In trading, VOLUME is everything. Low volume means liquidation at good price will be difficult, especially in a plunging market. On a positive side, if the market is bullish, low volume stocks will have their price rising fast.

Whether bullish or bearish, I will avoid illiquid stocks because selling is far more important than buying.

To make a quick contra profit, traders can take advantage of the last 30 minutes of trading hours

During this last half an hour, if certain stock suddenly becomes active with a surge in price, chances are it will gap up when the market opens the next day. It will be more so if it closes at day high. Hence, go long before the market closes today.

On the other hand, if high volume is coupled with a plunge in price, it will likely gap down when the market opens the next day. It will be more so if it closed at day low. Hence, go short before the market closes today.

"活到老，学到老", a very famous saying in Chinese families, literally means one should learn and learn till one is very old. Yes, in this information age, there are so many new things popping out everyday that before one digests certain information, another unheard of appears. We just have to keep learning and keep trying.

Today, I solved my blog's reentry / updating issue I faced earlier. Also, now my blog can be viewed in full length without clicking "read more"! What a great achievement for a newcomer! Thanks to Ian, who is a great help to my website.

Blogging should be as easy as ABC, but the technical part of it can be quite frustrating. You see, I submitted my MAIDEN blog entry just a short while ago and when I tried to go back to the same entry to continue from there, I seemed to have big problems finding the right door.

Anyway, the easy way out is to submit a new entry!

Okay, back to Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI)...

STI seems to be in a sideway pattern with the upper and lower limit at 3168 and 2860 respectively, meaning it is undecided where it intends to go. A breakout above 3168 will signal near-term bull whereas a breakdown below 2860 will signal near-term bear. Before the breakout or breakdown happens, the market will be "directionless". Some traders choose to stay out of "directionless" market because there is really not much to make.

I believe the likelihood of 3168 breakout is slightly higher because STI is geared towards the upper end of the range.

Before commiting a postion, always make a point to look at the market condition whether it is sideways, uptrend or downtrend. For Singapore market, STI is the main barometer on the direction of the trend.