STI: Marching in place in March?

TA is not about predicting price movements.  TA always presents two possible scenarios.  To most people, this immediately means it's as good as not saying anything.  Well, if we had a tool that could tell us if a security was definitely moving up or down, ..............; you fill in the blanks.

Then, why do we still have TA?  Well, knowing the trends, supports and resistance levels could help us make certain decisions when certain numbers are hit.  Is that it?  I am probably not doing the subject justice but for my purpose, in a nutshell, yes.

OK, on to what you are waiting for.  What do I see in STI's charts?

On the daily chart, we see that the MFI is clearly downtrending with lower highs and lower lows.  The stochastics is turning down from the boundary of the overbought region.  These are momentum oscillators and their current patterns indicate weakening buying momentum in the near term.

That the STI re-entered its uptrending channel is quite obvious and it is currently supported by the upturning 20dMA.  This is a positive.  That the rising 100dMA was taken out a few sessions ago suggests that this is not a strong resistance.  Instead, the resistance to watch would be the 50dMA which is still descending, albeit gently, and is at 2,813.  Immediate support is at 2,737.  In case of a breakdown, a stronger support is provided by the rising 200dMA at 2,615. 

If we look at the weekly chart which presents a longer term picture, we see the stochastics upturning.  This is quite different from what we get in the daily chart.  What does this mean?  To me, it means that the probability of a large downward movement in the index is low over the longer term.  The STI has weakened but is showing resilience and is more likely to move sideways for a while than to decline dramatically. 

The bearish divergence observed between index value and volume up to two months ago was corrected as the index retreated for three consecutive weeks accompanied by increased volume.  Subsequent black candle weeks were on lower volumes.  This supports the view that the STI is less likely to decline dramatically.

Remember, technical analysis provides probabilities and not certainties.  Good luck to us all in the month of March.

Passive income: A higher purpose.

Today is the 15th day of the Chinese New Year or Yuan Xiao Jie.  

It marks the end of the celebrations and, traditionally, the Chinese people would spend the evening together with family to have dinner together on this night before starting work in a brand new year.  

During dinner, glutinous rice balls as a dessert is a must.  

Of course, this tradition is more or less diluted or even forgotten in modern day society and most of us would have resumed work before today and some might not even be having dinner with their family tonight.






As if to support my observations, a friend called me out for lunch as I was blogging this.  

Over lunch, I asked if he would be having dinner with his family tonight and he went, "Huh?".  

Well, maybe not this exact word but you get the idea.  

Over lunch, we also talked about time as a form of capital and how when we spend time doing something, it is actually an investment and we must make sure we invest our time wisely because, unlike money, this is a form of capital that we cannot make more of.  






We have less and less remaining time on Earth as we grow older.

Suddenly, I feel philosophical.  

Life is so very short.  

We have only a few decades on Earth.  

Well, there are people who live to a hundred but I don't know if that is a blessing or a curse.  






Do we really mean it when we wish our elders "Chang Ming Bai Shui" (Long life and hundred years old) or is it just plain courtesy?  

I mean if we live to a hundred and have the good health of someone, say, half the age, good, but what is the probability?

Frankly, I don't want to live to be a hundred years old.  I don't want to be full of ailments and be a burden to others.  

When my time comes, I will go.  





So, what am I trying to say?  

We should cherish our loved ones because the time we have on Earth is limited.

I remember this from my primary school days (I went to a mission school):

"We often love things and use people when we should be using things and loving people."  





Overly idealistic?  

Maybe but you get the gist of it.

Humans have short memories and need constant reminders.  

This is especially true for people living in this modern world with all its distractions.  

These distract us from what is really important in life.





When asking myself why am I trying to secure a significant passive income stream in my investments, the answer is quite clear. 

This is so I do not have to spend so much time at work or any time at work at all and, instead, I would be able to spend more quality time with my family. 

In our pursuit of financial well-being, we should not lose sight of the most important people in life, our loved ones.  

I am looking forward to dinner tonight.

Happy Chap Gor Mei! (Hokkien for "Happy 15th evening!")




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Added on 6 August 2017:

I have been spending every single Sunday with my family and the day started with breakfast with my dad.