up the room anyway. Wow, next to Presidential Suite. My first time deluxing.

Tried to have a quick nap but Kumar kept asking things like; Eh, how to do this? How to do that? Where's the...I don't know how to.... At about 4-00 pm, after a long hot bath, we went to the city for "lunch". Brought a few kilos of rambutan and longan.

The evening was spent listening to in-house music and doing some readings among others. Went to bed at 10-00 pm without taking dinner, too sleepy.




[Home][ Main ]
[prev][next] [cast][archives]