I don’t picture myself as a trader hunched over six monitors, drawing lines on charts like a cartographer mapping invisible oceans. My way of deciding whether to buy a stock is quieter, more human, and closer to a conversation than a calculation. It usually starts with a name. I hear about a company in passing: a product I use, a brand I notice everywhere, a business that keeps showing up in news headlines. I don’t rush to open a chart. Instead, I let my curiosity linger. Do I understand what this company does? Do I see it surviving a few bad years? If the answers feel right, that’s when I invite the numbers into the room. This is where my relationship with technical analysis politely ends. I don’t squint at candlesticks or chase moving averages. The market, to me, isn’t a puzzle that can

I just realised I’ve gone quiet on Tiger Brokers for some time — until recently. No buying. No posting. Nothing. And when I say “quite some time,” I mean long by my own standards. Normally, I’m far more active, but lately life has been busy enough that the market was left to do its thing without me watching every move. Until last night. Close to midnight, I logged into my Tiger Brokers account — not because I had a plan, but because that’s what investors do when they can’t sleep. I started scrolling, half distracted, when ABR caught my attention. The price looked cheap. Not cheap in a headline-grabbing way, but cheap compared to what I clearly remember paying and selling it for a long time ago. That memory hit instantly, and before I could talk myself out of it, I bought ABR at $8.32 per s

$iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF(TLH)$ There is no 30% withholding tax on dividends for TLH. I bought TLH as a long-term investment because I find the dividend yield reasonable, the dividend frequency attractive, and the absence of a 30% withholding tax appealing.

$Arbor(ABR)$ I bought ABR today on both Tiger Brokers and Webull because I believe it is undervalued. In my personal opinion, the dividend yield is attractive, the company's past earnings history looks okay, and the investment helps diversify my portfolio.

I’ve been using Tiger Brokers for a while and currently sit in the “Elite” membership tier. One of the perks I actually like is the 500 Tiger Coins I can claim each month—it’s a simple, nice bonus that adds up over time without needing to jump through hoops. It’s like a little pat on the back for just being active, logging in, and keeping up with my trades. Right now, the main ways to earn coins are trading, signing in etc., which is great, but I can’t help imagining other ways the app could make coin-earning more interesting. What if exploring a stock’s profile, or even playing mini trading quizzes—gave extra coins? Imagine getting rewarded for being curious, not just active. Maybe even small interactive missions like tracking your portfolio diversification, setting and meeting saving goa

The AI chip wars are heating up, and it feels like every month there’s a new contender stepping into the ring to challenge Nvidia’s throne. Amazon just dropped its game-changer: an in-house AI chip that the company claims is “cost-effective” compared to Nvidia’s offerings. Meanwhile, Marvell has made a bold move by acquiring Celestial AI, positioning itself as a contender in next-generation optical interconnect technology. Google isn’t sitting idly either—its TPUs have already carved out a niche, and Broadcom’s ASIC chips add another layer to this increasingly crowded field. Broadcom (AVGO) Alphabet (GOOGL) Marvell Technology (MRVL) Amazon.com (AMZN) Personally, I’m bearish on Nvidia at the moment, though I’ll admit—I often get it wrong when it comes to AI or tech-related stocks. On the su

I still remember the first time I fell down the rabbit hole reading about the Terra Luna crash. I didn’t own a single Terra Luna coin—never traded it, never staked it, barely even knew what its logo looked like. But when the collapse happened, I read about it the way people binge-watch disaster documentaries. Every headline felt like another episode: “Stablecoin destabilizes.” “Investors stunned.” I was more of an observer than a victim, but the whole saga still stuck to my memory like smoke after a fire. And even though Bitcoin is nothing like Terra Luna—completely different structure, history, and level of resilience—that old memory somehow sneaks back into my thoughts whenever the crypto charts turn red. So when Bitcoin just plunged again right after that short one-week rebound, my brai

Black Friday arrived like it does every year—flashing banners, endless notifications, and the subtle, irresistible pull of “limited-time deals.” My phone buzzed with alerts from Amazon, Shopee, Lazada. I opened each app like a kid in a candy store, my eyes scanning hundreds of items, my finger swiping through discounts and promotions. I added more things to my carts than I can count: headphones, gadgets, a few books, maybe even something I didn’t need but couldn’t resist. And yet… I didn’t buy a single thing. I found myself thinking about 12.12, the next big sale day. Maybe the discounts would be better then. Maybe patience would reward me. So all those carts, stuffed with potential purchases, sat idle, digital tombstones of my indecision. The same pattern is true in the stock market, or a

I found myself staring at my laptop the other day, watching the S&P 500 inch down, and realized I didn’t even know if my portfolio was up or down for November. And I didn’t care to check. Investing is supposed to be a hobby for me, not a stress test. Sure, I can see share prices moving—TLT, TLH, OXY, RC, WEN, SOXS—but I haven’t added up the total. The numbers could be dancing in my favor or mocking me, and either way, I’d rather just watch. Direxion Daily Semiconductors Bear 3x Shares (SOXS) Wendy's (WEN) Occidental (OXY) Ready Capital Corp (RC) iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLH) iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) That said, I can’t completely ignore my holdings. My portfolio is an odd mix: TLT and TLH for long-duration Treasuries, OXY and Ready Capital Corp for energy an

I used to think predictions worked like train schedules—delayed sometimes, but ultimately arriving on the same track. The last few years cured me of that illusion. I’ve spent enough time pacing at the metaphorical platform, clutching my bearish ticket, waiting for the Recession Express that was “definitely” arriving in 2023… or 2024… or, surely, 2025. Yet here we are, drifting toward 2026, and the train still hasn’t appeared. Instead, the markets whistle cheerfully past, as if to mock the bond ETFs I bought—TLT, TLH—waiting patiently in my portfolio like umbrellas I insist on carrying despite the endlessly sunny weather. iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLH) iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) S&P 500 (.SPX) Still, the financial world often produces its prophecies, thick with

BTC has a flair for theatrics, and this week it delivered again — springing back above the $90,000 mark like it never left. The crypto feeds instantly lit up: “Is this the comeback? Is $100K finally within reach?” Bitcoin loves dramatic chapters, and this jump feels like the opening scene of another one. But the plot thickens when people start dragging Trump into the story. Some say he previously bought his Bitcoin stash at an average of around $115,000 per coin — which, if true, means he’s now looking at a roughly 30% unrealized loss. And on the internet, that’s more than enough fuel for myths. Now that he’s back in the White House, the memes have grown louder — not serious accusations, just playful chatter. People might wonder whether he’s secretly cheering for a big Bitcoin rally the wa

The longer I’ve been investing, the more I’ve realized that my portfolio looks like a map of my thought process—half macro-obsessed strategist, half company-specific detective. I didn’t plan it that way. It just turned out that different corners of the market trigger different sides of my personality. Sometimes I want to stand on the mountaintop with binoculars, surveying the economic horizon. Other times I want to crawl on my hands and knees through the weeds of a company’s financials, squinting at operating margins like an archaeologist brushing dust off fossils. That’s basically the split between top-down and bottom-up investing. And I live in both worlds… depending on what I’m buying. The Top-Down Mind: My Macro-Fueled ETF Brain Top-down logic is deceptively clean, like a blueprint on

Some days the market moves with the grace of a swan; other days it throws itself down the stairs like a toddler in a tantrum. And somewhere between elegance and chaos, people start whispering the same question: Is this it? Is the sky finally falling? It’s always funny how a downturn begins so quietly. A little red here, a wobble there—nothing dramatic, nothing operatic. Just a shrug from the universe. Everyone pretends they can see the signs of the great collapse approaching, but honestly, markets give off signals the way cats do: mysteriously, contradictorily, and with an air of smug superiority. One indicator screams doom, another hums a lullaby, and the third starts breakdancing for no apparent reason. By the time you add them together, you’ve got nothing but a headache. Meanwhile, the

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Only 10% of people make money in the stock market. Twenty percent break even. And a whopping 70% lose money. This is the famous “7-2-1 Rule.” With the volatility we’ve seen this November, it sometimes feels like the market was designed specifically to torment that 70%. And yet, people—myself included—jump in anyway. So… how did I stumble into it? It wasn’t a buddy’s push, or some secret nemesis plotting to ruin my life. And the apps? They didn’t recommend me anything. No, my story is a mix of curiosity, accident, and a little bit of human instinct. When I first opened a trading account, part of the reason was the classic advice I read about investing: “100 minus your age” (or some say 110) should be in stocks, to beat inflation. It made sense on paper—I wanted my money to grow faster than