Some story about myself
I started my investment journey in 2013, under the guidance of my father. As he started his investment journey much later than me, he is very conservative in his stock picks as he wanted to be safe. Hence, I was not exposed to any technology companies as he perceives them as highly volatile, ever-changing, cyclical in nature and difficult to understand (still perceiving them the same way today). His portfolio consists of mostly dividend stocks in defensive sectors.

While I respect his decision to stay safe, I started to explore ways to earn more from the stock market, you know, the typical Gen Y mentality. I always tell my father that I cannot use the same method as his as we are living in an environment with high cost of living, which is incompatible with our current fresh grad salary.

Retrospectively, I would say I’m lucky to start in 2013 because it was a super bull market and everyone was making money. That somewhat boosted my confidence in the possibility to benefit from wealth redistribution in the stock market (now I would add on: as long as you pick the right counters). During that time, prices were very high and all technology counters were at very high valuation. I was lucky I didn’t jump in as I followed PE ratio quite strictly (well, an influence from my father).

Long story short, by end of 2014, KLSE started to experience its stormy days due to plunging oil price and it was the end of the bull market. I started to experience losses here and there, the counters that I was holding were all bleeding, and “cut loss” was never a term coined my father’s investment strategy. He would hold on to the counters and receive dividend happily. I did not agree and I realised that I had to find my own way.

How I met GTRONIC

I started to invest in GTRONIC in 2016 when a friend recommended this counter. At that time, share prices were priced at a much healthier PE ratio, especially for GTRONIC, as it has a catalyst for a good growth - smartphone sensors. Apple started to launch smart devices that uses sensors to promote user-friendliness and GTRONIC was the manufacturer for these sensors.

I bought in two batches and my average cost was RM3.50. The business improved drastically and it’s share price then went all the way up to around RM5.00, but I sold all my shares too early, at RM4.00. During that time I thought it was a handsome profit in a short period of less than 3 months. Not to mention I was still a bit scared of the losses I faced in the whole of 2015.

What I learned from my first investment in technology counter
After I sold off, I still keep GTRONIC in my watch list, along side with some other technology counters (like KESM, SALUTE, AEMULUS, PENTA and VITROX) and watch their share price behaviour (yes, I treat them like human). I noticed that usually they all boom and bust together, but different extent according to individual company performance and fundamentals. Although quite a few are on my watch list, but I will still buy company that I’m familiar with when it’s price retraced.

As for my father’s thought that technology counters are highly volatile, I could only agree partially. Companies like VITROX and PENTA continue their wonderful growth since 2016 and one would have made multiple folds of return from its share price and bonus issues while SALUTE and AEMULUS suffers losses quarter after quarter. KESM performance is highly reliant on automobile sector. As for GTRONIC, I notice something very interesting, it’s profit margin is relatively stable but revenue fluctuates according to Apple’s product popularity.

Next, in a separate post, I will be sharing on why I still love GTRONIC. Tips: it has got to do with iPhone 11! 

Learning is forever

By
Rich Son Poor Son