"Tiger Trade app has a lot of information and helps me with the trades and the spread, number of buyers and seller. One more thing is that with Tiger Brokers I can trade on pre and post market and this provides more liquidity and provides opportunities before the market opens"
@mtila
I am 30 years old and working as an engineer.
What is your background story? when did you first start trading?
I actually started trading like 2-3 years ago in the year 2019 and I had $10,000 sitting in my bank account. I thought why waste my opportunity to grow this money as the bank is giving very little interest. I was aware of the stock market but did not have any knowledge about it, did not know where to start and where to invest but one day I decided to start and did some research, so I watched some educational videos and referred to some educational materials. I started my initial investment with Sharesies and invested $1,000. I gathered enough information and decided to buy some stocks, the first stock I purchased was Air NZ and I made $40, the stock jumped a bit and I realised the power of returns and how money grows with it. I watched a few YouTube videos by an Auckland based guy and picked up a few things from there, for example how to read charts, indicators and moving averages.
Where did you hear about Tiger Trade?
At that time Sharesies did not offer US stocks. I found that NZ stocks move slower compared to US stocks and I looked at platforms that offer US stocks. I first found Stake and later found Tiger Brokers by watching a Singaporian person on YouTube talk about Tiger Brokers and demonstrating its features. I was convinced to try it. The YouTuber gave a quick view of the Tiger Trade app and charts. I also use Trading view for the visuals, but Tiger Trade app has a lot of information and helps me with the trades and the spread; number of buyers and sellers. One more thing is that with Tiger Brokers I can trade on pre and post market and this provides more liquidity and provides opportunities before the market opens.
What is your overall portfolio size?
When I picked up my confidence in trading, I used the $10k sitting in my bank and traded it. However, I have taken a step back and am waiting for the market to go up.
What kind of companies do you like investing in or are looking to invest in?
I have and will be investing in companies that have a more sustainable future, such as electronic vehicles like Tesla, which is now becoming a household name, Chinese manufacturers like BYD, NIO and some tech companies such as Apple, Google and Microsoft. I am in the engineering industry and I relate to tech stocks.
What are your investing styles or strategies?
I look at both fundamentals for long term investment and day trading. When trading in long positions I look at company earnings report, P/E ratios and am also heavily influenced by technical data such as price actions.
Trading wise, I am more of a swing trader.
I plan and prepare a strategy even before I jump into a stock and the goal is to stick to your strategy and either when doing a long term or short term trade and how much profit you want to take or incur losses till a certain point. I always have a stop loss and risk to at least 1:3 ratio depending on where I think a reversal may happen.
How are your returns so far?
Actually, I have incurred a loss due to the recent bear market. I was up by 80% of my portfolio up until early 2021, but now I am sitting 50% down on my initial investment.
If you could go back to when you were younger, what would you tell yourself about investing?
Definitely start saving as soon as you can, I am 30 years old and I started when I was 28. The more risk you can manage, the more returns you can potentially get. Starting early is a wise idea as when you start younger you don't have many responsibilities, such as a marriage or kids. So if you start raising capital at an early age and take the risk, you can play around with the money and will gain the knowledge and skills to do it. If I had to talk to my younger self, I would say: "Hi Michael, set aside a percentage of your income and place it on long term investment and, since I am young, to also play around and do some day trading".
What stocks or options are you watching right now? When are you planning to get back in?
Bear market usually lasts short compared to bull market and I will wait for the market to stabilize and when the market slowly stabilises, I will watch the news, watch the right indicators and then I will start putting in some capital. Great opportunity to learn the investment cycle now as we had this last in 2008.
What stock markets do you prefer to invest in?
I mostly invest in the US market.
What are your opinions on global stocks in the next few months?
I think the bear market will continue for the next couple of months, with the possibility of a recession looming. We are still not out of the woods and the markets will remain volatile for the next few months.
Are there any memorable achievements that you have made in your investing journey? What did you learn from them?
My memorable journey is when I made a leveraged position in just a couple of hours my initial investment rose to 60%. However, margin investment is risky and you need to have experience. I just did leverage position that ticked all my boxes to do the trade and I was successful.
Are there any mistakes you have made in your investing journey and what did you take from them?
There were some successful trades I have made but I could have made more on it and some losses that I could have stopped and placed a stop loss on. What I have learned from it is to stick to your initial strategy and place your emotions aside, it is easy to say but difficult to act.
What's your investment goal in 2023?
In 2023 I want to get back into the market with a larger position. I am hoping the market recovers and will return to normal. I want to set up some emergency funds through investment and have a long term investment plan with my Wife. At the same time, I want to have separate funds to do short term investments, which might yield higher returns.
This information only represents the interviewee's opinion and experience and should not be regarded neither as advice on acquiring or disposing of financial products nor an endorsement of Tiger Broker’s products or services. Some of the information being published here may involve paid or sponsored content by Tiger Brokers, its affiliates or business partners. The information presented should be only for your reference. Tiger Brokers assumes no warranty or responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the information. Investing carries risks, including the risk of losing an amount in excess of your initial investment. Investors should do their own research and seek professional advice before using the services of Tiger Brokers and making investment decisions. Published by Tiger Fintech (NZ) Limited.