Having done 2 internships over the last 6 months, I finally settled down with a book on investments written in lay man terms for the mass public. The author, Mr. Fong SiLing (better known as 冷眼) would then kick start my journey, an endless one I suspect, of tracing global financial markets. Little did I know the thrill I was in for, the intellectual satisfaction through placing the right trades/investments after thorough analysis and study, as well as the constant process of being humbled by the markets.
I placed my first trade in November 2014 on a relatively small non-banking financial institution called the Malaysia Building Society Berhad. My thought process back then was fairly simple, with meager knowledge on assessing investments, I concluded that the P/E ratio of the company was low (simply because it was below 10 times) and due to its strong growth over the past 3 years it must be a great investment!
Little did I know that investing by merely studying historical data was like driving by solely staring at the rear view mirror. Accidents are bound to happen. I also naively decided that I should buy on an ex-dividend day which did not result in any good.
For the coming weeks, I was extremely miserable watching my investments fall initially by 5 cents (purchased at RM2.84) all the way to 40 cents. Being caught by surprise by an upcoming rights issue which I would have known if I have read the announcements, I finally closed my position with a small lost of 4 cents. It was a big deal to me back then, my first realized loss on a position.
MBSB have turned up time and again in my investing/trading career. This is one that I would hope to document in the future.
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