CFD - Certificate For Death

I read this article from IMSavvy's website. I am pretty adverse to using leveraging to buy shares. Contracts For Difference might only work for some people. For others, it might just become a Certificate For Death (CFD).

Pasting the article written by Goh Eng Yeow (with what i think some newbie investor might be thinking about when they read this article in RED):

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GAINING exposure to a blue-chip company need not mean buying its pricey shares listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). Really? You mean there is another method? I am a beginner in investing...let me know..anyway this IMSavvy website is designed to increase our financial knowledge right?

Investors are making a beeline for an increasingly popular financial derivative product known as Contracts for Difference (CFDs), which enable them to 'own' these blue chips without having to stump up the full price of the stock. Wow. So you mean i can buy shares like DBS. Cool!

Brokerages jostling for a slice of the action include local houses such as Phillip Securities, CIMB-GK Securities and Kim Eng Securities and foreign outfits like IG Markets, Saxo Capital and CMC Markets. Good..think maybe i should open an account with one of these brokerages..

A CFD works like a share margin trading account. When an investor buys a CFD on a blue chip like DBS Group Holdings, he need put up just 10 per cent of the cost of owning the stock. Wah! DBS 13.00 means i only need 1.30. Shiok!!

The CFD tracks the share movements. If the price goes up 10 per cent, he would have doubled his initial outlay. But if the price drops, he will have to top up the account with more cash, or risk having his contract sold by his broker to settle the loss. Wah Double My MONEY!!!

CFDs are not traded on the SGX. Unlike warrants, for instance, they have no maturity date and an investor can cash out at any time. So good ah? Like that buy shares for what. I going to buy CFD liao

They are popular because investors can immediately track their gains or losses by glancing at the prices of the shares whose CFDs they have bought.

This is unlike covered warrants whose prices are determined by a complicated formula relating to factors like 'time-decay' - the remaining months left in the contract - and market volatility.

The range of assets linked to CFDs also goes far beyond the Singapore market.

Besides trading local blue chips, an investor can trade foreign currencies like the US dollar, commodities like crude oil, as well as widely watched indexes like the Straits Times Index and the Hang Seng.

For some CFD players, business growth has been phenomenal. 'Since 2007, the number of accounts opened has doubled every year. Currently, we have about 11,000 accounts,' said IG Markets managing director Peter McDermott.

His typical customer is a working professional aged between 25 and 55. About 40 per cent use CFDs to trade foreign currencies; another 35 per cent trade shares.

Given the market volatility in the past two years, trading in widely watched indexes such as the Straits Times Index and the Hang Seng has also become popular.

Drawing a parallel with London, where CFDs form about 35 per cent of all trades, Mr McDermott believes the local CFD market can grow further.

But this will not necessarily result in a loss of business for the SGX, as CFD players would have to 'hedge' their risks by buying the underlying shares of the CFD on the SGX.

Still, CFDs pose a big threat to the 'extended settlement' (ES) contracts which have been offered by the SGX since February and work on a similar principle.

A stockbroking director said remisiers prefer to sell CFDs, rather than ES contracts, as there are fewer administrative hassles, saying: 'With ES, you have onerous account opening requirements and the margin requirements are stringent.'

Some traders complain that only a few hundred thousand ES contracts are traded daily and investors are put off by the lack of liquidity. 'With a CFD, the spread between a buy and sell quote may be as small as one cent. But with an ES, it can be as wide as two or three cents. That increases the trading costs sharply,' a dealer said.

Okay.. Tomorrow i go open account ...buy CFD for DBS..lalalala HUAT HUAT loh!

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Good luck to all who get into this financial instrument. Certainly not for the faint hearted and not for the newbie investor.

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#6 - Read and Learn More
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Ris Low's Bipolar Disorder

So after so much controversy, Ris Low has surrendered her crown. She first made the headlines when she won the Miss Singapore World. After being slammed by netizens over her poor command of English, she was later found to have committed credit card fraud when she was 18.

The reason for her stealing offences was apparently bipolar disorder.

So enough of slamming her already. Let's look into bipolar disorder instead and see how it can affect one's behavior.

Bipolar disorder basically causes shifts in one's mood, energy, thinking and behaviour. It can lead a person to be in a state of mania and then swinging back to depression. These are not your ordinary mood swings and can alternate between the two extremes.

During a manic episode, a person might impulsively quit their job, charge up huge amounts on credit card and feel rested after sleeping for just two hours. During a depression episode, the same person is too tired to get out of bed, self-loathing and may be even suicidal.


The author is a perfectly normal human being who feels that he might be displaying some of the symptoms of bipolar disorder.

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Singapore - Russia Ties

Okay. This is a picture of a McDonalds in Russia.

Remember the saying than no 2 countries with McDonalds have ever fought a war with each other? It looks like the saying is true indeed as Singapore is going to work even more closely with Russia in the future.

Singapore and Russia are apparently going to partner together to tap opportunities in the world. This was outlined in the 4th Russia-Singapore Business Forum.

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said: "Russia is strong in innovation and technology, while Singapore has good networks and experience in Asia. Russian technology companies can partner Singapore companies to penetrate markets in Southeast Asia, China and India," he said, adding that these partnerships will enable both parties to take on business opportunities and better manage commercial risks in international markets

Seems like my wish has come true. As Singapore's population is rapidly growing, we should expect more Russians to come and make their homes in Singapore. With that should come more Russian cuisine.


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Super Rich Lose US$300B

Wow! Apparently the super-rich in the U.S. have lost a combined US$300 billion of their networth over the past twelve months. This was according to Forbes annual rankings that were just released. Topping the list in terms of losses is Warren Buffet who lost a whopping US$10billion. (Now that could last me several lifetimes)

Compared to Singapore's 40 Top Richest who managed to increase their networth as a collective whole, I must say that perhaps the U.S. have been hit harder by this economic crisis than the rest of the world.

Out of the Forbes list of 400, only 28 of them managed to add to their overall networth.

But I guess we must still applaud the super rich for getting there in the first place. How do the super rich do it? I guess the best way we can find out is to read their books. Some pointers that we can all learn from their books are summarised here:

1. Always do what you love. When you are passionate about what you do, money will follow.

2. Follow sound financial advice. Try to resist the temptation to make a quick buck.

3. Consult experts when making financial decisions.

4. Buy assets not liabilities. Invest in real estate, stocks and shares.

5. Don't leave too much money sitting around in banks.

6. Have a positive mindset. .

7. Write books (or get others to write books for you if you are too busy) =)


Learn from the super rich here:
1. Donald Trump Lessons
2. Key Lessons From Rich Dad Poor Dad
3. David Bach Automatic Millionaire

Financial Freedom and Your Subconscious Mind

In this article which I found on the internet, it reaffirms the point that I was trying to make in my ten part mini-series about how important it was to have the correct mindset when determining your financial goals. The power of the sub-conscious mind is indeed very powerful and should not be underestimated. Do read the article below to find out more:

You might also like to read these other articles once you are done:
3 Key Lessons From Rich Dad Poor Dad
David Bach Automatic Millionaire
Income Investing - Rental Property

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The Medium for Influencing the Subconscious Mind

Until I started reading, actually absorbing Napoleon Hills book, Think and Grow Rich, I had forgotten that this is a skill my mother taught me for years, without me actually realising it was 'auto-suggestion', as described in Napoleon's book.

Napoleon Hill's book, Think and Grow Rich, Chapter Two, he insists that you write down your Desire's, I believe the beginning of 'one's personal freedom' is the process of writing it all down, it actually anchors your thoughts, it makes them a physical 'being' because these, your thoughts, are now 'written'.

Where does the auto-suggestion come from then?

Napoleon's steps in Chapter Two, Desire, are concise;

1. Decide what the exact amount of money you want!

2. What are you going to give in return for this desired amount of money?

3. Decide a definite date by which this amount of money you desire will be acquired!

4. Create your plan - whether you are ready not, put this plan of desire into action now!

5. Write down a clear and concise statement of the amount of money you desire, how you plan to achieve this and by when and what you plan to give in exchange for this (remember give and thine shall receive or give nothing receive nothing!)

6. Read this statement to yourself morning and night out loud not in your head.

To show you how easy this can be, a plan could look something like this;
"In my first year of business I desire to earn $100,000. To achieve this desired sum, I will coach, mentor, and teach frustrated network marketers to become successful leaders: regardless of their company affiliation and I will do it for free. I intend to reach my desired goal by 31 March 2010 by working daily in my business, helping people to the best of my ability and working through the processes I have set in place to achieve this desire."

All Napoleon Hills requirements are covered in the above, but acquiring this thought process, auto-suggestion, is not easy; it takes repetition, belief in you, commitment and hard work.

Napoleon Hill also recommends belonging to a group that 'Masterminds' his chapters weekly, this can assist learning from others, helps yourself and other 'materminders' to achieve and work through the same process, it can help the belief in yourself and can help them to believe in themselves.

As Napoleon says "thoughts are things, powerful things at that, when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a BURNING DESIRE for their translation into riches or other material objects" this can come about.

I'm not here to sell a company or product. I coach, mentor, and teach frustrated network marketers to become successful leaders and I do it for free: Regardless of MLM company affiliation

You can join me, would love to have you come on board


I Appreciate You
Julie McClelland
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Donald Trump Lessons

How can we possibly explore financial freedom without taking a look at the person of Donald Trump and the lessons that he can offer us?

Donald Trump is a billionaire (don't ask me how many zeroes are involved, I am simply confused by that amount) with business interests in real estate, books, television, etc, etc. These are a few key lessons that I have learnt from observing this man.

Never Give Up

Trump has a never say die attitude. He is always trying to do something better and bigger. He probably has his eye on the next project while he is still involved in some other project. After filing for bankruptcy some years back, he is back as one of the richest man on earth. One thing is for sure - this man never gives up!

Multi-Tasking

It seems like this man knows how to multi-task quite a fair bit. Look at his television show The Apperentice and you can see that even for a busy man like himself, he knows how to delegate work such that he even has time to appear on the show! I think that Trump must have great multi-tasking abilities to focus on so many areas like real estate and television at one time.

Confidence

When Trump speaks, he oozes with so much confidence. And that is perhaps the X factor he has. He has been there, done that. He does not try to be a crowd pleaser. He says things as they should be said. He does not try to be politically correct. That is what makes him special. He does not go along with the crowd. He has confidence in what he does and say. This is perhaps the most important factor.


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Avoiding Group Think

So here I am sipping on my caffe latte in Starbucks and I am thinking about something that I read recently at Problogger.

The article basically mentioned why "weak ties" - those ties we have with people outside our normal social circle - might be a more useful source of information compared to strong ties we have with family and existing friends.

The reason given is that people in our social circle usually already share similar values and goals as us. If someone is a teacher, most of their friends will probably be teachers. If you came from a certain junior college, polytechnic or university, your friends that you hang out with are also probably those who have taken the same course as you or were in the same school.

In that sense, the life experiences and exposure they have would have been very similar to yours. That means that they most probably have nothing NEW to offer to you. In addition, because of the need to maintain close ties and come to a consensus, you and your friends will engage in something called Group Think. As they say, highly cohesive groups are likely to engage in groupthink.

If your friends are the partying sort, you will realise that all of them will feel that there is nothing wrong with partying. If your friends are all smokers, they will all have the same attitudes towards smoking. This goes the same way for our financial decisions be it in terms of insurance, investment and the like. The dangers of group think is that we confine ourselves to certain ideas without testing them out in an analytical manner.

Let's take the investment in stocks. Do you use fundamental analysis or technical analysis? What are your approaches and strategy?

Even in the online community, it is easy to engage in groupthink when we find like minded people who will not test out our ideas to see whether it works or not. So sometimes, it pays to find people to argue with. Yes..people who do not accept our ideas!

In this way, we can be exposed to different school of thoughts and learn from people who are not as similar to us in our thinking, actions and behaviour. These "weak ties" will help to strengthen our own thought process and serve as a testing board for our new ideas.

As they say, keep your friends close but your enemies closer.

It is only when we engage people from the opposite camps do we truly grow in terms of our thought process and hopefully our investment decisions.

So next time, try to find some one who disagrees with you and engage with that person. Your goal is not to show him that you are right. Your goal is to listen to his point of view and try to understand why he thinks that way.

The author is trying hard to listen to views from both sides of the FA and TA camp. He tries not to stick to one school of thought unless it works.

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