The Game Plan

Dividends in Feb/March 2012

2012-01-28T22:30:00.000+08:00

Keeping track of the dividends to be collected in Feb/March 2012.

ART - $121 (27 Feb)
STI ETF - $275 (14 Feb)

Recent Stock Actions: Ascendas India Trust

2012-01-07T00:54:00.003+08:00

Added on to my existing holdings in AIT today. I think it largely remains a sound business trust with relatively attractive yield of around 8%. I will continue to slowly pick up stocks where I think there is value.

Recent Stock Actions: ST Engineering

2011-12-14T15:09:00.002+08:00

Just added on to my existing holdings in ST Engineering today. My motivations for adding on to the stock were the same as when I first invested in ST Engineering previously. Stable, relatively good dividend yield for a blue chip at around 5% and fairly resilient business model. ST Engineering typically pays out most or almost all of their earnings in dividends.

The fall in price recently makes the stock more attractive for me. I understand that ST Engineering is also making progress in their marine sector, which can prove to be lucrative in the long run.

As the market uncertainty and volatility continues, I'm going to slowly nibble and reinvest some of the funds that I receive from the sale of my unit trusts into fundamentally sound stocks.

Dividends in Nov/Dec 2011

2011-11-19T13:48:00.001+08:00

I usually receive little dividends in Nov/Dec as most of my stocks give out their dividends in the May or Sept period. Nevertheless, just a post to note down the dividend payouts from my holdings. The actual payout dates are in brackets.

Ascendas India Trust - $91.20 (25 Nov)
Boustead S'pore - $200 (16 Dec)

Total - $291.20

Recent Stock Actions: Ascendas India Trust

2011-11-16T22:41:00.001+08:00

More additions to my existing holdings from my stash fund. This time is to Ascendas India Trust. AIT has fallen somewhat since I last initiated a position in the trust. The DPS has also fallen due to the booking of expenses from completed developments.

My main motivations behind this investment is the dividends at close to 8%, relatively low gearing of 23%, and ongoing developments which should improve the operating income in time to come. AIT is also amongst the rare stocks/trusts offering exposure to the growth in India.

Its also interesting to note that AIT is actually a business trust and not a reit. I actually prefer this as it allows AIT more flexibility in retaining its earnings and using it for future developments.

Recent Stock Actions: Boustead Sp

2011-11-07T21:11:00.000+08:00

As the stock market volatility continues, I'm beginning to slowly reinvest some of my funds from the sale of my unit trusts back into my stock holdings. I've recently added on to my holdings in Boustead.

I continue to like Boustead for its sound management, relatively stable business model and respectable dividend yield. Given the stabilization of things in Libya, I hope that they may be able to make some progress there. I also noticed that Boustead has re-purchased some of their shares from the market recently given the fall in share price.

I will continue to keep a lookout for opportunities to reinvest my funds back into the market.

Fundamental Changes in My Portfolio

2011-10-17T21:16:00.000+08:00

Pheww...its been sometime since I last submitted a blog entry. Basically my main work has been crazily hectic recently, and I'm usually dead tired by the time I reached home. Nevertheless, there has been significant market movements recently and I've also made some key fundamental changes to my portfolio.

So just a short post to detail some of these down. I've sold off almost half of my unit trusts portfolio during the past few weeks. This is in line with my overall strategy to channel most of my funds into dividend yielding stocks. For now, I'll be holding on to the funds generated from the sale of the unit trusts until I find an opportune time to deploy them.

I've also sold off my holdings in SembMarine today. My main rationale for this is mainly just to cash out on my earnings in this counter. Going forward, I do see significant risks to the market. With the European debt crisis, US slowdown, China asset inflation and even Singapore property supply glut. No one knows for sure where we'll be six months from now, but I'm currently not very optimistic about the economy in general.

With the above divestments, I'm more or less done with my portfolio re-structuring for the time being. I'm still holding on to quite a few stock counters and half of my unit trusts portfolio. With the funds generated, I'll be keeping a lookout to invest in good quality stocks with decent dividend yield and growth potential as highlighted in a previous post.

Divested Raffles Education...

2011-09-06T23:22:00.000+08:00

Made a decision today to finally throw in the towel on Raffles Education and divested all my stake in it. It was a somewhat painful decision as I suffered a 55% loss on this counter. Thankfully my stakes in the company was quite small and hence the absolute amount lost was still bearable.

Just to note down my rationale for divesting the stakes in the company. Basically I think the fundamentals of the business has remained weak, and in fact seems to be declining over time. Without once off disposal gains, the operating revenue is actually even worse. I'm not sure if there will be better days ahead for REC in the future, maybe so.

Another reason for the divestment is to better align my portfolio with my overall shift in strategy to place more emphasis on dividend yields. At the current market conditions, I think there are counters with better fundamentals and value to invest with the money. Nevertheless, I won't be too hasty to invest in the current climate. But I'll definitely be keeping a lookout for worthwhile stocks to pick up when opportunities present themselves.

Portfolio Dividend Yields

2011-09-03T22:38:00.000+08:00

In line with the refinement of my overall investment strategy to be more mindful of dividend yields, here's a post to keep track of the dividend yields of my current portfolio. Calculations based on FY10 annual yields.

(Yield based on purchase price / Yield based on current price)

Stocks

Boustead SP (8.6% @ $0.806 / 7.9% @ $0.88)

Kingsmen Creative (6.9% @ $0.578 / 7.3% @ $0.545)

Sembmarine (22.9% @ $1.57 / 9.1% @ $3.93)

STEngineering (5% @ $2.89 / 5% @ $2.89)

STI ETF (2.8% @ $2.48 / 2.4% @ $2.89)

Capitaland (1.6% @ $3.70 / 2.3% @ $2.54)

Capitamalls Asia (1.7% @ 1.736 / 2.24% @ $1.335)

Raffles Education (0.58% @ $1.03 / 1.2% @ $0.49)

Reits

Ascendas India Trust (8.3% @ $0.904 / 8.3% @ $0.90)

Ascott Reit (8.8% @ $085 / 6.7% @ $1.115)

Refined Rules in Investing

2011-08-29T23:24:00.000+08:00

As I go about investing, I'm slowly setting and refining rules for myself in how I go about managing my portfolio. These rules help in forming a quick first cut in the selection of stocks to include in my portfolio. The rules will also ultimately determine my portfolio performance and returns in the long run.

Recently, I've refined the rules for myself to reflect the greater weightage I've placed on dividend returns from a stock. These rules are meant as a rough gauge for myself, and by no means will I be following them very strictly, as there are many other factors that come into play in evaluating a stock or performance of a company. The general market conditions and sentiments will also determine how strictly I can apply these rules. During market downturns, I can probably afford to tighten the rules further as stock prices fall and intrinsic value increases.

Stocks
- 3% - 5% dividend yield
- Decent earnings growth over 5 years
- Generally PE < 15 (Blue Chip)
- PE < 10 (Small/Mid Caps)

Reits
- Sustainable 8% dividend yield
- Debt ratio of <35%

I expect a higher dividend yield from reits as they pay out most of their operating income and hence have little potential for self-funded growth in the long term. While they can take up more debt or issue rights to fund acquisitions, these either dilute the earnings or are not self-sustainable in the long run in the case of debt.

By having these quick and fast rules, it helps to prevent myself from overpaying for certain stocks. It also helps to give some certainty of return for my portfolio. I will continue to refine my investment rules as I continue down my investment journey. I will also be looking at defining some rules for selling of stocks.

Stock Watch

2011-08-22T21:58:00.000+08:00

Just to keep a list of some of the stocks I'll be looking to acquire in the event of a full blown downturn.

- KeppelCorp
- Boustead
- Capitamalls Asia
- ST Engineering
- SuperGroup
- FrasersCentrepoint Trust

2nd - Tier
- Hour Glass
- F&N

For now, the important thing is to accumulate cash for future deployment.

Lessons learnt during downturns

2011-08-19T21:34:00.002+08:00

I've been investing since about 2005, so its been about 6 years already. Throughout the 6 years, there were periods of ups and down. Most notably during the 2007 sub-prime crisis and perhaps recently during the US and Europe debt crisis. Although I wouldn't say that we are at a full blown market down-turn yet. Similar to our daily lives, there are lessons to be learnt during a downturn. And it is only by learning and improving, that we emerge stronger after the downturn.

Pre-2007, i was mainly invested in unit trusts. Then my portfolio took a big hit, at one point taking more than a 50% paper loss. Although it has since recovered, but through the couple of years of holding unit trusts, I realised the downsides to unit trusts. Mainly the drain from the management fees, and the fact that most unit trusts never really do outperform the market. Coupled with the fact that dividends are less transparent, I decided that unit trusts are not ideal investment vehicles for me. That was when I started picking up stock investments and started my own portfolio of stocks.

Coming back to today, I have a portfolio of stocks. I'm still holding on to some of my unit trusts invested back then. With the recent downturn, I've gleaned a few more important lessons that I believe will improve the management of my portfolio down the road. My overall underlying strategy has not changed, which is to focus on investing for the long term on fundamentally sound value stocks. However, I learnt that dividends can actually make a significant difference to your portfolio returns. And I'll pay more attention to dividends as I continue my investment journey. I'm also more inclined to take some profits and take into consideration market cycles as compared to simply holding "forever". Lastly, its important to act decisively. There were some stocks and unit trusts that I wanted to offload earlier, but failed to do so at the opportune time.

So with the lessons learnt, I hope that I can improve and refine my portfolio management strategy over time. My current strategy is to accumulate cash and continue investing should markets fall further and opportunities present themselves. I'll also be maintaining a list of good quality companies that I should look out for during a market downturn.

US Credit Downgrade, Markets spooked...now what?

2011-08-06T22:53:00.004+08:00

So with all the doom and gloom talk, its time to go back to basics to look at my investment strategy and how i should react in the recent market downturn. Definitely, market sentiments have deteriorated significantly with Friday's sell down and S&P's downgrade of US credit rating. No doubt, markets will surely see a bloodbath next week.

Its times like this when one's investment philosophy and strategy really need to kick in and prevent sudden knee jerk reactions. To re-examine my investment strategy, i see myself as a long term value investor. Looking back at one of my previous posts, i highlighted what a value investor should do during a downturn.

Sitting down to think, actually nothing much has changed. There are still 2 things that i can choose to do during a downturn, first is to do nothing. And secondly, i can choose to pick up more stocks at better prices. For now, i think the wiser option is to wait for the dust to settle and re-evaluate when the markets have stabilised.

Over time, i'm also refining my investment philosophy and strategy to favour dividend stocks more. I believe dividends stocks help to stabilise a portfolio and provide more consistent returns over time. This is in line with my personal preference for slow and steady rather than drastic ups and downs.

Dividends in Aug/Sept 2011

2011-07-22T12:01:00.006+08:00

Just to keep track of the dividends I'll be getting in August and Sept 2011.

Boustead - $300
Ascott Reit - $140
Capitamalls Asia - $75
STI ETF - $225
ST Engineering - $60
Sembmarine - $150
Kingsmen - $150

Total - $1100

Ascott Reit’s 2Q 2011 Distribution per unit (DPU) 25% higher than last year

2011-07-22T11:56:00.001+08:00

Ascott Reit has performed well. Seems like the bulk acquisition of property from Ascott has paid off, resulting in a higher and more stable rental income.

Ascott Residence Trust (Ascott Reit) achieved a unitholders’ distribution of S$26.3 million for the period 1 April to 30 June 2011, 127% higher than the same period last year. Distribution per unit (DPU) was 25% higher at 2.33 cents.

Ascott Reit’s revenue for second quarter 2011 was 65% higher at S$73.1 million. The increase in revenue was mainly due to the contribution of S$33.1 million from the yield accretive acquisition of 28 properties on 1 October 2010. Correspondingly, gross profit was up 98% at S$41.2 million.Gross profit margin has increased from 47% in 2Q 2010 to 56% in 2Q 2011 due to high margins for properties on master leases, and better margins achieved by properties on management contracts as a result of higher rental rates and better cost management.

Independent valuations of the Group’s portfolio were carried out as at 30 June 2011. The portfolio was revalued at S$2.63 billion, resulting in a revaluation surplus of S$82.8 million. Ascott Reit’s net asset value (NAV) per unit as at 30 June 2011 was S$1.33, an increase of 4% from 31 December 2010.

Source and full release: Ascott Reit

CapitaMalls Asia's Q2 net profit doubles on-year

2011-07-22T08:48:00.007+08:00

CMA has reported a decent 2nd quarter, considering most of the gains are really due to fair value gains rather than increase in operating revenue. In fact, its' divestment of malls has lead to decline in operating revenue, which is understandable. DPS this year currently stands at $0.03 per share, which is already 50% more than the $0.02 declared for whole of last year. Despite this, CMA's stock price is still hammered due to tightening measures in China.

Singapore shopping mall developer CapitaMalls Asia said its second-quarter net profit has doubled on-year.

In a filing to the Singapore Exchange, the company said its net profit came in at S$164.9 million for the second quarter, up from S$82.1 million a year ago.

This is due to fair value gains, contributions from associates, and a revised accounting policy, it said.
But its revenue declined 14 per cent to S$62.8 million from a restated S$73 million in the same period last year.

The developer said this is mainly due to the divestment of four malls.

Looking ahead, CapitaMalls Asia said that there may be opportunities in China to acquire assets at attractive prices, as the country continues its credit tightening measures.

The company also announced an interim dividend of 1.5 Singapore cents per share due to its strong performance in the first half of this year.

This brings its full-year dividend payout to at least 3 Singapore cents per share.

Source: ChannelNewsAsia

Gardening and Investing

2011-06-26T14:08:00.001+08:00

I liken managing an investment portfolio to horticulture and managing a garden of flowers. Although I don't have green fingers myself, I do see similarities between the two. Firstly, how the garden looks depends on the type of seeds and flowers you plant. This is similar to how your portfolio performs depends on the stocks you pick.

Secondly, gardening and investing both requires patience. Long term investing requires time and patience for the seeds to bear fruits. Do not expect instant gratification. In fact, time is your best friend in investing. Its important to start early and have a long term horizon in mind.

Thirdly, weeding is an important part of the process. Just like in gardening, overtime there are bound to be weeds or poor performing stocks in your portfolio. It is important to identify these and remove them from your portfolio to prevent them from affecting the overall performance of your portfolio.

So I do see many similarities between gardening and investing. By adopting a long term horizon, and tending to the composition of stocks in my portfolio, I hope to have a blooming portfolio in time to come.

ST Aerospace signs deals worth S$300m with Alenia Aermacchi

2011-06-24T23:26:00.000+08:00

ST Engineering's aerospace arm, ST Aerospace, has finalised two agreements worth a total of S$300 million over 20 years, with Italian plane-maker Alenia Aermacchi.

These two agreements are part of the 20-year ground training, maintenance and logistics support that ST Aerospace will provide for the Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF) fighter pilot training in France.

In September last year, the firm announced it was awarded the contract to procure 12 M-346 aircraft and a ground based training system for the RSAF. The M-346 aircraft will be used at the RSAF's fighter pilot training base in Cazaux in France.

The first agreement covers the joint management of the M-346 suppliers between ST Aerospace and Alenia Aermacchi. This includes after-sales support, such as spare parts provisioning, and repair and overhaul services, where the two partners will share any risks, sales and profits.

The second deal covers Alenia Aermacchi's engineering support, programme and contract management, as well as field support services for the aircraft fleet.

The overall support programme is worth about S$50 million in the first year of operation.

Source: ChannelNewsAsia

Recent Stock Actions: ST Engineering

2011-06-16T23:34:00.002+08:00

Again, during the recent downturn, I bought into ST Engineering. Just to do a quick sharing on what made me decide to take a stake in STE.

1. Stable Dividend Payout - STE's dividend payout has been relatively stable over the past few years. At the current price of about $2.90, the dividend payout gives a yield of around 5%, which I feel is attractive for an established blue chip stock.

2. Strong economic moat - STE's business model consists of both defence and commercial engineering. This is not easily replicated, in particular the defence field, hence this presents significant barriers to entry for potential competitors thinking of entering the field. The fact that a large part of STE's business come from the government also gives it some resilience to sudden market downturns.

3. Diversification - I mentioned previously that my portfolio is slightly weighted towards property counters. By taking a stake in STE, I hope to diversify my portfolio a little by adding other industries into the mix.

Given the current uncertain market conditions, I will not be too hasty to add more investments into my portfolio. I will continue to observe and see if other opportunities present themselves.

Market correction looms in India property sector

2011-06-14T21:06:00.000+08:00

Has it begun already?

Property prices in India are hitting resistance levels, after doubling in the past five years.

Potential home buyers are staying on the sidelines, waiting for a market correction before they make their purchase.

And this is causing a sharp decline in sales, sending developers worried that their margins would be further squeezed.

The country's largest realtor, DLF, reported a 20 per cent drop in fourth quarter sales, while the second largest developer, Unitech, saw an even bigger 45 per cent decline in the same period.

With sluggish sales, their inventories have piled up.

In big cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, about 12 per cent of new residential units went unsold in the first quarter of this year.

And market watchers said the steeply-climbing property prices are to blame.

"If you look at the bubble, the prices of property have gone up 1,000 times in the last 30 years. What is the rationale for this kind of price increase? What we need to do here is the biggest land holder in the country, the government, needs to release more land. The moment you have more land, supply sides constraints will go away and prices will come down," said Professor Amit Kapoor at the Management Development Institute.

It's a double whammy for realtors.

Not only are their buyers shying away, they also have to deal with a huge debt on their books.

Till a couple of years ago, developers had been on an aggressive land acquisition spree, sending their share prices soaring through the roof.

But as demand slowed down, the market nose-dived.

And now many of these property companies are in the red - owing millions of dollars to banks.

Most of the public sector banks have stopped cash flow to the sector completely.

"Real estate sector has been looked over very suspiciously over a period of time due to various reasons - lack of transparency, not enough listed companies. The whole sector needs revamping, only then private equity and bank funding will come on a large scale," said Ramesh Subramaniam, president of Sri City Developers.

Now real estate is being seen as a risky asset class.

The real estate sector is trapped in a circle that would not end, unless the developers either bring down prices or start constructing cheaper homes. But either way, the buyer is set to gain.

Source: ChannelNewsAsia

The Great Property Bubble of China May Be Popping

2011-06-09T20:42:00.001+08:00

Residential prices are heading downward in some major cities, damping some undesired real-estate speculation but raising the prospect that the Chinese economy may slow more rapidly than anticipated with profound consequences for global growth.

Real estate is a foundation of China's phenomenal growth record in the past two decades, and its health is crucial to China's construction, steel and cement sectors. Real estate is also a favored investment of Chinese looking to get better returns than bank deposits pay. Local municipalities and provinces depend on rising prices for land sales as well to fund infrastructure projects.

World Bank economists warned at a Beijing press briefing on Wednesday that a real-estate bubble was among the biggest economic risks China faces.

Already, in nine major cities tracked by Rosealea Yao, an analyst at market-research firm Dragonomics, real-estate prices fell 4.9% in April from a year earlier. Last year, prices in those nine cities rose 21.5%; in 2009, the increase was about 10%, as China started to recover from the global economic crisis, with much steeper increases toward the end of that year.

A downturn in property and apartment prices would harm Chinese industry and investment, and crimp consumer spending. China is a "housing-led economy," says UBS economist Jonathan Anderson, who estimates that property construction alone accounted for 13% of gross domestic product in 2010, twice the share of the 1990s.

While China's anticipated growth is still well above that of other large economies, any reduction could have deep consequences. The global economy is now even more dependent on China for demand for anything from commodities to luxury goods, given the tepid recovery in the U.S. and Europe's continuing sovereign-debt problems.

Source and full article: WallStreetJournal

Lessons Learnt from Investing

2011-06-07T23:22:00.001+08:00

I did a review of my portfolio, past and present, in a previous post. I wanted to do a post to recap and share some of the lessons that I learnt from investing in the stock market over the past few years. So here it is. I'll try to keep things simple by limiting myself to the 3 key points that I feel are most important to my investing style and philosophy.

1. Margin of Safety - You can find this in most books that advocate Buffett's style of value investing. I can't help but re-emphasize how important this is. Basically, you only make profits when the current price of the stock exceeds the price that you pay for it. Even a fundamentally sound company can become over-priced. And when that happens, you're not going to get much value for what you pay. And consequentially, it'll be more difficult for the stock to exceed the price that you pay for it. I learnt this from my purchase of Capitaland, which I felt I didn't have a sufficient margin of safety. Its definitely a fundamentally sound company, but probably I could have picked it up at a more value-for-money price.

2. Don't Discount Dividends - For long term investors, i think dividends definitely plays an important role in your overall portfolio returns. Some people tend to discount dividends when they try and compare the 3-5% dividends returns with the supernormal profits of a multi-bagger. But the reality is that it is not often that one comes across a multi-bagger. And very often, with great returns come greater risks as well. During the ups and downs of the market cycles, dividends gives you a certain stability in your portfolio returns. Furthermore, dividends can be re-invested to increase the overall worth of your portfolio without selling any stocks.

3. Don't buy just because its cheap - As a self professed value investor, its important to be able to differentiate between what is value-for-money and what is simply cheap. Very often, many stocks are cheap for a reason. I learnt this the hard way when I bought stocks like Raffles Education and Fibrechem after they had fallen significantly from their peaks. Fibrechem was a total loss when it was suspended. Raffles Education just fell further and currently has no clear indication that the business is recovering. The key criteria to look for is still the fundamentals. When a stock has strong fundamentals, it justifies a buy when you can get it at a value-for-money or even reasonable price. When a stock has poor or even weak fundamentals, don't get it no matter how tempting or cheap the stock may be.

And thats my 3 key learning points from my investing journey so far. I hope to remember them well and not commit the same mistakes as I go along.

Raffles Education in JV to set up Raffles University Iskandar

2011-05-31T23:20:00.000+08:00

Raffles Education Corp, through its whole-owned Malaysian subsidiary, has signed a joint venture agreement with Education@Iskandar to establish Raffles University Iskandar in Malaysia's southern state of Johor.

The self-accrediting university will begin operations in October this year out of its leased premises at Kota Raya, Johor Bahru, while its permanent campus in EduCity@Iskandar is being built.

The 65-acre multi-facility campus is expected to be ready by 2013.

The school will join several other educational institutions in Malaysia's southern development corridor, such as the Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia, the Netherlands Maritime Institute of Technology, and the University of Southampton Malaysia Campus.

The new university will be 80 per cent held by Raffles Education Corp and 20 per cent by Education Iskandar, which will be responsible for the development and operations of the university.

Both companies will put in approximately S$82 million into the project.

The school is expected to enrol up to 5,000 students in its first five years of operations.

It will initially provide undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in three faculties - Business, Design & Art, and Education & Social Sciences.

Two more faculties - Health Sciences and Technology - will be added later.

Raffles Education Corp is the largest private education provider in the Asia-Pacific region.

Source: ChannelNewsAsia

Singapore’s Property Market Headed Towards a Perfect Storm?

2011-05-30T20:49:00.003+08:00

When a country registers a 15 percent growth rate, as Singapore did last year, there is bound to be a spill-over wealth effect. Singapore’s housing market has been cashing in on this big time - prices have rebounded 50 percent in just two years, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, and cooling measures by the government have done little to calm them.

At a recent real estate conference organized by the National University of Singapore, which explored the theme “Will the boom never end,” Chua Chor Hoon, Head of South East Asia Research at property consultancy DTZ, said the Singapore residential market is not likely to decline much because of strong economic growth. But, she also outlined a worst-case scenario, which could unfold as early as 2013-2014. "If all the ingredients come together it will make a perfect storm," she told the audience.

These ingredients include falling demand, more supply and higher interest rates all kicking in together.

Interest rates in Singapore are currently at record lows because lending rates in the city-state track U.S. monetary policy. That’s allowed some homebuyers to pay less than one percent in the first year of their loans, says Chua. Most analysts, however, expect interest rates to begin moving higher later this year.

Second, in 2014 an unprecedented number of housing units are expected to enter the market. According to the URA’s latest quarterly report, 32,359 units will be completed over 2013 and 2014 that is 85 percent more than the 17,501 units expected over 2011 and 2012.

Add to this the fact that Singapore’s price-to-rent ratio has increased from 20 in 2009, during the financial crisis, to 25 currently, according to URA and DTZ research. That means it will take 25 years for a homebuyer to recover, through rents, what he paid for the house. As a result, Chua says, people investing in this market often have a short-term view looking to “flip” the property for capital gains.

Foreign buyers are also helping boost Singapore’s property market, especially at the high end. According to DTZ’s latest report, foreign buyers of private homes in the first quarter of 2011 touched a record high of 16 percent. But Chua points out that this could drop, if the government further tightens immigration rules.

“Local concerns about high housing prices and the influx of foreigners that were magnified during the recent General Election will be a catalyst for the review of immigration and housing policies, which could dampen demand in the residential market in the coming months, ” Chua wrote in a report.

While growth forecasts for Singapore over the next five years at 4-6 percent will support the property market says Chua, one cannot rule out another unforeseen external crisis like the financial meltdown, which could also lead to a market crash. While the bulls might find it hard to believe that something like that can happen again, another speaker at the same conference had this to say: “We always think this time it will be different, but it never is.”

Source: CNBC

A Quick Overview of My Portfolio

2011-05-29T14:42:00.002+08:00

I've been investing in the stock market for a couple of years, and before that I was investing through unit trusts. Over the years, there were some stocks that did well, and others that performed badly. I'm just going to do a brief and quick run through of those stocks that I'm holding, or have held previously and highlight what works for me and what doesn't.

Good/Decent Performers
Sembmarine - My best performer by far. Got it a fantastic price and at my purchase price, its giving a current dividend yield of close to 10%. As the stock market recovered, I also enjoyed significant capital appreciation for Sembmarine.

Boustead Sp - Its a decent performer with a stable business model. As its fairly under-researched by the market, it gives out decent yield at around 7% currently.

Kingsmen Creative - A decent performer. Not much growth or capital appreciation, but gives out a fair dividend yield of around 7% at current price.

Ascott Reit - Bought it at a good price. Currently gives a decent dividend yield along with good capital appreciation from the time i bought it.

Ascendas India - Not much capital appreciation, but gives out respectable dividend yield of 7%. It also has some growth potential as its still developing industrial buildings in India.

STI ETF - I love it. Not much research required, no risk of underperforming the market. Dividend yield of around 2%. Its a fair tradeoff between capital appreciation and dividend yield. Well diversified. I prefer the transparency and low management fees of ETF to unit trusts.

Underperformers
Capitaland - My greatest underperformer. Its a stock with good fundamentals and strong management team. Nevertheless, weighed down largely by its exposure to China property market. It also sold off a large part of its holdings through IPO, and is currently sitting on a large reserve for future deployment. On hindsight, maybe I bought without sufficient margin of safety.

CapitamallsAsia - Similar to Capitaland. Strong and sound fundamentals. However, currently weighed down by exposure to China. I bought CMA at a more sound price.

Raffles Education - One word...disappointing. I personally see this as one of my worst investments. I bought after it fell significantly from its peak, hoping that the fundamentals will improve over time. So far, no indication of improving fundamentals.

Previous Holdings
Thomson Medical - I bought it at a good price and sold it at a great price when Peter Lim bought over the company. Nice.

HLN Tech - Sold it after i learnt never to trust China Companies. They just have terrible corporate governance.

Fibrechem - Suspended after issues with finances. Terrible. Again, I learnt not to trust China companies with their issues in corporate governance.

I'll try and do a subsequent post to review some of the lessons learnt and what works for me over the few years of investing in the stock market.