Straits Times Index

Selling momentum will increase once 2900 is broken. Immediate support levels will be at 2880 / 2859 / 2746 / 2666.

Painting The Charts

Charts do lie sometimes. The pros will always find some way to manipulate the markets. With more traders using candlestick patterns and technical analysis, some market makers take the opportunity of the newbies by painting the charts. Newbie candlestick readers and chart readers can get suckered by these tricks. That's why it is important to learn the mechanics of the indicators and methods. Just trying to find patterns and formations with a cookie-cutter mentaility is a sure-fire way to get conned out there. If you know why and how a reversal truly forms, you will not fall for these lame tricks.

Buy and Hold

"Buy and Hold is far from the sure thing it's made out to be. It works in bull markets. It works if you invest in dribs and drabs, catching the ups and downs along the way. It works in mild bear markets, when declines are quickly reveres. It may work if you've got 20 years to wait for stock to recover from a half-off sale. Otherwise, it's risky. It's risky when you're holding stocks you bought at extravagant prices. It's extremely risky when your retirement depends on a positive result and you're planning to take up golf in a decade or less."

John Rothchild