Blogger's Dilemma

Blogging is not easy.

To many people, it's not easy to start a blog, and it's even more difficult to maintain it.

Investment bloggers come and go. Even though some are still "alive", they are significantly less active.

You don't need to be an investment expert to start an investment blog. You just need passion and writing skills.

Surely there are many great investors out there who are not good in writing. Sometimes they wish to have a blog to share their investment ideas but they just cannot start or maintain.

Personally I'm better in writing compared to speaking. So, writing is not a big problem for me and I can start an investment blog and write a post at will.

Nevertheless, those who own an investment blog are not necessarily good in investment.

As long as the passion is still there, I will continue to write.

Sometimes I feel that I have many topics to write in a single day, sometimes I don't have any idea or mood to write in a whole week.

I don't know when this blog will be abandoned. May be next year, may be 10 years later.

Some bloggers blog just for fun & sharing, some for business purpose and some may have some hidden agendas.

Nothing is 100% safe in internet world and we shouldn't trust all the information in the internet including this blog.

My intention of blogging are mainly to record my investment journey and save my "investment homework" online so that I can have access to them anytime anywhere.

I guess that it will be fun when I look back at early posts 10 years from now and realize how "childish" and stupid I was, and how I grow as an investor.

Apart from that, by making this blog public, I can share those investment information and personal experience with readers while getting a chance to earn some extra income through advertisement in the blog. Why not?

I don't think my posts in this blog can influence stock price movement, but I try not to reveal my buy/sell transaction immediately after I buy/sell shares.

Some bloggers may feel obliged to declare their sell transaction immediately just in case someone follows his/her stock recommendations.

I don't think there is a need to do so as this is actually encouraging others to follow blindly.

Sometimes I give positive view on a stock, sometimes negative and sometimes mixed.

Bloggers tend to get blamed because their "recommendation" has influenced readers to make an investment decision that turns out to be a wrong one.

Anything that involves money is like that, agree?

If someone writes negatively about a stock you own, it's natural that you will be upset at first.

If the stock price falls after this, you may get angry and started to blame and attack the writer.

Readers should think rationally. If the writer points out the valid negatives that you overlooked, then you should reevaluate your investment and act accordingly.

If you agree that it is not a good investment, you may want to thank the writer for the reminder.

If you don't agree with the writer and you are confident with your own judgement, then you should not worry that you will lose money in your investment. 

Instead you may need to thank the writer if the stock price falls as it gives you opportunity to collect more shares cheaply.

Time will tell whether the writer is right or wrong, but does this really matter?

There is also a problem when bloggers talk too positively about a stock. Readers might be tempted to buy that stock and later find out that they make a wrong decision.

Bloggers are just like normal people who cannot escape from making mistakes. If everything they write is 100% accurate, then they will already a billionaire and there is no need to entertain others.

Some people may think that bloggers should be responsible fully for articles they publish and they shouldn't publish anything if they don't study the stocks in detail or don't understand the stock inside out.

Again, most bloggers blog for sharing purpose and they are not professional analysts. Sometimes it's not uncommon to see even professionals making wrong calls.

If it needs to be that strict before you can post an article in a blog, then basically no one will be dare to share information in blogs.

Is it an offence for bloggers without qualification or license to write something in a blog that can influence others to buy or sell stocks?

I heard someone mentioned about this regulation by security commission but I'm not sure how is it applied in real life.

Anyway, I hope all blog readers can take full responsibility on their own investment decision.

All bloggers have their followers and haters. If you don't like a blogger because of his/her writing style, face, stupidity, ego, failure, success, or you think he/she is a hypocrite, a nobody or has hidden agendas, try not to read his/her blog that's all.

I will run a poll to see what most readers prefer to get when they visit an investment blog:

• Simple analysis & updates on listed companies
• Stock market investment skills & tutorials
• Blogger's stock portfolio & performance for comparison
• Blogger's immediate buy/sell transaction & target price for stocks
• Blogger's casual sharing on his/her investment journey

This poll will be on the right side bar of this blog and will run for a week.

Most readers would probably want to choose all of the above but unfortunately you can only choose one which best represent yourself.

Thanks :)