Genius teach you how to lose $300k during bull market

[Cottonmouth]

A S$300,000 lesson – Advice from a man who lost his entire life savings in 2 years​

Hope turned to greed, and greed turned to despair​

by Wake Up Singapore

March 1, 2022

in Opinions

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“Be smart. Invest in your future, don’t trade away your present.”

All too often we hear stories of meteoric success on the stock markets. It is rare for us to hear stories of catastrophic failures, like the one you are about to read. Just like how we learn from success, we can also learn from failure and mistakes. Often, the latter is a much better teacher than the former.

Source
There are many reasons why people invest – some wish to protect their wealth against inflation while others hope to acquire wealth outside of their monthly pay-checks. However, investing is not just a game to play. As the subject matter of this piece learnt the hard way, it can have significant implications on the lives of people. Usually, the people who find themselves in such predicaments only realise it when it’s too late.

Losing 300k in the stock market​

To caution others against making the same mistakes he did, Mr X, who reached out to Wake Up Singapore on the condition of anonymity, shared his unfortunate experience of losing his life-savings trading in the stock market.

Only a handful of close friends know I lost all my life savings as my family and social network have no idea, they think I’m still well invested.

Source
Mr X lost lost his entire life savings, amounting to SGD 300,000, by trading contract for differences, or CFDs, over the past 2 years. According to Investopedia, CFDs are “an agreement between an investor and a CFD broker to exchange the difference in the value of a financial product between the time the contract opens and closes”.
Wake Up Singapore has had sight of his financial statements, which evidence that he had accumulated more than SGD 299,561.55 in losses.
Like many other Singaporeans, he started day-trading during Covid-19 in hopes of creating a healthy nest egg. On hindsight, Mr X observes that “hope turned into greed, and finally greed turned into despair”.
He lost everything he had. At first, he felt that he was a normal trader accumulating wealth like many others, until he found himself tumbling downwards one day.

I used to feel happy and successful in life, I had a house, a car, I saw a future.
Now all I see are mortgage payments, a car loan, and a need to start again from zero after throwing away everything. You see, I thought I knew how to trade. I read all the horror stories. But I didn’t understand what it meant to lose everything, until I had nothing left to lose. I used to live, and now all I can do is survive.
There is no way to recover my losses as I have no more money left to trade with, nor do I dare.

3 pieces of advice​

He shared 3 pieces of advice to budding investors and traders so that others can learn from his mistakes:
First, there is a difference between investing in stocks and trading stocks. The latter is gambling. Be prepared to lose it all and know when to walk away from the table. Investing is what every adult should do to build a nest egg for the future.
Second, he reminded all to follow the advice of those who know better. It’s better to not earn a little more money than losing a lot of money. He also gave an example of where he knew he should have followed advice, but greed got the better of him:-

My close friends told me to bank my profits, collect my initial investment and then use my earnings to trade as the market could crash anytime. I knew they were right, but I never followed their advice as I wanted more, and more.
Even when I started losing, and they told me to get out completely and sit on whatever cash I had left, I still didn’t listen, in the hopes that I could make back what I lost. In the end I lost even more. So make sure you follow the advice of smarter people. It’s better to not earn a little more money than losing a lot of money.

Finally, he said, “you have a lot more than you realise, don’t waste it”. Mr X never appreciated how much money he had truly saved up in my life until he lost it all. He learnt that there was some truth to the old adage of being safe, not sorry.
His parting advice was for people to refrain from trying to be the 1% of people who turned millionaires overnight. Such situations are, in all likelihood, due to luck and chances. Most of us would lose it all trying.

I want to make clear to everyone is that we CAN all be successful. We CAN be the 1%.
But don’t take the shortcut there unless you’re prepared to lose it all, and can afford to lose it all. I’m not scared from this experience. I’m not deterred from trading ever again, or from stepping into a casino. I am grateful for the hard lessons I’ve learnt, but I guess I wouldn’t have learnt them if I didn’t go through this.

The “Comeback” NFT?​

As he lost his investment savings, he started teaching himself about NFTs as an alternative way to get his message across. An NFT is a digital asset that represents real-world objects like art, music, in-game items and videos.
He minted an NFT to showcase his heart-breaking loss. It is priced at 93 ETH (a cryptocurrency), which is roughly equivalent to the SGD 300,000 he lost from trading in the stock market.

I do believe I deserve a second chance, which is why I created the NFT as a reflection of not only who I was, but who I aspire to be. Because I can assure you, if I get a second chance at making something of my life, I will remember my past mistakes, learn from it, and come out stronger the next time

Source
Mr X would like this NFT to be viewed as an “art-work” of his life encapsulated as a photo. In his own words, he “dreams” about being on the receiving end of a stranger’s benevolence via the NFT.

I can only dream of being on the receiving end of someone’s benevolence in acquiring my NFT, but my true goal in creating this, and submitting this story to you is to spread awareness. I could write a book on how not to trade. I may have lost my entire monetary value, but my true value within lies with the experience gained from the money lost. This is the story I wish to share.

It remains to be seen if this NFT would bear fruit and help turn Mr X’s life around.
We wish Mr X all the best in his journey and thank him for sharing his insights for our readers to learn from.

 

[covertbriar]

All too often we hear stories of meteoric success on the stock markets. It is rare for us to hear stories of catastrophic failures, like the one you are about to read. Just like how we learn from success, we can also learn from failure and mistakes. Often, the latter is a much better teacher than the former.

There are many reasons why people invest – some wish to protect their wealth against inflation while others hope to acquire wealth outside of their monthly pay-checks. However, investing is not just a game to play. As the subject matter of this piece learnt the hard way, it can have significant implications on the lives of people. Usually, the people who find themselves in such predicaments only realise it when it’s too late.

Losing 300k in the stock market​

To caution others against making the same mistakes he did, Mr X, who reached out to Wake Up Singapore on the condition of anonymity, shared his unfortunate experience of losing his life-savings trading in the stock market.

Only a handful of close friends know I lost all my life savings as my family and social network have no idea, they think I’m still well invested.

Mr X lost lost his entire life savings, amounting to SGD 300,000, by trading contract for differences, or CFDs, over the past 2 years. According to Investopedia, CFDs are “an agreement between an investor and a CFD broker to exchange the difference in the value of a financial product between the time the contract opens and closes”.


Wake Up Singapore has had sight of his financial statements, which evidence that he had accumulated more than SGD 299,561.55 in losses.


Like many other Singaporeans, he started day-trading during Covid-19 in hopes of creating a healthy nest egg. On hindsight, Mr X observes that “hope turned into greed, and finally greed turned into despair”.


He lost everything he had. At first, he felt that he was a normal trader accumulating wealth like many others, until he found himself tumbling downwards one day.

I used to feel happy and successful in life, I had a house, a car, I saw a future.
Now all I see are mortgage payments, a car loan, and a need to start again from zero after throwing away everything. You see, I thought I knew how to trade. I read all the horror stories. But I didn’t understand what it meant to lose everything, until I had nothing left to lose. I used to live, and now all I can do is survive.
There is no way to recover my losses as I have no more money left to trade with, nor do I dare.

3 pieces of advice​

He shared 3 pieces of advice to budding investors and traders so that others can learn from his mistakes:


First, there is a difference between investing in stocks and trading stocks. The latter is gambling. Be prepared to lose it all and know when to walk away from the table. Investing is what every adult should do to build a nest egg for the future.


Second, he reminded all to follow the advice of those who know better. It’s better to not earn a little more money than losing a lot of money. He also gave an example of where he knew he should have followed advice, but greed got the better of him:-

My close friends told me to bank my profits, collect my initial investment and then use my earnings to trade as the market could crash anytime. I knew they were right, but I never followed their advice as I wanted more, and more.
Even when I started losing, and they told me to get out completely and sit on whatever cash I had left, I still didn’t listen, in the hopes that I could make back what I lost. In the end I lost even more. So make sure you follow the advice of smarter people. It’s better to not earn a little more money than losing a lot of money.

Finally, he said, “you have a lot more than you realise, don’t waste it”. Mr X never appreciated how much money he had truly saved up in my life until he lost it all. He learnt that there was some truth to the old adage of being safe, not sorry.


His parting advice was for people to refrain from trying to be the 1% of people who turned millionaires overnight. Such situations are, in all likelihood, due to luck and chances. Most of us would lose it all trying.

I want to make clear to everyone is that we CAN all be successful. We CAN be the 1%.
But don’t take the shortcut there unless you’re prepared to lose it all, and can afford to lose it all. I’m not scared from this experience. I’m not deterred from trading ever again, or from stepping into a casino. I am grateful for the hard lessons I’ve learnt, but I guess I wouldn’t have learnt them if I didn’t go through this.

The “Comeback” NFT?​

As he lost his investment savings, he started teaching himself about NFTs as an alternative way to get his message across. An NFT is a digital asset that represents real-world objects like art, music, in-game items and videos.


He minted an NFT to showcase his heart-breaking loss. It is priced at 93 ETH (a cryptocurrency), which is roughly equivalent to the SGD 300,000 he lost from trading in the stock market.

I do believe I deserve a second chance, which is why I created the NFT as a reflection of not only who I was, but who I aspire to be. Because I can assure you, if I get a second chance at making something of my life, I will remember my past mistakes, learn from it, and come out stronger the next time

Mr X would like this NFT to be viewed as an “art-work” of his life encapsulated as a photo. In his own words, he “dreams” about being on the receiving end of a stranger’s benevolence via the NFT.

I can only dream of being on the receiving end of someone’s benevolence in acquiring my NFT, but my true goal in creating this, and submitting this story to you is to spread awareness. I could write a book on how not to trade. I may have lost my entire monetary value, but my true value within lies with the experience gained from the money lost. This is the story I wish to share.

It remains to be seen if this NFT would bear fruit and help turn Mr X’s life around.


We wish Mr X all the best in his journey and thank him for sharing his insights for our readers to learn from.

 

[red amoeba]

what a loser. if he has invested in ifast, he would have been a millionaire.

 

[blackmondy]

Trading stocks is just a glorified term for gambling.

 

[eatshitndie]

that’s the price of a used porsche macan in sg with 6.9 years to go on the coe.

 

[tanwahtiu]

There are 2 types in stock market, trading and investment. These are different games.

1. Trading is not investment in stock market. It is gambling.
2. Investment is not trading. Investment is put money in Ling term same as buy a house/ unit with an address. This investment is against inflation.....

You need tools, education and work in trading company for a few years before u can be self employed to trade yourself.

Trading is a technician job must know the trade well. A financial analysis is a technical who worked for a few years in the company and bet for the investors.... clients. This company don't collapse have financial backing from billionaires....

Go learn financial analysis course and use algorithmic tools to choose stocks to buy on daily trading in stocks.

Use python program like pandas and series for chart analysis and algorithmrocs for time series and pair stock test and run....

Want to be a medical doctor take 4 years course before you can earn $200k a year. Same is trading in stock markets.

Want to be successful like anhneh in IT? Not easy. They form rings of syndicate groups hunting for Top IT jobs circling all industries.

So go pay these group $10,000 And they setup fake degree for you, fake jobs in learn as you earn in real IT job to start you from zero to heroes to Superstar IT workers in banks in 2 years. Same as you serve NSF SAF to be trained as real soldiers...

Bandit is like a bunch of straws are strong grabs all top IT jobs in the world.... cant beat Bharat neh in cheating might as well join them in their dark world of black skin colour.

Millennial kids problems screwed by 1 billion baby boomers dying soon end time 2040... dead by then...

 

[Leongsam]

I have more than $750,000 INVESTED in stocks. I am now down by 0.8%.

I have not lost my whole investment.

As long as you are not margin trading and you don't have all your eggs in one basket the stock market is a pretty safe place. Returns should be viewed over a 5 to 10 year period.

 

[SBFNews]

He should have kept his money with PAP's CPF.

 

[tanwahtiu]

I have more than $750,000 INVESTED in stocks. I am now down by 0.8%.

I have not lost my whole investment.

As long as you are not margin trading and you don't have all your eggs in one basket the stock market is a pretty safe place. Returns should be viewed over a 5 to 10 year period.

Invest money in stock is against inflation.... the $1 in value to buy a 1kg of rice today is the same $1 buying power in 10 years rice except it become $2 in print....

Play trade in stocks in daily basis go take a online course in financial analysis and algorithmic trading in Python Pandas and Series and matplot candlestick ..... algorithmic trading in pair stock analysis.... get 80% chance of safe bet gaming...

 

[sweetiepie]

I have more than $750,000 INVESTED in stocks. I am now down by 0.8%.

I have not lost my whole investment.

As long as you are not margin trading and you don't have all your eggs in one basket the stock market is a pretty safe place. Returns should be viewed over a 5 to 10 year period.

pretty safe until when big bro press the nuke button. Imuho we control the outcome. Lesser leeturn is OK. Not letting other people control the outcome.

 

[sweetiepie]

pretty safe until when big bro press the nuke button. Imuho we control the outcome. Lesser leeturn is OK. Not letting other people control the outcome.

Likewise we manage our own life. Not letting other to manage. Lower income is OK i.e a 10 20k per job as a slave to someone over 3.5k being a toa pek gong my uncle take the 3.5k

 

[sweetiepie]

Likewise we manage our own life. Not letting other to manage. Lower income is OK i.e a 10 20k per job as a slave to someone over 3.5k being a toa pek gong my uncle take the 3.5k

What is a tpk job ? Where to find ?
It is simplee a job that is actuallee leedudant but created to fulfil some stupid gov policies and actions to show some stupid organisations and stupid people we have this thing.

 

[Balls2U]

That bloke's life savings is only $350,000?

 

[eatshitndie]

my stock portfolio tripled in the trump years but dropped 16.9% from peak in one year of sleepy joe. still in positive territory from 6.9 years ago. can wait out another 6.9 years with faang and tesla stocks. can liquidate some biotech stocks for profit. that’s how you invest in stocks (for the long term), and never do margin trades on contract. gamblers deserve to lose all, and worse owe creditors with a catastrophic collapse. don’t think he’ll learn his painful lesson when he thinks emotionally instead of methodically.

 

[realDonaldTrump]

thousands lost their entire life savings on Hyflux.

 

[mahjongking]

there is no free lunch but that does not apply to pap porlumpars and cocksuckers

 

[Robert Half]

I personally don’t believe in all these

Only naive people believe “Make your money work harder”

 

[Boliao]

That bloke's life savings is only $350,000?

$350,000 is a lot for the average people. Most Singaporeans not do even have more than $100,000 in their savings. 2/3 working adults in Singapore do not have savings that will last them 6 months if retrenched and more than 4000 household could not pay back their CPF after selling their homes last year. Even for high net worths, 80% of their finances are tied up in property. The financial state of Singaporeans are not as rosy as you think it is.

 

[Boliao]

I personally don’t believe in all these

Only naive people believe “Make your money work harder”

Every dollar not invested is a dollar depreciating in value against inflation. Your bank pays 0.0125% per annum. Your CPF pays 2.5% (up to 5% for first $60,000). Fixed deposits pays 2% and Singapore bonds pays 3.5%. These are all capital guaranteed and if you're not putting your money in either of these, you're stupid.

If you can take a little risk, ETF pays 4-6%, CEF pays 6-8% with minimum risk. Stay away from stocks and shares for now, never touch derivatives or commodities if you're not a full time trader.

Most people think that homes are assets but they could not be further from the truth. Homes have poor liquidity and could depreciate in value. Rent returns averages only 2%. Simple rule of the thumb for the general public.

1. You need at least 6 month liquidity to support yourself, 1 year if possible. This correspond to the time you will need to find a job.
2. Once you put these aside, the rest of the money is at your disposal.
3a. If your returns from investment is higher than your mortgage interest and your rent, invest and rent. If not,
3b. If your rent is higher than your mortgage interest, buy a home.

Buying a home should always be the last choice as it ties up your capital. Buy if you get a really good deal. Otherwise, rent.

 

[Robert Half]

Home ownerships is very important & it is very silly to ask people to rent instead of buying it

A home is our base for families or singles & that 99 years leasehold are worthwhile for staying long term

Renting is just helping others to own an apartment

I am ok in putting money into fixed deposits but will not go into dubious investments

My cash savings can at least let my family live comfortably for a 5 good years.

6 months to 1 year come & go very fast .. small amount of liquidity will not be sufficient

My financial views are a home is definitely an asset as home ownerships bring happiness & security. No doubt it can depreciate .. it’s also can appreciate. It’s far better than investing on piece of papers & feeding ($) to these snobbish mercenary bankers