All About Kwarta

It's been officially the end of a quarter when I started trading the stock market. I have learned a lot since then. And I'm still learning things as they unfold. I see my portfolio climb new heights and watch them tumble down helplessly. I learned to listen to others but try to recognize information from pure noises. I learned to trust my own instincts. I learned to be patient. But at the same time, I learned to quit when circumstances calls for it. Again, instinct at work. My total gain was almost totally wiped out when the foreigns are selling profusely. Where does it left me? I sold my fragile MEGW1 position(at a personal record-high loss) and bought URC and FLI (which according to my instinct should rise already after a long time of non-movement). In retrospect, If I hadn't cut-loss, my portfolio would be down to 3.96% total gain. Still, not bad. For the same quarter, I could have earned 3.75% with AFPSLAI, around 1% with TD deposit , and with my savings account at 0.

Do you know Madoff, right? If not, you might want to start by knowing him . He is the modern-day Ponzi . They're basically the face of swindling - the American way. What made them stand out is the expanse of their activities and the sum of money involved. So great that made their respective names earned such similarly huge reputation. You know Madoff's sons, right? If not, you might want to read again the wiki link above. They were the one who turned their father to the authorities after the latter confessed. The news that came out today that one of them committed suicide is definitely a sad one. Even with millions or billions of dollars attached to my bank account, I'd definitely would not want a Madoff on my name. ---- On a more personal note, I'm thankful that my plan of a loan to leverage my positions in the stock market didn't push through. If I did, I maybe crying blood by now. Months trading Total Gain PSEi Gain (Same period) w-o-w Loss

So much for beating the index, eh? Months trading Total Gain PSEi Gain (Same period) W-o-w Gain 3.5 mos. 8.27% 20.03% 0.07%

I'm a big fan of books. I think I already mentioned that somewhere. So it was just normal when I wished for a decent e-reader. I wished for a Kindle since time immemorial. But the huge shipping fees and taxes made me think twice. I saw Kindles in gadget shops in malls but the prices were ridiculously twice that offered by Amazon plus taxes. Why pay that amount when I could get a 16 gig Ipad Wifi or a Samsung Galaxy tab. I almost bought an Ipad when I happen to pass by (rather intentionally) some gadget shops. But something reminded me that I wanted a decent e-reader. Not some ridiculously priced machine (I could buy an Intel i5-powered notebook instead at the same price range). When I remembered a friend who was at the moment on a business trip in the US, I grabbed the opportunity to buy Barnes and Noble's Nook Color. Isn't she gorgeous? From B&N's website : Stunning 7 inch VividView™ Color Touchscreen shows more than 16 million colors on the best-in-class