I've been playing the virtual investment game Bursa Pursuit for a little over a month, and while it does teach me a lot about the stock market, it also revealed what a lousy investor I am! At this precise moment my gross profit and loss (more loss than profit, actually) is -RM10,903. Sure, I could blame the recent downturns but it does reveal my trading weaknesses.
First, I don't do any research. I already spend 10% of my workweek on non-work stuff (damn you RSS feeds!) and I can't be spending even more reading through market reports and stock tips.
Speaking of which, so-called stock tips are not anymore accurate than me randomly picking the top trader each day. It's really frustrating following all those "Buy" and "Sell" calls, which I really wonder if their researchers follow themselves.
And lastly, my own personal failure in cutting my losses is a factor as well. I followed a random stock tip in the daily news reports and it didn't take long for it to go southwards. But I held on to it, naively optimistic that it will reverse directions. 6 weeks later, I'm RM1878 poorer (and still holding until market conditions improve! hopefully!). I guess I wouldn't be so careless with real money, but human nature is pretty hard to beat.
Whether I'll actually invest real money after this game ends... perhaps. The lure of high returns is like a siren to my ship.
I just hope I don't crash into the sharp cliffs.
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