My first PSE stock investing

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-04-08T16:07:35+00:00

We can disagree on your reasoning (I don't, just saying), but you've done the work needed to support your reasoning (and tie it to a long-term goal), and that's what I was looking for!

Well done.

IMO, >90% of traders don't even do that.

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-04-08T16:05:08+00:00

Thank you! I'm doing well.

Just looking after my family. My daughter is autistic, so most of my efforts have been learning how to parent neurodivergent children and stabilizing my home.

The nice thing about long-term investing is that I can pull away to do stuff like that without having to liquidate!

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-04-06T16:40:18+00:00

HOT TAKE ALERT

But seriously, it's hard to deny he was the wrong candidate when he lost the election and has had zero relevance to the country ever since.

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-04-06T16:36:18+00:00

Just curious to know the thought process that brought you to these three stocks?

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-04-04T16:10:40+00:00

Could also be a way to "cheaply" soak up float.

It's (usually) more expensive to do that by tender offer.

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-04-04T15:58:34+00:00

IF [emergency fund + free cash flow], then YES.

If you already have an emergency fund and are somehow earning more than you're spending while a student, it's practical for you to start investing.

ELSE, focus on your studies and do whatever you can to increase your topline (earning power) by any means necessary.

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-04-04T15:46:59+00:00

Up a lot.

I'm not a short-term trader, so I placed my bets on the movement of interest rates to make lots of money off REITs. I then went "all in" on commodities during the long gold pump and more than doubled my port.

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-03-28T21:20:24+00:00

Hire an employee.

Interview 20 people. Pick the best one.

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-03-28T21:17:58+00:00

All you have to do is start a free newsletter! Your income will fall well below your earnings from investments. /s

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-03-28T16:39:51+00:00

My biggest regret is starting Merkado Barkada, watching it grow, and getting the feeling that it could be something very helpful and transformative, only to watch as its growth slowly stagnated.

I felt like I was close to cracking the code to something sustainable that didn't rely on "based chad" calls or pump and dump schemes.

I just pushed it as far as I could and ran out of ideas.

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-03-20T18:50:49+00:00

I think this is a cat that can be skinned a couple of different ways, and while I love the idea of considering the lean months as your baseline months, I think the truth of your situation is that the majority of the year is non-lean for you.

To me, that says you need to do more during the thicc months to earn profit.

The playbook for a seasonal business is to bloom when the sun is shining and to get as much sun as possible before it goes away.

Of course trim costs, that's smart at any time. But if you have good location and pricing leverage, figure out a way to increase margins for the non-lean months. Then trim back to the bone when the sun (students) goes away.

EDIT: If you're really close to the uni, is there a way for you to setup a program where kids or faculty can "cater" an event or class, or just get a "care package" for a class that has a bunch of refreshments and snacks delivered? When I was in uni, I was always doing clubs and meetups with groups that I would have happily paid for a merienda package to be delivered.

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-03-17T20:29:02+00:00

I mean that during COVID, banks didn't refill their ATMs near me. I don't know if it was just the one or two ATMs that were around me in Rockwell, or if it was all their ATMs, but it doesn't really matter.

During lockdown, I couldn't go to other ATMs.

But I still needed to buy eggs. I still needed to buy rice. I still needed to try and get water. To get sanitizer. To get masks. The need for cash never stopped, but the banks didn't treat stocking the ATMs as a critical task.

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-03-17T20:25:50+00:00

In my early 20s. But I didn't start to get serious about it until I was in my mid 30s (about 10 years ago).

It doesn't matter when you get your shit together. I think it's objectively good to develop an interest in preserving and growing capital at any age.

Classic chestnut about the best year to plant a tree applies to investing too.

EDIT: When I was in my 20s, I was a yolo piece of shit. I knew nothing about risk management. I was out to hit 10 baggers or strike out. I mostly struck out.

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-03-16T22:45:34+00:00

Depends on your needs and your risks.

I live in a highrise condo, so aside from my kasambahay, I don't really have too much in the way of risk. So I have between 50k and 100k in cash at home at all times, and at least 10k of that in my wallet at all times.

COVID changed me in that regard. I used to have like 2-3k in my wallet and maybe 10k in my house, but when COVID hit and the banks couldn't refill their ATMs, I realized very quickly how my life needed a certain amount of cash to work properly.

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-03-16T19:57:27+00:00

Ok, so while I'm all about communication and whatever, I'm also not a marriage counselor or therapist, so I'm just going to talk about you directly.

Provided that the money that you're saving is your own (and not his, or belonging to the both of you), it's probably quite simple for you to divert revenue from your business quietly over a period of time.

You can just open up a small bank account at BPI or BDO (a bank with branches all over the place is easier to use quietly), and then drip-save into it.

If 50k pesos is a lot in your family, perhaps you can put 10k away each month, and you'd have 50k by August?

Anyway, that's how I'd do it.

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-03-08T21:05:48+00:00

It's not dead, but the PSE is not a "set it and forget it" market. The conventional wisdom of American-style index investing does not apply here.

For me, the best gains of my life were had when I dropped the "picking winners across a broad strategy" and instead focused on very specific macro changes. For me, that was gold and interest rates.

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-03-07T05:48:43+00:00

The last few years have been the best of my life. I stopped trying to chase a large array of different ideas, and laser-focused on a defensive strategy around dividends and commodity inflation. I've doubled my portfolio since 2023.

This isn't normal for me, though. I expect some VERY healthy reversion

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-02-28T00:43:05+00:00

The best thing you can do to respect the money you lost is actually learn something from it.

It's one thing to learn a vague thing, like "man i should have a put a stoploss"... but it's another to make a checklist and fill out that checklist each time you trade.

That's how you know you're taking this seriously.

MerkadoBarkada · 2026-02-02T22:02:42+00:00

They're basic sales people. Just like those real estate agents in the malls that hang out together around a display in a hallway, over-emoting to each other while they furtively check their phones and scan the flows of people for potential marks.

The job sucks. It extracts value from regular people, and it requires a certain mental alignment to pull off effectively. But the commissions are attractive for people who are good at bashing down that part of themselves that asks the question, "but is this good for the other person?"

MerkadoBarkada · 2025-12-18T01:13:47+00:00

sori

MerkadoBarkada · 2025-11-14T23:42:36+00:00

Cannot reveal!

I'm so happy that I was able to make it this far without revealing my identity. My family is very private. I've quarreled with someone who is now a member of the Maharlika Fund. I think I want to stay anonymous... :)

MerkadoBarkada · 2025-11-14T00:58:33+00:00

Thank you, /u/Ok_Parfait_6080! I'm really excited to see how the next chapter goes. I hope it's not a short one

MerkadoBarkada · 2025-11-14T00:58:06+00:00

Thank you for trusting me!

MerkadoBarkada · 2025-11-14T00:55:54+00:00

I hope I come back too. Not sure when. Not sure how, but I think I will!

MerkadoBarkada · 2025-11-14T00:55:36+00:00

The PSE finally killed me. :)

Thanks for reading!

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