Stocks
The new heartbreaker
With the market in prolonged turmoil and margin calls almost a daily curse, Singaporeans are going through tough - even desperate - times.
Sep 16, 2008

The current market is a constant reminder to Singaporeans not to regard the stock market as a means of getting rich quickly. Since a year ago, shares have taken on a very dangerous mode, capable of leaving behind broken lives.

The chatsites are full of postings by unhappy souls, who far outnumber the successful traders. The following are some of the instances of bad experiences posted over past months on Channel News Asia market forum: -

???
I lost heavily in the stock market for the last one year. Currently I have stopped all my trading and am in the process of clearing my debt. This is a very painful process but I have to bear with it. My family has been impacted by my failure. Almost every night, Ii am having nightmare.
The second half of 2008 will be very tough for me, and the next 4 years will even tougher, because my loss is really outside my meansand I have no idea how my life will become. I will now try to regain my confidence, step by step. I hope four years later, I could quit my job and start doing small business.
I am looking forward or else I would have committed suicide.

KLC
My uncle invested $5000 in S-shares (China shares listed in Singapore) last year, now left $72,000. He's very sad.

Minister
My auntie put in S$5m in blue chips, now worth $3m, but she made about $1m in dividends, so nett loss still $1m.
Strictly a 'blue chip' lady - Keppel, SPC (Singapore Petroleum), her greatest fall is SGX (Singapore Stock Exchange). I think she just holds, maybe two years later things will be okay.

mw
For example, $500,000 down to $86,000 is shrinking by 82.8%. But from $86,000 to go back to $500,000, it needs to grow 581.3% just to break even. A seemingly impossible task to grow..
When asked their secrets of success, money managers who consistently have been top performers almost without exception state the importance of "cutting losses and letting winners run."
Similarly, when the best professional managers are asked to name common mistakes made by individual investors, they typically put the failure to cut losses at the top of the list.

By very_HURT
My Life savings... Lost. Geuninely. Not any clone to any login. My realised Loss 30,000.
Cry till no tears. Thought of ending my ...
All my plans gone. Nothing left.
I hate myself. My friend told me 'can buy' when everthing looked so cheap. And now, my lifeline gone...

Goh Sim Boon
You are not alone.

misty
Too bad, move on. You have a whole lifetime ahead to make back all the money and more. If you end it, confirm you got no chance to make one single cent any more.
Worst case is you eat off left overs in food court, given our high standard of living here, the leftover scraps is a cuisine compare to what people in 3rd world countries eat. You should feel very fortunate.

matrix6
Please don't do anything silly, wealth can also be rebuilt, but once you end your life, everything is over.

niceguy
Don't be sad, Life's moves on. I think some forummers got even more badly burnt than you. #30,000 can make back one.

very_HURT
Bought when market dropped last quarter. It went down. Averaged up. Down again. The last few weeks were even worst.
Scrimp and save for years, managed to save a little. And now entire savings gone, left only a few thousand.
There is no meaning in life for me any more. Salary so low. Everything so Expensive.

treadstone
Be grateful for what we have in life, you will find your wealth in everyday things.

very_HURT
you are right $30,000 cannot be compared to majority here. Look at my job, my rented flat. I got no parents, my CPF aren't even decent enough to pay for a decent two-room flat.
I was thinking market was so badly sold and if I could make a little to pay for a decent flat (2 rm or 3 rms). And all my hopes gone....cry...
Government don't allow me to buy new flats, because I am single. Resale are too ex. What can I do. my job I am earning decently can't even help me to save much. I do two jobs and save. And now, my savings... Hghz......
I think i better go die better. cry cry.

Scion
Although we sympathise with you and $30,000 is a lot to you, you are only reminding us of others who have lost even more.
I already lost $300,000-plus last year alone and when I bitched about it to others, they would tell me my loss is chicken feed to them because some of them lost $600,000 on one counter alone! Just remember that if you cannot accept such a loss of $30,000, why risk it all in the first place?

shareshare
Take it easy, I lost more than twice that of yours and I'm still surviving.

jahealing
I lose from $180,000 (investment) till now $4,000-$5,000 on two rotten shares. One was Auston. brought 0.36cent now 2 cents and equation 0.35 cents now 0.03 cent. How? I already 45-years-old. I still laugh happily because I still got healthy life. Hahaha....

matrix6
Stocks are actually high-risk investments, many people don't realise that because the bull market in the last few years have made them complacent.
To whoever is reading this, please don't put anything you cannot afford to lose in the stock market.
If you need that money for your wedding, studies, daily expenses, whatever, you CANNOT put that money in the stock market! Investment is for people who have excess cash or money you won't need in the near term.

niceguy
To be honest, I lost badly too - $60,000-plus (realised) even though heart very pain, life has to go on.
I can understand your situation, because here the goverment has really pushed up (cost of) a decent roof too high, too much for many who started without anything much especially if you have no backing (parents) and with a low-pay salary.
But bear in mind. When there is life, there is hope. If you give up too early without even a fight, then you will regret.
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