Rotational stock play

As envisaged in my earlier blogs the market has started its rounds of rotational plays in earnest..Water
based stocks led by Puncak led the pack for the first session but tapered off by afternoon..presumably
the catalyst may have been the perceived shortage of treated water in Selangor and the need for a meaningful resolution .The afternoon session was more towards the infrastructure based stocks like WCT and its warrants..O n G counters generally took a breather except for Pantech with an "energy boost " from
a leading research house upgrading its target price...The other main beneficiary of a price target upgrade
was Myeg..As always those who have been doing their homework by following market news ,bid patterns
and technical charts and acted quickly and decisively were the big winners ...Trend or momentum traders
could have moved in and out with respectable gains...Conversely late comers or apprehensive players either
went in too late and hence buying at peak prices or missed out on arbitrage opportunities altogether...

If current sentiments hold,  laggard sectors may be the next and the favourites like O n G counters may
return with a second wave especially those backed by positive news flows eg contracts...Those with flag
formation during the contra period may provide a "hint ' of further upside...

Happy trading

Going with the flow

There was profit taking through out the whole day but overall volume was still a healthy one billion
shares..pale in comparison with regional markets but nevertheless quite respectable by any standards...
Those who have been following and riding on the O n G counters the last few sessions would have
noticed a distinct slack this afternoon ..in fact other than Alam which climbed even higher with strong
volume progression ,there was digression amongst the rest...Seasoned players would have noticed that
the usual "mirror" effect was missing  by mid session and would have acted upon early ,eg by taking
profits while the going was still good...

Trend and momentum traders are always mindful and alert toward sudden changes in market conditions
which can affect the performance of stocks..by studying the bid patterns of stocks that are in play a
day trader can more or less guess the likely stock movement much earlier than any short term chart can
possibly map out the eventual trend...

Sometimes a trader or investor can get too caught up with just the stocks within their portfolio and not
take notice of the real time broad market changes...Their rigid belief in the "intrinsic value ''in their stocks
may hamper their judgement in deciding whether to hold on or sell the shares ...This rigid stand can be
greatly detrimental when the broad market starts to react for instance to a sudden negative development and
 the  investor decides to hold on ...Sooner or later the high flying stock will succumb somewhat to the negative development and the very least will give up a big chunk of the recorded gains...Other than a very
selected handful ,no share is an island...

Will the upward thrust resume tomorrow? We shall see...

 Stock pickings

For readers of this blog who bought into the O n G counters , congratulations ! ...many of them
have recorded gains of between 5 to 20 % in 5 short days and if you subscribe to the time deposit return
comparison ,the gains seem astronomical...either way it is still a good start to the new year...

The volume  today is at its highest for the year ( just a few days into the year though ) ..All things being equal ,it augurs well for the
stock market in the short term...Renewed strength on many second and third liners have added market
breadth , a phenomenon missing for quite awhile..Although not really out of the woods yet nor is anyone
"sure" of the tenacity of the current upward thrust ,most can take comfort in seeing reduced paper losses on some non performing stocks and that is good enough news for now..O n G counters have continued to hog
the limelight but other sectors ranging from infrastructure to property are beginning to show promise..

That said it is imperative for players to be able to pick winners..As  the market may not "mature" into
a bull market with so many market uncertainties it would help if serious traders do  lots of homework during
off market hours and fine tuning the choice of "likely" movers when the market begins trading in earnest..As I have talked about in earlier blogs,  there is no foolproof trading technique /investment technique but my preferred technique of Price Action Technique have assisted many clients with both short and medium term trading horizon in securing respectable gains.Regardless of techniques a disciplined trading approach is important..A keen mind coupled with an astute sense of judgement are key ingredients of successful trading..
Weighing newly disclosed project /contract awards against traded volume and price movement over preceding periods on top of studying chart patterns are just examples of homework that any successful
trader needs to do..existing stock fundamentals and sector the counter is in together with share holding
structure all play a role in determining share price movement ..

Lets hope the market continues to grow in strength in the coming days and makes everyone a winner...

Passion

Everyone knows the meaning of this word but I always wonder how many actually realise
its importance...just look around wherever you are and you can easily spot those who
have at least some degree of passion in whatever they are doing...there are many who go
through the motions of living ,seemingly so laden in their thoughts or actions that any third party
would hesitate to ask any favour from them no matter how small...From the bus driver to the
hotel receptionist right to the know all medical specialist ,you can easily pick out those who have
passion in their work and those who do not...There are many including me who sometimes wish
we can tell them straight in the face to either work with more passion or simply ship out...Why bother
to come to work when your heart and mind are zillions of miles away ..granted you need to make a living but would it not be easier to do something you love (or at least not mind ) and make less rather than forcing
yourself to do something very much against your inner calling...When I checked out  from a hotel this afternoon after a short visit to lovely Penang island I was truly pleasantly surprised by the cashier ..Not
only did she exchanged the usual pleasantries like how was your stay and so on ,she actually asked me
to come back to this hotel for my future visits and help spread the good services the hotel can provide..all these from a young but a zestful young receptionist who obviously is passionate about her work...compare
 this to the not too uncommon sour faced doctor who answers your medical questions with contempt ...

Likewise with the the stock market...Tons of self help and free literature is available on the internet for anyone
who is keen to learn more about investment techniques or picking the right stocks but there are many out
there who think they can simply outsmart the market by making "intelligent" guesses and hope to make
money all the time..Many do not realise even professional gamblers who frequent casinos do lots of
homework planning their game plan meticulously before betting their first dollar...Like everyone else
they are passionate in their endeavours without leaving things to chance ..eliminating all controllable
risks and increasing the success rate...Do that with the stock market and one should see steadier
returns over time...after all there is no such thing as a free lunch especially in the stock market...

 Solid follow through

The renewed buying yesterday and today has finally given a ray of hope to retailers...The broad
market is actually beginning to resemble the the good old days where one can find certain counters
performing with more than a single price bid rise...like young bamboo shoots...At a volume of close
to a billion shares the price rise for certain counters is healthy enough for short term traders to take
profits..better still some players are more willing to either hold their positions overnight or pick up
the shares in anticipation of further rises in coming days or weeks..Cyclical and sectoral plays were
more pronounced today and not just restricted to the On G counters...a definite welcome change

Everyone is hoping for a more sustained rally and not a one off shot in the arm..While the going is
good ,a seasoned player should be able to judge the money flows.. Through a combination of
sound trading or investing technique and personal judgement one can easily "guess" which counters
will be able to move up aggressively and record 5 to 10 % gains in a limited time...Repeat this successfully
and one can easily forget the market was in the doldrums in the first place...Within each stock sector
eg O n G or infrastructure or instance there is always a market leader ..catch this pattern early and you can
easily buy a "mirror" stock within the same sector and ride on it..The momentum alone may carry this mirror
stock a few bids higher..As the market becomes more bullish attention should also be given to both
call and company warrants as they tend to underperform in a bear market an do the inverse in a bullish market...

To learn more about a proven trading technique do attend my free talk next Thursday. Details are as follows;
Topic: Price Action Technique
Date ; Jan .10 ,2013
Time : 8 to 10 pm
Place Damansara Intan ( next to Tropicana Mall near SS 2 )

Those keen can contact Julie at 012-2009389 or email me at chrischoo007@gmail.com

Renewed buying

To those who do not follow the market closely they may wrongly assume the market performed
badly today just as most wrongly assumed the market performed very well on the last trading day of 2012...Just goes to show how the CI can play havoc with market perception ...all the market did
today was to correct the excessive last minute (or last 5 min) gain recorded on Monday as part
of the window dressing activity...In a way the "depressed" CI throughout the day has actually
helped the performers shine and removed the tendency of a volatile CI in pressuring share prices..

Expectedly the O n G counters led most of the gainers with the possible exception of SKP which
went against the trend on profit taking ...many players are beginning to subscribe to the idea O
n G counters are here to stay and will continue to be hot stocks for 2013..with intermittent climbs
and dips along the way...

Volume has continued to remain low but short term players who do their homework in timing their
purchases and sales well can actually make decent returns on their investments..capital gains of
5 to 10 % can be made in a single day if one is "lucky" ...Low daily volumes can unfortunately be a
bane to counters not in play...Exaggerated falls due to lack of interest can mean shares losing 5 to 10
% a day just on normal sales, contra or otherwise...Thus the key is to be savvy in choice of sector and
counter...if one is not sure then staying out may be the best choice...

Hopefully the next few days bring more counters to the fore and invigorate the lethargic market...We shall see...

A good "feng shui " closing !

The year has finally come to a close and by "coincidence" the closing CI reading of 1688 which literally
means "continue to prosper" in cantonese does give a good feeling to all no matter how cliche or cosmetic
sounding that may be...Spotting and catching a winner by riding on the window dressing activities was no easy task..as opposed to previous years the price gap only occurred during the lock in period between
4.45 and 4.50 pm and unless you were watching like a hawk and lady luck was with you, it would have been
rather difficult to guess the likely winners...most of them did not show any indication of volume progression
or steady price rise as in previous years ...That said, kudos to those who did succeed in their quest and hopefully this new found luck or skill will carry them well into 2013...

On a personal level ,I had a good year too ...my eldest son found a good job with a well known conglomerate,my younger son gained acceptance to a prestigious University in Australia and my
little daughter secured  good results for her PMR...Like any parent ,watching your brood spread
their wings and gaining an elated sense of well being give tremendous pride and joy ,much more than
just gains from the stock market...I am quite sure parents and people around the world will reminisce just about everything ..fond memories of experiences special to each and everyone of us,to be treasured
for eternity...

No New Year celebrations will be complete without a family feast and with that in mind, I brought mine to
a western food joint which served delicious food .The warm ambience was just the right tonic to end the year
on a high note..At close to midnight and on the way home, we parked the car alongside the elevated highway and witnessed the yearly display of fireworks launched from the Petronas Twin Towers....which officially
marked the end of 2012 and the ushering in of another year...2013...

Wishing all friends and readers of this blog...

HAPPY NEW YEAR...