In the bullish market mood, it seems so easy to make money in the stock markets: Find a good setup, place a bet, close out the trade and take home the profits. Enduring trading success is easier said than done, however. Trading experts note that even those traders who achieve early success don’t maintain it. It’s easy to make a series of profitable trades early in one’s career; the difficulty is trading profitably day after day, week after week, year after year.

When it comes to maintaining profitability over the long term, one must look deep into one’s psychological makeup and ask and answer tough questions: Why am I trading? What do I get out of it? Why should I continue to trade?

Seasoned traders know the answer to these questions: Trading is intrinsically rewarding; it’s a fulfilling, enjoyable, and exciting. The experience of trading in and of itself provides its own reward. The most successful traders are so passionate about trading that they would trade regardless of how much money they made or how successful they were. For them,the intellectual and creative activities involved in the trading process constitute an optimal experience. They trade in a higher sphere, and maintaining this peak performance mindset ensures their lasting profitability.

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According to its Q1 2009 real estate statistics, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has granted approval for nearly 10 commercial and private residential projects.

UIC Investments (Properties) received provisional permission in January 2009 to develop office and retail space with gross floor areas (GFAs) of 114,500 sq ft and 48,000 sq ft respectively at the UIC Building in Shenton Way. There will be 593 residential units within the development.

The South Beach consortium - comprising City Developments, a Dubai World unit and Elad Group - has been given the ‘green light’ to develop 560 hotel rooms across a GFA of 474,100 sq ft at its Beach Road project.

The site may include office space with a GFA of more than 632,100 sq ft, and retail space with a GFA of 158,000 sq ft. The project will be ready for occupancy in 2014.

Westwood Apartments in Orchard Boulevard will have shop space of 1,500 sq ft in gross floor areas, and 39 hotel rooms across 78,200 sq ft at the site. YTL Corp, which bought the site in 2007 has obtained provisional permission for the expansion. It will have to commence works within six months of the permission.

In February 2009, UOL Group subsidiary Hotel Plaza obtained URA’s approval to re-use the GFA in The Plaza’s podium block to create 273 hotel rooms.

Likewise, CapitaMall Trust, was reportedly ‘in talks with the authorities to optimise the integration plan for The Atrium@Orchard and Plaza Singapura’. If granted approval, CapitalMall Trust may start work by end-2010.

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Many novice traders ride a rollercoaster ride of emotions, feeling a combination of relief and euphoria when they win, yet hurt and disappointment when they lose. Ultimately, the more you can trade in a relatively calm, logical mindset, the more profits you’ll realize.

It is useful to anticipate losses as a trader. The odds are that you will see many losses, but it is vital to remember that overall, you’ll come out as a profitable trader as long as the profits from your winning trades exceed the losses from your losing trades. So it’s essential that you don’t confuse a healthy sense of skepticism regarding trading outcomes with pessimism. There’s no need to be pessimistic. You can trade profitably as long as you don’t let your emotions get the better of you.

There’s no need to let yourself get bogged down by losses. It’s often not nearly as bad as you’ve made it out to be. By practicing to take losses, you’ll learn to minimize them. You’ll take them in stride and move on to achieve greater profits.

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“Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I’ll
waste no time reading it.” - Moses Hadas

“He can compress the most words into the smallest
idea of any man I know.” - Abraham Lincoln

“I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice
letter saying I approved of it.” - Mark Twain

“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by
his friends.” - Oscar Wilde

“I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of
my new play; bring a friend…. if you have one.” -
George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

in response.
“Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend
second… if there is one.” - Winston Churchill

“I feel so miserable without you; it’s almost
like having you here.” - Stephen Bishop

“He is a self-made man and worships his creator.” -
John Bright

“I’ve just learned about his illness. Let’s hope
it’s nothing trivial.” - Irvin S. Cobb

“He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of
dullness in others.” - Samuel Johnson

“He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.” -
Paul Keating

“There’s nothing wrong with you that reincarnation
won’t cure.” - Jack E. Leonard

“He has the attention span of a lightning bolt.” -
Robert Redford

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Are you bored with life? Then throw yourself into some work you believe in with all your heart, live for it, die for it, and you will find happiness that you had thought could never be yours.

Audrey Hepburn

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Singapore has beaten other Asian cities in the latest Worldwide Quality of Living Survey by human resource consultancy Mercer to be the most liveable city in Asia. Globally, the island city has risen six places in ranking of cities with the highest quality of living, surpassing famous cities such as Paris, Honolulu and San Francisco.

Singapore also topped Mercer’s list of cities with the best infrastructure in the world.

The excellent housing, the development of Marina Bay and Sentosa Cove as new waterfront living areas, good schools including international and private schools, have boosted Singapore’s position in the rankings.

Singapore is the only Asian city on the top 100 list that managed to increase its ranking this year, with the rest largely maintaining their previous positions.

China’s capital, Beijing, moved up three places from 116 to 113 due to public transport improvements as a result of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

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According to a US real estate research firm Real Capital Analytics, global sales of investment grade real estate plunged 73% to US$47 million in the first quarter (Q1) of 2009 when compared to the same time last year.

The firm said in a monthly report that a total of 1,014 properties, each worth more than US$10 million had been sold worldwide from January through March 2009, noting that the slump affected all property types and every market.

New reports of defaulted mortgages and failed commercial property companies surpassed US$55 billion in the first quarter, bringing the total known distressed commercial properties to US$153 billion.

According to a report which tracks commercial mortgage-backed securities, distress among US property is accelerating. The securities, backed by commercial loans, are often used as a gauge for the rest of the commercial loan markets.

Besides, loan delinquencies of multifamily properties have jumped over the last few months.

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I sat with my infant son in front of the TV, hostage to my
husband’s channel-surfing. He eventually settled on an R-
rated movie in which the actress was soon topless.

“Honey, change the channel,” I said, shielding my son’s eyes.
“He shouldn’t see this.”

“It’s okay.” my husband replied. “He probably thinks it’s
the Food Network.”

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What is the harm of taking unnecessary risks? Market uncertainty is the main reason. You really don’t know with 100% certainty that your next set of trades will be wins. When you take unnecessary chances, it’s as if you are working under the assumption that you will definitely win in the future. But no one has a crystal ball. Trading is about taking advantage of probabilities, and working under the assumption that if you make enough trades (and manage risk with each trade), the law of averages will work in your favor.

That said, from the perspective of probability theory, it’s possible that you will hit upon a string of wins, and by making larger trades and lowering your limits, you’ll reap big rewards. But at the same time, you may also encounter a string of losers. If you act impulsively, or abandon your risk management plan, you’ll tend to give back all your profits and more. It’s vital for your long-term survival to continue to manage risk, even after a long string of successful trades.

It is tempting to feel you can abandon risk limits and go for the big wins no matter what the costs. Some of the most profitable Market Wizards have put their financial life on the line and made huge profits, but there are also those traders who spent the rest of their lives trying to pay back losses. In the long run, it’s better to survive. By managing your risks, you will increase your odds of success in the stock markets.

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Auntie Jane took little Pauly to church. While in church the
little boy said, “Auntie, I have to pee.”

Auntie replied, “It’s not appropriate to say the word ‘pee’ in church.
So, from now on whenever you have to ‘pee’ just tell me that you have
to ‘whisper’.”

The following Sunday, Pauly went to church with Auntie Jane again and
during the service said to him, “Auntie, I have to whisper.”

Auntie Jane who was intently listening to the sermon  said, “Okay, why don’t you whisper in my ear.”

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