the non-investor

chrome extension - wikinvest-at-a-glance

2011-03-29T21:38:00.002+08:00

as you know, i do use the wikinvest portfolio manager (in addition to google finance). not so long ago, i mentioned that the wikinvest chrome browser app was no different from visiting the site directly. well, this time, the folks at wikinvest have come up with a chrome browser extension, called wikinvest portfolio-at-a-glance. sounds promising... but, on further inspection, i don't like it so

chrome extension - prisma quotes

2011-03-29T20:40:00.000+08:00

just a short note, that chrome browser extension in my last post, chrome quotes, has been renamed to prisma quotes. and it's getting better and better!

chrome browser extension - prisma quotes

2011-01-31T12:02:00.006+08:00

i've been looking for a simple replacement for the stocks3 gadget i've previously mentioned, available for windows vista/7 (reason being, the company i work for still insists we use windows xp).and, i think i've found the answer in the chrome web browser extension called chrome prisma quotes!i'm still playing with it, but here's a summary of what i like:data source can be google finance, yahoo

chrome browser apps - google news

2011-01-28T17:58:00.004+08:00

here's a nice extension for google chrome, a news reader (by google). click on the icon in the toolbar and the news will popup in a balloon window.this is very similar to firefox's live bookmarks (i.e. "latest headlines" in the bookmarks toolbar) or the many rss feed readers, but done the google way :Pthat means to say - you have no option of changing the feed source to get the news from your

chrome browser apps - wikinvest

2011-01-28T17:10:00.012+08:00

google chrome is a great browser, but i use a derivative, srware iron, as my web browser of choice. the current incarnation is release 8.0.555.1 stable, and for the last few releases, there has been support for chrome "apps" and "extensions," which can be downloaded from google's chrome web store.there are a bunch of great apps that i want to share with you!first up, the wikinvest app, for quick

happy new year!

2011-01-01T18:35:00.000+08:00

i can't believe it's 2011. 'nuf said.

sogotrade technical analysis tutorial

2010-11-12T18:27:00.002+08:00

a tutorial on technical analysis at sogotrade's tutorial library - good for learners like me who barely understand anything about trading. good timing... my last post shows my ignorance!

chartsy - free stock charting

2010-10-26T18:05:00.006+08:00

here's another tool, chartsy - the free stock charting, screening and trading platform. actually, the trading part does not exist yet, but the other features are ready. it's a rather new open source project, available for download via sourceforge.you might find it useful... it's too technical for me. i'll need a phd to understand the indicators and overlays. what the heck are accumulation

auge - a (permanently beta) portfolio management tool

2010-10-26T17:21:00.004+08:00

in my search for a simple portfolio management tool, i stumbled upon auge over at sourceforge. it's open source, based on eclipse.looks nice, eh? unfortunately, it's permanently stuck in beta, since development activity has stopped since version 0.2 dated april 2007. oh well.the auge page points to another similar project, frugal. the latest version dated 10 oct is only compiled for macos, so i

integrity and mark hurd at oracle

2010-09-07T10:32:00.006+08:00

today, mark hurd joins oracle as co-president, after being let go from hp most unceremoniously.more specifically, he replaces charles phillips jr. who was asked to resign after the "woman he had been seeing put up a Web site and billboards detailing his extramarital relationship" (cited from this new york times article).hurd is quite despised by ex-employees and employees alike (just do a search

smartmoney & barron's broker rankings 2010

2010-09-02T10:24:00.000+08:00

following on from the last post, i looked up the 2010 broker survey by smartmoney.rankings haven't changed much compared with the smartmoney 2009 survey (in my very first post, dated may 2009).the highest priced brokers have reduced their fees.... the discount broker i use, sogotrade, is still right at the bottom (#17 or 17) - worse than last year, and with scores so low they can't get any lower!

reviews of plus500.com

2010-09-01T10:17:00.005+08:00

i noticed google's ads to plus500.com in the header above.i had a look at the web site and then did a quick search for reviews. seems like the general consensus on forums is "stay away!"have a look at forex peace army and earn forex.

great portfolio manager at wikinvest

2010-08-31T16:31:00.013+08:00

i've been using wikinvest's blogger tools on my blog for well over a year, to embed cool charts and quotes, like in this post.recently, they've added a portfolio manager, and although i'm primarily looking for something that works off-line, i decided to have a go with it too.i must say, it's really very good! and i haven't even started customizing the view yet.the only learning curve was for data

help! a non-investor in a volatile bear-market

2010-08-31T10:37:00.003+08:00

last week ended positive, this week everything is in the red again.looks like another slump ahead, on the expectation of bad news in a couple of key reports due this week. the supply management index (due wednesday) is expected to show slower manufacturing output, and employment data (due friday) is expected to show a marginal rise in unemployment.sadly, i don't know anything about short selling,

jstock - free portfolio management

2010-08-30T17:33:00.005+08:00

as you know, i'm still hunting high and low for stock portfolio management software that is free and simple. i recently gave jstock a try.it's open source, so that's a big bonus, but beyond that, i can't really say it's useful to me.first, the portfolio management part:it's a plain tree view, but is not color/icon coded and is not designed for an at-a-glance view.the user interface is often very

export to excel sheet to pdf

2010-08-30T16:42:00.004+08:00

i track my portfolio using excel 2010, and to automate my daily tasks, i created a excel visual basic (vba) script to:automatically download the latest market data from a data source called "yahoo quote" in a worksheet called "quote",re-sort my data in a table in a called "data" by the "value" column, in a worksheet called "report",and export the "report" sheet (which contains graphs and tables)

about me

2010-08-27T14:15:00.007+08:00

haha, i haven't updated this blog in so long that i found my "about" box quite funny... the part about "getting rich."i'm so not making any money in the u.s. equities i've invested in!i'm currently making a net loss of just over 10%, and my worst stock pick is -62%. yup, that one. it's just getting worse, but i was on a long holiday when the price crashed and i did not get out... i still have not

portfolio viewer by mental echo

2010-08-27T13:51:00.007+08:00

wow, it's been way too long since my last post!recently, i've been forced to downgrade to windows xp, which is the policy at the new company where i work. so i've lost my favorite gadget, stock3, which i've mentioned before.i searched high and low for a replacement that works in xp, including trying out google gadgets and yahoo widgets. both have a poor collection of widgets for what i want -

yet another source of info - reuters

2010-03-24T11:46:00.005+08:00

recently, i've been doing my stock research on reuters finance pages. as always, i'm after information presented in a simple, concise manner and reuters does a good job.have a look at these 2 pictures of the key developments and chart pages for google:historical consensus analyst estimates vs. actual earnings is very interesting. i also especially like the future estimates, since i'm more

minor correction to last excel post

2010-01-26T09:55:00.003+08:00

i've made a minor correction to the tutorial file and third image in the excel 2007 table post. i had the formula slightly wrong in the screen shot (but it is correct in the table itself).also, added another downside to this method - the table cannot be sorted. but you could change the formula for the [n] columns into static numbers instead.

renaming an excel 2007 table

2010-01-18T10:41:00.001+08:00

following on from the previous post, remember to rename your tables to something sensible. naming is much more important with tables and columns than with the old a1-style referencing. to set the name of the table, click on any cell in a table and then click the tool strip item table tools > design. the first item is the table name.

advanced formulas for excel 2007 tables

2010-01-17T15:35:00.007+08:00

the excel 2007 user interface probably gets a lot of press, but i've seen very little about it's new table features. i've been coming to grips with this new referencing system, since it's different from the traditional a1 notation. to track my stocks, i have a list of transactions in one table (buy, sell, dividend). i want to automatically generate a list of my total holdings, with no duplicate

thoughts on google's nexus one phone

2010-01-15T16:16:00.005+08:00

google has launched it's own handset, check it out at google.com/phone.imho, google should keep these in mind:don't sell the platform, sell the applications - customers care about applications and their data, not the plaform or operating system. should i really care if it's open source?in terms of content, boundaries are still needed - at one extreme is apple, overly proprietary and hence,

it's been a long time!

2009-11-26T17:25:00.005+08:00

wow, i haven't posted for over 1 ½ months now!i went for a 2-week vacation, during which time i was absolutely not interested to check on my portfolio. i was too busy visiting the sights! what a shock i received when i updated my portfolio upon my return!stec, which i mentioned in last post, had tanked big time! and it's been only getting worse since, with class action suit after suit. sigh.

dumping stock

2009-10-08T09:48:00.003+08:00

like i noted a couple of days ago, stec executive management has sold over $400 million worth of stock in 2009 up to august. looks like bartz of yahoo! is doing the same, having sold $3.3 million this year, as reported at breakout performance. in total, yahoo insiders have sold $200m this year, although the majority is icahn selling out. signals! signals!

stocks3 gadget for vista/7

2009-10-07T09:53:00.006+08:00

i've tried the various desktop gadgets available to display stock/index/forex prices, but my favourite is stocks3. get it from the windows gadgets gallery. there is no screen shot of the gadget in action, so i'm sure many people would give it a miss - their loss! btw, don't download stocks or stocks2 as those are just earlier versions.stocks3 is the most flexible of the gadgets, yet does not take

"soft" research

2009-10-06T09:17:00.005+08:00

i bought a some shares of stec towards the end of september, and come october... you know what happened.a lesson for me to:remember that october is a "bad" month for superstitious/historical reasonscheck the economic/financial announcement calendare.g. via yahoo or bloombergor by adding events google finance to my personal calendar by clicking on the "add to my calendars" linkcheck for "insider"

using formulas to sort in excel, not vba

2009-10-05T10:12:00.010+08:00

i use excel extensively to track my investments, with web queries to get data from msn/google, vba code for trending and so on. i posted a how-to using web queries before, to get historical price data on one company. i have another web-query using msn to get the open/close/last price on a list of companies:http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/external/excel/quotes.asp?SYMBOL=["QUOTE","Enter stock

executive (over) compensation at hp

2009-09-29T22:15:00.004+08:00

my portfolio is quite heavy on tech stocks, but reading posts from dr. eric jackson makes the think twice. tech stocks have not been performing, yet for a select few companies, executive compensation is outrageous.from a post about hp's president/ceo/chairman, h-p hurd's pay troubling:"for 2008, hurd's total compensation reached $43 million, which made him the fourth highest paid ceo in america

picture popup in ie8

2009-09-11T10:42:00.002+08:00

just realized that with ie8, the picture "lighbox" is right aligned. with firefox and chrome, the lightbox is centred, which is the desired behaviour. can't be bothered to figure this out.

run out of steam

2009-09-11T09:54:00.004+08:00

i've stopped blogging for over a month now! can't believe it - been busy, but i've also run out of steam. from what i can tell, i've got no audience anyway (i've no friends)! :)the markets are rebounding to such an extent that i am hesitant to buy, but worse than that, am also hesitant to sell - despite reaching some of my sell targets.ditto on the aussie dollar, which is at an all time high - so

more red than green

2009-08-07T16:42:00.006+08:00

i've been busy lately, and have nothing new to say, but i do note the sector map is more red than green after this weeks rally.seems that the "market" is very sensitive nowadays. on the slightest whiff of bad news, we'll have another downward spiral...

goodbye yahoo

2009-08-02T22:02:00.004+08:00

in recent news, microsoft has inked a deal with yahoo! for microsoft's bing to provide search results for yahoo. yahoo will make 88% of the revenue from microsoft via searches from their site.seems like yahoo wants to re-make itself as nothing but a marketing-machine and advertising sales force. if yahoo really forgets its technology roots, then imho, this the beginning of the end for yahoo (or

profit taking for july

2009-07-28T18:22:00.007+08:00

yesterday, i decided to sell some of my holdings in my sogotrade account.almost 30% returns from the time i bought it! but this return represents a measly $30, sigh. still, one has to start somewhere right?and, if i had waited till today, i'd be slightly better off - but timing the market is not worth the effort, and i have hit my profit-taking target anyway.seems like for the period i've been

comparing blog services

2009-07-27T23:21:00.002+08:00

i'm quite the shopper - not in the sense that i buy, but in the sense that i "shop around" comparing everything!i did the same for my blog, checked out blogger, livejournal and wordpress.first up, i created by blog at wordpress: custom css is a paid feature ($15/year) as are videos, etc. ouch! that immediately rules out wordpress for me. "static" pages are nice though. the other tools and

july's big mac index

2009-07-24T10:08:00.002+08:00

the july big mac index is featured in the current issue of the economist.i note that my home currency is no longer as under-valued, with the price of a big mac skyrocketing by over 20%! generally the same for indonesia, singapore and malaysia but not so for hong kong and china, which remain unchanged.i have always maintained that inflation at home is way over the official figures, because of

how i set up and funded my trading account

2009-07-24T09:33:00.011+08:00

yesterday, i got asked again how i set up my trading account in the u.s. so i guess there are people who still want to know. although i don't know why i bother since nobody visits by blog, not even my friends, judging by advertising revenue...i believe this is probably the lowest cost and quickest method, while using only reputable service providers. the path of funds for me is hsbc local -->

screenshots of amazing think or swim platform

2009-07-23T18:52:00.007+08:00

i haven't had much chance to post (read: i haven't had anything to post), but thought i'd share some screen shots of the think or swim platform.what an amazing platform - does all the charting you'd ever want; has a sandbox with play money to mess around with; supports equities, forex, options, futures, bonds, mutual funds; risk profile and probability analysis (no clue, but reminds me of the

mid-july returns update

2009-07-17T18:10:00.009+08:00

i expected volatility this month, and i mentioned it previously, but wow, what a ride!from profitability to loss and back to profitability again in just 10 days! here's a plot of my returns for the month of june and july (to date) - first as the value of my investments slip day-by-day, then, what do you know? the market rebounds!i missed my chance to enter the market, because the u.s. dollar was/

a 3d movie ticket or a big mac?

2009-07-15T16:36:00.003+08:00

over the weekend, i had a chance to watch my first 3d movie at a local cinema. finally, an excellent cinema experience with outstanding digital clarity - no more scratches and annoying subtitles.anyway, i remarked that with the financial "crisis", big ticket spending (e.g. holidays abroad) would be replaced with the likes of cinema outings. and add to that (near) wide-spread availability of the

tips from a weekend of blog optimization

2009-07-12T21:18:00.012+08:00

although not my intention, i have posts summarizing ideas i've "borrowed" in creating this blog. over the weekend i've figured out how blogger xml templates and javascript work (what a waste of time). the result is re-worked back-end code which is concise and optimized. to all the people who's code or ideas i've referenced - thanks!here are my tips for techies to optimize and simplify their

importing data from google finance to excel

2009-07-10T17:20:00.007+08:00

i use excel to track my investments from stocks to mutual funds. here's a short tutorial on how to import data from google finance (or any other web-based source) into an excel spreadsheet.the method i use:avoids the use of external web connection files (*.iqy),allows the stock symbol to be changed and autoamtically refreshes the result with new data from google.is excellent for scripting, since

google o.s. and microsoft's community promise

2009-07-10T13:15:00.003+08:00

the internet is abuzz with google's announcement of a linux-based operating system project called chrome o.s.this non-investor asks how this going to contribute google's bottom line? i'd stay away from an o.s. stuffed with advertising. and i don't really care if it boots faster but can't do anything unless i'm connected to the internet, and - more sinisterly - to google.the chrome browser made

did not rollover australian dual currency

2009-07-09T18:54:00.004+08:00

australian dollar very volatile right now. did not rollover my aud dual currency structured investment at hsbc - stopped "investing" (read: "gambling"). general consensus seems to be that it'll be risky to continue at my previous level of expected return (roundabout 9%)according to reuters, the rio tinto detention has "rattled currency markets" and australian unemployment rates are highest since

custom market map using google spreadsheets

2009-07-08T18:39:00.027+08:00

i use excel to track my investments, but google spreadsheets is really much easier to use. and there are loads of features that in excel would take a macro programming genius to figure out.i created my own live "market map" or "heat map" of my investments in just minutes! the output looks like this, where the size of each box shows the amount i invested in each company grouped by industry (by my

mb trading web platform review

2009-07-07T18:51:00.010+08:00

earlier this year when i was researching discount brokers, i decided against mb trading because their mbt navigator trading platform was a thick client that did not work behind a web proxy, and because it was complex for a newbie like me. in addition, their registration process felt very unpolished.recently, i realized that mb trading has a web platform, so i signed up for a demo account and

site re-design

2009-07-06T22:55:00.012+08:00

changed the blogger template again! this time, got it from our blogger templates, but again changed it quite a bit. spent too much time doing so too! but it's something to be proud of.the blog is getting a bit heavy on scripts, since i integrated: wikinvest blogger tools for live stock quotes,brightbox "lightbox" for images (click on the image below!),related-posts,a simple blogger tag cloud for

happy fourth of july

2009-07-06T13:59:00.003+08:00

with the fourth of july celebrations over, brace for a bumpy week (month) ahead. with upcoming earnings releases and various economic reports, expect only more volatility in the u.s. markets.to me, it's an opportunity to enter the market! seems like a good time right now, and, i would expect, for the rest of the month. in the meantime, have a look at "what's hot - and not" from wsj:

nice charts from wikinvest

2009-07-03T14:22:00.007+08:00

cool embed-able charts from wikinvest, easy to use, just design the chart and copy the code into blogger "edit html" view. been eyeing symantec from the time i started this blog... should've could've would'veFlash Player 9 or higher is required to view the chartClick here to download Flash Player nowif (typeof(embedWikichart) != "undefined") {embedWikichart("http://charts.wikinvest.com/

all charts lead to marketwatch.com

2009-06-26T18:21:00.012+08:00

speaking of charts, a couple of posts back, i showed a screen shot of sogotrade's charting capabilities, saying how clear and concise it was.i realized that sogotrade's url changed to point to a site called custom.marketwatch.com. going to this url re-directs to dow jones client solutions.i did a search on google, and found many, many sites using charts generated by marketwatch.com and / or

forex trading strategies

2009-06-26T14:52:00.003+08:00

i've also had a look at forex fibonacci book to understand some of these forex trading strategies. applying a fibonacci series seems like a very pseudo-scientific strategy to me - it gives the impression of rigorous analysis, but seriously?although, having said that, if all forex traders think the same way then the strategy becomes self-fulfilling. that's the best strategy according to traders, "

bullish on microsoft

2009-06-25T18:12:00.007+08:00

about 10 days ago, i blogged about belief in microsoft. and here's today's 1 month chart for msft, from google finance. as you know, i started investing about the time i started this blog, and msft is doing well for me! yay!time to sell? forget the trends and the fact that q4 earnings is due on 24th july... i'm not too bothered whatever the outcome, since my bet is more long term (read: windows 7

double top dual currency

2009-06-25T15:24:00.008+08:00

i "rolled-over" my hsbc dual currency account recently... so far so good, speculation against the australian dollar has earned me over 10% in interest the last round. that's excellent, considering i don't actually do anything...but, i have been reading up at at forex-charts-book.com - interesting stuff (there and at the related sites), many thanks to the author jeff boyd - but i still wish for

sogotrade unresponsive again

2009-06-24T22:31:00.001+08:00

i couldn't log in to sogotrade again last night. again, i'm in asia, so when it the u.s. markets open, it's night time for me. every time i try to log in at night from home (instead of logging in during the day from office), i sogotrade is unresponsive and unable to even pass the login page. very bad experience every time i try during this time (but i don't do it that often).any other sogotrade

no more microsoft money

2009-06-22T21:43:00.007+08:00

oh no! i've been a user of ms money for years (came free with my notebook), but no microsoft has decided to discontinue the product. and common reaction from the on-line community seems to be "typical software monopoly!" they go on to state one's options:migrate to "pay" alternatives like quicken,go open source - gnucash, kmymoney, etc.use a free web-base like minti'm not on-line most of the time

sogotrade referral

2009-06-15T16:34:00.003+08:00

boo hoo, i've run out of free trades at sogotrade. opening a new account includes 100 free trades, good for 30 days, of which i did not even manage to use 10%! like i said, i'm a small time newbie trader!if any kind soul wants to help me, please sign up at sogotrade with my referral code using this link, or by manually entering the referral code 368942. i'll then get another 25 free trades under

belive in microsoft?

2009-06-15T09:43:00.006+08:00

"your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning" - bill gatesif you believe that microsoft can retain this culture post-bill, then bet on microsoft. all indications are that windows 7 will be so much better than vista (microsoft has a history of learning from their mistakes)... and many analysts still say buy too! here's a snapshot of sogotrade's company profile screen:i like

my unvisited blog part 2

2009-06-10T13:44:00.006+08:00

a couple of weeks ago, i had to learn how to submit my blog to google for it to be searchable. and now, i find that i have to do a similar thing for yahoo too.with google it was easier (since blogger is owned by google), but with yahoo, i had to follow instructions, which i found at blogger tips and tricks. it involves registering my blog at yahoo site explorer which mandates adding a tag

my learning progress

2009-06-09T11:13:00.001+08:00

like i said before, i know nuts about investing and the stock market, so i've been reading up a little. instead of reading individual blogs (like mine), these sites have many contributors and also aggregate news content:wikinvest, interesting to see what other non-professionals thinkseekingalpha for opinions of professional market watchersinvestopedia is great for a beginner like myself

ping sogotrade

2009-06-04T17:25:00.002+08:00

just tried those on-line services to ping sogotrade again - all return failure. so sogotrade must be blocking / not responding to pings. so i won't be able to tell why i sometimes cannot login.

dual currency aud speculation

2009-06-04T16:23:00.003+08:00

today rolled over my hsbc dual currency account, continuing to speculate...at the time i rolled over, for a difference of 0.0062 between the spot rate (higher) and conversion / speculated rate (lower), the return was 34.55% for 1 week period. wow, looks like everyone expects the aussie dollar to weaken.of the aud & nzd, here's what the hsbc "global investment perspective" brief for march 2009 (

the market

2009-06-03T16:06:00.003+08:00

wow, the u.s. market is really rallying. already i'm up 10% since i started investing - which is since i started this blog...and my foreign currency speculation with the australian dollar has been very profitable too. forex traders are not buying into the u.s. rally- read all about it over at seeking alpha. ha ha, i don't claim to understand it, i'm just lucky so far.

good bet on dual currency

2009-06-02T15:01:00.008+08:00

today's the fixing date for my hsbc dual currency account. the australian dollar has been steadily strengthening, so i'll probably make 7%+ in interest. excellent!here's another useful site to see currencies fxstreet.com (but yuck, it requires java again!)the charts in the first row are aud/usd and aud/sgd, and eur/aud and gbp/aud in the second.now i have to decide if i want to continue with the

fancy u.s. cheques

2009-06-02T11:56:00.009+08:00

i'm amazed at the gall of u.s. banks, with advertising in their cheque books, trying to sell stickers (labels), holders, personalized cheque designs, etc. i'm even more shocked that banks expect children to write cheques - what other demographic could a mickey mouse cheque be targeted to (see the bottom right design)?ok, i take that back, i want a mickey mouse cheque too... :)

funding with hsbc

2009-06-01T17:35:00.004+08:00

and here’s how i opened a bank account in the u.s. even though i’ve never worked there, have no taxpayer id or social security number.i have a hsbc premier account in my home country, and hsbc offers a service to open accounts overseas. i filled in the forms and the bank did the rest. i received 2 cheque books, a debit card, and other documentation from hsbc u.s.a.i had to call the u.s call

sogotrade account opening process

2009-05-27T19:21:00.005+08:00

so, back to my experiences with sogotrade, and the account opening process.after filling the on-line forms, there's the minor inconvenience of mailing signed documentation to sogotrade. unlike other discount brokers, sogotrade did not automatically generate completed paperwork. i had to download the blank forms, fill them and then sign. would be nice if the forms were pre-filled.though i’m not a

my unvisited blog

2009-05-26T19:45:00.004+08:00

wow, setting up a blog is certainly hard. i’ve never done it before and didn’t realize it’d get so technical. had to search all over the web for tutorials and help.nobody can find my blog because it's not in google or google blog search.and its ever so hard to make sure my blog is listed. i tried to submit at google here and here a couple of days ago, but am still not searchable.also submitted

sogotrade up?

2009-05-25T20:19:00.002+08:00

just tried sogotrade again, minutes after the last post - now i can log in, and it's as speedy as before. very strange, perhaps sogotrade blocks pings? since i usually have problems when logging in from home in the evenings, perhaps is my isp that's the problem... i shouldn't be too hasty in blaming sogotrade.

too much sogotrade downtime

2009-05-25T20:02:00.005+08:00

since i’m in asia, i usually log on when the u.s. markets are closed and place limit orders. but i’ve noticed that when markets open, i’m never able to log in to sogotrade.i’ve been having so many problems connecting, just look at these screen shots from just-ping.com, taken right about now:similar results with other on-line ping tools like network-tools.com, ping.eu and others - "100% packet

wsj sector map

2009-05-23T22:32:00.008+08:00

here's another useful tool, the wall street journal's "map of the market" at the market data center. being a visual person, i find this snapshot of the market easy and quick to decipher. here's an example:at a glance i can tell that the tech stocks with largest market capitalization are slightly down (large & dark red), gainers are mostly mid-sized (medium & bright green) and some small caps are

exchange rates

2009-05-22T19:04:00.008+08:00

so since i now track exchange rates too, i've been using ratesfx. there are loads of others, so happens i found this site first.btw, aussie dollar down against u.s. - i'm betting with the former via hsbc's dual currency account...

hsbc dual currency

2009-05-21T17:51:00.006+08:00

this week, started speculating on the money market too, with hsbc dual currency. very speculative, high risk but with (hopefully) higher interest. in my own words (don't trust me, as you know, i'm a total newbie):choose a linked currency to speculate on with respect to a base currencychoose a time period (1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, etc.)speculate on the exchange rate at the end of that periodif at

my discount broker

2009-05-20T20:32:00.004+08:00

in the end i selected sogotrade, even though the reviews consider that its simplicity, lack of funds and lack of research are major weaknesses. however, my main criteria were:accepts foreign investors (non-u.s. citizens with no taxpayer id or social security number),a simple user interface, since i know nuts about trading,a cheap service with low commissions and no account fees or activity /

discount broker reviews

2009-05-20T18:22:00.014+08:00

no! not another blog! as if there aren't enough in this world?seriously though, i'm starting this to a) record what i learn about investing, b) share my experiences with others, c) try to make money from ads (seriously!) - hey, don't we all ready of people making 1000's every month?anyway, i recently decided to open an online trading account in the u.s. of a, of which i am not a citizen or