Very First Trading System

My very first trade was in 1979, but it only lasted for a day. I opened an account with a bullion company and wanted to try my luck in trading COMEX gold futures, but unfortunately I lost $27,000 in the first night, I could have bought a HDB flat with that money in those days! It was a painful experience that I’ll never forget. I closed my account the next day and swore that I would never trade again.

How I Started Again

Few months later my neighbour invited me for dinner. I shared my bad experience with him, and he told me that futures trading is a risky business, 90% of the players lost their money. I went home and thought about it all night, then it suddenly struck me that if I could work my way into joining that 10% of winners, I would be very rich! So once again it has re-ignited the flame of desire and hope in me to make it in the financial world. I started reading many books and learned from various commodity brokers, but later I found out that futures trading is a skill like golf or martial art, you can’t learn from books alone, you need a good master, but in those days there were none, everybody I knew was new to the industry, trading seminars were unheard of, so I just had to do it the hard way. I continued trading various commodities but made no headway.

My First Break

In March 1987, I joined SIMEX as a local (trader). I had only $40,000 of cash left, just lost my job, had a housing loan and car loan to service, two schooling kids to feed, two aging parents to support, my wife was the sole bread winner earning less than $2,000 a month. The pressure on me was immense, consequently, I lost $30,000 in the first three months, and then I told my wife I better quit now before I lost the house, but she told me not to give up. She said that if other people can do it, so can I. She also told me to swallow my pride, to go look for a master in SIMEX and learn from him. So the next day I started asking around for help, but most of them either didn’t know how to teach or were reluctant to teach me, fortunately I finally found someone who was willing to show me the rope of the game, and my life was changed forever! With only $10,000 left, I managed to make $50,000 in the fourth month, and in the following year I made my first million, and the rest are history.

My Lesson

I’ve been through hell and back, many were not as lucky. I sure hate to see anybody making the same mistakes that I made in my early trading days. My advice to you is don’t give up, if other people can do it, so can you. A good master can make your learning much easier. God Bless.