Saturday, May 31, 2014

Investing Lesson From "Maleficent"

Maleficent
Just back from watching "Maleficent" at Plaza Singapura and would like share one investing lesson learned from the movie.

As you all might already know, Maleficent is the villain in the popular fairy-tale, Sleeping beauty. Since the movie is entitled Maleficent, the focus is of course on her. I quite like the way it was retold from the villain's angle, just like anything and everything in the world, there is always TWO sides of the story. Also, it is one of the most Harry-Potterised fairy-tale reboot that I've seen so far, lots of fantasy creatures, big and small, cute and ugly. It is an entertaining movie filled with great special effect and it good pace. Overall, I am giving it 4 stars (out of 5).

OK, let's get back to what Investing Lesson I've learned from the movie. As I briefly mentioned earlier, everything has 2 sides of the story, same thing happens in Investing. When we are selling, someone if buying. So why would someone want to buy when we assume it is the right time to sell (and vice versa)? Most likely. it is because the other party has seen another side of the story that we didn't see.There is no right or wrong answer, just the matching timing. Of course, the best scenario is both parties come out as winners at the end.

Have you watched Maleficent? What can you relate the movie with investing? 

Cheers!

P/S: I am a movie buff and hence you will see quite a number of my posts are related to movie theme ;-)

Quick Thought On Early Morning Of Saturday

Finally, weekend is here and we are able to rest our body and soul (except for those whereby weekend or weekdays doesn't make a difference to them, you know who you are ;-)) Woke up earlier and some thought came to mind and hence this post.

My thought is : does long term value investing strategy works for small retail investors? What I meant by long term is really into years or tens of years. If the invested capital is not big enough, even though we know ultimately the shares could jolly well head to the north but does the returns worth the wait? What is the opportunity cost?

I know there is no hard and fast rules or model answer to this. Just my early morning thought  ;-)

Have a good weekend! Let's keep our investing venture active and inspiring each other's along the way.

Cheers!



Friday, May 30, 2014

Interesting Findings On Local Retail Investors' Blogging statistics

Blogging trends
Ever since I kicked off my mini shares investment venture, reading other peers' blogs become my daily routine. In fact, I am pleasantly surprised that there are quite a number of savvy retail investors who are pro-bloggers too.
 
Also, quite a number of the blogs that I've read on daily basis are very intriguing, to say the least. Hence, I thought it is a good idea to summarise some of the interesting findings from the local investor bloggers. 
 
Here we go:
 
1. Most of the bloggers are male (and majority are young working adult), I would say 90/10 (80% are male). I think maybe lady retail investors like to keep such venture/experience private? ;-)
 
2. Most of the bloggers are using free-hosting Blogger (instead of the more popular WordPress) as their blogging platform Personally, I am using Blogger too for this particular blog. For me, it is because of the ease of use and its seamless integration with Google AdSense (even though I've not implemented it in this blog yet). If you are using Blogger as your blogging platform too, what is your reason?
 
3. Most of the bloggers do incorporate some sort of online advertisement (majority are via Google AdSense) in their blogs. I find that it is great way to share, learn and earn all at the same time. Of course, for such online advertisement placement to take off, the key is TRAFFICS and to attract more traffics, unique, interesting and frequency of articles/posts made the difference.
 
Do you have the similar observation as per what I've just shared? Feel free to share your own observation too.
 
Cheers!   

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 30th May 2014

Market News in 2 minutes

As stock investors (even though a small one), it is important to keep abreast with the latest financial and market news. Since I am in it, I thought it might be worthwhile to share it out with my readers too.

Hence, I started this "Market News In 2 Minutes" series.
 
Following are the "Market News In 2 Minutes" for today :
 
1. Soilbuild Construction Group (S7P) - Has been awarded $175.5 million worth of contracts, its largest since listing.The project is expected to commence in July, and be completed by 4Q2016. The group’s order book now stands at about $512.8 million, with deliveries stretching to 2016. (source : The Edge)

2. PEC (IX2) - Has secured $100 million in new contracts. One of the contracts involves the provision of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works for the development of crude oil storage and handling facilities in the United Arab Emirates. Two other contracts involve mechanical, piping and structural steel works for a tankage project on Jurong Island and are expected to complete in the next 10 months. (source : The Edge)

3. Banyan Tree (B58) – It has issued a $125 million worth of 4.875 percent fixed rate notes on 28/05/14. Banyan Tree plans to use the proceeds to finance the general working capital, capital expenditure, and investment requirements and refinancing needs of the group. (source : Shares Investment)

Cheers!

MoneyIQ gathers best mortgages from all Singapore Banks

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Investing Lesson From "Edge of Tomorrow"

Edge Of Tomorrow
Just back from the premiere screening of Edge of Tomorrow (Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt), courtesy of MoovieSpy (to find out more how to get free blockbuster movie tickets every week, check out my earlier post here).

I am a movie buff and especially like the ground hog day theme of movie (like to see how they unravel the web of repetitive scenes with a twist along the way and yet managed to patch it back together again at the end...).

Ok, enough of the movie, the theme of this post is more of what investing lesson I've learned from Edge Of Tomorrow (without giving away too much spoilers).

Personally, I've learned the following investing lessons :

1. If you failed the first time, try again, if failed again, try even harder...and so on and so forth. In the movie, Tom Cruise failed countless times and he made it at the end ultimately. Just like investing, we might not get the right counter or strategy, just keep trying and fine-tuning, as long as we keep trying, we will never fail!

2. If you are really stuck, try something different as the answer might be at another corner. In the movie, Tom Cruise keep trying to do and learn from the some place but when he finally decided to just let go and go somewhere else to "cool down", he chanced upon the real source of the problem. Just like in investing, if we didn't make it in stocks, maybe we can look into other investment vehicles like REITS or ETF etc... 

Ok, maybe I still want to go back to the movie ;-) I am giving it a 3.5 stars (out of 5 stars) for its entertainment value and special effect. Maybe you can consider it next week when it is released in the big screens. 

Cheers!      

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 29th May 2014

Market News in 2 minutes

As stock investors (even though a small one), it is important to keep abreast with the latest financial and market news. Since I am in it, I thought it might be worthwhile to share it out with my readers too.

Hence, I started this "Market News In 2 Minutes" series.
 
Following are the "Market News In 2 Minutes" for today :
 
1. Tiong Seng Holdings (K2P) – Its subsidiary, Tiong Seng Contractors, and Dongah Geological Engineering Co has been awarded a $316 million contract. The contract was awarded by the Land Transport Authority for the construction of the Great World Station and tunnels for the Thomson line. Work is stipulated to commence this month. (source : Shares Investment)

2. Singapore Windsor Holdings(Y45) -  Has entered into a joint venture agreement with Golden Infrastructure Group(GIG) for the establishment of a joint venture in Myanmar. The businesses shall be to, amongst others, engage in the business of owning and operating and providing services for telecommunication and wireless networks in Myanmar. (source : Shares Investment)

3. CapitaMalls Asia (JS8) - Its subsidiary Menang Investment has acquired a total of 3,250,700 units in CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust (CMMT) from CapitaMalls Malaysia REIT Management for a cash consideration of $1.7 million. Following the acquisition, CMA’s effective interest in CMMT has increased from 36.1 percent to 36.2 percent. (source : Shares Investment)

Cheers!
MoneyIQ gathers best mortgages from all Singapore Banks

Next Insight - A Great Resource For Serious Investors

Next Insight
There are plenty of online resources for the investors to gather latest news/buzz of the market, most of them are free. I am pretty sure that you already have a list of websites or blogs to keep abreast on regular basis.
 
Today, I am gonna share with you one resourceful website that worth spreading. Next Insight!
 
When I first chanced upon the site, the first thing that came to my mind is : the name is not really catchy and seems relevant to the shares market. However, I like their tag line of A Hub For Serious Investors!
 
In fact, it is a investors portal that consists of the following four key features :
 
1. Latest Market News
 
2. Compilation of the Research Analysts' Target Prices and Evaluation (some major Research Houses like OCBC, Phillips Securities, DBS Vickers, OSK-DMG etc. are featured here).
 
3. User Forum
 
4. Listed companies' latest announcement
 
Hope you find this site useful.
 
What is your THE most important and resourceful site that you can't do without in the course of your investing venture at the moment?
 
Cheers!

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

My Next Target - KSH Holdings (ER0.SI)

KSH Holdings Limited
It has been almost a month since my last purchase, which is small odd lot of Facebook share on 29th April 2014. My next target is KSH Holdings (ER0.SI), in Real Estate Development Industry. I've briefly run through their 2013 financial reports and it seems to pass all my personal "value stock" assessment indicators.
 
To top it off, it is in line with Analyst's (OCBC) BUY signal. KSH Holdings is currently traded at SGD0.54 and I am trying my hand on SGD0.53 (via my CPF fund).
 
Some key indicators of the stock that interests me:
 
1. Revenue and Net Profit in 2013 are on UPWARDS trend
2. Healthy Balance Sheet
3. Return On Asset (ROA) of 9.6% (FY2013)
4. Return On Equity (ROE) of 18.6% (FY2013)   
5. Trailing Price/Earning (P/E) of 4.82
6. OCBC's latest Target Price is SGD0.71
7. Recently proposed a final dividend of 1.75 Singapore cents
 
Note : If you are interested to take a closer look of their FY2013's Financial Report, click here.
 
What is your view/comment on this counter?

Cheers!
 
 

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 28th May 2014

Market News in 2 minutes

As stock investors (even though a small one), it is important to keep abreast with the latest financial and market news. Since I am in it, I thought it might be worthwhile to share it out with my readers too.

Hence, I started this "Market News In 2 Minutes" series.
 
Following are the "Market News In 2 Minutes" for today :
 
1. Goodpack (G05) - KKR & Co., the buyout firm run by George Roberts and Henry Kravis, offered $1.4 billion to buy Goodpack, a provider of bulk containers. KKR will pay $2.50 a share in cash, a 6.8 percent premium to its last traded price of $2.34 on May 23, according to a statement on the Singapore Exchange For more details of the story, click here. (source : The Edge)

2. Hotel Properties (H15) – Founder Ong Beng Seng and Wheelock Properties have, in a joint attempt to buy out HP on Tuesday morning raised their offer to $4.05 a share, marking the second time the offer has been raised. It was improved to $4 a share from $3.50 a share previously. (source : Shares Investment)

Cheers!
MoneyIQ gathers best mortgages from all Singapore Banks

Interview With Desmond Yee of Passive Income Builder

Interview with investor
Wow! I can't believed it, within less than a week, I've received three great response for my "Interview With Fellow Investors" series and I hope to keep the momentum going. For complete list of retail investors that I've interviewed, check out the page here.
 
For my third interviewee, Desmond Yee, I get to know him not from his blog or social media but from the introduction of Christopher Ng (see my earlier interview with him here for details). When I first saw him, I thought he is just out from University and waiting to get into the working life. So, you can gauge how youthful he looks like. On second thought, it could be due to my deteriorating "old flower" (presbyopia)..? Just kidding..

Now, let's get to know more about Desmond here:

Q1 : Can you give us a brief introduction about yourself?
I am a 35 year old Singaporean male who is born in the year of the goat. I have been working in the line of IT for the past 10 years and have travelled and worked in countries like India, Hongkong, Malaysia and Singapore. In my free time, I like to jog, read and play games like World of Warcraft and Diablo 3.

Q2 : Are you a full time or part-time investor at the moment?
At the moment, I am a full time investor who is on the lookout for his next exciting role!

Q3 : When (at what age) did you start investing in shares and who has influenced you the most?
I started investing at the age of 18. My mother was a major influence. I have seen my mother lost a lot in shares but I was pretty intrigued by it. I can get people to give me dividends without lifting a finger if I own those stocks which pay them.

Q4 : Do you view yourself as long-term (holding shares in years), short-term investor (holding shares in days/months) or mixture?
I am quite a mix (rojak so to speak). I hold on to shares for typically a very long time. However, recently I am in a bit of a selling bout. With the recent run up in the share prices, I am also taking profits to secure my gains and am on the lookout for better opportunities in the future.

Q5 : What is your basis of selecting the shares to invest (e.g. basing on fundamental analysis, technical analysis or other methods/sources [share a little bit more details if it is the latter])?
I am more of a dividend investor. I am keen on companies that give out high dividends, which explains my high exposure on REITS. I am currently trying to cut down my exposure to REITS as interest rates are expected to be rising next year. I usually surf on blogs to see what others are buying and try to buy lower than them. I will typically do my own research after narrowing down on a couple of counters which catch my interest.

Q6 : What is your targeted and achieved annual rate of returns (%) so far?
My targeted rate of returns : 8%
My achieved rate of returns : I am currently from 6 to 10%


Q7 : What is your most recommended online investing resource (site or blog) to share with our readers?
Dividends Rich Warrior

Q8 : Besides shares, what other investment are you involved in (e.g. Real Estates, Bonds or REITs etc)?
I am into real estate investment and bonds as well. I am in pursuit of multiple streams of passive income!

Q9 :  What is your Portfolio Distribution like”?
My current distribution is 50% REITS, 45% on non reits and 5% on Bonds.

Q10 : If the readers what to get in touch with you, how to get hold of you? (Sharing of your website/blog/social media profile etc..)
My blog is Passive Income Builder

So, if you are a gamer, you may want to get in touch with Desmond and "fight" it out in the virtual gaming world. Once again, if YOU like to be featured in this blog, feel free to email me at investopenly@gmail.com

Cheers!

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Yeay! First Dividend Cheque!!!

Dividend cheque from Baker Technology
Yesterday, I've finally received the very first dividend cheque (for Baker Technology Limited) in my entire life. Being a small retail investor, the amount on the cheque is negligible, might be even lower than some of you folks' investment commission fee. However, I am still very happy as it is not the amount that counts, it is the SIGHT of real passive income that count.
 
I am pretty sure that this is just the beginning and I hope to be able to build up a size-able portfolio (both in cash and CPF fund) to accumulate more such dividend income (hopefully). I might act slowly, but surely, my portfolio will increase in size. ;-)
 
I am expecting another even smaller dividend cheque from another counter (Straco Corporation) this week. So, the next question for me is : how to "use" these money? Since they are just a couple hundreds, I guess I will just accumulate them to my piggy "capital" for subsequent reinvestment.
 
Can you still remember when did you receive your first dividend cheque? How do you spend (or use) it for? 
 
Cheers!
 
MoneyIQ gathers best mortgages from all Singapore Banks

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 27th May 2014

Market News in 2 minutes

As stock investors (even though a small one), it is important to keep abreast with the latest financial and market news. Since I am in it, I thought it might be worthwhile to share it out with my readers too.

Hence, I started this "Market News In 2 Minutes" series.
 
Following are the "Market News In 2 Minutes" for today :
 
1. Artivision Technologies (5NK) - Has terminated its agreement with Beijing Daheng Innovative Technology Co Ltd to allow the latter to exclusively adopt its Avision software for its surveillance hardware applications. Artivision said this was prompted by "non-performance in accordance with the terms of the agreement''. (source : The Edge).

2. Tung Lok Restaurants (540) - Has warned of a loss for FY2014 due to rising operating costs and lower than expected revenue of outlets opened. (source : The Edge)

3. Q&M Dental Group (QC7) – Controlling shareholder Quan Min Holdings, and substantial shareholders, Kelvin Koh and Felicia Koh have agreed to sell a combined 10 percent stake to Heritas Helios Investments (HHI). This grants HHI the right to call upon A&M to issue 63 million new shares within a two year option period for a minimum exercise price of $0.48 per share. (source : Shares Investment)

4. Vard Holdings (MS7) - Has successfully secured a contract with Island Offshore for the construction of one offshore support vessel of Rolls-Royce design worth more than NOK 1 billion. Delivery is scheduled in 2Q16. (source : Shares Investment)

Cheers!
MoneyIQ gathers best mortgages from all Singapore Banks

Interview With Christopher Ng of Growing Your Tree Of Prosperity

sowing the seeds of prosperity
Thanks for dropping by.
 
This is the second interview of my "Interview With Fellow Investors" series. Hope you folks like what I've shared so far. For complete list of retail investors that I've interviewed, check out the page here.
 
Now, let's get back to my second interviewee. His name is Christopher Ng Wai Chung, owner of the Growing Your Tree Of Prosperity blog and author of the following books (click on the hyperlink to view more) :
 
 
I get to know Christopher through his blog and subsequently gotten connected through Facebook. He is a movie buff as well and we chat quite a fair bit on movies. So far, met him (and another fellow investor) once for lunch and I must say that he is a chatty guy with great ambition about mixing the investing and engineering.
 
Now, enjoy my interview with Christopher Ng below:
 
Q1 : Can you give us a brief introduction about yourself?
My name is Christopher Ng Wai Chung, I look after the blog Growing Your Tree of Prosperity. I am a personal finance author. I am currently retired after spending 14 years in IT in various systems administration, project management and operations roles. I have spent time working in multi-nationals, trade unions and even the public sector.
 
Q2 : Are you a full time or part-time investor at the moment?
Currently I am a full-time investor as I left the workplace last year. I will revert to becoming a part-time investor once again in August when I start studying for a legal qualification in a local university.

Q3 : When (at what age) did you start investing in shares and who has influenced you the most?
I starting investing in unit trusts when I received my first paycheck when I started work at age 25. Investing in actual shares took me much longer as I refused to manage a portfolio until I passed all three levels of the CFA examinations. My interest in personal finance started by reading Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad although the book did not influence my subsequent investment style.

Q4 : Do you view yourself as long-term (holding shares in years), short-term investor (holding shares in days/months) or mixture?
I invest primarily for dividend yields so I am generally a long-term investor. However, a change in dividend yields will normally trigger an adjustment in my portfolio when I push my investments into higher yields.

Q5 : What is your basis of selecting the shares to invest (e.g. basing on fundamental analysis, technical analysis or other methods/sources [share a little bit more details if it is the latter])?
I invest almost exclusively based on yields, so I rely on brokerage reports to select my acquisitions targets. I normally perform a quick check to ensure that yields have been consistent and supported by free-cash flow. Thereafter, it does not take a lot for me to start a $1,000 position in a stock. I would rapidly increase my position to $10,000 or $100,000 if the story gets compelling later. 

Q6 : What is your targeted and achieved annual rate of returns (%) so far?  
My targeted rate of returns : 5 to 7 %
My achieved rate of returns : “11-15%” ( recent 1-year performance was fairly decent due to good luck )


Q7 : What is your most recommended online investing resource (site or blog) to share with our readers? 
SGX website has the appropriate screeners which work for most investors. You just can’t ignore the corporate news section on your major stock holdings so the SGX website is the most important resource for an investor.

Q8 : Besides shares, what other investment are you involved in (e.g. Real Estates, Bonds or REITs etc)?
Primarily REITs and business trusts. I have been slowly building a 50% equity portfolio but this is not well diversified as there are very few equity yield plays which can match the dividend yields of REITs and Business Trusts. This is a work in progress as the QE tapering coupled with an increase in supply of industrial land will make it harder to profit as a landlord over the next few years.  

Q9 : What is your current Shares Investment portfolio size (in range, no need specific)?
The portfolio is decent enough to generate enough income to replace my day job as an engineer with 14 years working experience, feed my family and even pay for law school. Go figure !

Q10 : If the readers what to get in touch with you, how to get hold of you? (Sharing of your website/blog/social media profile etc..)
Visit my blog Tree Of Prosperity
That's it! Hope you get to know Christopher Ng better now and do drop by to his blog for more update of his thought on investing or anything come into his mind (trust me, he really speaks his mind).

Once again, if YOU like to be featured in this blog, feel free to email me at investopenly@gmail.com

Cheers! 

Monday, May 26, 2014

To All Fellow Movie Buff, This Post Is For YOU!

Being a movie buff myself, I just can't stop from blogging about movie! So, I've decided to dedicate this post to all thing movie and hence nothing related to investing. You have been warned ;-)

Watching movie is my favourite hobby since young. When I was younger, I watched movie practically every week and at times more than once a week. Of course, previously the movie ticket is not as expensive and don't have the premiums like 3D or IMAX. Hence, the choice is simpler then. I do still watch movies now, just not as frequent as last time.

During my search for the local peer blogging investors, for whatever reason, I chanced upon more younger male investor-cum-bloggers (maybe the lady investors like to keep the venture to themselves?!) and a number of them like to watch movies (I deduced from their referencing to the movies in their posts). Hence, I thought maybe it is just right for me to share something which I think most of you folks might be interested too (I just like to share good stuff).

It is actually a site called MoovieSpy which giving away FREE movie tickets to premiere of the latest blockbuster via simple contests. In fact, courtesy of MoovieSpy, I am going to watch Edge Of Tomorrow this Thursday (29th May), one week before the general release next week. 

Two things that I like about MovieSpy are :
a. Participating in the contest is easy (mostly through Facebook contest) and 
b. There are always new movie contest to look out for, week in week out. 

If you are a movie buff like myself and enjoy free movies, do check out their site and Facebook Fan Page below:

MoovieSpy webite:
MoovieSpy Facebook Fan Page:

By the way, their upcoming contests are:
1. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (2nd June 2014, Mon)
2. Blended - Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore  (3rd June 2014, Tue)
3. Draft Day - Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner (4th June 2014, Wed) and many more coming soon.

Hope you folks enjoy my sharing.

Cheers!

The best local blog aggregator for personal finance bloggers

Blog aggregator
If you chanced upon my blog through a blog aggregator, I am sure you know which one I am talking about (as so far I've only joined one local blog aggregator).
 
Yes! I am referring to The Finance.
 
If you own a personal finance blog or website and have yet to be part of this community (I preferred to call it a community instead of an aggregator), you are recommended to do so. It is free to join and the benefits (especially the referral traffics) is tremendous (of course, I am assuming that you are writing quality and useful posts already, so why not let more people know about it? ;-)). To join, simply visit the site, click on the "Join" button (top right hand corner) and follow the instruction accordingly.
 
Since the inclusion of my blog, I saw a huge jump of traffics from this community and I myself is a regular visitor to the site to read other bloggers' posts. To me, it is a pure win-win connection.
 
I am not sure whether there is/are other similar community (blog aggregator) out there? If yes, do share it in the comment section below.
 
Cheers!   
 
Note : I have a couple of email exchanges with the owner of The Finance (Derek), he is still accepting new blogs (as long as they are relevant to the theme of the site). ;-)

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 26th May 2014

Market News in 2 minutes

As stock investors (even though a small one), it is important to keep abreast with the latest financial and market news. Since I am in it, I thought it might be worthwhile to share it out with my readers too.

Hence, I started this "Market News In 2 Minutes" series.
 
Following are the "Market News In 2 Minutes" for today :
 
1. Commodities shipper BW Group and Singapore’s Pavilion Energy have agreed to form a joint venture to manage, acquire and charter liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping assets, the companies said on Friday. For more details on the report, click here. (source : The Edge)

2. OKP Holdings (5CF) - Has been awarded with a $50.6 million contract from the Public Utilities Board to construct Stamford Diversion Canal which is located in Tanglin and Kim Seng. The latest contract win will lift OKP’s net construction order book to $240.2 million and extending it till 2017. (Source : Shares Investment)

3. KS Energy (578) - Has inked three contract extensions worth more than US$60 million for the provision of drilling services and charter of the company’s three drilling rigs. (source : Shares Investment)

Cheers!

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Interview with Lionel Yeo of Cheerful Egg

Lionel Yeo Cheerful Egg
I am very excited to bring you folks the maiden post of my "Interview With Fellow Investors" blog series. What make it more special is that the first interviewee is not someone that I knew personally (maybe one day I should get in touch with him personally ;-))

First, let me give you folks some brief introduction to my very first interviewee. His name is Lionel Yeo, founder of the personal finance blog called Cheerful Egg (I know, what a cool name right? I leave it to you to explore his blog further on why it is called Cheerful Egg). He has written a free ebook called Small Tweaks which can be downloaded freely from his blog. 

I chanced upon his blog some time back (during the early stage of this blog, in Mar 2014) and got hooked with his style of writing and also the super clean layout of his blog. Since then, I am a regular to his blog. 

Now, without further ado, let's get to know Lionel better with the following Q&A:
 
Q1 : Can you give us a brief introduction about yourself?
I'm Lionel and I blog about personal finance for young executives. I also secretly dance in my room.

Q2 : Are you a full-time or part-time investor at the moment?
Part time - in fact, I only spend 20 minutes a month on my portfolio, as I invest passively in indexes

Q3 : When (at what age) did you start investing in shares and who has influenced you the most?
I dabbled in risky investments such as futures, commodities and forex since I was 21. However, I found that those weren't suitable for the majority of people and I switched to passive investing in the stock and bond market index when I was 26.

Q4 : Do you view yourself as long-term (holding shares in years), short-term investor (holding shares in days/months) or mixture?
Super duper long-term! I buy and plan to hold on to my indexes for the next 20-30 years, or even the rest of my life.

Q5 : What is your basis of selecting the shares to invest (e.g. basing on fundamental analysis, technical analysis or other methods/sources [share a little bit more details if it is the latter])?
I practice passive investing, which means I buy the entire stock/bond market and track its returns. Research has shown that the vast majority of investors simply cannot beat the performance of the stock market over the long-run, regardless of whether they are fundamental or technical investors. 
Heck, even professionals can't do it consistently! Therefore, I choose to track the market using ETFs instead. You can read more about my strategy in my book Automatic Investing
 
                                   

Q6 : What is your targeted and achieved annual rate of returns (%) so far?
No targeted rate of returns - How do you predict the future? As long as I track the returns of the market, I would have succeeded.

Q7 : What is your most recommended online investing resource (site or blog) to share with our readers?
My blog Cheerful Egg :)

Q8 : Besides shares, what other investment are you involved in (e.g. Real Estates, Bonds or REITs etc)?
REITs and Bond index ETFs

Q9 : What is your Portfolio Distribution like”?
Approximately 80% equities, 20% bonds. But this will change as I get older.

Q10 : If the readers what to get in touch with you, how to get hold of you? (Sharing of your website/blog/social media profile etc..)
Get in touch at Cheerful Egg

I am sure we get to know Lionel slightly better now, to the minimum, we now know that he secretly dance in his room ;-)

If you like to be featured in this blog series, feel free to email me at investopenly@gmail.com and I will get back to you right away. We all have our own voice when comes to our investing venture and I hope this blog series will make your voice louder and heard by many more people.

Cheers!

3 Investing Lessons from Real Madrid's Win In Champions League 2014

Real Madrid winner of Champions League 2014
If you have not already know, Real Madrid has just been crowned King Of Europe about 6 hours ago by winning the Champions League final (against Atletico Madrid) with a scoreline of 4-1 (after extra-time). 

I am not a fan of either team but still congratulate Real Madrid as it takes them until the 90th minute to hit the equalizer and bring the game into extra-time in the last few seconds. Of course, I will not dwell into too much details of the game as this is not a sports blog. What I want to share is what investing lessons I can gathered our of this game? 

Here are the five investing lessons that I've learned :

1. Defensive Is Never The Best Attack!
Personally I think Atletico Madrid lost the game because they turned too defensive after their goal (at 36th minute). It is like inviting equalizer and it is just a matter of time. Just like in investing, if we went too defensive (e.g. buy spreading the portfolio too thinly or too conservative in investing a real undervalued stock), the overall rate of returns might not be as promising as we targeted. In short, taking calculated risks is necessary in investing! 

2. Expensive Players Is Important
The club paid handsome money (many a time outrageously handsome) to the skillful and great players, Hence, I equate expensive players as blue chips stocks, they might be expensive but they do deliver the result at the right time (most of the time). In this morning's game, the blue chips (I means the expensive players) are Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo.  

Real Madrid winner of Champions League 2014

3. Never Say Die aka PATIENCE
In the game, it took Real Madrid 90 minutes (to be exact, at the third minute of the extra-time during the normal play time) to find the equalizer and managed to turn the table afterwords. Hence, patience is important. Just like in investing, patience is important (assuming that we have holding power) as it can turn a seemingly loosing game into a winning one.  

You might not be a soccer fan but I am pretty sure that we can learn something from anything that appeals to us!

Cheers!  

Saturday, May 24, 2014

If Yakun is listed, I will sure to be their shareholder!

For locals, I believed most of us know Yakun chain. Yes, the one serving the kata toast bread and kopi (coffee in local term). I am a regulars of Yakun and kind of addicted to their aromatic kopi. As oppose to the branded kopi like Starbucks or Coffee Beans, co preferred the local and traditional flavor. Hmmm.. Maybe it is the generation thingy ;-)

Just wonder why is Yakun still not listed their company so that the general public can own part of the business and it will sure to help the company expand their business to other countries. If Yakun is launching their IPO, I believed I will be one of the many potential investors keen to queue up in the ATM machine to try our luck.

Following are 5 of my personal reasons:

1. The business of Yakun seems to be booming. Queue (to place order) is expected and there are many new branches being launch across the island.

2. Their service is prompt and customers flow is quick

3. Constantly introducing new variety to their menu (the last one go know is the steam bread with kaya with butter or peanut)

4. Even though the business is considered competitive (with the local and international competitors) but it seems that Yakun has strike a impeccable business model traditional Chinese "fast food" chain.

5. Singaporean like to drink kopi and eat maya toast bread, in fact, I can eat a few times a week. 

Do you think there is a possibility that Yakun will be listed in the near future? If yes, would you be interested to be part of it?

Cheers!



Friday, May 23, 2014

Four FREE Stock Screeners That Do Wonder

Stock screener
Before we start to analyse the stocks (either using Fundamental Analysis or Technical Analysis), we need to identify which stock(s) to analyse first. usually, there are three ways we can go about it i.e. :
 
1. Randomly pick from the whole list of the stocks available for trading.
2. Base on the news/reports that you read from online or offline resources.
3. Use a stock screener to filter out the relevant stocks that match with your desired parameters (e.g. PE Ratio, Dividend Yield etc...).
 
I believed most investors are practicing either (2) and/or (3), like myself. For number (3), I would like to share 4 FREE stock screeners that I am currently using and hope that you folks find them useful too. 
 
1. SGX's Stock Screener :
With the recent revamp of the SGX site, I think not many people know that there is a stock screener tool hidden within the site. As the name implied, you can only screen Singapore Stocks here.
 
Click here or the image below to access the tool. 
http://www.sgx.com/wps/portal/sgxweb/home/mygateway/stock_screener
 
2. Financial Times' Equity Screener :
This is a global equity screener, you can choose the regions (Europe, Americas, Asia Pacific etc..) and/or the industries for the screening and there are more than enough pre-defined criteria/parameters for your selection.
 
Click here or the image below to access the tool. 
http://markets.ft.com/screener/customscreen.asp
 
3. Google Finance's Stock Screener :
Similar to FT Equity Screener but this one allows you to screen specific country only.
 
Click here or the image below to access the tool. 
https://www.google.com/finance/stockscreener
 
4. Dividend Investor's Screener :
This is probably more relevant to those dividend investors, with their build-in screener (or tracker), you can filter those upcoming stocks with dividend by date range. This is the only dividend stock screener that I chanced upon with dual language (English/Chinese) setting. NOTE : you need to register and sign-in before screening or else the Stock symbols will not be reflected.

Click here or the image below to access the tool.  
http://sg.dividendinvestor.com/tracker.php
 
Hope that you folks find the above sharing useful and I am sure that there are other more powerful FREE stock screeners out there. Do share with us if you chanced upon one or two out there.
 
Cheers! 

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 23rd May 2014

Market News in 2 minutes

As stock investors (even though a small one), it is important to keep abreast with the latest financial and market news. Since I am in it, I thought it might be worthwhile to share it out with my readers too.

Hence, I started this "Market News In 2 Minutes" series.
 
Following are the "Market News In 2 Minutes" for today :
 
1. JES International Holdings (EG0) - The group has won contract plus options worth close to US$1 billion. For more details, click here. (source : The Edge)

2. Manhattan Resources (L02) - Announced that it has entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of mining group Singxin Resources at a price of $1 billion. Click here for details. (source : The Edge)

3. Lian Beng Group (L03) -  Bagged a $44.5 million contract from Westlite Dormitory (V one) for the proposed erection of one block of 13-storey independent workers’ dormitory at Woodlands Avenue 10. (source : Shares Investment)

4. TA Corporation (PA3) with King Wan Corporation (554) and SKM Development - Has secured a land tender for a 9,200-bed worker accommodation facility from the Jurong Town Corporation. The 31,170.5 square metre plot, located at Tuas South Street, cost the trio $113.9 million. (source : Shares Investment)

Cheers!

Thursday, May 22, 2014

First Interviewee found! YOU want to join in the fun too?

Interview series
Woohoo! I am in the cloud nine, again!
 
As per my earlier post (click here to view), I am planning for a new blog series called "Interview With Fellow Investors" and the rationale is very simple : to know YOU better! I am pleased to share that I've gotten the green light with one of the investor blogger that I got to know not long ago through the online community. I am really exciting about this and will try to come out with the post ASAP.
 
So, stay tuned and look out for my upcoming posts.
 
Also, if YOU (yes, I really means YOU) are interested to be featured in my Interview series, feel free to email me at investopenly@gmail.com and I will get in touch with you. Ultimately, I hope to create a more interactive community among the retail investors so that we can know each other better too.  
 
Cheers!

Singapore is the World BEST city for business, AGAIN!

Yet another Top for Singapore!
 
According to the latest report from Economist Intelligence Unit, Singapore is world's best city for business, once again! Also, Singapore is set to remain the world’s most investor-friendly location until 2018.
 
The study measures political risks as well as business operating costs including taxes, financing and labour costs. Switzerland and Hong Kong remained at second and third place in the ranking.  
 
I guess this is in-line with the recent report that Singapore is always the world's most expensive city in 2014.
 
If you are a fellow Singaporean, what is your view about these "accolades"?
 
Cheers!
 
(source : Bloomberg)

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 22nd May 2014

Market News in 2 minutes

As stock investors (even though a small one), it is important to keep abreast with the latest financial and market news. Since I am in it, I thought it might be worthwhile to share it out with my readers too.

Hence, I started this "Market News In 2 Minutes" series.
 
Following are the "Market News In 2 Minutes" for today :
 
1. KrisEnergy (SK3) - Said on Wednesday that it plans to buy the remaining stake in an oil block in Thailand from Mubadala Petroleum, a subsidiary of an Abu Dhabi state investor, for US$102.5 million ($128.4 million). For more details, click here. (source : The Edge)

2. Singapore is opening its bus services to more competitors in the second half to boost services and cut consumer waiting times. For more details, click here. (source : The Edge)

3. Ezra Holdings (5DN) - The provider of integrated offshore solutions to the oil and gas industry, announced the group has won contracts around the world and across its subsea services and offshore support services divisions totalling more than US$95 million ($119 million). For more details, click here (source : The Edge)

4. Sembcorp Marine (S51) - Its subsidiary, Jurong Shipyard has secured a US$236 million (about $296 million) contract to build a high specification, tailor-made jack-up rig for new customer Hercules North Sea. For more details, click here (source : The Edge)

5. Swee Hong (QF6) - Has bagged a contract from the Public Utilities Board worth $7.9 million for the ABC Waters Project at Pang Sua Pond and Toa Payoh Lorong 8. The commencement date of the contract is 16 June 2014 and the project is expected to be completed by 15 December 2015. (source : Shares Investment)

6. BH Global Corporation (B32) - Won a series of contracts totaling $18.8 million, for the provision of services and supplies to the drilling and subsea market sector. The contracts are expected to commence in 2014 with progressive delivery and revenue recognition until 2016. Further, the latest contract wins will lift the company’s order books to $47 million. (source : Shares Investment)

Cheers!

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

I've Got An Idea...To Get To Know YOU Better!

interview
Even though my original intention of starting this blog is to share my personal investing venture and experiences, but after two months or so plus a little bit of research on the local (Singapore) retail investment scene, I find that it is quite vibrant and there are a few popular online community that the peers are sharing their tips, lobang and rumours.
 
There are some established forums (like Share Junction) and Value Buddies etc.) and blogs (like  The Motley Fool, Investment Moats etc.) but I haven't seen any site/blog getting to know YOU better. What do I even mean? Keep reading... 
 
I find that investing can be a two-ways process, since you have drop by my blog and I assume that you are interested in Shares investment and probably has your story/experience to share. Also, you might have your own website or blog to share your experience too. Hence, I would like to create a blog series to interview YOU, through Q&A (whether you are a newbie, seasoned investor or big guns, all are welcome).
 
I will publish the interview questions/answers in my blog so that we all can share each other's experience/tips in the open. Also, along the way I hope it will bring more traffics to your site/blog too (if you have one).
 
My questionnaires is ready and off hand I have already got 2 prospects. So, stay tuned for my upcoming blog series :
 
'Interview With Fellow Investors"
 
If YOU are interested to be featured in my blog, feel free to send me an email at investopenly@gmail.com and I will send you the interview questions right away.
 
I hope to interview at least 3 peer investors by June 2014 and hope to YOU are here too ;-)
 
Cheers!  

Yet Another Unexpected Surprise Coming To This Blog?

pleasant surprise
While I've just published the first unexpected turn of event triggered from this blog (click here to see). Last night, I've received yet another pleasant surprise originated from this humble blog.
 
It might be still too early to finalise anything and it might not be materialised after all but hack care, just like to share the potential good news around, regardless of how big or small is it.
 
So, the story goes like this : I've been approached by an advertiser (will not disclose the name until it is finalised) for a deal of advertising package to be placed on this 2-months young blog. I am in cloud nine now, just by the pure offer itself as it is really not within my wildest imagination, especially within such a short period of this blog creation.
 
I hope I can share with you folks more of this potential in the upcoming days/weeks. In any case, it seems that online opportunities are everywhere and starting this investment related blog is the best thing that I've done in relation to my mini investment venture.
 
Cheers!   

P/S: Being a small retail investor, I don't expect to get rich (or poor) via investing alone, but it seems that it is a venture worth taking as I already can see the fruits (new knowledge, friendship and other opportunities) dangling in front of me..

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 21st May 2014

Market News in 2 minutes

As stock investors (even though a small one), it is important to keep abreast with the latest financial and market news. Since I am in it, I thought it might be worthwhile to share it out with my readers too.

Hence, I started this "Market News In 2 Minutes" series.
 
Following are the "Market News In 2 Minutes" for today :
 
1. Singapore’s 1Q14 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 4.9 percent on a year-on-year basis, led by a 9.8 percent expansion in the manufacturing sector. The figure was marginally lower than the government’s initial estimate of 5.1 percent and the median estimate of 5.5 percent by 10 economists polled by Thomson Reuters. (source : Shares Investment)

2. Olam International (O32) - Has secured a US$2.2 billion revolving credit facility to refinance its existing debt as well as meeting working capital and general corporate funding purposes. (source : Shares Investment)

3. ST Engineering (S63) - Has acquired Aviation Academy of America, a US flight school, for US$0.8 million ($1 million). The move is part of ST Engineering’s strategy to grow its pilot training capacity and capabilities to support the growing worldwide demand. (source : Shares Investment)

4. MYP (F86) - Proposed to acquire Affreton and the remaining 80-percent stake of Grace Shine, which it does not own, for $193.5 million. The target firms own two commercial buildings, ABI Plaza and MYP Plaza, as well as three condominium units. The combined market value of the properties is $504.5 million. (source : Shares Investment)

5. Vard Holdings (MS7) - Has secured a contract for the design and construction of one platform supply vessel for Carlotta Offshore, with delivery scheduled in 3Q15. (source : Shares Investment)

Cheers!

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Two Month Into This Blog And What Happened Today Is Not What I've Expected!

Unexpected Journey
I started this blog on 18th march 2014 with the objective of sharing what I've learned (about investing) and the progress of my mini Shares Investment venture. Prior to this, I am a total newbie as far as shares investment is concerned. During this two months period, I've completed 3 "buy" transactions and am still holding on to them (if you are interested to know my humble pick, check out my meagre portfolio here).
 
But what happens this afternoon is not something I've expected, it exceeded what I am asking for from blogging! Ok, it is nothing "life changing", in fact, it is something very routine to many of you but it is still worth my sharing.  
 
Before that, let me share a bit of the history: After I've decided to kick start my mini Shares Investment Venture, I've started to browse through some of the Singapore investment related blogs and found quite a number of great and resourceful blogs. One of them is Growing Your Tree Of Prosperity , after getting connected with the owner (Christopher Ng) via Facebook, we started to chat occasionally and hence establish our "virtual friendship". Through his blog and social media interaction, I learned more about him e.g. he is an author of a couple of Finance related books (can be found here and here through Amazon), an avid reader, a movie buff (like me) and also a man with mission (something towards the extend of blending legal with engineering).
 
Today, we finally met up for lunch and have a great chat on anything under the sun. Not only that, he brought along another fellow blogger (Desmond Yee) which is a bonus (or should I said "Dividend" in the Shares term?), I just loved making new friends, especially those liked minded ones!
 
I am sure we will meet again with them but just like to share my thought on this unexpected turn of event originated from this blog.
 
Cheers!

Two Key Much Needed Changes To Spur On More Retail Investors In Singapore

Singapore Retail Investors
Personally, I am a newbie retail investor (and a very small one), hence, after testing the "water" for a couple of months, I find that the Singapore Stock Market is quite vibrant but more a playground for the big guys (or the corporate investors).
 
The more I learned about the trade, the more I think it (shares investment) is one of the viable avenue to prevent corrosion of our hard-earned money from the inflation (as long as we do our homework). In any case, we all knew that the meagre interest rate from banks is no fight with the demon [read inflation].
 
Having said that, to spur more retail investors to join in the fun of "defining" our own rate of returns (no guarantee but it is a possibility), I find that we need to make the following two key changes ASAP :
 
1. Allowing trading of odd-lot (instead of the current 1,000 shares per lot). I know this is already in talk but it seems that the speed of launch is kind of slow. Once this is implemented, more retail investors will be able to afford the blue chips shares.
 
2. Reduce the current commission fee, especially the minimum fee which is ranging from $18 to $25 per transaction (depending on the broking firm that we are choosing). I know this is kind of the life blood of the broking firms but I think they have a part to play in encouraging more investors. If it is not possible to do away with this minimum fee (which is the best possible outcome for retail investors), maybe they are look into scale down minimum fee e.g. :
 
First 5 transaction : $25
6th transaction onwards : $10
 
(I know, this is only my "thinking out loud" wish list but I think this will definitely spur on more serious retail investors) 
 
I am pretty new to the shares market in Singapore, maybe I've missed out something that I should know. Do share your view and/or advice.

Cheers!

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