October 2014 Portfolio Update

(Screenshot taken from Ticker app)

Dear Readers,

I'm very excited to show you my latest portfolio as from what you can see above, my portfolio has grown twice the size compared to last month!

The main reason it had doubled is because I recently closed my fixed deposit account and threw everything into 3 main stocks, Suntec REITS (5 lots), UMS (21 lots) and NSL (5 lots). Oh by the way, my fixed deposit account only yield an interest of $130 for 1 year duration and that sucks! 

So why do I say that putting money in fixed deposit sucks? Well, it does not suck if you have bloody no idea what to do with your money. Warren Buffett's number 1 rule in investing: Never lose money! Putting all your savings in fixed deposit if you have no idea how to invest has already fulfilled Warren Buffet's rule. For me, I only got enlightened recently and so, not making my money work for me is totally nonsensical now. 

(Screenshot taken from UMS website)

Moving forward, UMS is going to ex dividend of $0.01 per share on the 7 Oct based on their financial calender on their website. For an individual like me with 21 lots of UMS, I'm gonna get $210 on the payment date by the end of October! Hell yea!

$210 within a month compared to $130 after a year of fixed deposit. Which one do you choose?

Happy investing!

The Rat is getting more lazy and it is good to be lazy. =)

The Feds had spoken.....

Hi readers,

The time has come! 

Quantitative easing (QE) will end by October 2014 and soon we will see bank interest rates increasing 6 months from october! Mean i got about 7 months to a year to save up some Vitamin M for some reits and blue chips that are heavily leveraged now!

To some, QE ending in October may be a bad news as companies with high bank borrowings will suffer due to rise in interest rates, causing their share price to dip. But for me, this looks like a good news to me as it tells me I can save up some money for good companies whose share prices are very expensive now. Secondly, this piece of news also show me another path where i can start looking at companies with little of zero debt like Sheng Siong (OV8.SI) & Neratel (N01.SI).

Great times are coming ahead and it's about damn time for me to be greedy when other panick!

For my next blog, I will be updating my portfolio as lately I have made some purchases so stay tuned!

Happy investing!

Technical Analysis of M1 (B2F.SI)

Hi Readers

M1 (B2F.SI) is on my watchlist for awhile partly because of its regular dividend payments. Furthermore, I have 4 mobile plans under M1 and it will be nice if M1 give me a cut of their profit =). With the sales launch of Iphone 6 & 6 plus on 15 Sept, M1, together with other telco companies, has raised the monthly subscription rates their mobile price plans. The raise of the prices will not stop Apple fanatics from getting their hands on the new Iphones, trust me. This will definitely bring about more profits for the Telcos in the long run as they have very good pricing powers. Furthermore, I will pretty much like to have a defensive utility stock that pay good dividends like M1 in my portfolio.

Ok, enough said about things we already know about M1. Based on its closing price on 15 Sept below is the chart that tells us about M1's price movement:

(screenshot from Stockmaster IPad App, https://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/stock-master-real-time-stocks/id591644846?mt=8)

I used the following indicators for the above chart:

1) Boilinger Bands (20MA +/- 2 Standard Deviations) = the Purple twin-line band

2) 21 Day Moving Average to give me the mid-line of the Boilinger Band = Red line

3) 60 Day Moving Average = Green line

4) MACD at default settings

5) RSI at default settings to tell me when the shares are overbought & oversold.

If you looked carefully at the 21MA & 60MA (red & green lines), they are beginning to converge and this shows that the price is going to be bearish in the near future. Usually, if you were to wait for the 21MA to cross under 60MA, the price would have dropped too much. However, having said that, there may be a possibility that both MA line may diverge and it will become a bullish trend.

Next, the MACD is telling us that the price is currently bearish (blue line riding above red line). 

If we observe the price line upon the Boilinger Band, the candlesticks are riding very closely to the bottom band with some candlesticks crossing below the bottom band. By looking at how the Boilinger Bands diverging away from each other on a down trend, this can be seen as a strong bearish trend and that the price can be expected to fall further. 

RSI, however, indicates that the shares are currently oversold and we may see that investors may be starting to buy M1 shares again.

The above technical analysis is largely based on what I have observed so far. I have yet to attend the Chartnexus course as I'm still saving up for the course fees. LOL. 

To summarise, below are the signs that tells me that M1 price is gonna drop further:

1) Candlesticks riding below 21MA.

2) Candlesticks riding near lower Boilinger Band with some dropping below the bottom band.

3) 21MA and 60MA lines are coverging, which we can predict that they may cross over soon.

4) MACD indicate that it's a bearish trend and both red & blue lines are diverging away from each other.

5) Boilinger Bands are widening in both directions on a down trend which indicate a strong bearish mode.

The only sign that does not agree to the above is the RSI which indicate an oversold status. 

I will be watching this very closely and based on its 2013 dividends of 21 cents, it will have a dividend yield of 5% if I enter at a price of $3.50. Hopefully, that will happen based on what I observed so far and it will be great to have M1 as part of my portfolio. =)

Happy Investing!

Rat Racer

Something I read from the newspapers today

Hi Readers,

It's the Rat Racer again. Today I read an article on the Straits Times on the higher toll fares at the Singapore/Johor customs.

It caught my attention as I felt that it will affect one of the counters on my watchlist: Sheng Siong (OV8.SI).

Based on my previous shopping spree in one of Sheng Siong branches few weeks ago, I realised that majority of their products, be it snacks, biscuits, fresh fruits & veggies and baby product like milk powder and diapers, come from our  neighbouring country, Malaysia. Also, their HQ cum warehouse is located alongisde Woodlands Road which is a very short path to the Woodlands Checkpoint within 10 minutes drive.

(Screenshot from Google Maps IPad App, Showing the location of Sheng Siong's HQ cum Warehouse location and its proximity to Woodland Checkpoint)

Based on these 2 evidences (their products & location of their HQ), I supposed that it is pretty obvious that Sheng Siong will have to pay more toll fares going in and out of Malaysia everyday for their supplies. Be prepared to see a dip in profit due to increased operations cost in their next quarterly financial report!

As of today, Sheng Siong market price is at $0.66. I personally feel that it may dip in the next few months but I can't really tell  by how much because I'm not an expert =). I will be watching this counter very closely from now on. I do not own any Sheng Siong's shares currently.

An article from fool.sg (http://www.fool.sg/2014/09/04/why-has-sheng-siong-group-ltd-fallen-by-5-6-today/) also indicated on 4th September that Sheng Siong is currently proposing a private placement which has caused its market price to dip ever since. I will be expecting this counter to drop further based on what i am observing right now.

Sheng Siong is a good company with ZERO debt and has dividend yield of 4.39%. The dividend yield is not attractive currently but if the price continue to drop to a price about $0.56 and below. This will indeed be a good entrance price as dividend will be yielding around 5% or more if its market price were to really dip to below $0.56. A zero debt company is always good in terms of growth in the long run. 

Well, these are my personal feelings and analysis on Sheng Siong (OV8). Experts may beg to differ(remember, I'm a noob investor!). Any comments are welcomed!

Happy Investing!

Rat Racer

A little video produced by me during 2011

Dear Readers

Today I will like to share a bideo made by me some time back. For those who never been to Singapore, this video will give you some ideas as to places of interest that you can visit. For Singaporeans, you may find that some places in the video were demolished already. 

Lately, I have been busy and my 2nd video has not been made. Hopefully, my investments will free me from the rat race and i can continue this hobby of mine!

Enjoy the video and don't forget to keep investing!

Rat Racer

September 2014: My Portfolio

Dear Readers, 

As promised, i will be sharing my investment portfolio with you guys.

As of today, my portfolio consists of 185000 shares of Global Investments (B73.SI) which I bought at $0.141 per share on Monday and I'm still holding on to my 6000 shares of Chasen Holdings (5NV.SI) waiting for opportunity to sell all my Chasen's shares when the price goes up above $0.18 per share.

I decided to make B73.SI my major investment because firstly, the debit:asset ratio is 0% and the dividend yield as of FY 2013 is 10%, which makes it a very good income-type of investment. 

My current investments sum up to be around $27,000 and I am waiting for a sum of $29,000 to be withdrawn out from my Fixed Deposit which gives me a meagre 0.4% interest for leaving my money with the bank for a year. I will most probably be looking at another 0% debt company which is Neratel (N01.SI), also having a dividend yield of about 7%. The leftover sum will probably go into one of the higher-than-average dividend yield REITS which I have not decided which one to choose from (could be Sabana M1UG.SI or Starhill Global P40U.SI as both price:book ratio is less than 1).

Any comments is welcomed!

Happy investing!

Rat Racer

Rat Racer's First Post (Read only if you have lotsa time)

Dear Readers!

This will be my very first post as a noob investor. I have come a long way before i come to realise that i should take control of my own money and invest in stuff i truly understand. 

A brief investment history of me: I have invested $15k in mutual funds during 2007 after i ORDed, thinking that mutual funds are much more stable than stock trading and end up making losses within the first 6 months. I stubbornly held on to my mutual funds after being persuaded by my financial planner and eventually my investment is only worth $10k by the end of 2012 which i sold in order for me to buy my Kia Picanto (I need a car because I need to bring my newborn baby to my mum-in-law's house every morning before I go to office). A loss of $5k in 5 years (33% loss). This was not what my financial planner told me! My financial planner, whom i do not wish to name, only told me that mutual funds is better than putting my money in my banks but he/she fails to tell me that i will make a loss of $5k in 5 years! If any financial advisors want to sell u a product, always ask them how much you will lose if u invest in their product!

As a parent, watching my baby grow up gives me a blissful feeling. However, as my baby boy started rolling over, crawling and eventually learning how to walk, I realised that I will have nothing to leave behind for my child when I retire(at a young age of 50 hopefully!). Furthermore, my plan was to have 4 kids! I immediately feel that my current job ($3500/month) is not sufficient for my family planning at all! To tell you the truth, this is the very problem that an average Singaporean couple faces. That's why the current government campaign of encouraging young couples to give birth has not shown any significant results yet.

I decided that in order for me to reach my goal of having 4 kids and possibly being financially free, I have to think of means to get a 2nd income or starting a business to generate endless income for my family. However, my immature mind at that time can only think of getting a part time job in order for me to get a 2nd income and immediately I realised the limitation as I will be sacrificing my time for a limited amount of 2nd income. Starting a business involves high capital which will drain up all my savings and furthermore I will have to spend all my time and energy on my business. I will miss out the moment when my child grow up. Furthermore, the risk of starting a business with my life savings is that I may lose everything if my business fails which I am not prepared to do so because I have my family to support. 

One fine day I was having dinner with my wife at Sembawang Shopping Centre. After dinner, i went to Popular bookstore and came across a book that caught my eye. It is "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" written by Robert Kiyosaki. Miraculously, I bought the book (for a person who hates to read since young, it's a miracle!). I learnt a lot from this book. It opened my eyes to the possibility of financial freedom. It teaches me that being rich is not about having 1 or 2 million dollars in your saving account, it is about having unlimited cash flow that can sustain your lifestyle even when you are not working at all. In the book, Robert Kiyosaki encourages setting up businesses and owning properties to collect rental income as the main source of his cash-flow. It hit me at that time that I can own a condominium unit to rent out to earn rental income like how Kiyosaki does it! After looking at the Singapore Gov't's "cooling measures" on purchasing private properties and IRAS's taxation requirement on property tax and rental income tax, I flinched and realised it is impossible for me to be able to invest in properties in the near future! 

As a hot-blooded, enthusiastic investor-to-be, I was determined to find my way out of the rat race even with the obstacles I am facing. I was still at my infantile stage where there were limited knowledge of the investments that were available to me due to my limited funds and I still believed that investing in stocks and shares, bonds and related securities are very risky due to the recent Lehman brothers' incidents that took place in 2008. However, i came across Adam Khoo's free Wealth Academy seminar through a motivational talk conducted by Adam Khoo himself. I attended the free seminar and it totally blew my mind! Prior to attending this free seminar, I admit that I knew nothing about investing in stock market, after the seminar I was so determined to invest in stock market to the extent that my wife was terrified by my behaviour towards stock market investment. I told my wife I wanted to sign up for Adam Khoo's Wealth Academy programme for a wooping $4.8k for a 4 day course! My wife managed to calm me down and made me think carefully if stock market investment is the right way to go. I did some research and read some books written by Adam Khoo (because there were few books on Singapore stock market investments). Eventually, I made up my mind and I decided that I have to keep in mind that I will invest in businesses rather than going into speculation in stock market. That was when i bought my first 6000 shares of Chasen Holdings(5NV.SI @ $0.18 during July 14) in Singapore Stock Market using the "kindergarten method" shared by Adam Khoo during his free seminar. Apparently this "kindergarten method" did not really work out well for my first investment and as of today(8/9/2014) the market price of Chasen Holdings is $0.159. 

Realising my mistake in my first stock market investment, I have been constantly trying to seek out what I have been missing to make a successful trade in the stock market. I came across a charting software recommended in Adam Khoo's book called Chartnexus. My first impression of using the Chartnexus software for the first time was that it is abit complicated to use for a noob investor like me. After trying to figure out how to use the charting software for a few days, I decided to give up using the software. Just before I was going to forget about Chartnexus presence, I received an email from Chartnexus about their free workshop on how to maximise your profit in stock market. I decided to give Chartnexus free workshop a go and even invited a few friends to attend the workshop with me. To tell you the truth, the free Chartnexus workshop was a "no nonsense" workshop. Unlike the Wealth Academy's free seminar which focussed more on motivation, Chartnexus free workshop was a 2 hours of technical analysis explanation with about 10 minutes of short introduction of what Chartnexus is all about. I clearly know that what I have been missing in my stock trading is the technical analysis knowledge. Using what I've learnt from the Chartnexus free workshop, I made a successful trade within 3 weeks after attending the free workshop. I bought 5000 shares of Thaibev(Y92.SI) at $0.64 and sold it at $0.70, making a $285 profit (that's almost 10% capital gain in 3 weeks!). Although $285 gain in 3 weeks is a small gain for most traders, to me it is a great motivation for me to continue my investment plans to reach my goals of financial freedom!

Ever since my first successful trade, I have been looking at REITs and securities that pay out dividends regularly. I am convinced that I should slowly build up my dividend income to allow me to have some usable funds of $10k before I go into stock trading to earn big bucks. Furthermore, I am motivated by the coming of my 2nd child in March 2015 to invest wisely so that in the near future, I will be able to build up a dividend income sufficient for my wife to quit her job to take care of the kids at home (this has been her dream for a long time and it seems workable with our new financial direction). I am also looking at signing for the Chartnexus 2-day workshop after I saved up for the fees of about less than $3k to better gear myself to make use of technical analysis in my future investments. 

I am starting this blog as I believe there are also a lot of young Singaporeans like me, just started a family and having their first kid, worrying about where the money is going to come from. This blog signifies a new start for me and my family moving forward to a new direction to our financial freedom! 

To sign off, I would like to thank the following gurus that had motivated me even though they do not know me at all: 

1) Robert Kiyosaki: For opening up my mind to the idea of cash-flow and financial freedom.

2) Adam Khoo: For showing me that in the midst of various "cooling measures" and Gov't policies that discouraged me from investing that in Singapore we also BOLEH! 

3) Gerald Yeo from Chartnexus: For teaching me in details the tell-tale signs to achieve my first successful trade with Thaibev!

For the above-mentioned gurus, I really hope that you guys continue to do a good job in motivating more people like me to do invest wisely. Thank you!

As you follow my blog posts, you will be able to see how I make my investment decision based on certain factors, I will accept all comments and I will try my best to reply with the limited knowledge I have. Time to time, I will also share my portfolio every month so you guys can take it as a reference. 

***Disclaimer: Do keep in mind that I learnt how to invest by myself through books and free workshop as of now and that certain fundamental & technical analysis are very subjective. Please do not hold me responsible for the failed investment because you followed my portfolio. =) I am also a newbie in stock market and investment like many investors out there.

Happy Investing!

- The Rat Racer