Sam's Financial Blog

Buy and Sell Share using different Trading Account

2010-10-27T10:51:00.001+08:00

You can buy shares using POEMS Trading Account and once the shares are fully paid up, its transferred to CDP as free balance. Then you can use Lim and Tan Trading Account to sell the shares.

Standard Chartered Online Banking Promotion

2010-10-27T10:41:00.001+08:00

The below message was sms to me:

"Get a $10 Starbucks voucher when you pay any bank's VISA or Mastercard credit cards bills via Standard Chartered's Online Banking before 31 Oct 2010."

Opening trading account.

2010-10-02T14:13:00.000+08:00

I have been sharing with you guys on how to saving, earn passive income, investing and etc. I have not tell you guys how to start trading stock.

Those already have the trading account will say, just call broker and say the num of shares of company to buy or sell.

The next question will be, how to open a trading account? Its simple, just need to make a phone call to the stock agency and tell them you wanted to opening a trading accpunt to start trading shares. They will make sure u have all account needed for the trade.

Below are some of the agency in Singapore:
1) Poems
2) Lim and Tan
3) UOB Kay Hian
4) OcBC

Fuel Discount of 19.25% @ Esso.

2010-09-28T22:06:00.004+08:00

I just went to Esso to top-up fuel and find out that I was given a 15% station discount and I will still enjoy a 5% off using my Citibank Dividend Credit Card.

Total of 19.25% off fuel top-up.

After that, I received a sms from Citibank and find out that this offer end at 30 Sept 2010.

Car Owner, so what are you waiting for?

Back to Basics

2010-09-24T10:01:00.002+08:00

I am wondering does anyone know what does "Back to Basics" means. I come across a topic posted by Imsavvy on facebook with the above topic.

Its interesting to know that not all are aware of the importance of saving. That is the most basic things to do in personal financial. Without saving, you will not be able to make your money work for u, will not have money during emergency and will have to keep working hard for the money. Is that what u want in life?

If the answer is "NO", then start to save NOW.

The next question will be, how to save? If u have read my older post on "Saving", you will get the answer. But I will still say it here. Saving is money u put aside before your expenses. That means u need to put at least 10% to 20% of your salary aside as saving before you start to spend on your expenses. How to do this when my expenses is the same amount as my salary?

You need to go thru your expenses and cut those that is not a necessity. Eg. SCV, 2nd mobile line, 2nd internet line, going to restaurant for meal, turning on aircon to cool room 30 mins before sleep, turning on water heater 30mins before bathing, etc...

Plan your expenses so that u can save 10% to 20% every month, and NOT pay your expenses then the rest will be your saving.

How to make money in Stock Market?

2010-09-24T00:00:00.002+08:00

I have heard many saying that the stock market is risky and should not be going into it.

What I see and heard is totally different, but I don't disagree that the stock market is risky but u can control the risk. There are many who know how to control the risk and are making their money work so hard for them to earn them more money.

Seller to pay Stamp Duty

2010-02-20T16:45:00.003+08:00

Anyone who sell their property within a year of buying (from date of purchase) will need to pay Stamp Duty of 3%.

Example:
You bought a property and sell it for $700K, you need to pay stamp duty of $15600. This is on top of the stamp duty you need to pay on purchase.

Bank will also capped the lending to 80% of the purchase price. That mean u need to have 20% of cash ready for purchasing.

The new rule is to curb property speculation.

Why are debt settlement companies protesting BBB’s new rating system?

2010-02-18T00:56:00.002+08:00

Author: Robin Williams

Debt settlement is one of the debt relief options that many cash strapped debtors opt for. In this debt help option, the total debt you owe gets reduced by as much as 40% to 60%. This is usually made possible by debt settlement companies that negotiate with creditors to reduce the outstanding balance. And when a debt settlement or a debt relief company is hired for their services, the consumers usually check the Reliability report of the Better Business Bureau to find out if the debt settlement company is worth being hired.

The Better Business bureau earlier rated businesses as “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory”. However, since 2009, it has changed the way it rates companies. Under the new system, the BBB will grade a company on a scale ranging between A+ and F. There will be 16 categories on the basis of which a business will be rated. The new grading system has been applied to around 4 million companies listed in the database of Better Business Bureau.

The TASC or the Association of Debt Settlement Companies warns that “Under the BBB’s new rating system, it is virtually impossible for a debt settlement company to be rated anything other than a ‘D’ or ‘F’”.

In a letter that was addressed to National Council of Better Business Bureau, the Association of Settlement Companies said that “there are critical flaws in the BBB’s consumer grading system as it applies to settlement firms.”

Consumers are of the opinion that debt settlement which is an alternative to bankruptcy can prevent many from declaring themselves bankrupt if they can derive benefits from a debt settlement program.

However, under this grading system almost all debt settlement companies will be given a poor rating. TASC is of the opinion that the main reason why the debt settlement companies are being rated low is due to the fact that Better Business Bureau doesn’t consider debt settlement as an effective debt solution that can help debtors get rid of debts.

If you are planning to hire the services of a debt settlement company, it is best to do a bit of homework and then settle for a company that is reliable. A BBB rating may mislead you due to the low grade it gives to a debt settlement company.

What is Preference Shares?

2009-11-21T17:22:00.002+08:00

Preference shares holders will be given dividend before ordinary shareholders and have priority claims on company asset if the company go bankrupt but will have limited voting rights on company decision. Preference shareholders will get fixed amount of dividend even if the company make more profit for the financial year.

What is ordinary shares?

2009-11-21T17:20:00.005+08:00

Ordinary Shares is the common share trades in the stock exchanges. It give the shareholders the right to vote during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and will be given dividends when the company make profit. If company have more profit and the board of directors and shareholders decided to give more dividend, then ordinary shareholders will get more.

What is a Shares?

2009-11-13T23:41:00.004+08:00

Shares is the ownership of the company. If the company issued 1000000 shares and you have 10000 shares, then you hold 1% of the company. This 1% enable you to vote for important matter during the annual general meeting.

Trading US Stock Market.

2009-09-03T15:07:00.003+08:00

Have been trading US market and make money from it. The good thing about US market is that the price is going up and down very fast:

Eg. Open: $1.00, High: $1.50, Low: $0.90, Close: $1.30

The different from Low to High is $0.60. If you buy 1000 shares at $1.00 and sell off at $1.30, you make $260 (commission: $40 for buy and sale).

If you manage to buy at low and sell at high, then you will make $540. This is within a day or minutes of trading.

Temasek Holding - Ho Ching will step down as CEO.

2009-02-08T02:51:00.003+08:00

On Feb 6 - Ms Ho Ching will step down as Temasek Holding CEO. Mr Charles (“Chip”) W. Goodyear, the former CEO of BHP Billiton, will replace Ho Ching on Oct. 1.

Esso Mobil Smiles Member

2009-01-05T10:37:00.001+08:00

Attention to all Esso Mobil Smiles Members and all car owners!!!

Esso Mobil is giving 9% discount on petrol to all the smiles members till 31 Jan 09!

If you have Citibank Dividend Credit Card, you will get additional 5% cash rebate and also additional 3% rebate from your monthly statement.

The total petrol discount will be around 16%.

Credit Card

2008-12-30T11:55:00.003+08:00

Most of the credit card companies now offer 0% interest for 6-12 months if you did not pay up in full for the month. Please take note that its stated very clearly that it will only last you for 6-12 months and not always 0% interest.

So if you are not careful, you will end up paying interest and if you are not able to pay in full at the end of the 12 month period, this will become your credit card debt.

PayPal Account For Merchant and Buyer

2008-12-27T09:55:00.003+08:00

Need an account to make payment or receive payment from buyer?

Don't how to create an account that can accept credit card payment?

Click on the banner below to find out more

Get paid to read Email.

2008-12-21T16:29:00.005+08:00

Want to earn passive income?

You may be asking how. Its simple, just follow the steps below.

- Click here to join as member.
- open up the email sent to you.
- ask more frds to join under you.

Click on the banner to get started.

Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements: The Search for the Company with a Durable Competitive Advantage

2008-12-21T00:13:00.001+08:00

Amazon's Editorial Reviews:

Review
"Just as top musicians memorize scales, and the best golfers perfect swings at the driving range, investors who want sustainable, good returns must master the critical basics that Mary Buffett and David Clark lay out for us in this clear explanation of Warren Buffett's methods. I don't think there has been a better time for investors to relearn the fundamentals. Follow these methods and you will see results!" - Timothy P. Vick, senior portfolio manager, The Sanibel Captiva Trust Company, and author of How to Pick Stocks
Like Warren Buffett

Product Description

With an insider's view of the mind of the master, Mary Buffett and David Clark have written a simple guide for reading financial statements from Warren Buffett's succccessful perspective.

Buffett and Clark clearly outline Warren Buffett's strategies in a way that will appeal to newcomers and seasoned Buffettologists alike. Inspired by the seminal work of Buffett's mentor, Benjamin Graham (The Interpretation of Financial Statements, 1937), this book presents Buffett's interpretation of financial statements with anecdotes and quotes from the master investor himself.

Potential investors will discover:

• Buffett's time-tested dos and don'ts for interpreting an income statement and balance sheet
• Why high research and development costs can kill a great business
• How much debt Buffett thinks a company can carry before it becomes too dangerous to touch
• The financial ratios and calculations that Buffett uses to identify the company with a durable competitive advantage -- which he believes makes for the winning long-term investment
• How Buffett uses financial statements to value a company
• What kinds of companies Warren stays away from no matter how cheap their selling price

Once readers complete and master Buffett's simple financial calculations and methods for interpreting a company's financial statement, they'll be well on their way to identifying which companies are going to be tomorrow's winners -- and which will be the losers they should avoid at all costs.

Destined to become a classic in the world of investment books, Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements is the perfect companion volume to The New Buffettology and The Tao of Warren Buffett.

About the Author
Mary Buffett is an author and lecturer on investing and was married to Warren's son Peter for twelve years. She and David Clark -- a longtime friend of the Buffett family who is a portfolio manager, attorney, and lecturer on the subject of Buffettology -- are the bestselling authors of the internationally acclaimed investment books Buffettology, The New Buffettology, and The Buffettology Workbook.

Mary Buffett is an author and lecturer on investing and was married to Warren's son Peter for twelve years. She and David Clark -- a longtime friend of the Buffett family who is a portfolio manager, attorney, and lecturer on the subject of Buffettology -- are the bestselling authors of the internationally acclaimed investment books Buffettology, The New Buffettology, and The Buffettology Workbook.

Adam Khoo's Secrets Of Millionaire Investors

2008-12-18T18:08:00.005+08:00

There are a lot of books out there on how to become a millionaire, and quite a few on investing as well. Mostly, they’re disappointing. The millionaire books might be inspirational, the good ones anyway, and they may have some advice that’s useful, but in order to actually making them work, you would have to sign up for follow-up seminars and the special, proprietary coaching programs of the authors, all of them expensive.

And about those books on investments – they tend to be disappointing for a different reason: Either they’re too basic and conservative, in the vein of promising you that you too can become a millionaire if you invest 10% of your salary for the next 40 years.

Or they are, once again, too vague. They might provide introductions into some of the basics of certain aspects of stock trading, but if you’d try to actually follow their advice, you’d soon find yourself in hot water.

Not so with Adam Khoo and Conrad Lim’s book, Secrets of Millionaire Investors. Just from looking at the title, I would have probably expected more of the same. But Adam and Conrad actually provide the blueprints – and the details – on how to make investing work.

The book starts with a bang – taking us right into the world of trading stocks, and the challenges Adam faced during his first attempts at making it work. Let’s just say it wasn’t a pretty sight. For two years, he played it safe after that.

But the failures were just stepping stones, prompting Adam to seek out mentors and models from whom he could learn, something he discusses in much detail in some of his other books, for example in Master Your Mind and in Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires.

His key role model: Warren Buffett, arguably the world’s most successful investor. He studied what Buffett had done and quickly saw where he himself had gone wrong. His other investing books were of the sort I mentioned above – providing good but incomplete information, and Adam learned the hard way that a little knowledge, even if it’s good, can be very dangerous.

So he set out to learn everything he needed to know to become a successful investor, and started to apply what he learned. First he focused on Singapore, but he quickly moved on to the U.S. stock market, a much more dynamic marketplace.

But even skilled investing in the stock market only gets you so far. He soon noticed that some of his friends doubled their money in weeks... by buying options.

So he attended seminars and quickly expanded his expertise to options as well.

Next, Adam’s co-author, Conrad Lim, shares his own rags-to-riches story. He decided to learn about the stock market after going through several business failures and a bankruptcy. I actually find that inspiring. It means that even after thorough failure, you have a chance to better yourself, and become wealthy.

On his quest to learn about the stock market, Conrad too suffered the failures caused by good but incomplete information. He quickly learned from his mistakes, though, and slowly, he was making gains. After about a year, he was consistently earning a nice full-time income just from trading stocks, and things went uphill from there. He went from failure to becoming someone people sought out for advice.

Next, the book goes into the meat of investing, starting by dispelling the myths perpetrated by most of the other books, especially the one about the correlation between low risk and low return on one side, and high risk and high return on the other.

A poignant quote by Warren Buffett underlines that point:

“Risk Comes from Not Knowing What You Are Doing”

And that’s the situation the book sets out to remedy. I was amazed at the wealth of detail the book went into – efficiently and clearly explained in its 272 pages. And not just regular stock investing either, but all the fancy stuff, including options and short-selling.

Here’s some of the kind of information covered in this book:

1. Basic principles of how the stock market works, and how to work the stock market successfully, including such gems as how to make sure you get out early if you picked the wrong stock without getting burned too badly.

2. In a chapter, called “The Idiot Proof Way To Making Money” the authors explain the first and most basic system for making money in stocks. They argue that with the information they provide, it’s possible to achieve just about risk-free annual returns. The only “skill” you need is patience.

Have you ever been at those teaser investment seminars, where they tell you about surefire ways to make money in the stock market and show you some fancy charts that they say will tell you exactly when to buy and sell and so on? I have. And then they say that we’d get all the info we need to actually apply this information if we bought into their $5000 or so program.

Reading this chapter brought back those memories because all the charts they showed (and many more) are right here in this book, starting with this chapter. The difference: They’re explained in so much detail that you can actually apply that knowledge. That’s when I really started to pay attention. This was good stuff.

It teaches you how to buy, how to sell, when to buy and sell, and so much more. The “more” is key, of course. If you did just the idiot proof techniques, you could make a nice chunk of change, but it would probably be hard to become really wealthy that way. That’s why the authors added many ways to turbo-charge the process. And, something very important, especially when the economy goes through challenging times – they’ve provided plenty of ways to make money no matter what the economy does.

The next chapter is about Value Investing, Warren Buffett’s secret. But this goes way beyond the kind of information you can buy at a regular bookstore. And one of the key skills you learn in this chapter: How to evaluate a business and the potential of its stock – in great depth! Worksheets are provided.

Next, something really cool: “Momentum Investing.” I must admit that I had never even heard of that before. The idea is that you catch stocks that are about they take off and rise in value so quickly that most other people don’t catch on till they have to buy them at a premium. Many detailed charts and instructions help you to figure out which stocks are good candidates, and how to catch them just before they hit it big.

Of course, what goes up often comes down, either temporarily or, sometimes, permanently. So this chapter also provides detailed strategies on how you can protect yourself from losing what you’ve just earned.

If the book ended here, it would have already surpassed my expectations, as well as most of what you can find elsewhere, and probably most of those $5000 seminars as well.

But it doesn’t end here. It goes on to cover stock options, the real secret to making lots of money in the stock market, and quickly. Of course, you can also lose your shirt, but after learning and carefully applying all the strategies in this offer, that chance is much reduced.

The beauty of stock options, according to Adam and Conrad, is that you can make money with them in any kind of economic climate, that results can come quickly, and that you can leverage whatever funds you have by controlling a much larger amount of money. That is also the key to the risk, which is why options are something to be approached with caution – and knowledge of how they work.

There are a few warnings in this chapter. Don’t try this at home... (unless you know what you’re doing). Yet there are also techniques that are much less risky – and the authors point them out and proceed to explain them so thoroughly, I wanted to stop reading the rest of the book and just have a go at them.

In fact, options are really the heart of this book. They are the key to making significant financial gains in a short amount of time, and so they get a lot of extra coverage. How they work, how to understand the information you need to gather to make informed decisions about them, and how to best go about making money with them.

There’s even a super safe way to make money with options. Yes, you can still lose money but the amount is very limited – and you stand to gain a great deal if your bet pays off. Plus, of course, with the information you have gathered using the other techniques, your bet will always be informed.

Another whole chapter is devoted to the fine art of short selling, a technique that can pay off big during bear markets. You’ve probably read about them in the paper. Well, here’s how to do it, and, of course, with lots and lots of detailed info along with work sheets for help with assessing funds and their performance so your chances at success are maximized.

The last chapter guides you towards putting all this information into action. Once again, it comes with work sheets you can use to assess your risk and the probable movement of the stocks. And advice on how to keep track of your gains and losses so you can tweak your system and make it turn mostly profits.

All in all – it’s an outstanding guide to how to make money in the stock market – with charts and plenty of work sheets where you can track and evaluate the stocks you’re interested in.

It’s a how-to book that really lives up to its name. Just one small disappointment – there were a few places where the authors mention some even more advanced strategies, which are only available to members of their proprietary Wealth Academy program. So there’s still a bit of the old tease.

But on the other hand, the book provides a wealth of actionable information, which is plenty to keep its readers busy for a long time, and, if they apply it diligently, it should quickly pay for Adam’s Wealth Academy program, where they learn to accelerate their income even more.

And come to think of it, there’s always more to learn, and considering the value that this book provides, the fact that Adam and Conrad offer a way to learn even more is actually great news.

Click here to learn more

Top 10 ranking at Google and Yahoo Search Engine.

2008-12-11T14:05:00.003+08:00

Finally Sam's Financial Blog is ranked top 10 at Google and Yahoo search engine.

Do a search using "Sam's Financial Blog" and you will be able to see my URL at the first page.

How to make your money grow in the shortest time frame?

2008-12-09T20:31:00.005+08:00

I just received a comments saying this: "How can your $1 make into $10 and in the shortest time frame?"

In order to do that, you must invest in something that give u 1000% return or sell an $1 item for 1000% profit.

But so far the most powerful investment instrument I have ever come across is compound interest. That is using the principal amount to earn interest and after that both the principal amount and the interest amount will earn you interest.

Example:

$1000 x 5% = $50

$1050 x 5% = $1102.50 and so on...

on the 15 years, the amount will be $2079.

Using the rule of 72, you will need 14.4 years to double your principal amount.

Pls give comments if you have better ways to make your money work hard for you.

Averaging the shares you are holding.

2008-12-07T00:25:00.004+08:00

The advise always given is that the shares market is risky and its for the rich to play. When its having Financial Crisis, don't go into the shares market.

I somewhat disagreed with the statement, if you don't buy during Financial Crisis (all shares are at discounted price), then when can you buy? Some will advise during the bull, all price is at the high, so again, don't buy is the advise given. When is the right time to buy?

The best time to buy is when a company's shares price is at the bottom, but how will you know when is the bottom? I think even the experts will not be able to give u that answer.

If you have buy 10000 shares of ABC at $1.00, and later it dropped to $0.80. You should buy another 10000 shares again to average out the price to $0.90. If the price goes up back to $1.00, you can sell all the shares for profit, if it drop further, just wait for another to buy at a lower price. This example can be used when you have the amount of money to buy 30000 shares, so instate of buying 30000 shares at one go, you divided it into 3 buys. That is why when the prices dropped, you can still earn money when it go back to the original price of $1.

No swift resolution for Lehman Minibond holders

2008-12-04T19:30:00.002+08:00

Below is an article extracted from Yahoo News on 4 Dec 08.

Channel NewsAsia.

SINGAPORE: Lehman Minibond holders will not be getting a swift resolution for their investments, according to an update by note trustee, HSBC Institutional Trust Services, and the note’s three receivers who are partners from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

That is because the unwinding process is expected to take years due to legal issues.

Lehman Minibond holders were told in mid—November that they would know by the end of the month what their options were — which could either be a restructuring of the notes or liquidation.

But PwC said that for Minibond Series 5 to 8, this can only happen after "orderly, step—by—step unwinding of the Minibond note structures, including the various swaps in the structures", and this involves a process that might see prolonged litigation.

Lawyers acting for bankruptcy proceedings for Lehman Brothers in the United States have reserved the right to challenge all aspects of the unwinding process.

HSBC and PwC said they could not give any valuations right now, but they promise to safeguard the interests of note—holders. As the unwinding process is likely to take considerable time, the restructuring proposals previously received are no longer an option now.

The process for Minibond Series 9 and 10 is expected to be less complicated and slightly faster as the underlying securities for these series are corporate bonds and have no swaps.

Even though Minibond Series 1, 2 and 3 have not defaulted yet, they are expected to go into default soon and holders would face the same process as those who bought Series 9 and 10.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it has asked the trustee and receivers to resolve legal issues as quickly as possible and to take all necessary steps within their powers to safeguard note—holders’ interests.

MAS said the legal issues will not affect the complaint process that was set out earlier, and it would continue to keep note—holders updated on developments.

Lesson learn - Stock Market Trading.

2008-12-02T13:04:00.004+08:00

Does anyone invest in stock market as a newbies actually know how the stock market trading work?

I only get to know that I can buy and sell shares and I have to pay a commission for each sales transaction.

The things I found out is that:

1) The commission is $25 or 0.28% whichever is lower (based on what the T&C stated on the application form you signed on).

2) If you buy the same counters (eg. Singtel shares) twice or more in a day, then the commission charged is the total amount of share you buy for the day.
eg. - I buy 10000 Singtel Shares at 10am, then I buy another 10000 Singtel shares at 11am. The commission I pay for this two transaction will be $25 or 0.28% whichever is higher.

There is also other option of trading mode but I have yet to explore. Will update it here when I get a hand on it.

Stay tune and visit for more updates.

Foreign Currency Saving Deposit

2008-12-01T00:23:00.006+08:00

I have been looking around for higher interest paying account, and I managed to find out that foreign currency saving account is paying better interest than local currency account.

Eg. SG Saving Account pay 0.128%pa but New Zealand currency saving account pay 1%pa.