How can Brexit affect us?

Recently there's been quite a lot of talk about Brexit in the financial markets and its impact on the markets. So, what really is Brexit and what is its impact on us here in Singapore?

Frasers Logistics and Industrial Trust

Another REIT is going IPO, this times, it's an Australian pure-play REIT with logistics and industrial properties, Frasers Logistics and Industrial Trust. With the Australian dollar at a fairly favourable exchange rate to the Sing dollar now, or at least compared to the past, it might be a good chance to invest in Australian assets.

Inflation and Interest Rates

Inflation and interest rates have the ability to change the returns on our investments, but do we understand how they affect them or pay a lot of attention to them?

Silverlake Axis - Update

This has been a company which I was hoping to get before the short seller allegations and even after I was considering (I wrote a post during that period, but it was after the share price had recovered from the sudden drop) But now, with the company's share price declining since it's ~$0.70 peak to $0.49 in the past week, I decided to invest a bit in the company

Invest in the Company, Not the Industry

Ever catch yourself saying "(Currently hot industry) looks like it's going to grow, so (company in the industry) is definitely going to grow in the future as well"? Some times I find myself doing it as well, but we should create a clear distinction between the company and the industry. Just because a company is in a hot industry doesn't mean that it will be able to grow in that industry as hot and growing industries tend to attract the most competition

Hyflux 6% Perpetual Security

There seem to be quite a few stock and bonds offerings coming up for the market recently. Now, there's a 6% perpetual capital security being offered by Hyflux.

Idiot-Proof Businesses

While it may be tempting to invest in companies with great leaders, such as Tesla with Elon Musk at the helm or Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook, we should instead be looking out for companies that can be run by fools yet still deliver good profits year after year. A company could always do better with good rather than poor leadership, but a company that needs a superstar management team to keep in business may not survive after management changes over time.

Manulife US REIT

There are 2 IPOs going on the market this week, one being the Manulife US REIT and the other another Oxley bond issue (5.15%, 4 years), since I've covered Oxley bonds before (here), I'm going to cover the Manulife US REIT, which is the first pure-play US REIT to be listed in Asia, which would make it a convenient way to diversify into US property. It is also listed in US dollars, but for the initial public offering here, investors will pay in Sing dollar ($1.138 per unit).

Have you started saving for retirement?

I think I talked about this topic before a while back, but I recently came across this article from the Straits Times, which I found quite interesting. It's about a survey conducted by Aviva that shows that about 44% of people surveyed said that they have not started saving for retirement, among them, 27% of those aged 55 and above have not started, which is a pretty shocking number considering how close they are to retirement.

(Image source: flickr.com, 401(K) 2012)

Diworsification

This is a sequel to my previous post on diversification and is intended to cover (on the contrary) why we shouldn't diversify too much as well.

Diversification

Are we doing diversification wrongly? We may think that we are well-diversified when in actual fact we are still concentrated largely in one area or type of investment. Why should we even practice diversification in the first place, wouldn't it dilute our returns on the good investments?

Perennial 4-year 4.55% bonds

Here comes another corporate bond issue, this time from Perennial with its second bond issue. I think I missed out covering the first bond issue late last year, so I'll look through the company's financial statements in this post and see if it's worth investing in.

Enterprise Value

Have you heard of enterprise value? Instead of simply using share prices and market cap (which are almost the same, just that one shows the price of a small part of the company being traded while the other shows the price of the whole company at the current price), enterprise value is another measure that you may consider using when evaluating investments.

Reading Annual Reports

It's the time of year again, where companies with financial years ending on 31 Dec have sent out or are in the process of sending out their annual reports (Wooo......) Is it important to read through the annual reports? Yes, of course it is. Here are some of the reasons why and things to look out for when looking through the annual report of the company

YZJ - Review

I haven't talked about this company for a while already, so since I've just got it's annual report, I thought that I should take some time to review it and check up on its fundamentals.The share price has fallen by quite almost 25% since I first invested in it last year. I think it has underperformed the STI since I got in, but no matter, what's lost is lost so just look to the future and see if the company is a worthwhile investment at its current price. (The answer sounds pretty obvious since I got in at a higher price, but I would rather be safe and check its fundamentals)

Aspial 4-year 5.3% Bonds

Aspial is offering another corporate bond, this time with a slightly higher interest rate and a shorter tenor. So, is this issue worth subscribing to?

Different Types of Investments - The Basics

After blogging for the last ~9 months (just realised that it was my 9 months since I've started my blog last Monday), I've noticed that I haven't talked about the different types of investments and my thoughts about them so I thought that I should take one post to talk about it. There are a few different types of investments that you can make, investments into stocks, bonds, your own business, REITs, property, precious objects, etc. I'll just cover a few of them as basics in this post, there are others, just that they are a little more abstract to me or I may not have experience with them and would leave you to venture elsewhere for more info on them.

Past Performance as an Indication of the Future

When looking at whether we should invest in something, it may be convenient to look at the past trends for the investment or company and make our decision solely on that, believing that the company will continue to perform as it has in the past. Of course, looking at the past is better than looking at nothing at all, but choosing an investment solely on the past performance of a company (such as investing in a blue chip when it is cheap and just believing that it will continue to deliver the results of a blue chip) is probably not the best investment decision that you or I can make.

Another Volatile Week

It seems that constant change is the new normal, after a sudden rally 2 weeks ago and a sudden drop earlier this week, the market is becoming more and more volatile, possibly due to the lack of major headlines, leaving investors to their own devices, which allows for a lot of room for change in the perception of the value of the shares. While we may have missed the bottom, a sudden drop during this period of volatility may provide an another opening for us to enter the market at an attractive valuation.

Missed the Boat..... Again!

Just 2 weeks ago I was still debating whether I should be getting Keppel and more of Sembcorp Industries, but it seems that I may have missed the boat again. From somewhere around $2.60 for Sembcorp 2 weeks ago to its current $3.14 and just about $5 to above $6 now for Keppel. Sigh, maybe I acted too slowly, so what should I be doing now?

Hock Lian Seng

For some background, Hock Lian Seng is in the construction industry and provides civil engineering services for both public and private projects (mostly in Singapore). Some of its projects include the construction of Marina Bay station and associated tunnels for the Downtown Line as well as the design and construction of the Marina Wharf section of the MCE. While I know some people that think construction is not a good industry to be in right now (with the falling office rentals and residential housing prices), but I think that this company shows some potential is being a good investment.

What Makes a Good Investment

What should we be looking out for before making an investment? Profits, history, dividends, balance sheet, there are so many things that can affect our investment, so which are the most important ones for us to refer to before we decide to invest in something? I'll cover the 5 most important things (with the most important at number 1) that I think we should factor into our decision to invest in something

What would you do if you won the lottery?

The $12 million Hong Bao draw is this Friday and I haven't got a ticket (a lottery ticket is one of the worst investments you can make), but it's still nice to fantasize about what I can do if I win the lottery.

What You Can Do with Your Hong Bao Money

Happy Chinese New Year :)

It's the third day of the Chinese New Year, for those who celebrate the Chinese New Year and are unmarried, you would've collected a small windfall in the form of Hong Bao money (while those who are married burn a hole in their wallet :P). Instead of blowing all our money on things that we don't need now, what should we (yes, me inclusive) be doing with this money to have the most impact?

Invest in What You Know

I was just reading Peter Lynch's book "One Up on Wall Street" (realised that I haven't done a book post for a while as well), about halfway through the book so far, but the most interesting thing brought up so far, investing in industries that we know, either as customers, suppliers or employees, sounds like a great idea that we should adopt when investing in shares.

Keppel Corp

I'm going to look at Keppel Corp today (I'm just going to call it Keppel for the rest of this post). It climbed 5.2% to end at $5.02 on Friday, with a price to book value ratio of 0.85 as well as a P/E ratio of around 6. It has also recommended a final dividend of 22 cents, making the total dividend paid for 2015 34 cents which is almost a 7% return rate, better than some REITs. So, is it a good buy?

Are Oil and Gas Companies a Good Buy?

The last few weeks haven't been very kind to oil and gas companies, especially Keppel and the two Sembcorp companies, with Sembcorp Industries reaching 2008 crash levels before rebounding on Friday as well as Sembcorp Marine before rumours that its parent, Sembcorp Industries would inject funds to save it or take over full control of it. With such low prices, are oil and gas companies a good buy at their current price levels.

Enjoy the Journey

I came across this article (I'd Rather Be Young by Budgets Are Sexy) online, where the author mentions that he prefers to be young rather than be an older person who has accomplished a goal that he is striving towards (eg buying a house, retiring or paying off debt). I think this is an interesting take on things. Why do we keep rushing to complete our goals, be it attaining financial freedom, buying a house, etc, instead of enjoying the now.

Thinking to Myself

This is going to be a short post.

So, the stock market is still not doing well and blue-chips are falling to quite cheap prices relative to the past few years, especially the ones to do with oil and gas, such as Sembcorp Marine and Keppel. It feels so tempting to buy these blue-chip shares at these low price, but then again, nothing's been stabilized and share prices may fall further. 

Or maybe it's no point timing the market and just slowly buy on the way down and then slowly selling when the price has reached my intrinsic value of the share, but even then, at what rate should we invest more? As the topic says, this post is nothing much other than me thinking out loud, feel free to comment/answer some of my thoughts :)

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Bad Start to the Year

It's the first week of the year, yet there doesn't seem to be much worth celebrating (unless you're waiting for the market to fall before going in). Just today, the STI fell 74 points and some blue chips among them such as Keppel, fell by 6.5%, all in one day. What's happening?

2016

Happy New Year! As a Chinese saying goes: 一年之计在于春，一日之计在于晨, the planning for the year should be done in the spring and the planning for the day should be done in the morning. To start to year right, we have to start planning earlier on the year so that we can enjoy the fruits at the end of the year. So, I'm going to write down my resolutions for 2016 in the first post of this new year.