Investing sucks? Lost -£1473.84.

On March 11, WHO declared Covid-19 as a global pandemic phenomenon. It didn't take long before the market crashed on March 24, a day after PM Boris also announced UK national lockdown. Before the crash, I was aware that my portfolio started tanking right after the Rona virus was spreading in Wuhan, China. This was all over the news but predominantly downplayed by China and WHO. At this stage, I decided not to do anything; for one, I didn't need the money and, secondly, I have fully financed emergency fund.
Three months later, Covid cases and deaths rose astronomically all over the world with lockdowns imposed all over. I stayed with the course all these times, buying my funds on my Vanguard account and catching falling knives on my stock picks to average down. I wasn't actively participating in the market nor was I affected with my PnL (Profits and Losses). I was guided with the FIRE mindset, where, over the long term, my positions will recover so the status quo wouldn't matter.
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Until my yahoo finance and google market alerts were jam-packed with V-shaped recovery narrative, Tesla parabolic and Tech stocks ripping; I decided to follow the news, check stocks on the daily and started trading. I understood the basic concept of chart reading and interpretation prior; but executing them in real time and making quick profits were new to me. I made 20+ more trades using small position sizes to prove my "strategy" and I was convinced that I could actually do it. With the market "mooning" and convinced with my newfound skill, I decided to stop the bleeding and closed all my individual stock positions in July. My realised PnL for that month was -£1473.84.


I allocated 2 hours per day and 6-8 hours on my days off of study - following the market, reading concepts and theories, testing strategies, reading qualitative analysis on substack, discovering hidden gems on twitter and reddit. Very quickly, I learned to use financial websites, identifying bucket shops for pumps and dumps, momentum, short positions, SEC filings, etc. I have devoured countless hours of trading and investing content on youtube and finally, could relate to the Chat With Traders podcasts I have been listening for almost a year now. I became immune to the Covid news, then finally, stopped following it altogether. 

Trading became my new normal and I loved it.

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As can be seen on the chart, I have recovered all my losses last month and more (including unrealised gains). I have made many mistakes but learned a ton. I believe that if I could streamline my trading strategy whereby, regardless of the market condition, I'll make money more than I could possible ever make with my full-time job. I love taking risks, and if I could decrease such risks using my brains, much better. I could discuss what I have been doing per month but I think it is pointless, I'll remind myself in 2 years once I have a lengthy track record. Maybe then, I'll consider talking about my experience.

Retrospectively, all I wanted was to recoup my losses and make smart decisions with my stock picks with high conviction; it morphed into the creation of big ideas I would never have considered before I started trading. I am ankle-deep under water, I want to keep going until I find myself fully submerged. No turning back from here.

​End.