hey everyone...

What not to do, this is what i do!

Kelvin tan with his new arm to improve his performance at the workplace!

This is my life:

Welcome to TT Trader, an interactive platform that links me (the aspiring newbie trader) to the market (the money eating machine).

Basically what it is, is a ladder of price depth. All the bid against the offer prices, and the volume traded at each price.


The office pros, which include my boss and the partners, dont even use a friggin chart to trade, because technical analysis takes time, and by the time you analyse something, the opportunity is gone. Apparently this is sufficient to trade, and they make shitloads, like up to 20k a day sort of thing.

Well outside when people ask what i do i talk it up as if its easy money, but here i'll let you in on the inside scoop, its not.

Its a tough life if you're new, it really is.

My current training stint is 6 months, first 3 months of pure trading and simluation trading (basically this simulator follows the markets exactly). During this period, you have to decide what you want to trade. (Indices like dow, nikkei, sgx; or commodities like oil, gold, water; or currencies/bonds)

After the initial 3 months, if you think you are ready, they pop you on the live market. We are initially allowed a $500 loss on a daily basis. Basically once you've hit the loss limit, you're out for the day, and have to explain your trades to the big boss. $500 is super easy to hit, its the equivalent of the ASX moving just 20 ticks in the opposite direction. (e.g. if it was trading at 3020, and went down to 3000, YOU'RE OUT BITCH) Basically unless you know how to cut your losses fast and manage your emotions and positions, you're fucked.

If you were down $20k last month, you basically have to make it back before you can make any money this month. thats fucked up. on top of that, there are equipment costs, see below.

Whatever profits you make in the next 3 months is the company's if you dont get a contract offer, if you do, you get a 50% split.

If you're successful on the life market, you get a contract. As mentioned, initial split is at 50%, if your account balance has >$50k, the split goes up to 55%, and 60% if it has more than $100k. And so on, highest split is 70%.

Every month we need to pay the company $2500 for equipment charges, news feeds, program charges, internet charges. Yes, we pay the company money, not get paid. Its basically me renting an office space from them, running my own company from that space.

So lets say this month i make $10,000. I take away $2500 for equipment, leaving $7,500. Take away 50% split for myself, thas $3,750. Take away the 30% company tax, thats $2500++. Thats 1/2 of what i was paid as an engineer.

Basically we have to register a trust/company in our name and trade under it. So i need to actually invoice the company to tell them that i need to get paid, and the amount requested will be deducted from the balance.

There are people who make easily 20-30k a month after the first 6 months, but also those who are struggling to survive due to the super duper high costs.

We'll know after 6 months if this is something that i'm good at, and if i can make a living out of it, else it was fun.

A man walks past our office this afternoon, and goes "Are you guys professional gamers?"
The people in the office were playing Counter-Strike after work.

My first day at work:

Wasn't allowed to take pictures of the office, but i found a similar layout on the Internet:


Everyone pretty much has their own desk, with a couple of monitors in front of them showing charts, spreads, live news feeds, its the ultimate nerd fantasy i guess.

Dress code was slack, people were more relaxed than usual today because it was a good trading day, one of the people on the floor made 20k today just like that, remembering that it is a good day.

Mostly under 30s, hardly saw any senior people on the floor, most people came to work for an hour or two, did their trades, then left, whilst others were working hard at their desks scalping the markets scraping off some profits.

Today i was fortunate enough to see the lighter part of the trading day, they recently installed CounterStrike on the network, after work everyone turned off their trading stuff and starting playing on the network! like full on 20 on 20!

It was quite tiring trying to give a 110% listening to every word spoken and getting tips from the gurus, tianli can attest to that, i was day dreaming at dinner.

On arrival we were given notes and readings to do, given some praise for making the selection, 500 applicants creamed to 20 people for the intake. A couple of investment bankers, commodity traders, superannuation consultants, brokers. Only 3 engineers! Mostly of them were from Macquaire Bank previously, they decided to quit their back office jobs for something for something more adventurous.

We were put back in our places, often reminded that we still have to earn our contracts with the company, proving that we can make money on a consistent basis, all the stories of getting rich in a day are true, but the day after the markets will give you a big kick up the arse and take all the riches back.

The greatest challenge for a trader is to get the opportunity to trade, now with this opportunity its time to shine. Loving every minute of it

To the people graduating this year:
www.brightminds.com..sg <- better start applying for work

i have a love hate relationship with this dog.

P.S ah tan as you can see, sticky is alive and kicking. the hat brings out the colour of her eyes. don't you think so? hahah.

Sydney is fucking awesome!
spent the last few days studying in the morning and early afternoon, then hitting town and playing board games with friends. I must introduce you guys to the games, damn fun! December..

Having korean housemates is a definate plus. they cook damn good food, are super duper ultra clean, dont make much noise, and know how to have fun. They even showed me a damn cool way to open your beer bottle! omg damn suah ku la

My housemates have the best jobs in the world.
Interviewing and taking pictures of beautiful people everyday, what a life.

http://www.uniquescott.com/ <--- Scott's website (the photographer)

Welcome to my new home! View from the corridor to the main door:

There are 2 rooms along the corridor, one is mine, and the other belongs to Chloe (Korean student). View from outside my room to the Living room.

This is the living room! damn cool right, Scott is a photographer 1/2 of the week and collects vintage cameras.


Couch and Fridge??? in living room, abit strange, but it seems to blend in i guess



View from the living room back to the corridor

The kitchen seems clean, this must be where all the kimchi is made. i'm hope someone decides to whip up something delicious soon, korean cravings are knocking on the door:





Then theres the bedroom! Well it still looks barren because i only moved in about an hour ago. Looks pretty decent though, feels alittle like home already






There are another 3 rooms upstairs, they;re doing alittle spring cleaning session so i guess i wont be taking any pictures of dirt

Thats it! home away from home away from home.

Its strange to feel out of place once again, in a way its a positive to be kept on my toes.
I found a place at hyde park, a 5 bedroom apartment shared with 7 koreans/japs. Its 2 mins walking distance from my house (the equivalent of my house to tharins house), cant get any better than that. For all the future wee hour shifts that i will be having, it sure is comforting to know that i can sprint home to my bed to rest.

Hello All,

Its been awhile since i updated you on my status, so here goes, im sure most of you know anyway.

Got retrenched at the end of January, and got a 2 month payout + they paid out my annual leave. Basically meaning that i get february and march off whilst still being paid.

Found a job in Sydney as a derivatives trader, and got to move to sydney. Its a 6 month training stint, and if im any good, will be offered a contract on a permanent basis. Financially, this job is not as stable as my previous as there is no base salary, but there is unlimited upside on the amount i can make a month.

So, take care, study hard, finish your fyp with first class honours for the boys, and i'll see you when i see you if i see you

well, i guess most of you who'd been to my place has notice this big metal container which i collect my $5 notes... and after 2.5yrs of collecting, i have decided to tear open the metal tin can...

i think i have posted this before. but i can't find the post.

plant impossible dreams.
look forward to dreams.
cry during movies.
swing as high as you can on a swingset, by moonlight.
cultivate moods.
do it for love.
take lots of naps.
take moonbaths.
giggle with children.
listen to old people.
drive away fear.
play with everything.
entertain your inner child.
build a fort with blankets.
get wet.
hug trees.
write love letters.

i am looking through my past.
in retrospect, life really seems more carefree, more fun, more innocent.
just want to remind myself and all of you not to lose ourselves in the adult working world.
it is just so easy to be swept away by work and our environment.
we should all have the courage and energy of an eighteen year old!
shake those crusty bones people!

gone were those carefree days,
where our innocent minds
viewed the world as a beautiful place.

i received a call (whilst i was in spore), from my bank.. my aussie credit card had some unauthorised transactions. Damn. It was a new card. I think somebody broke into my mailbox and stole it.

A million things went through my mind. My bank statments, my utilities bils, my letters from different people, private information which i was awaiting for.. all could possibly and likely been taken. Identity theft would my worst nightmare. But what could be worst, they knew i wasn't in town, and might have the blatent guts to break into my apartment and carted off with all my stuff.

Today, i came back to sydney. Had a slight hiccup in the airport. They not just searched my bags, but did it in detail. Those serious searches. Shirt by shirt, they took out my stuff. Furthermore, they asked me a million questions, took my waller and phones. Checking if the phones were repored stolen, checking if my credit cards were stolen or cloned. Fuck, they could have told me first, but yet they took it without an explanation. Bastards. How on earth i would know if they didn't clone my credit cards, didn't made 1900 phone calls on the phone.

They asked me idiotic questions, like what i did for a living, and how come i had certain documents with me, and what my parents did for a living... and they still had the cheek to ask if my family was rich and all.. because i could afford a place and get educated overseas. In the end, after rampaging through all my personal belongings, they couldn't do anything anor find anything and subsequently frisked me. Nothing again.

I think they were disappointed they couldn't nail me for bringing in anything illegal or unauthorised. But one thing for sure, i'm glad i was clean, as usual. Felt it was quite discriminating and demeaning proccess. Well, i had the last laugh, and no, not all asians are illiterate and crooked, trying to smuggle something in.

Can't they actually put more officers out on the street, nab those drug dealers, crims and all? Why waste effort and resources like that? Rape, robberies, kidnapping, is happening everyday. All they bother is to catch people who are speeding or not declaring stuff. I seriously believe they got their priorites wrong. Worst still, the public infrastructure is in shambles. Public hospitals are seriously underfunded till even the butcher supplying meat had to stop their supplies cause they ain't getting paid, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Roads are crappy, full of potholes and cracks, maybe not in the lower north where all the politicians and power brokers stay.

Not a word of apology. But at least, i left happy, knowing they wasted their time, their effort.

Reaching home, my mailbox looked fine. Locked and secure. But when i opened it up, no mail inside. That guy must had picked the locked. Damn. I'm considering going to the police to notify them of what happened. But i have to wait till monday, so i can ask the post office, and the guy who come around sending the mail if they have any clue. Yes, monday, because he post office isn't open on weekends.

My car battery died. Going to try and jump start it. Hope it works. If not, i also have to wait till monday before i can call roadside assist, because if i ask them to come in immediaely, they will charge me an extra 150bucks. What a rip off... and such lousy perks as well being with NRMA. I think NSW is seriously screwed up. Thank to government, which can't seem to agree on anything, and wha they agree on would be their pay increaments. Solve those in the government, and solve all these problems.

i forgot i had an exam on monday for a course i am doing for the company. bloody shit. now i need to pay for it out of my own pocket. bloody shit. bloody shit shit shit

weddings.

they stir up strange, funny feelings that you never knew you had.

We're starting to feel the pinch now over here, couple of my friends in the same industry have already been axed. This is not good! Who's gonna pay for my chicken rice!

Some inspiration for all your future cars

Mornings start off cold, air is always clear, sinus hibernates perpetually
summer rays reflect off the recently awakened skin, it heats up
heat radiates from the clouds, humidity drops
giant clock reads: 5:00 pm 13/01/09, 37.0 degrees celsius

the rain comes and washes over me.
cleansing me,making me feel pure and untainted again.
my spirits are lifted,even for a while,
i welcome it, bask in it.
the rain sliding down my face, my body,
my clothes soaked throughly,
seeping in, and then out of my shoes,
creating a small pool around me.

the sushine after the rain.
all that is left, is that lingering scent.
my little secret.

oh boy, i do love the smell of rain.

tomorrow is another day,
and i am thristy anyway,
so bring on the rain.

Can't remember a time when i had a better time than the last 3 weeks in singapore
I've grown to love beer with a little push from tianli's daily red dot requirements, tall people need lots of beer for carbs to go about their daily routine.
This year looks to be an exciting one! unless i get retrenched which will take the shine out of all my plans. ah well.
peace out people, hope you keep all your new year resolutions! i'm having trouble with mine already

new year at tianli's place. did the usual things-eating,drinking, poker.
fun, fun, fun
excuse the quality of the pictures. i think i need to buy a new camera for the new year.