What I did on the 20th anniversary of the Wall Street Crash of 1987

I stayed away from reading any market related news. I read popsugar.com , slashdot.org and boingboing.net instead. Later, I chatted with my girlfriend and had a cup of coffee. I napped for half an hour. Woke up and thought, this isn't too bad. I took the time to reconsider my investment behaviour and reconsider my options.

I stopped trading a few months ago because I blew up my trading account during the sub-prime crisis. The spillover from that event propagated through the financial system and made a couple of my warrants positions finish worthless.

I had bet big on the warrants of Singaporean banks and Capitaland, largest real estate group on the island. Given the fundamentals, I thought they were safe bets. I was wrong.

When the crisis hit, the stocks wouldn't climb to reflect stronger earnings results due to all the negativity in the US market and prices remained depressed. I had committed funds too early in an attempt to average out the losses but by the time the market had bottomed out, I had invested too much money into each bet to make them good candidates for the ride up again.

Looking back I think I began trading in warrants because I was bored. From my lecture notes, I figure I am what Larry Harris, author of 'Trading & Exchanges' describes as a Utilitarian/ Gambler/ Futile Trader.

I'll admit it. I regret placing those bets. I regret them because I compromised on my ideals. That I won't chase the stock. That I won't play the market's game. That I won't be fooled by my schooling.

The more you know, the more you think you have an edge over everybody else in the trading game. The truth is that I am a nobody with little new information and the cost of gathering every little scrap of information just to make a few trades is too expensive for my taste.

Fund managers can trade because they get paid to do it. Brokers trade because they get paid to do it. They need to be on top of the news, they need to be on the lookout for investment opportunities. Its their job.

I don't have to. I have a life. Its Mine. I have only one life and to waste it all scouring the Net for information, prowling the Forums for a sensing on market sentiments - its just too much.

So on the 20th anniversary of the Wall Street Crash of 1987, I'm relinquishing my dreams of becoming an Active Trader and surrendering myself to the way of the Informed Investor.