Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Finally Started My Mailing List To Bring My Blog To The Next Level - MailChimp

One of the most satisfying gain that I personally benefited from creating this blog is that I am learning new thing every single day. Besides the stock investing knowledge/tips from the regulars (like CW8888, B, LP etc... you know who you are ;-)), I've also learnt more about creating a better blog.
 
As advised by of the of the guru here to create my mailing list for my blog so that I can have more interaction with my readers/subscribers via email notification. As my blog is still at its infancy and I do not plan to spend any money on such Autoresponder service at the moment, I've done a quick research and decided to use of the popular Autoresponder called MailChimp which allow me to handle up to 2,000 subscribers for FREE (I am sure it will take me a long while to reach this milestone).

mailchimp.com
 
If you like what you've seen so far and would like to receive regular updates from me (so that you will never miss a post from Investopenly), do consider signing-up my mailing list by simply fill-up the information below (same sign-up form can be found at the end of this post):

Like What You See? Subscribe To Us Here...

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Thanks in advanced!

Cheers!

Berkshire Hathaway - The World Most Expensive Stock

Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett
After the success of my earlier post on the Biggest And Most Expensive Stocks In Singapore (from the pageviews perspective), I deduced that my blog readers are interested to see such Top Lists.
 
Talking about the most expensive stock, do you know which is the most expensive one in the world and how much per share?
 
I believed most of the Value Investors know this. It is non other than Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK). The closing share price as of yesterday is USD207,321 per share. Yes, there is no typo and it is really more than USD200K per share! For your information, the stock crossed the USD100K just 8 years ago (in 2006). Amazing right?
 
Of course, not many of us can afford to invest in Berkshire Hathaway (even for 1 share), unless you are talking about their B share (Berkshire Hathaway B) which is last traded at USD138.33 per share.
 
Cheers!

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 30th September 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. OUE (LJ3) - Proposed the investment in Nuvest Real Return Fund via the subscription of 2 million shares in the fund for US$200 million. In tandem with the company’s intention of optimising returns of its available funds, the target fund with a portfolio of diversified assets while leveraging on the fund manager’s expertise for risk management will not only allow the company to fulfill the stated objective but also to enhance its shareholder value. (source : Shares Investment)

forex trading course singapore

Cheers!

Monday, September 29, 2014

AP Oil - My CNAV Analysis

AP Oil
Inspired by a post from a fellow blogger, owner of Compounding Wealth Through Sensible Investing (click here to see his post), it seems that AP Oil (5AU) might be a great catch from Value Investing perspective. I decided to delve into it further with my CNAV (Conservative Net Asset Value) Analysis. 

Following are my findings (basing on 2013 Annual Report) :
Stock In Evaluation : AP Oil (5AU) 

The Key Quantitative Indicators of CNAV Strategy:

Net Asset Value (NAV)                             = $0.25
Conservative Net Asset Value (CNAV2)  = $0.19
Current Price                                              = $0.20
Discount For CNAV2                                = -7%

Conclusion : Since it is a negative "Discount for CNAV2", it means that the stock is traded at premium (from CNAV perspective). However, it is traded at a 20% discount when compared with the less conservative indicator, NAV. 
The P.O.F Scores of CNAV Strategy: 
Profitability Score         = 1 (With the PE ratio of 7.2)

Operational Efficiency = 1 (with three consecutive years of positive operating cash flow)

Financial Efficiency     = 1 (Debt To Equity Ratio of 24%)

Conclusion : A Perfect P.O.F Scoring

Final Conclusion : This stock is warrant to be in my watch-list and will plunge right in when the price hit the level of $0.19.

Are you vested in AP Oil? What is your take on this stock?

Cheers!  

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 29th September 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. Nam Cheong (N4E) - Marco Polo Marine says OSV builder Nam Cheong has agreed to invest up to US$30.7 million ($39.1 million) for a 30% stake in Marco Polo’s indirect Indonesian subsidiary PT Pelayaran Nasional Bina Buana Raya Tbk (BBR). For the complete report, click here. (source : The Edge)

2. Nam Cheong (N4E) - Secured contracts worth US$41 million ($52.1 million) for the sale of three anchor handling towing supply vessels to three repeat customers. In tandem with the latest contracts win and five vessels which were sold in September 2014, the company’s order book is lifted to RM1.9 billion. (source : Shares Investment)

3. Ziwo Holdings (I9T) - The manufacturer of foam and fabric materials, announced that Zhihe (Fujian) Technology Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of the group, has signed a Letter of Intent with Fu Dongli to acquire 25% equity stake in Xisheng (Quanzhou) Investment Co. for RMB160 million ($33.3 million). (source : The Edge)

4. Golden Agri-Resources (5EH) - The Singapore-listed holding company of crude palm oil producer PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology (SMART) Tbk , plans to enter into a joint venture with Compania Espanola de Petroleos (Cespa) of Spain. (source : The Edge)

5. Lum Chang Holdings (L19) - Says the company has increased its shareholdings in Kemensah Holdings (KHPL) by 49% from 51% to 100% for RM38.3 million ($14.9 million). For the complete report, click here(source : The Edge)


forex trading course singapore

Cheers!

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Latest ROE (Return On Equity) of STI Stocks

Return On Equity , ROE
If you are Value Investors that focus on Fundamental Analysis, I am sure ROE (Return On Equity) is a familiar indicator to you. For those who are not, basically ROE is a ratio (reflect in %) measuring a counter/index's financial performance. In layman term, this ratio tells us how much returns we can get for every dollar we invested in the counter. 

According to the latest report from SGX, the ROE for STI is 10.2% over the past 12 months. It is sitting nicely in between Nikkei 225's 8.0% and Heng Seng Index's 13.8%. Obviously, in simple term, the higher the ratio, the better it is. Personally think that this is an healthy ROE ratio. Of course, if it can improve to 12 to 15%, that would be an even better ratio ;-)

Formula for ROE = Trailing 12 month NET INCOME / [Average of the beginning and ending balance of total COMMON EQUITY]

As we all know, STI consists of 30 blue chips and following are the ROEs for each of the stock (source : Bloomberg) :
ROE on STI
Note : The three and four digits ROE in Starhub Ltd is due to the adoption of merger accounting in July 2012 when the shares of Singapore Cable Vision (SCV) were acquired and consolidated into the Starhub Group. 

Last but not least, ROE is just one of the many important ratios that we need to look at, do pay equal attention to others ratios like P/E (Price/Earning), Debt-To-Equity and Return On Asset (ROA) etc..

Have a great Sunday!

Cheers! 

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Would The Car-Free Nights At Orchard Road Bring More Buzz To The Nearby Retail Shops?

Orchard Road Singapore
If you have not already know, comes next Saturday, Singapore's busiest shopping strip will go car-free for a few hours. To be specific, on 4th Oct 2014 (Saturday) from 6 PM to 11 PM, the road from Ion Orchard to Ngee Ann City will be car-free zone and pedestrians are free to roam around the street (like their grandfather's road ;-)). 

This is a six-months trial campaign organised by The Orchard Road Business Association (Orba) and that stretch of road will gone car-free on every first Saturday of the month for the next 6 months. The main objective is to bring more buzz to the already busy Orchard Road. 

Personally, I quite like the feeling of roaming freely on the main road (this reminded me when it happened many years back during the road closure on the eve of Christmas and New Year). Also, I foresee that this campaign will be a success and the business of the nearby retailers will be the main beneficiaries.

Hopefully the haze or humidity doesn't spoil the nights so much and I will drop by one of these Saturdays to rekindle with the memories once again. 

Cheers! 

Friday, September 26, 2014

Biggest And Most Expensive Stocks In Singapore

TGIF! It is time to let our hair down and get ready to chill out over the weekend. In fact, many will start celebrating tonight already...
 
Suddenly, got an urge to find out which are the biggest (in terms of market cap size) and most expensive (in terms of stock prices) stocks in Singapore? So, I did a quick search and following are what I've discovered :
 
 
5 Biggest Stocks  (Market Cap) In Singapore:
 
1. Singtel (Z74)                                         - Market Cap : $60.91B
2. DBS Group (D05)                                 - Market Cap : $45.73B
3. Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd (J36)  - Market Cap : $40.92B
4. OCBC (U11)                                         - Market Cap : $38.51B
5. UOB (U11)                                           - Market Cap : $36.60B
 
5 Most Expensive Stocks (SGD) In Singapore:
 
1. Jardine Cycle & Carriage (C07)    - Latest Price : $43.03
2. Great Eastern Holding Ltd (G07)  - Latest Price : $23.76
3. UOB (U11)                                    - Latest Price : $22.64
4. DBS (D05)                                     - Latest Price : $18.49
5. Keppel Corporation (BN4)            - Latest Price : $10.52
 
Being a small retail investor, I have not vested in any of the above stocks yet but come next year (when the Board Lot Size reduces from 1,000 to 100), I will definitely look into investing in some of these blue chips.  
 
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Cheers!

Super Group (S10) - Why I Advised One Of My Reader To Wait And See

Super Group
Sometime back, I blogged about my long position on Super Group (S10) [click here to view]. For the past 2 months, the counter is experiencing a steady downward trend. Two days ago, one of my reader posted a comment on my post and asking for my insights about this counter (later on I understand that he is thinking about adding more Super Group shares since the share price is at the "low" now. I use low with quotation marks as it is really subjective).
 
My response to him/her is that since the share is still in the midst of downward trend, I will not add any position at the moment. The idea is simple, avoid buying stock that is on the downward trend as we will never know when it will hit the bottom (learnt it from one of the investment book ;-)). I use this guide whenever making a buy decision as I thought it make sense.
 
Following is the thread of our comment :
 
At the time of the writing, Super Group (S10) dropped a further 3% to $1.265. Are you vested in this counter? What is your view?
 
Cheers! 

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 26th September 2014

Market News in 2 minutes
TGIF! Have a great weekend ahead of you!

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. Teho International (5OQ) - The marine and offshore oil and gas company, says it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent with Eric Cheng Lye Meng and three other sellers to acquire a 100% stake in ECG Property Services (at $17 million of which $5 million will be paid in cash and the remaining $12 million paid in about 42.9 million shares at 28 cents each). (Source : The Edge)

2. Ascendas (Q1P) -  And Vietnam's Saigon Bund Capital partners have signed a joint venture deal to build a US$130-million ($165 million) business park in Ho Chi Minh City. (source : The Edge)

3. Ezion Holdings (5ME) - The liftboat owner and operator and offshore logistics support service provider, says wholly-owned subsidiary, Ezion Offshore Logistics Hub (EOLH) has entered into a memorandum of understanding with a large multinational fuel trading and distribution company for the potential storage and distribution of fuel on Port Melville in Northern Australia. (source : The Edge)

4. YuuZoo Corporation (AFC) - The social e-commerce shopping mall, said it has signed an exclusive partnership agreement with Turkey’s largest social fashion e-commerce aggregator Bukombin. (source : The Edge)

5. Sino Construction (F3V) - Proposed an off-market takeover bid to fully acquire the share capital of Guildford Coal (GUF), a company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, for a price of up to A$63.3 million (approximately $71.2 million). If successful, Sino Construction intends to finance the acquisition by the allotment of up to 229.6 million new shares where 1 share of Sino Construction is offered for every 4.5 shares in GUF. (source : Shares Investment)

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Cheers!

Thursday, September 25, 2014

DuckDuckGo - Small Search Engine That Might Go Big!

DuckDuckGo Search Engine
When come to Search Engine, I am sure most of the time we will think of Google, Yahoo or Bing. In fact, there are many more other search engines (big and small) around and some of designed to cater for specific searches like gif, photos etc...
 
If you are an iPhone/iPad users and already upgraded to iOS 8 and adventurous enough, I believed you will notice that you can now choose DuckDuckGo as your default search. This is the site that I am going to share today, even though it is not directly related to investing or personal finance but I am sure it is beneficial to Value Investors whom like to search for relevant news/reports.
 
First, let me share a bit of the background of DuckDuckGo, it was a small startup with not many employees that founded in 2008, in 2011, it has an average 1.5 millions visits per day. So what is its strength and why it stands out among the other smaller Search Engines?
 
Here are my take :
 
1. It is Privacy Respecting search engine i.e. it keep searches and information private, and it pledges not to pass along these information to increase advertising.
 
2. It is focus on delivering BEST results (i.e. more relevant ones) instead of MOST results.
 
3. The UI (User Interface) is very clean (as compared to the giants like Google, Yahoo etc..)
 
At the moment, there is less than 10% of the online users aware of this search engine but with the recent inclusion in iOS 8, its market share might changed, sooner rather than later.
 
Just did a trial to search "Value Investing" in DuckDuckGo and here is the result:
 
DuckDuckGo Search Engine
DuckDuckGo search result for "Value Investing"
So, go ahead and give this ducky a try and you might find relevant information that you can't find from other search engines.
 
Cheers!

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 25th September 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. Wilmar International (F34) - Says it welcomes the announcement by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that it will not oppose the proposed acquisition of Goodman Fielder by the company and First Pacific. For the complete report, click here(source : The Edge)

Cheers!

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Infographic - 6 Key Points You Need To Know About The Upcoming Board Lot Size Changes

As per my earlier post and the motivating comments That I've received from you folks, here I am, developing my very first Infographic related to the local Personal Finance arena.
 
Being a Shares Investment blog, I thought it is only right for my maiden Infographic to be related to Shares Investment. Hence, I've picked the theme of the upcoming important changes to the local stock market : Reduction of the Board Lot Size (2015).    
 
Here you go!
 
[Note : If the image is deemed too small, do consider save it to your local drive and enlarge it for better viewing]

 
This being my first, I hope to receive feedback (positive or negative) from you folks on area that I've done right and more importantly the area that I can improve on in my future infographics. Thank you in advanced.

Cheers!

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 24th September 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. Metech International (QG1) - Has agreed to invest an initial in RM1.3 million ($500,000) in Malaysian mining company Pulai Mining. Established in 1998 in southern Kelantan, Pulai Mining has an exploration licence for gold and other minerals covering an area of 37 sq km. For the complete report, click here. (source : The Edge)

2. Jumbo Group, the Singapore restaurant chain known for its chili and black pepper crabs, plans to sell shares in an initial public offering next year, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. (source : The Edge)

3. SMRT (S53) - Announced that subsidiary Singapore Rail Engineering (SRE) and Toshiba Corporation have set up joint venture company Railise Pte Ltd. Railise will market and supply propulsion systems using Toshiba’s Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) technology. (source : The Edge)

4. Pteris Global (UD3) - Said its subsidiary Shenzhen CIMC-TianDa Airport Support Co. has received a letter of award from Zhengzhou XinZheng International Airport for the supply and installation of Airport Passenger Boarding Bridges (PBB) for the airport’s Terminal 2 Phase 2 expansion project. The contract is valued at RMB227 million ($46.8 million). (source : The Edge)

5. SBI Offshore (5PL) -  Announced that it will raise $16.2 million from placing new shares to four investors including Malaysian businessman, Mirzan bin Mahathir. For the complete report, click here. (source : The Edge)

6. Sembcorp Marine (S51) - Says its wholly-owned subsidiary SMOE has secured a contract with Bechtel for the fabrication of liquefied natural gas processing modules for a resource project in Western Australia. The contract value is estimated at US$190 million ($240.8 million).  (source : The Edge)

7. Cosco Corporation (F83) - Said that shipyards of its subsidiary have won contracts worth US$230 million ($291.5 million).  (source : The Edge)

Cheers!

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Would You Be Interested To See More Local Personal Finance Related Infographic?

I am a fan of Infographics, in fact had tried to create a few of my very own Infographics in my other movie related blog (continue reading to find out more). So, I have been thinking whether readers of this blog would be interested to see such infographics in local personal finance context?
 
The main reason that I like about infographic is because  of its ease of conception as most of the time the infographics are presented in a fun and attractive graphical way. Of course, it takes time to create such infographics but if my readers are keen to see more of such infographics on local personal finance aspact, I don't mind spending sometime in researching and creating some infographics for sharing.
 
In case you are not sure what is Infographic, check out the definition as indicated in the image on top and following is the example of Movie Infographic that I've created last year in one of my movie blog (Ultimate 3D Movies) :
 
 
So, what do you think? Would you like to see more such infographics?
 
Cheers!

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 23rd September 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. Tritech Group (5G9) - Said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tritech Consultants had won a $13.795 million contract by the Land Transport Authority. For complete report, click here. (source : The Edge)

2. Vallianz Holdings (545) - The provider of offshore support vessels and marine solutions, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Vallianz Shipbuilding & Engineering (VSE) has agreed to acquire a shipyard facility in Batam, Indonesia for $19.8 million. For complete report, click here. (source : The Edge)

3. City Developments (C09) -  Agreed to purchase Anting Investments for US$22.6 million. Anting Investments, an investment company incorporated in Mauritius, owns a subsidiary, Shanghai Anting Waratah Real Estate Development Co which comes with a paid up capital of US$12.5 million. The proposed acquisition will provide City Developments an opportunity to expand and enhance its presence in China. (source : Shares Investment)

4. Pacific Radiance (T8V) - Has acquired another 40 percent of equity interest in CrestSA Marine & Offshore for $2 million. When completed, the target company will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific Radiance. (source : Shares Investment)

5. Wee Hur Holdings (E3B) - Bagged a housing building works project worth $157.7 million from the Housing & Development Board for the construction of 10 residential blocks, a multi-storey car park, linkways, roof gardens, driveways, service roads and landscaping works at Punggol West. Estimated to take 2.5 years to complete starting October, this newly-acquired contract strengthens the group’s order book to an estimated $404.9 million. (source : Shares Investment)

Cheers!

Monday, September 22, 2014

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 22nd September 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. SingTel (Z74) - Says it will invest $500 million over the next five years and hire 1,000 engineers as part of a three-pronged strategy to build strengths in cyber security, smart cities and analytics. These facilities will experiment with fresh ideas that can then be commercialised here and in markets where Singapore has a footprint such as in Australia, India and some African countries.(source : The Edge)

2. Singapore Exchange (SGX) today launched a new research and company fundamentals portal on its website, called SGX StockFacts. It has several features, including a research database; customised search; new proprietary tools, including S&P Capital IQ Alpha Factor Composites; and downloading and printing of company snapshots for easy analysing. (source : The Edge)

3. Fragrance Group (F31) - Is proposing to spin off its Australian property business for a Catalist listing. (source : The Edge)

4. Yoma Strategic Holdings (Z59) - Said it has topped out building B1 in Zone B of its Star City residential development. Star City is situated on a 135-acre site in the Thanlyin Township in Yangon. Zone B is the second phase of the estate which construction started in April 2013. (source : The Edge)

Cheers!

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Would Tech Stocks Cool Again After The Phenomena Success Of Alibaba IPO?

Alibaba
Alibaba had a phenomena success in their IPO outing on Friday in the New York Stock Exchange and made history (see my post here). Immediately, there is an article in the Invest section of The Sunday Times with the header "Tech stocks are cool again with Alibaba listing". (by Rachael Boon).

Of course, talk about Tech Stocks, some of the big names like Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple etc.. come to mind. To me these are still solid household name tech stocks with vast potential. The articles citing some of the local tech stocks like Acma (A01), Creative Technology (C76), Sarine Technologies (U77) and Trek 2000 International (5AB). Personally, I am not too familiar with these tech stocks and hence not here to share my view about their potential (or whether they will be cool again?).

What I can say is that the success of Alibaba (now or future) has nothing to do with other tech stocks, hence, even it might triggered some sense of coolness among the similar stocks, even spike (if any) will be temporary. Hence, let's not read too much into the success of one single stock and focus on the fundamental of the business. Of course, it would be different story if your are a trader and not an investor. 

What is your view about tech stocks? 

Cheers!

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Jack Ma's Alibaba made IPO history in US stock Market

Alibaba
HAPPY WEEKEND TO ALL!

Just back from my usual weekend soccer game and waiting for wife for the lunch. While I've some time to spent, just like to share a breaking news that you might probably knew.

Jack Ma's Alibaba made history in the US stock market by becoming the biggest IPO launch thus far. Raised about $21.3 billions via IPO. On its first day of trading yesterday, it hits the roof by closing 38% higher at $93.89. Without a doubt, Jack Ma is the wealthiest person in China now.

Personally, I didn't manage to tap on this one of a lifetime opportunity, what about you? Valued at $231 billions at the moment, I foresee that it still has potential to go further up. Take Amazon as a comparison (which has similar eCommerce business model), it was last traded at $331.32.

What do you think?

ALIBABA - it has truly transforming from a fairy tale for kid to fairy tale for adult!

Cheers!

Friday, September 19, 2014

Let's Get Inspired By Warren Buffett's Best Quotes [Video]

Warren Buffett
TGIF! It's time to let down our hair and get crazy or cosy with friends and family. If you are stagnant or stuck in your investing journey and need some inspiration. This post is for you! 
 
Check out the following 10 best quotes from Warren Buffett over the years.
 
Enjoy! 
 
Cheers!

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 19th September 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. Loyz Energy (594) - Said the company had on 10 September 2014 been served a writ of summons by Advance Capital Partners. Advance Capital Partners claims Loyz had failed to repay a loan of $4 million.(source : The Edge)

2. Giken Sakata (542) - Announced that PT Cepu Sakti Energy, a subsidiary of the company, has entered into two cooperation agreements with PT Sarana Patra Jateng. The Trembul and Gabus agreements grant the right to PT CSE to managea total of 70 old oil wells in Central Java. (source : The Edge)

3. Singapore Exchange (S68) - Said it is adding new Asian foreign exchange (FX) futures contracts on Chinese RMB (USD/CNH, CNY/USD), Japanese Yen (USD/JPY) and Thai Baht (THB/USD). The new Asian FX contracts will be available for trading from 20 October 2014. (source : The Edge)

4. Xinren Aluminum Holdings (MN5) - Said its 51%-owned subsidiary, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Agricultural Division Eight Xinjiang Tianshan Aluminum Plant Co., has acquired 55% stake in Xinjiang Tianfu Coal Mining Co. for RMB88.6 million ($18.3 million). (source : The Edge)

5. DeClout (5UZ) - Said its wholly-owned subsidiary Corous360 has entered into a joint venture agreement with local games veteran Jacky Choo See Wee, to create Epicsoft Asia, a games distribution platform for Asia Pacific. For the complete story of the report, click here.  (source : The Edge)

6. Keppel Land (K17 ) - Agreed to dispose of its one-third interest in Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 3 to Keppel Real Estate Investment Trust for $710.1 million (subject to completion and post completion adjustments). (source : Shares Investment)

Cheers!

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Top 6 Movies About Financial Markets [List]

Movies about financial markets
I am a self-proclaimed movie buff and like to watch movies (all genre) since young. Since this blog is about Stock Investment and there are quite a number of movies related to financial markets (mostly are related to Wall Street) which I thought worth sharing.
 
Just like to clarify that I didn't watch all the movies that I am about to share but if you are into movies and have not watch them, can consider going to library to loan them or watch it online. Also, the list below are not in any particular order but personally my preference it #1 and #6.
 
Enjoy...
 
Top 6 Movies About Financial Markets
 
#1 Wall Street (1987)
Directed By : Oliver Stone
Casts : Charlie Sheen, Michael Douglas, Tamara Tunie, Franklin Cover
Short Synopsis : A young and impatient stockbroker is willing to do anything to get to the top, including trading on illegal inside information taken through a ruthless and greedy corporate raider who takes the youth under his wing. 

#2 Boiler Room (2000)
Directed By : Ben Younger
Casts : Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Nia Long, Nicky Katt
Short Synopsis : A college dropout gets a job as a broker for a suburban investment firm, which puts him on the fast track to success, but the job might not be as legitimate as it sounds..

#3 Margin Call (2011)
Directed By : J.C. Chandor
Casts : Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany
Short Synopsis : Follows the key people at an investment bank, over a 24-hour period, during the early stages of the financial crisis.
 
#4 Rogue Trader (1999)
Directed By : James Dearden
Casts : Ewan McGregor, Anna Friel, Yves Beneyton, Betsy Brantley
Short Synopsis : The story of Nick Leeson, an ambitious investment broker who singlehandedly bankrupted one of the oldest and most important banks in Britain.
#5 Wall Street : Money Never Sleeps (1999)
Directed By : Oliver Stone
Casts : Shia LaBeouf, Michael Douglas, Carey Mulligan, Josh Brolin
Short Synopsis : Now out of prison but still disgraced by his peers, Gordon Gekko works his future son-in-law, an idealistic stock broker, when he sees an opportunity to take down a Wall Street enemy and rebuild his empire.
 
#6 The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Directed By : Martin Scorsese
Casts : Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey
Short Synopsis : Based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stock-broker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government
 
Which of the abovementioned movies have you watched and which is/are your personal best?
 
Cheers!

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 18th September 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. Raffles Education Corporation (NR7) - Is acquiring a hotel and facilities, seven commercial units and a plot of land with teaching building and dormitories, in Nendaz, Switzerland. The total consideration for the acquisition is CHF29.12 million ($39.8 million). For the complete report, click here. (source : The Edge)

2. Singapore and Australia have agreed to give each other access to trade repositories, or databases of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives trading, pushing for transparency in Asia’s top two hubs for such transactions. For the complete report, click here. (source : The Edge)

3. SGX plans to introduce the minimum trading price requirement  (20 cents) and adjustments to the existing watch-list requirements by March 2015, and for them to take effect from March 2016.

4. Triyards Holdings (RC5) - Is planning to place out 29.5 million new shares at 70 cents each institutional investors to raise up to $20.7 million. For the complete report, click here. (source : The Edge)

Cheers!

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Interview With The Owner Of "The Independent Abecedarian"

After almost a month's gap, finally, I've gotten my 19th interviewee for my "Interview With The Fellow Investor" series. He is non-other than the owner of The Independent Abecedarian.  

I get to know the owner of The Independent Abecedarian (let's call him CS) only a couple of weeks ago. We first interacted through each other's blog and with my skin that is growing thicker, I asked whether he is interested to be featured in my blog series and what happens next is as per the following. So, there is always advantage for being thick skin ;-)

Without further ado, let's check out CS' investing journey through his own words! 

Enjoy....  

Q1 : Can you give us a brief introduction about yourself?
A1 : Having studied Finance during my polytechnic days, this subject immediately pulled me in to study deep on how to obtain Financial Independence. I am an ambitious dreamer who wants to be a Web Developer, Financial Advisor and an Inspiring Writer. But most importantly, I vision to be Financially Independent one day.

Q2 : Are you a full-time or part-time investor at the moment?
A2 : Having just started real investing just a couple of months ago, I am currently still a part-time investor. On the other hand, I have been trading the Foreign Exchange for around a year now and I am still observing if this could be made into a full-time job in near future!

Q3 : When (at what age) did you start investing in shares and who has influenced you the most?
A3 : For shares, I started only around July this year through OCBC’s Blue Chip Investment Plan. The person who influenced me most to start investing is definitely my father. He currently trades options, commodities, Funds such as ETFs, as well as foreign and local shares. In addition, I got further persuaded by various local financial bloggers who influenced teens to start investing early (you know who you are).

Q4 : Do you view yourself as long-term (holding shares in years), short-term investor (holding shares in days/months) or mixture?
A4 : For shares, currently I am looking more of long term investment, such as my current portfolio where I will be holding the shares for 3-5years. However in a couple of years’ time, I would like to try trading with CFDs which allows me to leverage on my investment skills and capital.

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])?
A5 : For long term investment, fundamental analysis is definitely the way to go. As for myself, I believe in investing in companies that provides products or services with solid demand even in financial crisis. I will be explaining my take for my current investment in near future (I’m already drafting it out)! 

Q6 : What is your targeted and achieved annual rate of returns (%) so far? 
A6 : My targeted rate of returns : 12 % p.a.
My achieved rate of returns : “0 to 5%”

Q7 : What is your most recommended online investing resource (site or blog) to share with our readers? 
A7 : My most recommended information rich Financial sites that I can guarantee that you’ll learn something out of each of them are here. It would be updated as I go whilst keeping and adding only the most valuable sites.

Q8 : Besides shares, what other investment are you involved in (e.g. Real Estates, Bonds or REITs etc)?
A8 : As above, I am currently trading Forex with Oanda Forex Account too. I would also like to invest in REITs and bonds in near future! :)

Q9 : What is your current Shares Investment portfolio size (in range, no need specific)? 
A9 : My current investment portfolio is $7,000 excluding my emergency funds, where $4,000 are invested in 4 Singapore Blue-Chips and $1,000 in my Forex trading account.

Q10 : If the readers want to get in touch with you, how to get hold of you? (Sharing of your website/blog/social media profile etc..)
A10 : I can always be contacted via my website’s contact page

By the way, if you are a retail investor and would like to be featured in my "Interview With The Fellow Investors" blog series, please feel free to email me at investopenly@gmail.com

Also, for the complete list of my interviewees and their posts, check it out here.

Cheers!

Are You In A Maze In Your Investing Journey?

The Maze Runner
Yesterday evening, went to watch The Maze Runner with wife in IMAX, overall, we quite like the movie. It is suspenseful and entertaining at the same time. Adapted from the best-selling Young Adult novel, basing on how the movie ended, sequels are to be expected (if this movie done well in the box office).
 
The movie set me thinking : we, the retail investors are like the maze runners, we are continuously running around/within the giant maze of the virtual stock market with the hope to find an EXIT door that lead us to "Rome". Some resourceful and knowledgeable ones might be able to make it while others might be consumed by The Maze and never come out.
 
However, just like how the movie ended, even for those who made it to the EXIT door (at last), it might just be a beginning of another maze (The Phase 2 or 3 etc..). Of course, I am not saying that it is a bad thing, I am just saying that we are in a never ending maze-like investing world! ;-)
 
If you have not watched the movie, check out the trailer below :


Cheers!

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 17th September 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 Airlines (C6U) - Its long-haul budget carrier, Scoot, has opened its books for the first time and the picture is not pretty. It revealed losses of more than $25 millions less than two years, the Straits Times reported. (source : The Edge)

2. YuuZoo Corporation (AFC) - Started trading on the SGX Mainboard yesterday. The listing follows the reverse takeover of W Corporation by YuuZoo. YuuZoo says it is the first Singapore-based social e-commerce company to be listed on the SGX. (source : The Edge)

3. Keppel Corporation (BN4) - Secured a repeat contract from Gulf Drilling International for its fifth jackup rig from Keppel for US$227 million. The agreement for the jackup rig, scheduled for delivery in 1Q16, includes options for two more rigs for deliveries in 2017. (source : Shares Investment)

4. Singapore Medical Group (5OT) - Its flagship clinic, The LASIK Surgery Clinic, will offer the latest vision correction procedure, ReLEx® SMILE, to address the different needs and profiles of its patients.

Cheers!

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Singapore Stock Market - Is It The Start Of The Downward Trend?

STI Singapore Stock Market
Yesterday, Singapore's STI down about 1% (33 points). As at this afternoon (16th Sep), STI down about 24 points and went below the 3,300 line to 3,287.65. Is it a sign of the beginning of the downward trend?
 
Of course, no one know for sure but as per what I've answered one of the prominent blogger's (Ah Tom) interview question, I foresee that Singapore's stock market will be weak for the next few months (just my personal view).
 
So, for those who have kept their war chest tightly under your pillow or multi-layered-secured safe, it might be time for them to see the light again...soon,...maybe..! ;-)

"When others are fearful, be greedy ; when others are greedy, be fearful!"

Cheers!

Top 4 Online Income Streams [List]

We are in the 21st Century aka the online era. There are multiple ways that we can tap on the internet world to generate multiple online income streams. Yes, I treat stock investment as one of the online method as we can buy/sell with just a few clicks in our laptop/mobile devices. 
 
As part of my "Top x List" blog series, today, I would like to share a few online income stream sources that I am aware of. I don't claim to be pro in any of these fields, far from it actually but I do have some beginner experience with some of these methods.
 
Also, I am avoiding using the word "Passive" as I am of the view that there is nothing passive about most of these methods, there are still work to be done before we can really gain from it.
 
Top 4 Online Income Stream Sources :
 
1. Stock Investing - This is where most of the readers of this blog are familiar with (or interested to get familiar with). Of course, this method needs ready capital/fund (war chest) in order to take advantage of the opportunities. I classified ETFs, REITs, Mutual Fund investing under this category too.
 
2. Forex/Commodities Trading - Foreign Exchange and Commodities are two common trading
avenue here (on top of stock trading). In future, I might look into the Forex Trading but don't have interest in Commodities trading at all.
 
3. Options/Binary Options Trading - A more complex securities for more seasoned investors.
 
4. Online Business/marketing - I can further categorised this in 3 sub-categories:
a. Sell your skills online - We all have our own set of skills (like writing, website design etc..), there are platform that allow you to earn some side income by providing your skills. For example, Fiverr or Freelancer.   
b. Sell your product/service - You can create your own site/blog to sell your own online products/services (like eBooks, website templates etc..)
c. Sell other people's products/services - This is where the Affiliate Marketing and Online Advertisement come into picture. Some main players to go to are Google's AdSense, Amazon, Linkshare and Commission Junction.
 
Can you think of other online income streams?
 
Cheers!

Market News In 2 Minutes @ 16th September 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. Triyards Holdings (RC5) - The offshore vessel fabricator and engineering solutions provider, said it won a liftboat contract worth US$50.5 million ($63.9 million). (source : The Edge)

2. Ezion Holdings (5ME) - Said it won an agreement with a contract value of up to US$76 million ($96 million) over a three-year period including extension options. The contract is for Ezion to provide a service rig for a Southeast Asia-based national oil company to support its oil & gas activities. (source : The Edge)

3. Swissco Holdings (ADP) - Said it has bought its first liftboat. The company, which owns and operates a fleet of offshore support vessels, tugs and barges, paid US$56 million ($70 million) for the self-propelled liftboat, which is expected to be completed in two years and will be deployed in Southeast Asia by a shipyard. (source : The Edge)

4. Global Logistic Properties (MC0) - The leading provider of modern logistics facilities in China, Japan and Brazil, said it has signed a new lease agreement with a large state-owned consumer goods company for 1.2 million sqft in Midwestern China. (source : The Edge)

Cheers!

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