History shall shed some light ; CSC won marina bay contract

Fed cut another 50 basis point, amounting to a total of 1.25% cut over the span of 2 weeks.Did the market rally as a result of it? No, it didn't. In fact, I think it's slightly worse, if not a whole lot worse. But at least with the announcement out, there is less uncertainty in the market, and everyone will be less jittery, so that should be some consolations.There are reports of bond insurers facing bankruptcy prospects. Basically, bond insurers are those that make the value of CDO, so if they are out of business, the worth of CDO will be much...

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Singpost 3Q results released

Tonight is the important FED meeting results. I bet on another rate cut.Let's not talk about the market today, it's boring as usual. Nothing is going to happen until the FED interest rate meeting is over, then after that, we'll cheong up and then sink. The question mark is whether we'll sink more than we cheong, hahaSingpost posted its 3Q results today. In summary, Q3 revenue grew 9.2%, net profit rose 7.8% and a dividend of 1.25 cts per share is declared, which is the norm. 3Q is traditionally the busier quarter for singpost, so the increase...

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Flat-tish day

STI went flat today, changing only 0.34%. I guess everyone is waiting for the FED meeting that will start from today till tomorrow. Another rate cut? Nobody knows, but I think by looking at Dow tonight, we can sort of tell what to expect.Been out the whole day. Saw a funny report that Goldman Sachs is recommending investors to sell Singapore banks on poor earnings forecast, haha :) Stupid will be happy to see this, waiting for DBAss to go down to $10 :) Haha, i'm waiting too :PDow future is now at +50. Let's see how it goe...

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No time to stand and stare

Been quite busy these days, so hardly have time to do a quality posting or a good reflection of those books I've read.I think by this week, I should be more free to at least do a reflection of the Investment Madness book that I've covered a week ago. Market is gyrating up and down with huge up and down movement. Haven't been looking at charts for some time, so I've got no idea where are the supports/resistances. I only remember that 3000 is a support level and the last low is around 2800 thereabouts. It's crucial not to break below the previous...

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Societe Generale have fraudulent trader?

Was out the whole day, so didn't manage to check the market till I'm back home at night.STI was up another 2.2%, while HSI dropped 550 pts. Can see that quite a number of stocks went up in my watchlist. I wouldn't go to say the danger is over yet...we'll just wait and see. There are reports of a fraudulent trader under Societe Generale that is very similar to Nick leeson (the man that broke baring bank). I think that is another big blow to the market...esp to the financial industry. Seems like when times are good, there are a lot of such scandals...

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Why so serious?

Heath Ledger...passed off from this world on 23rd Jan, 2008, at a tender age of 28. While never a fan of his, I did watch most of his films out of sheer coincidence. These are the films he acted in:1. The patriot2. A knight's tale3. Brokeback mountain4. The up coming Dark knight, starring as the Joker.I watched the first 2, missed the broke back mountain and am already eager to watch Batman before his untimely passing.There's always a magic when...

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HSI up 2332 pts (10.72%)!!

STI rebounded a lot today, on news that fed had cut interest rate by 75 basis pt. STI went up 4.08%, HSI went up 2332 pts (10.72%). Haha, 10.72%!! I've never seen that kind of magnitude before...just imagine.A few news to announce:1. Cosco won more contracts, totalling US$422 million. This one is really a contract clincher. Every few months also got contracts. At the current $4.20, is it overvalued still? haha, don't know...never did find out.2. China allows domestic banks to invest in singapore. Could this be the prelude for the QDII funds? But...

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HSI dropped 2000 pts; FED's 75 basis pt cut

Market continued the downslide today. Let's take a look at the damage done:1. STI dropped 50 pts to close at 2866 (1.76%) with a volume of 2.75 billion. Was much much worse, around 4-5% until the closing when it suddenly shot up.2. HSI dropped 2061 pts (8.65%) to close at 21,757 pts. This is the single biggest drop i've ever ever seen HSI fell. Ever.3. Shanghai dropped 7.22%, india at first dropped nearly 13%, then the whole exchange stopped trading. India ended up 8.65% down.Brutal selldown. Haha, really the worst I've seen.Fed held an emergency...

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IMPORTANT DAY - STI drops 6%

This day I need to record it. It's very important.This is why it's so important:1. STI dropped 187 pts to close at 2917, dropping a total of 6.03%, with a volume of 2.15 billion. Gainers to losers is 153 to 711. Nowhere have I seen STI drop this much before. Eye-opener.2. HSI fell 1,383 pts to close at 23,818, a total drop of 5.49%.Dow is not open tonight due to a holiday. Massive selling, broadbased and relentless. This is really quite the worst fall I've seen. No reason why also...you know, the market just fell.Here's a few news to share:1....

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Robinson going be taken over!

Robinson!ALF global wanted to buy over all the shares of Robinson at an offer price of $6.25 per share. The last trading price is at $4.46, representing a 40.1% premium! More details can be found here.For this one, one must be able to hold for sometime, so definitely no contra. Queuing anybod...

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Cloverfield

Just watched a movie alone at Princess cinema.Some circumstances caused me to be stranded alone on a fine saturday, with no work and no date. I'm already spent working the whole week and I seriously needed some entertainment. Books would knock me off and anyway, I'm in no mood to read. I did the next best thing - watch a movie.I chose Cloverfield because I do not know what it is. The poster entices me to find out more about it, though the wording...

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Aztech ventures into construction materials??!!

Haha, what a surprise. I thought that after Dow's big diarrhea last night, i'll be expecting STI or HSI to drop a lot. It's surprising mild, or at least not as bad as I think. Perhaps the whole world is waiting for Bush and Ben to announce the economic stimulus package to see if it can save US from the recession.An interesting news to share:1. Aztech diversifies its business and is venturing into procurement and supply of materials for building and construction/infrastructure development projects. What a surprise!! Their net margin last year is...

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Detailed fengshui analysis for the Earth Rat year

My special guest blogger, skyalps, wrote this summary of the fengshui analysis by Raymond Lo for the year 2008. Thanks pal, for the great summary on what to expect. Do your own analysis and research before committing your money, as always.--------------------------------------------Personally, I found the talk quite interesting as I had little prior knowledge of Fengshui and Chinese Astrology. However, I noted that the examples he gave were typically those that had already happened and which he could use his analysis to explain why it happened....

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Dividend yield for my counters

As promised, I'll do the yield for some of the counters that I had. Here it is:1. SingpostSingpost dividend policy is to distribute 80 to 90% of its net profit, or 5 cts per share, whichever is higher. Dividend history:FY02/03 ---- 4.2 cts per shareFY03/04 ---- 4.2FY04/05 ---- 5.0FY05/06 ---- 5.5FY06/07 ---- 6.25My purchase price is $1.18. Based on 6.25 cts per share (1st to 3rd quarter 1.25 cts per share, 4th quarter 2.50 cts per share), my dividend yield based on purchase price $is 5.3%. Based on today's closing price of $1.06, the dividend...

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Reminder to myself

Note to myself:1. Do a yield calculation for all those counters that I had which gave constant dividend, using the price that I bought. E.g. Pac andes, HSBC, singpost2. Do a yield calculation for all those counters again, but using the current market priceIn times like this, moral conviction of your own investment is of utmost importance. Do I have what it takes to be a long term investor? To hold a counter so that it goes from profit to losses isn't something easy to bear.Quite certain that HSBC is going to break 120. If it does, no point buying...

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Did it struck you that the old STI is stuck at 3344?

STI crashed again...how to know? Look at the magnitude of the drop of my watchlist, haha, can sort of feel the thing. HSI fell 630 pts, below 26,000. We might be in for some trouble.Bad mood today. But it's not because of the stock market. It can crash for all I care. Stupid SGX, go and die lah, trouble everyone because of the new index. I wonder how international community view us - so many days the STI still stuck at 3344. Literally 'sheng sheng si si'. I think now is more 44 than 33.SGX released its 2H results today. Didn't bother to read in...

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Brutal selloff today

What a brutal selloff day today. I'm not going to quote the new STI anymore because I think it no longer represents the broad sentiment. It's a big joke when I see that the mass market is selling like 5% or more, STI only drops 40 over points. It's just pure crap.Stocks after stocks, support gets shorted down again and again. It's been sometime since I've seen such fierce selling. HSBC still didn't close to where I wanted it to be, so no action...

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Book reflections on "Everyman and His Common Stocks" - Laurence H.Sloan

Another review for another book, titled “Everyman and His Common Stocks –a study of long-term investment policy” by Laurence H.Sloan. This one is a classic 1931 edition which I’m reading. I love the classics of investment – it marvels me that the advice dispensed out 70 years ago is as applicable in the past as it is now. The typeface, the long poetic sentences and the very polite way of phrasing ideas all contributed to my pleasure of reading such classics.Here’s what I think is important in this book:1. The 5 most essential tools in which an...

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Stupid mistake made!

Today STI still can't be seen from yahoo nor poems. STI broke 3300 resistance to close down 24 pts at 3287 with a volume of 2 billion.Did a stupid trade today. Out of nowhere I suddenly went to short yzj at 1.71, but had to cover at 1.73 because what I had expected didn't happen. I wanted to see yzj break support at 1.71, but it didn't happen. Grey said that my entry and exit points are cocked up; I totally agree. I shouldn't have chased it from 1.76 all the way down to 1.71. If I missed it, that's it...in the emotional desire to short it, I increased...

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Ecowise breakout

Esp for happy:Nice breakout of ascending triangle formation by ecowise. Haha, actually break out happened yesterday but didn't realise that. Confirmed breakout with high volume (roughly 3 times average), with minimum target is 0.285.Haha, Joshing went in at 0.250 (yst) and exited at 0.280 (today). Good trad...

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CSC better at PR now

Today is the debut of the new STI index by FTSE. Yahoo can't view it, Poems can't see it too...so much for a good start. The new index closed down 33 pts at 3311 pts with a volume of 1.9 billion. Despite the big u-turn by Dow of around 140 points, STI didn't manage to ride on the wave. Again, we are still stuck in the descending triangle. With each successive rally, we're forming a lower high. Bad signs?A few information to share:1. Lianbeng announced its half year statements today. I think it did pretty well, with revenue increasing by 23%, gross...

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STI survived 3300! (for now)

STI opened below 3300 (critical support!) and went to close at 6.26 at 3344 with a volume of 2 billion. It's great that STI didn't end up below 3300, otherwise more bloodshed we'll see. Agri stocks are still powering up...crazy wilmar, up 0.400 today.Singpost had lots of selldown today, in huge volume of 1.3 to 2 million size. It's like 2 big bosses fighting to sell/buy, it's crazy. Went down to touch low of 1.070 before rebounding to close flat at 1.100. If it didn't close down, I see that as a strength. Chinamilk broke out..still no news of...

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Book reflections on "The little book of Common Sense Investing" by John C. Bogle

Just finished reading “The little book of Common Sense Investing” by John C. Bogle, founder of Vanguard Mutual fund group. I think this book should be read together with Dr. William Bernstein’s The four pillars of Investing and Nassim Taleb’s Fooled by Randomness.I really recommend the little book series for everyone – it’s so much stuffed condensed into a 8 cm by 10cm by 2 cm book. Almost every sentence makes me think hard. A couple of points kept me thinking:1. A few risks to be aware of when one is doing individual fund selection.a. Market...

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China milk bucks the general trend

Dow closed green yesterday. STI tried to, but failed in the end. Today STI dropped 14.8 pts, closing at 3338 with a volume of 1.88 billion. STI was doing well until after lunch, where a selldown over at Shanghai and HSI causes us to drop from the morning rise.A few news to share:1. Capitaland wanted to buy over the rest of Ascott. When it resumed trading today, capitaland dropped in price while ascott rose by 0.50. Obviously, investors over at capitaland...

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China xlx awarded 100 most important industrial enterprises

What a big market selldown. STI dropped a total of 84.73 points (2.46%), closing at 3353 with a volume of 1.62 billion. All the big caps fell and from the viewpoint of my watchlist, it seems that the small caps are not spared either. Amid the selldown, china milk is about the only positive counter in my watchlist. Wondering what's up with that counter...saw a period of time where the counter shot up to a intraday high of 1.13 before closing at 1.090,...

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Buy and hold forever?

HH passed me an excellent article on buying and hold fallacy which I linked it here.The idea of buying and holding is what long term investors would like to do. Before anyone just go to the stock market and buy anything stocks, and proceed to hold it forever, I think here's a few pointers to take note:1. Buy and hold works good for companies which are fundamentally sound. I think before you adopt the buy and hold strategy, you must decide whether the company will still be around for long and whether the company can still make money in the future....

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Review on "The Dividend rich investor - Building wealth with high-quality, dividend paying stocks"

Stupid advertlets...they never pay money to host their site, so when I logged into my blog, I kept on being directed to another site. Haha, looks like they owe money run away already...Enough of that.I finished reading the dividend book...managed to complete reading it in a day. I never knew I could squeeze so much time if I had to, though it is quite tiring. These are the few things I thought it's important:1. Instead of calculating % yield (formula: dividend for whole yr/current market price of stock), we can calculate the % yield relative to...

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Capricorn is capricious today

Today is 4th January.Don't feel particularly good about today...I seldom feel happy this day. I lived for 30 years, 16 years to educate me (6+4+2+4=16), 6-7 years don't know what I'm doing, minus 2.5 years NS, leaving only 4.5 years of purposeful, free life. 4.5 years of freedom, after 30 yrs of life...that's unacceptable, that's pathetic. I started investing 1.5 yrs back, probably going to do so till I passed from this place. Why didn't I start earlier?Does it matter if I start earlier? Perhaps not. I couldn't possibly see myself as mature or...

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Construction stocks bucked the trend of falling STI

STI tanked down today...dropping 1.85% (64 pts) to close at 3397 with a volume of 1.5 billion. All the big shots are shot down...DBS, SGX, Kep, CityDevlop, SIA...dragging STI down in the second day of trading for this new year 2008. Could the party be over now? Don't want lah, I'm still hanging over...Construction stocks is definitely heating up. While STI dropped, construction stocks are the ones that bucked the trend. Those in my watchlist, CSC, Koh Bros, LB, YN all went to close positive. LB and CSC are broke out of downtrend with higher than...

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POEMS Money Market Funds (MMF)

Seems like quite a few are interested in the Money market fund (MMF) that POEMS offered. Want to share what I thought about it, including some details after tracking it since May last year.A short introduction on MMF. It's something like a unit trust that do not guarantee the principal. However, it invests in low risk short-term deposits and high quality debt securities. You can do an EPS to POEMS and they would put the money into the MMF. Basically...

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Construction stocks making a comeback?

Constructicons making a comeback? Check out some of the charts I did this morning on the construction counters :)Really really hoping to sell it soon :) All the rally had died down since this frenzy in buying up in the morning. Could be seeing a few more rounds. When the top 4 volume consists of construction stock, you should know that this sector is coming. Why? I think must be news of contracts... let's see if it proves righ...

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CES won a contract in Vietnam...could it boost construction stocks?

STI closed down 21 pts at 3461 with a volume of 1.4 billion. First trading day of the year we already have a negative day. Market volume is still quite low, nothing much to see actually, perhaps except for Chip Eng Seng which won a residential development contract in Vietnam. Construction stocks pushed up a little because of the news. That was pretty much it.Actually from my watchlist, I can see a number of stocks go low then close flat. I think...

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Chairman's message for FY 2007

Dear Shareholders,Today is the first day of a brand new year 2008. I thought it's an excellent day for me to reflect what had happened in my life for the year 2007. Time flies so fast...Let's recall what happened on 2 Jan 2007. I closed the year 2006 with a $3500 total returns. Considering that I started investing/trading in April, I'll say I had an excellent year in 2006. In 2006, I lost 18k and regained all of it back, mainly by trading with HSI...

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