He has quite a story, and I’m eager to share some of it with the readers here at Sanglucci.com. Everyone who uses the services here all come from different backgrounds and different cultures. I enjoy talking to each and every one and making sure they become an even larger part of our growing community.
Watch out for this boy though people.
Both him and I have a lot more years ahead of us. The entrepreneurial spirit burns equally hard between the two, so it’ll be very interesting to see what the future holds for this one and where he eventually lands.
Lucci: Tell us a little about yourself man.
LakhaniTrading: I was born in 1982 in Mumbai, India and grew up in Dubai (never really stayed in India as my dad has been in Dubai for the last 42 years or so, Mom went to India only for my delivery). Did my schooling in Dubai and did the first few semesters of university in Dubai, then in New Hampshire majoring in Business and Finance, minoring in Economics. Graduated in 2003. Worked for a few months as an analyst for a Chinese American family in New York to choose stocks for them in the Hong Kong and Singaporean markets. Then came back to Dubai and started investing full time for myself with some of the savings from previous jobs. I always wanted to be a sportsman (cricket and soccer) but did not work out that way, the only thing apart from sports I was good at was numbers. I decided to go into investing for myself rather than working in a bank to see if I had the brains to do it. Apart from investing, I am in the restaurants and hotel business. I supply some materials to hotels in Asia and run 2 restaurants in China and 1 in Dubai. Am in the process of making a branded restaurant company so that is something I am excited about. Also planning to go into the sports business but not for profit. I will be simply buying some land and making top notch facilities in India so that our sportsmen and women can train there without having to rely on the government.
Lucci: How did you get started trading?
LakhaniTrading: My first investment was in a company called EMAAR, listed on the Dubai Financial Market, which went on to make the world’s tallest building. (Dubai was probably the worlds biggest bubble so it was a great opportunity to spot these bubbles and make money). I Bought shares at AED2 (close to US$0.55), which went to AED48 (about US$13.10) in about 10 months or so from mid 2004 to about mid 2005. So this was my first trade but I did not sell at the top, I sold at about AED37 (US$10) since I realized the bubble was going to be in its final phase soon. I did a lot of similar trades in the stock and property markets in Dubai. I was lucky to get out in time, then went to the Indian ,Hong Kong and Singapore markets and made about 7 times my investment in about 2 and a half years before Lehman happened but again I got out well before the top (Some of the holdings in these markets I still have profitable but I have no intention of selling them). I did have some failures like a company in Dubai and 2 in India where I did suffer losses but those failures were because of my own mistakes in judging those investments and because I was learning something new everyday so I guess mistakes happen. During this period, I did not do any active trading. My average holding was at least about 8 months.
Lucci: How did you find Sanglucci.com?
LakhaniTrading: I found Sang’s website on Investimonials after deciding I was ready to enter the US markets as an investor so I was checking out everything on the internet. Also wanted to try options because I had read and listened to some people back in Dubai about how options trading was exciting. It was among the very few to have a good review.
Lucci: What are your short-term/long-term goals in trading?
LakhaniTrading: My goal is to become a very successful and rich investor/entrepreneur. With options trading also the goal is basically the same.
Lucci: What are some things you’ve learned from being on this site?
LakhaniTrading: I have learned a lot on Sang’s website especially about short term trading. I never knew so many factors came into play during short term trading in stocks or options. Another thing I have learned about Sang is tape reading, which I still dont know how to do. A lot of the times Sang says its a fake out and I think the opposite and I am saved from making wrong trades so Sang and some of the other guys have been pretty spot on in observing these mini trends and I have learned a lot from that as well. Most important thing I have learned is that short term trading does not mean we must make trades everyday. Sang uses the term sit and watch regularly. I do have the patience and I am used to sitting and watching but I must admit I have not been able to transfer this sitting and waiting approach from my value investing style to this crazy world of options trading. But I will get there. A very important thing on this website and the trading room is the casual attitude and jokes. It is a lot of fun listening to the guys bullshitting around.
Lucci: How have you been doing thus far in your trading since moving over to options?
LakhaniTrading: I have almost doubled my initial investment amount. As of now I have made about US 9.4K, starting with about 10k for a total of US$19.4k, all with the help of sang and the guys, just listening to what they say and learning as much as I can from them. It is so much fun too.
Lucci: Tell us an interesting experience you’ve had in the past.
LakhaniTrading: Interesting experience is actually more of a near death experience where I was in the ICU for about 3 days due to a knock I took while playing rugby. (For Americans, American football is pretty hardcore, but trust me, rugby is a lot worse) Basically my rib cage was hurt bad and a kidney was severly damaged so I spent a long time in the hospital, about 4 months straight in mid 2008. Ironically I saw Lehman collapse and saw the world markets crash from my hospital bed but was able to buy a lot of good stocks. After getting well, it was about one and half months of exercises, then I went back to sports and rugby also.
Hopefully you’ve all enjoyed that interview as much as I did. You can find Lakhani in Lucci’s Trading Room everyday, eagerly ready to find the action. We’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for this long-term investor turned short-term options trader.
Stick with Lucci!
Great interview, Lakhani. Your story is a very inspiring one!
I know how you feel about “the tape.” I see things happening on it (more buyers, larger volume) but then things reverse. Well, I’ll get there so will you I’m sure.
Glad to hear you’ve made some impressive gains so far. How long did it take you to do double in you investment?
Now, if you can do that about 5 more times you’ll be close to a millionaire! *I’m being serious, not facetious.
Keep up the good work.
Oh, and Sang, is it just me or are the chat transcripts a moth out of date, LOL?
You have a good story LakhaniTrading. Congrats on the success and keep it up.