Sensei Michael Investments

Boring Portfolio Stock: US$77,621.98 Cash: US$364.85 Total: US$77,986.83 I have added to the portfolio an additional company, an FMCG company with a strong brand name, with the last of my ballast (cash reserve). It is interesting how the cash reserves enable me to buy in as the market continued to tank, acting as the stabiliser that it was meant to be. It is very unfortunate though, that I have run out of ballast. Could I have predicted this and set aside a larger amount of ballast? No - predictions are for prophets and market lizards, and I am not the former, nor do I want to be the latter. The system simply gave me the ability to buy when the general fund manager, mandated to be fully-invested with little spare cash, has to follow the lowering tide. QQQ Portfolio Stock: US$52,204.20 Cash: US$22,964.30 Total: US$75,168.50 This portfolio was meant to be used to show how the system (I do not take credit for it - it was developed by a fine gentleman, now deceased, and I happened to be hi...

Sir John Templeton passed away on 8 July 2008 at the age of 95. Another legend has left our world, but his ideas for investing will not be forgotten. From the article " Eight Lessons From Sir Templeton " by Mr John Christy at Forbes: All investing is global . Always take a contrarian approach ... ... But make sure the fundamentals are intact . Let valuation be your guide . Don't be afraid of big bets . Don't rush into positions . Get away from the crowd. Don't worry about the direction of the market. The advice he gave still holds in today's volatile markets, and is something I will remember as I continue my journey towards my return to fund management.

Boring Portfolio Stock: US$73,675.00 Cash: US$24,193.95 Total: US$97,868.95 My stock section of the portfolio continue to slide, due to a financial company that I have invested in. The system decided to mop up another USD1300 of shares, which I placed in the financial company. It has good fundamentals and a strong brand name and I believe should be able to ride the storm. QQQ Portfolio Stock: US$46,109.00 Cash: US$47,384.90 Total: US$93,493.90 Week 12 sees further weaknesses. It takes stomach of steel to buy when things are dropping, but that's the difference between a committed professional and an amateur.

Boring Portfolio Stock: US$72,783.00 Cash: US$25,649.90 Total: US$98,432.90 The market moved enough south for the system to finally trigger a buy...of about US$1600 worth of shares. I purchased an additional 50 shares of a bank. The commission of US$9.95 is still bearable. I treat it as transportation costs in a traditional FMCG business. QQQ Portfolio Stock: US$45,496.00 Cash: US$49,286.85 Total: US94782.85 The system triggered a buy of about US$1000 worth of shares. I purchased an additional 20 shares. It would be interesting to see how the two portfolios compare over the years. This portfolio has only been around about 11 weeks.

Boring Portfolio Stock: USD77,281 Cash: USD27,073 It's already 19 weeks and nothing much has moved - but that's because it is supposed not to move much! This is an experimentation with a very capital-protected portfolio, where capital protection takes precedence over everything else (even gains). Astute investors would have noted, though, that the eroding USD (I do not live in the US) is slowly killing the value of our stagnant portfolio. I will continue working with this portfolio for at least a year or two, if not just to test its viability for the system. QQQ Portfolio Stock: USD49,735 Cash: USD50,000 I'm testing out a new system for a more violatile QQQ ETF in the States. Again, I put my naval thinking to the system - a substantial ballast of USD50,000 (half the portfolio) is set aside to watch for buying opportunities when the typhoons come. Let us see how it performs over the weeks. As usual, I will check on the system each week.

Yes, the market is closed for Labour Day today. That's the thing I like about stocks vs forex. Forex is never closed, since the markets all over the world trades currency at all times. Stocks, however, are tied to a particular market, and will close when there's a holiday. I will check my portfolio tomorrow, in lieu of the scheduled checkup today. I'm still toying around with another concept (this current portfolio is really safe and boring, and I won't do anything to it) that I have in mind. If I have time to develop it, I'd put it through a test as well.

Current Portfolio Stock: USD69,697 Cash: USD27,073 Even though the previous weeks turmoil appeared to be a prime opportunity, the fact that everything has settled down means that my system has made the correct prediction by not buying in on the dips. Interestingly, if I have been buying mutual funds instead of stocks (and so commissions would not be a problem at all), I might possibly buy into the dips instead, and I would recommend doing so indeed.