Couple fight it out and he loses – he has to keep house clean for a month
THEY say that all’s fair in love and war.
So would it be an even match-up when two business associates (who are also a couple in real life) with no prior stock market-trading experience - battle it out in a virtual equities market challenge?
The couple in question are Michael Teoh and Mallory Loone – participants of Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd’s (Kenanga IB) KenTrade Trading Challenge III.
They have just concluded the first stage of the challenge, which ended yesterday.
To recap, Teoh would get three Nando’s meals if he bested Loone; fail, and he would have to keep the house clean for a month.
Well, the interview saw Loone walk into the room with a huge smile on her face – and Teoh with a mop in his hand.
“Of course I feel disappointed that I lost,” says Teoh, adding however that he was grateful that the KenTrade Challenge provided him with a virtual platform to trade.
“But it still feels real because the KenTrade Challenge has simulated the stock market so well,” he says.
Loone, who was all smiles throughout the entire interview, says the challenge was a good learning experience for her as well.
“Knowledge is one thing, but application is something else. Yes, I am a qualified Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) accountant and I did study some basic understanding of the stock market.
“But when I finally went into it (the challenge), everything seemed foreign to me. So theory is one thing, but experience counts.”
Both Teoh and Loone, who handle the day-to-day operations of talent development solutions firm, Thriving Talents Sdn Bhd, had very different approaches to tackling the KenTrade Trading Challenge.
Teoh relied heavily on his handful of “reliable contacts” – compris- ing experts and award-winning stock market traders, to assist him in navigating through the virtual stock challenge.
As Teoh explains, relying on expert advice alone wasn’t enough.
“My style was that I was backed by advice. I asked my friends and they would tell me things like “don’t worry, it’ll rebound; it’s a cycle, it will rebound.” But it didn’t happen! I was patient but it was baseless optimism.”
Participants under the KenTrade Trading Challenge III each received RM1mil in virtual money to trade with. Split into two stages, the initial or Virtual Trading Challenge stage, which ran from July 31 to Aug 25, saw Teoh losing a whopping RM131,000 during the period. Loone lost just RM3,300. Teoh admits that he took it for granted that relying on his contacts was sufficient.
“My problem was that I didn’t ask my contacts the correct questions, such as what is their belief when picking a stock? What is their strategy?
“When I tell them I just lost money, they tell me “Don’t worry, next month it’ll rebound,” and I tell them “I don’t have next month, this competition is only just one month!”
Teoh also admits that he did not check the performances of his stocks often enough.
“My routine was that I checked my portfolio a maximum of maybe twice a day. It’s because I’m thinking that since I’m relying on experts, why would I need to check its so often?
“This was a huge contrast compared with Loone – who checked her stocks every chance she got!
“I find that Mallory performed better because she checked it all the time,” says Teoh.
“I’m like...it’s just a competition! I suspect she even checked her stocks every hour! In the office, between meetings, at home! She was so kiasu (a Hokkien word that means a grasping, selfish attitude)!”
Loone quips: “I came from a Chinese school! They thought us to be determined and resilient!”
Loone says she “played it safe” the whole time and “did her homework” on the stocks she invested in by perusing official company websites and their annual reports.
“I put a cap where I would not lose more than RM100,000. Make sure you have a comfortable limit where you won’t jeopardise your financial stability before you go in and invest.
“You must have a cap or else it’ll just be like gambling.”
Teoh says Loone was the deserving winner as she showed focus and determination.
“A powerful lesson here is whatever you put your attention into or focus on, it will grow. Do not underestimate the stock market, thinking that you have the best advice in the world and you can just let go.”
He adds that most millennials today adopted a life philosophy of “work smart, not hard” to achieve their goals.
This, says Teoh, was a philosophy that didn’t serve him well while trying to make virtual money under the KenTrade Trading Challenge.
“Millennials love this saying: “Don’t work hard, work smart. I adopted it and that philosophy has bitten me up the other end. I have adopted a new philosophy now: “Work hard and work smart!”
Loone says would-be stock market investors should have a keen interest before investing in the market.
“You need to have an interest and the time for it. Don’t be aggressive in the beginning and put all your eggs in one basket if you’re a beginner.
“Start by knowing who and what you are. Understand how to play the game. Know the fundamentals and what can help take you forward.”
Having traded in a virtual stock market, both Teoh and Loone say the experience has given them the courage to trade in the market for real.
Says Loone: “I’m happy that I did this challenge because the Kenanga platform helped me to understand the market better. Because I really wanted to beat Michael, this challenge forced me to study the companies and learn as much as I can about the stock market.”
Teoh says that if he were to invest in the stock market, he would start small.
“I would go in as well, but with a very small amount. Alternatively, a newbie investor could leverage off a trusted platform, like Kenanga!
“Personally, however, I didn’t use the platform to learn how to trade, even though that’s important. Use the platform to reduce your future potential losses through your mistakes, by discovering more about yourself and the resources that you surround yourself with.”
Weekly winners of the KenTrade Trading Challenge III stand to receive RM800 as first prize, RM500 as second prize and RM300 as third prize. In addition, overall winners will receive RM5,000 as first prize, RM3,000 as second prize and RM2,000 as third prize.The top 10 will qualify as finalists for the second stage, which is the Grand Challenge.
The Grand Challenge takes place from Sept 4-29, where finalists will trade shares with RM100,000 real cash each, by relying on live market feeds from Bursa Malaysia.
The Grand Challenge Winner is the one with the highest positive portfolio and will not only walk away with up to 50% of the gains made from the Grand Challenge trading, but also RM50,000 in cash and round trip for two to Hokkaido.
The winners will be determined by their portfolio value and the amount of cash (realised profits) they have in their accounts. The challenge is open to participants aged over 18 years old.
The KenTrade Trading Challenge III is supported by Bursa Malaysia, AirAsia X, Atlan Holdings Bhd, Zon Duty Free and Duty Free International Ltd.
For more information, please go to www.KenTrade.com.my or call toll free 1800-88-2274.