To those who were waiting for a market dip the past few weeks like myself were inevitably somewhat disappointed as further tapering did occur but it wasnt substantial enough to cause any market weakness or panic. When i realized the market was not gonna go south, i decided to snag up some shares that i thought could be good for my portfolio. Anyway, being cash rich makes me feel uncomfortable! I feel that the value of my money is eroding away when I put it in the bank & it bugs me.
Currently in 2Q14, I've decided to shift my portfolio away from REITs and into other shares mainly companies that are in net cash, in other words, minimal to zero debts. As interest rates are going up in the near future, companies holding onto cash/debt-less will be smiling and will be in a stronger position.
Whereas REITs will be feeling the pressure from the increase in interest rates as they need to refinance their loans and pay off existing debts.
Over the past 2 weeks, Ive picked up: Nam Lee, Kingsmen, Straco, Spindex, Valuetronics
Some even speculate that the stock market will dip during this world cup period as people are more interested watching 20+ men running after one soccer ball causing trading volume to thin out. Truth be told, the local SGX trading volume did decrease but i still see much support around and investors' sentiments are still high. According to history, trading volume thinning out can lead to BOTH up-market and down-market which brings us back to Square one where "nobody can predict the market direction". Hence, go bag some shares that you'll have no qualms keeping even if the market plunges south.
Recently, Dow Jones hit above 17,000 points and well, I really do think that global market shares are up-trending now as US gains back its momentum. Locally, our STI is currently tagged with a P/E of around 14 and that, to me seems to have a lot of potential going northwards. I would only think that worry should settle in when P/E hits (conservatively) around 18 or above 20.
18 June 2014
Consolidate & Wait
Lately, I have sold off 70% of my share holdings to realize gains and at the same time consolidate my portfolio. Realized my portfolio was getting a little too diverse that it becomes hard to monitor all at one go. Anyway, the fed tapering will most likely be happening again sometimes soon this month hence the move on my part to sell most of my positions and wait out. Hopefully the bond buying will be reduced once again causing the market to dip & I will dive in confidently to snap up some bargains. Til then, patience...
2 April 2014
Divested Neratel, Current Holdings (+Singpost & Mapletree) and Straco updates
Divested Neratel way too early & am feeling a little upset about it but I shall take it as another life lesson. Right now Neratel seems to be abit pricey for me to buy it back. However, I might buy it again if it drops to a much favourable price.
After divesting Neratel and with additional cash on hand, I decided to buy Singapost & Mapletree Log
Singpost dividend yield ~ 4.6%
Mapletree Log dividend yield ~7%
Why Singpost? Well, Singpost seems to have very strong backing & its price chart has been an uptrend for the longest time I can recall. I've always wanted it to fall back down substantially (to my advantage) but it just does not happen. It's business focus has also shifted slightly over the years. Consumers are doing more online shopping now & this bodes well for Singpost which have to do all the deliveries. And when was the last time you stepped into a post office or walked past one? Have you ever realized that it's always crowded? Now, that's a good sign for any business - to always have a queue.
Why Mapletree Log? For those who are in the know, Mapletree has a strong brand name. All it's other listed businesses have market price above its Net Asset Value (NAV) which means people are generally confident about Mapletree Management & don't mind paying a premium over its underlying value. Naturally, I would also want a piece of that pie & hence, I decided to buy into Mapletree Log as it has the lowest premium price tag tagged to it.
On a side note, Straco has been on a bull run! It has risen some 20% in price & I'm indeed very tempted to sell & take a quick profit but no, I've to constantly fight that temptation & tell myself that Straco is a golden egg & is a keeper. (Note to self: Nam Cheong & Neratel were sold too early!)
I've often told my friends that investing in the stock market is more psychological than they think & the person which exerts the greatest self control & patience will emerge the ultimate winner in the long run. Maybe it's time for me to read up on books that advises "when's the best time to sell" :) I saw a book in the national library that has a title along those lines, I should grab hold of it next time.
After divesting Neratel and with additional cash on hand, I decided to buy Singapost & Mapletree Log
Singpost dividend yield ~ 4.6%
Mapletree Log dividend yield ~7%
Why Singpost? Well, Singpost seems to have very strong backing & its price chart has been an uptrend for the longest time I can recall. I've always wanted it to fall back down substantially (to my advantage) but it just does not happen. It's business focus has also shifted slightly over the years. Consumers are doing more online shopping now & this bodes well for Singpost which have to do all the deliveries. And when was the last time you stepped into a post office or walked past one? Have you ever realized that it's always crowded? Now, that's a good sign for any business - to always have a queue.
Why Mapletree Log? For those who are in the know, Mapletree has a strong brand name. All it's other listed businesses have market price above its Net Asset Value (NAV) which means people are generally confident about Mapletree Management & don't mind paying a premium over its underlying value. Naturally, I would also want a piece of that pie & hence, I decided to buy into Mapletree Log as it has the lowest premium price tag tagged to it.
On a side note, Straco has been on a bull run! It has risen some 20% in price & I'm indeed very tempted to sell & take a quick profit but no, I've to constantly fight that temptation & tell myself that Straco is a golden egg & is a keeper. (Note to self: Nam Cheong & Neratel were sold too early!)
I've often told my friends that investing in the stock market is more psychological than they think & the person which exerts the greatest self control & patience will emerge the ultimate winner in the long run. Maybe it's time for me to read up on books that advises "when's the best time to sell" :) I saw a book in the national library that has a title along those lines, I should grab hold of it next time.
7 March 2014
Straco Corporation
I'm pleased to add Straco Corporation into my portfolio as I firmly believe that it's a dividend growth stock compared to my REITs which are higher yielding but yield growth might be very limited.
Straco Corp is a developer and operator of aquatic-related facilities and tourism-related assets in China. It owns and runs Shanghai Ocean Aquarium (SOA), Underwater World in Xiamen (UWX) and also a cable car service in Xian. Over the past few years, revenue has been increasing as more domestic tourists visits Straco’s flagship attraction, the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium strategically situated in the New Pudong Area just next to Shanghai’s landmark Oriental Pearl Tower. One of the biggest plus point is that it has a cash balance of S$108.1 million, without any debt as of 30 Dec 2013. To add on, it has been debt free since 2008. Straco’s Executive Chairman, Mr Wu Hsioh Kwang, commented on the year’s results, “FY2013 saw another record performance for our Group, with revenue of $72.8 million and net profit of $34.1 million. Visitor numbers to each of our three attractions saw double digit growth ranging from 10% to 33%. Our operating cash flow reached $35.7 million for FY2013, an increase of 29.6% over FY2012. Our net asset value also increased 22.5% to 19.07 cents per share.”
(Screenshot of Shanghai Ocean Aquarium Website)
I believe in China's domestic tourism market as the country's people is slowly becoming more affluent and are beginning to travel more often than before. Furthermore, China's government have been introducing new incentives to promote domestic consumption and travel. Globally, more foreigners are setting their eyes on China as their next holiday destination so all bodes well for Straco. Overall, I see Straco as a defensive play with a strong balance sheet, strong cashflow generation with assets requiring low maintenance. A decent dividend yield (roughly around 4%) which is likely to grow at 5-10% annually matching its earnings growth.
Right now, Straco is working on their Chao Yuan Ge project in Xi'an which will be completed in 2015/2016. When this project is up and running at Mount Lishan, it will also boost the number of users of Straco's cable car operation there. It will also be one of the attractions in Xi'an alongside with the Terracotta warriors and Qing ShiHuang Mausoleum. In the near future, I hope to see Straco acquire or develop another tourism-related asset as it's currently sitting on top of a huge cash pile.
Straco Corp is a developer and operator of aquatic-related facilities and tourism-related assets in China. It owns and runs Shanghai Ocean Aquarium (SOA), Underwater World in Xiamen (UWX) and also a cable car service in Xian. Over the past few years, revenue has been increasing as more domestic tourists visits Straco’s flagship attraction, the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium strategically situated in the New Pudong Area just next to Shanghai’s landmark Oriental Pearl Tower. One of the biggest plus point is that it has a cash balance of S$108.1 million, without any debt as of 30 Dec 2013. To add on, it has been debt free since 2008. Straco’s Executive Chairman, Mr Wu Hsioh Kwang, commented on the year’s results, “FY2013 saw another record performance for our Group, with revenue of $72.8 million and net profit of $34.1 million. Visitor numbers to each of our three attractions saw double digit growth ranging from 10% to 33%. Our operating cash flow reached $35.7 million for FY2013, an increase of 29.6% over FY2012. Our net asset value also increased 22.5% to 19.07 cents per share.”
I believe in China's domestic tourism market as the country's people is slowly becoming more affluent and are beginning to travel more often than before. Furthermore, China's government have been introducing new incentives to promote domestic consumption and travel. Globally, more foreigners are setting their eyes on China as their next holiday destination so all bodes well for Straco. Overall, I see Straco as a defensive play with a strong balance sheet, strong cashflow generation with assets requiring low maintenance. A decent dividend yield (roughly around 4%) which is likely to grow at 5-10% annually matching its earnings growth.
Right now, Straco is working on their Chao Yuan Ge project in Xi'an which will be completed in 2015/2016. When this project is up and running at Mount Lishan, it will also boost the number of users of Straco's cable car operation there. It will also be one of the attractions in Xi'an alongside with the Terracotta warriors and Qing ShiHuang Mausoleum. In the near future, I hope to see Straco acquire or develop another tourism-related asset as it's currently sitting on top of a huge cash pile.
5 March 2014
Property VS Shares - Peter Koulizos & Zac Zachariah (Book Review)
For those who cant decide which to invest in first, this book is a great read. Written based on Australian context, some of the content such as tax amount isn't relevant if you stay anywhere else in the world. Differences aside, the fundamentals compared between property and shares in the book is insightful. Personally, I feel that shares will be good for new investors as it requires a smaller capital outlay, higher liquidity, greater diversification and lesser tax payment & other miscellaneous fees. If you're so set on property investment, you can always invest in REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts). You can put your money into a few different REITs compared to putting all your money into one physical property as an investment. Of course, ideally it will be best to have both in your portfolio but I guess adding a property into my portfolio won't be anytime soon especially as a young adult. However, if you're moving out of your parents' house, please do yourself a favour & buy a house instead of renting. Renting is never good so please avoid doing so if possible. Anyone in dilemma as to which to invest in, this book will serve you well. It lays out the pros & cons of each asset class, written fairly and well-balanced in my opinion.
27 February 2014
Penny stocks: Expressway to riches?
I know I was never an advocate for playing penny stocks & would have never thought that I'll venture into this field of play until recently when I thought to myself "why not allocate 5-10% of my portfolio to penny stocks?" First of all, I'm young & hence I'm able to take the risk. Additionally, the money that I currently have won't be needed anytime soon in the next 5-10years. Lastly, if I play penny stocks well, I can increase the overall value of my portfolio a little faster than if I were to invest only in the slow but sure way.
A pleasant surprise struck today when I was able to make a 50% gain over my initial capital by offloading one of the penny stock counters I bought 2 weeks ago. That's insane. 50% return on capital in less than 2 weeks. Which other investment vehicle/product allows you to do that? Now I know why some people don't bother investing the slow but sure way (5-10% annual returns) but are instead lured into trading penny stocks exclusively (>10% annual returns).
No doubt that penny stocks can make you rich extremely fast, it can also be excruciatingly painful when you lose your capital or have your money "stuck" when the stock price remains stagnant. As the saying goes, "high risk for high returns". I wouldn't say this is akin to gambling as I feel even though penny stock prices are largely based on market sentiment, there are still ways to make calculated risk, some basic chart analysis & simple understanding of trading volume can be applied before deciding which penny stock to buy. After you buy, it's all a waiting game. You just have to be patient & wait for the right time to sell your position. Penny stock prices are largely based on market sentiment which is known to be illogical & irrational. However, by keeping abreast of current financial news, you can roughly predict market sentiment for the next day or so.
No wonder there are people who drive flashy cars & live in luxurious homes when they are only in their 20s or 30s. That said, I also know of people who have burnt their hands so badly playing penny stocks that they have to resort to selling their house to pay off debts. One big life lesson to learn from bankrupts is to never ever ever ever borrow money to invest. Even if you wish to leverage on borrowed money, do so in such a manner that you can still repay off your debts even after your investments have gone wrong.
So are penny stocks an expressway to riches? Definitely a yes but will I ever be a convert? I would say no. I will never allocate more than 20% of my capital into penny stocks. Will I advise playing penny stocks to new investors? Probably not. For starters, I feel it's better to start with lower risk stocks to build confidence before advancing into higher risk stocks if your risk appetite allows you to do so. That's exactly what I did. I went into mid-cap stocks first then proceeded onto buying small-cap stocks & now, penny stocks. A common misconception is that all stocks have the same risk level. A person who has zero knowledge about investing will easily brush off the stock market as a dangerous playground meant only for the rich or industry experts/professionals. But I feel otherwise. In fact, it's always heartening to know friends who wish to embark on their own investing journey. I usually encourage them to do so as I feel Time is on our side; Our greatest asset is Time.
A pleasant surprise struck today when I was able to make a 50% gain over my initial capital by offloading one of the penny stock counters I bought 2 weeks ago. That's insane. 50% return on capital in less than 2 weeks. Which other investment vehicle/product allows you to do that? Now I know why some people don't bother investing the slow but sure way (5-10% annual returns) but are instead lured into trading penny stocks exclusively (>10% annual returns).
No doubt that penny stocks can make you rich extremely fast, it can also be excruciatingly painful when you lose your capital or have your money "stuck" when the stock price remains stagnant. As the saying goes, "high risk for high returns". I wouldn't say this is akin to gambling as I feel even though penny stock prices are largely based on market sentiment, there are still ways to make calculated risk, some basic chart analysis & simple understanding of trading volume can be applied before deciding which penny stock to buy. After you buy, it's all a waiting game. You just have to be patient & wait for the right time to sell your position. Penny stock prices are largely based on market sentiment which is known to be illogical & irrational. However, by keeping abreast of current financial news, you can roughly predict market sentiment for the next day or so.
No wonder there are people who drive flashy cars & live in luxurious homes when they are only in their 20s or 30s. That said, I also know of people who have burnt their hands so badly playing penny stocks that they have to resort to selling their house to pay off debts. One big life lesson to learn from bankrupts is to never ever ever ever borrow money to invest. Even if you wish to leverage on borrowed money, do so in such a manner that you can still repay off your debts even after your investments have gone wrong.
So are penny stocks an expressway to riches? Definitely a yes but will I ever be a convert? I would say no. I will never allocate more than 20% of my capital into penny stocks. Will I advise playing penny stocks to new investors? Probably not. For starters, I feel it's better to start with lower risk stocks to build confidence before advancing into higher risk stocks if your risk appetite allows you to do so. That's exactly what I did. I went into mid-cap stocks first then proceeded onto buying small-cap stocks & now, penny stocks. A common misconception is that all stocks have the same risk level. A person who has zero knowledge about investing will easily brush off the stock market as a dangerous playground meant only for the rich or industry experts/professionals. But I feel otherwise. In fact, it's always heartening to know friends who wish to embark on their own investing journey. I usually encourage them to do so as I feel Time is on our side; Our greatest asset is Time.
21 February 2014
Book review: the coffeehouse investor -Bill Schultheis
I like how the author emphasized so much against leaving your money with mutual fund managers. He also talked about Wall Street's "tricks" (Or SGX in our local term) about how it tries to keep investors "active" so that it can continue to earn our trading/transaction fees -brilliant pointing that out, Bill!
I love this book & I fully agree with his concept of investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or unmanaged index funds to stay stress free & have more time doing things you actually love doing in life (definitely not looking through company's annual reports, expert's stock analysis reports, stock magazines/articles etc). Though I personally do not own any ETFs as of yet but I will be looking to add it to my portfolio in the near future. He's a firm believer of capturing the stock market's total return in the long-run & that's what an ETF or an unmanaged index fund does exactly. Might be a little hard to understand if you have zero knowledge about investing and stock market but nevertheless, I feel it'll be a good read. It'll be perfect for people with at least some basic investing knowledge. Definitely challenges the thinking and principles of seasoned investors.
I've read about twenty to thirty over books by now & the fact that I actually bothered to dedicate a post to this book surely means something. I hope you'll take time out to borrow this book or buy a copy of it online as I guarantee it's worth every single minute of your time reading it.
7 January 2014
Divested Nam Cheong & Current Holdings
Divested Nam Cheong last week after its share price has gone up quite a fair bit after its company announced that they have sold several vessels. I might re-invest in it again in future if its share price corrects and is in my favour.
My current holdings as of 7th Jan 2014:
My current holdings as of 7th Jan 2014:
6 January 2014
Tat Hong, Neratelecommunications, Popular (End of year buys)
As 2013 ended and after receiving my end of year bonuses, I guess it's quite unusual for a lady like myself to spend on undervalued shares than on branded goods as a form of reward. I find a truck lot of satisfaction knowing I'm putting my money to work & that I'm a tad bit closer to achieving my dream of traveling the world. I never fail to smile whenever a close friend of mine drops me a text giving positive feedback about my blog. It re-assures me of what I'm doing though somewhat unconventional and a little nerdy. In any case, I hope that my blog inspires and motivates my readers to also pursue their own dream no matter how far off it may appear to be.
Added positions to Tat Hong, Neratelecommunications and Popular.
Tat Hong is a supplier of cranes and heavy equipment and boasts to be one of the largest crawler crane company in the world, supplying cranes and heavy equipment to various industries. Operations in our own homeland and countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Dubai and Australia. As the world progresses onwards, there will always be a need for more buildings and also upgrading works to be done. No doubt that it might be cyclical but demand for cranes and heavy machineries will always be there.
Neratelecommunications is a solutions provider with the technological expertise. Range of products and services include satellite communications, microwave radio transmission, to information technology, networking infrastructure and high-end electronics contract manufacturing. Its headquarter is in Singapore and they have markets in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Taiwan and Korea. In a much simpler way, every time you pay something with NETS or Credit Card, that whole network of electronic system pretty much involves Neratel so I guess you can say it's an essential business unless of course one day a better & more cost-competitive company takes over and Neratel is doomed. Neratel has been known to have a clean balance sheet and financing almost zero debt.
Popular is probably a household name that everyone of us has at least heard of. It retails and distributes books, stationery, CD-ROMs, audio products, and magazines; and operates as a publisher, wholesaler, and dealer of books which most of us are familiar with. However, they are also involved in software development, property development, and real estate investment activities which few of us are unaware of. Operations in countries such as Canada, China, HK, Taiwan and Malaysia. I believe that despite the rise of e-books & how the world is progressing towards a paperless globe, in the next decade or two, I still think that physical books are important especially educational ones and Singapore will definitely continue to put a huge stress on education and personal upgrading.That aside, I guess it's also good to know that the company has business in the real estate industry (of which I'm bias towards).
If you quickly make an assessment on these 3 stocks, you can probably come up with a few common traits among these 3 and why I have picked them over the hundred over counters in SGX. I believe that these businesses are essential and I can foresee them thriving in at least the next decade and hopefully beyond. They pay dividends to their shareholders though their yield arent as high as REITs (except for Neratel) but I do not buy them for dividends purposes but instead, mainly for capital price appreciation. I bought all 3 of them on weakness, hence there'll be more room for price appreciation in future. Tat Hong yields about 3-4%, Neratel >8% and Popular about 5-6%. If ever any of these stocks are overvalued, I will be divesting to earn the positive gains & move on to other stocks. Also, I'm staying away from REITs for now as I'm sure price correction will be done as the Fed continues to taper more as the US economy slowly throttle onwards out of their sluggishness. As of right now, we can see that REITs are slowly falling out of favour with most investors as investors are moving away from dividend play which is a good thing for me in the near future as it means I can accumulate my REITs at a more valuable price.
Added positions to Tat Hong, Neratelecommunications and Popular.
Tat Hong is a supplier of cranes and heavy equipment and boasts to be one of the largest crawler crane company in the world, supplying cranes and heavy equipment to various industries. Operations in our own homeland and countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Dubai and Australia. As the world progresses onwards, there will always be a need for more buildings and also upgrading works to be done. No doubt that it might be cyclical but demand for cranes and heavy machineries will always be there.
Neratelecommunications is a solutions provider with the technological expertise. Range of products and services include satellite communications, microwave radio transmission, to information technology, networking infrastructure and high-end electronics contract manufacturing. Its headquarter is in Singapore and they have markets in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Taiwan and Korea. In a much simpler way, every time you pay something with NETS or Credit Card, that whole network of electronic system pretty much involves Neratel so I guess you can say it's an essential business unless of course one day a better & more cost-competitive company takes over and Neratel is doomed. Neratel has been known to have a clean balance sheet and financing almost zero debt.
Popular is probably a household name that everyone of us has at least heard of. It retails and distributes books, stationery, CD-ROMs, audio products, and magazines; and operates as a publisher, wholesaler, and dealer of books which most of us are familiar with. However, they are also involved in software development, property development, and real estate investment activities which few of us are unaware of. Operations in countries such as Canada, China, HK, Taiwan and Malaysia. I believe that despite the rise of e-books & how the world is progressing towards a paperless globe, in the next decade or two, I still think that physical books are important especially educational ones and Singapore will definitely continue to put a huge stress on education and personal upgrading.That aside, I guess it's also good to know that the company has business in the real estate industry (of which I'm bias towards).
If you quickly make an assessment on these 3 stocks, you can probably come up with a few common traits among these 3 and why I have picked them over the hundred over counters in SGX. I believe that these businesses are essential and I can foresee them thriving in at least the next decade and hopefully beyond. They pay dividends to their shareholders though their yield arent as high as REITs (except for Neratel) but I do not buy them for dividends purposes but instead, mainly for capital price appreciation. I bought all 3 of them on weakness, hence there'll be more room for price appreciation in future. Tat Hong yields about 3-4%, Neratel >8% and Popular about 5-6%. If ever any of these stocks are overvalued, I will be divesting to earn the positive gains & move on to other stocks. Also, I'm staying away from REITs for now as I'm sure price correction will be done as the Fed continues to taper more as the US economy slowly throttle onwards out of their sluggishness. As of right now, we can see that REITs are slowly falling out of favour with most investors as investors are moving away from dividend play which is a good thing for me in the near future as it means I can accumulate my REITs at a more valuable price.
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