Is this possibly the most stupid thing a person has done?

[Bung]

I just found out my sister in law has made a huge screw up. She is a bright woman with a normal job, it just defies logic how someone could be so stupid.

She has been dabbling in the stock market which is fine by me and she makes her own money selling cosmetics and stuff like Amway so I thought nothing of it. Now I find out that she was seriously bitten by the stock market bug and how you could just make money out of nothing.

So she goes off and hocks everything her and her husband has worked for to plough more money into this garanteed way to get rich. Not content with that she gets a loan shark deal in her town through her husbands Army contacts.

Still not enough she thinks, I'll go for it and make a million so she comes up to or village and gets her mom to put up her house with another loan shark No problems, we will all be rich soon. Look at Taksin!

Then the stock market crashes when they did that thing with the baht and she loses everything including my MIL's house. they managed to sell half of the land which is quite valuable being in the main street surrounded by shop houses and now have to build a new house on only half the land.

Her husband narrowly missed out on being kicked out of the Army when they called the loan in, a month before he graduated.

What pissed me off is that I built my wife a restaurant in front of her moms house (which she promptly gave up on as soon as it stopped being sanuk) and now I have to pay to have it torn down and moved. I only just managed to save it from being "donated" to the moms new home. Fok that, I will rebuild it at my place and make another shed to store my rapidly growing collection of broken motorcycles.

Just another typical story of how Thais seem to not have the slightest idea about money.

[daveboy]

It just goes to show you there are no get rich quick schemes, hard work is the only way in life and even then its a foking struggle.

[Little Chuchok]

She is a bright woman with a normal job, it just defies logic how someone could be so stupid.

Bright and stupid? just stupid and greedy is what I would say.

[Spin]

Stupid but not as stupid as building an airport on a swamp.

Thai's are blighted by poor life descisions and they pay dearly for it.

[friscofrankie]

My ex-BIL did the same in '97 only he was a big-wig banker he had a margin account. family's sold almost everything and is still paying. He still drives a big, black Benz though.

[Little Chuchok]

My ex-BIL did the same in '97 only he was a big-wig banker he had a margin account. family's sold almost everything and is still paying. He still drives a big, black Benz though.

The concept of "face' is still alive and well then.New a part chinese bloke at home who went bust.All except his beemer and a $30,000 watch.Apart from those two items,he didn't have a pot to piss in.....

[LesBonsTemps]

When day trading was all the rage in the U.S. about 7 years ago, my friend let her retired husband have control of her IRA (retirement account). He did really well the first year, made about $80,000. The second year, he made a series of bad buys and couldn't let go -- it's like gambling. He was convinced he could recoup the losses.

By the time he confessed to her how bad the situation was, he had lost over $400K in their two accounts.

This was an otherwise smart, educated man...almost cost him his marriage.

[MeMock]

Never gamble what you cant afford. I trade on the ASX and over 7 years have averaged about 15% pa. However if the market crashed tomorrow I will still be able to continue living my normal life.

[William]

^ sound outlook and it's gambling - although a legal form.

Bung - my missus BIL "lost" 15 million Baht during the 2002 World Cup. Lost his business. Lost his house. Declared bankrupt. Became a monk for a year. His wife stood by him and slowly but surely they're getting back on their feet. At the time I thought (and partly hoped) that was the last time we would see him - having heard all the stories about how a Thai woman would be out the door the minute the money was gone - but she stuck by him. Gods knows why. Doesn't mean she wasn't really, really, pissed off with the whole thing - she still is to this day.

[mrsquirrel]

All about easy money and being rich

Thais appear to believe that rich people have power so therefore it is good to be rich.

A mate of mine is still chasing gold and rubies in Laos

[themook]

I work in the financial industry, so it's not that surprising. I can tell you why.
There are 2 things that drive the novice investor, and the vast majority of retail investors.

FEAR and GREED.

That's all you need to know.

[kingwilly]

not just a thai thing.....

[Skulldigger]

Nah, lots of people lose their heads at the prospect of big bucks.

So, where do you start to read up on things if you want to get into day trading?

[Whiteshiva]

All about easy money and being rich

Thais appear to believe that rich people have power so therefore it is good to be rich.

They also seem to have this idea that you can get rich without working for it.

Not a uniquely Thai trait, but I seem to come accross this attitude more often here than anywhere else I have lived.

[benbaaa]

it's like gambling

Well, William beat me to it, but it is gambling.

[kingwilly]

^^ I'll save ya the trouble, I'll give ya me bank details and you can regularly drop loads of dosh into that, every now and then I'll send u a peace of paper showing profits and losses....

but you'll never ac5tually see the money again! ok.,

[keda]

Sheer folly for the inexperienced investor to risk more than they can comfortably afford to lose, but just try telling a newbie sucked into a bull market, that life is sad indeed on the hard shoulder.

The first discipline for any novice to learn is that by the time their stock pick drops by 10%, they must be out and with no questions; regret away, because that's free, but get out because if you cannot protect your capital, it is only a matter of time till you pick a dog and chase it all the way down, losing weeks or months of profit. As Mook said, fear and greed are a lethal combination that can rip the unwary to pieces.


That said, I cannot see the baht debacle being responsible for her situation, but rather a series of unfortunate choices culminating in that event as a coup de grace, because although it was a blow to many, SET did recover remarkably well since then and stands just about 5% down from Black Tuesday.

It may be that she was in the red well before BT and is using that event as a cover for earlier mishaps, though that too is difficult considering the scale of her losses as described, during the period of stability before the monkeys took over.

[Butterfly]

you guys are wrong, it's not about greed, it never is

it's about the herding effect, to do like the neighboors, to be rich like others,

that's all there is...

[keda]

Nah, lots of people lose their heads at the prospect of big bucks.

So, where do you start to read up on things if you want to get into day trading?

For the helluvit, go to any broker office to see the hordes of mainly Thais on their daily attempt to turn n into n+1; watch the faces not the screens.

As to daytrading, and I may regret this with butterfly on my case, forget it till you're more comfortable in the rarefied atmosphere of SET; learn to crawl before entering the steeplechase.

[Butterfly]

Wait for the property crash in the US and you will hear similar stories,

actually it's already happenig, everyone in the US with a bit of money started to flip houses

there is this young guy on the web with no income and no job who was able to buy 8 houses with no money down and he is 2m USD in debt and facing foreclosure. How is he going to payback ? he can't and the banks are on his case.

You probably heard of him, his name casey, he is a web success story and getting bashed on his blog 24/7 by the entire world for his stupidity. Some of the comments are quite funny, but the poor guy doesn't see what he did was wrong, he still think he can make it.

[stroller]

Thais appear to believe that rich people have power so therefore it is good to be rich.

This is true, though!

[El Gibbon]

So..? You want to be a daytrader????

It is possible to make some money, about 2% of daytraders actually make money over the long haul. It is hard to get actual figures since 'pride' is involved.

Step 1.

As your daytrading assets, only use the amount of money that you can put a match to and it wouldn't change your life style. NEVER NEVER add more money to the original pot.

Step 2.

Immerse yourself (24x7) in your chosen market for a period of 6 months, until you know every nuance of how and when it trades (runs and declines).

Step 3.

With your spare time learn all the nuances of the international markets.

Step 4.

Spend a lot of time and money on software and learning how to use it properly. Charts, accounting systems, live news feeds etc. etc.

Step 5.

"paper trade" for a year minimum

Step 6.

While your paper trading read every investment book ever written.

Now your ready.

I did most of the above quite dilligently. Did real well for a number of months. I held a large short position over night as I knew earnings were coming out the next day and also knew they would be dismal.

I lost 60% of my portfolio in the first 7 minutes of trading that morning. Overnight the company was bought out by a competitor for a 16% premium to the previous day's close. The purchasing company wasn't worried about the earnings they wanted the distribution network.

That was the end of my daytrading. Your at the mercy of timing/news/ability to connect and place orders and a whole host of issues.

I did manage to 'keep' the initial pot I started with. I figured I was lucky and switched to what is called swing trading which has a lot less pressure on a day-to-day basis.

Lots on the internet..... study study study.

Good luck!

E. G.

[Thetyim]

There are 2 things that drive the novice investor, and the vast majority of retail investors.

FEAR and GREED.

And a fanatical devotion to the Pope

[kingwilly]

That was the end of my daytrading. Your at the mercy of timing/news/ability to connect and place orders and a whole host of issues.
E. G.

not to mention insider trading and government meddling....

[peterpan]

I learnt a bit about greed and knowing when you should get out of a postion in my very early twenties. Myself, my father and his accountant started up a business working over alluvial gold in NZ. It ran well despite the enourmous costs, helicopter, front end loader and other machinery. + 3 guys paid enormous money to work down a gorge. When the recovery rate started to trend down the accountants said I'm out, so did my old man while I kept on thinking, it will ramp back up soon. I didn't, all the money I made over the previous two years went down trying to support the overheads. I spent the next years paying out the lease for the Helicopter.
I said to my father "how did you know when to get out?" he replied, I didn't, I just know you can't go wrong following a Jewish accountant, son.