Gone Fishing!

30 Apr - 2 May 10

Batam, Turi Beach Jetty

DOW - Bulls are back again!

11,167.32 +122.05 +1.10%

Blue chips in SGX not globally or regionally exposed?

As a small retail investors with smaller capital, do you try to diversify by investing in overseas by putting few thousand bucks here and there and exposing to additional currency risks besides market and stock risks?

Let me know if you are aware any of blue chips listed in SGX doing only local businesses. I don't seem to know any.

DOW - More bears not coming?

Back to above 11,000 again!

11,045.27 +53.28 +0.48%

Don't be the last fool still sitting there.

Don't be the last fool standing

For seniors in the market

While we may think that we are smart enough not to be last fool standing but will we become the last fool sitting. You need to ride the Bull with stocks not cash.

STI: Time to let the Bear has some fun too!

2,932.04 -59.64 -1.99%

Don't worry, Bull will come back sooner than you expected

DOW breaking 11,000 can't be easier, right?

DOW breaking 10,000 wasn't an easy task

Ezra - on watch

Saving matters but Investing determines - Part 3

Saving matters but Investing determines - Part 2

Most property investors will tell you that properties will not crash down to zero unlike stocks.

That is true if you are investing in Freehold properties and not really true for Leasehold properties.

Some stocks will survive for many, many decades; but your Leasehold properties will one day crash down to Zero when they reach 99 years.

Which is better for super long-term investment - stocks or LH properties?

Sentiment Is Contrarian, Not So Reliable

Many brokers and market watchers find contrarian feedback in the views of ordinary people.


For example, as the market rose in the months after the follow-through in March 2009, many ordinary people were either convinced that the market was still doing terribly, or didn't trust the rebound.

Deeper in a bull market, people at social gatherings will fish for advice from brokers and market watchers. Later, they'll try to give advice.

And late in a bull market, you run into people who say they're thinking of quitting their day job and investing full time. When you hear that, the run is about done.

Legendary investor John Templeton described the cycle this way: "Bull markets are born on pessimism, grow on skepticism, mature on optimism and die on euphoria."

Dow Drops Over 200 and DOW's bears begin their ride!

Closing @10,991.99 -213.04 -1.90%

Stocks had their worst drop in months Tuesday, falling to session lows in the final minutes of trading, after the debt ratings on Greece and Portugal were downgraded.

So are you happy and ready for buying yet?

STI will be dancing along Line 3,000

Let see how times must STI breaks into Line 3,000? 3 or 4 times?

Kep Corp : Surprising so strong?

Don't tell me some are better informed. Buying in anticipation and selling on news?

Markets still struggling to make up for 'lost year'

By LYNETTE KHOO

(SINGAPORE) Only about one-third of large-cap global companies have recovered the losses suffered during the downturn to generate a net positive total shareholder return (TSR) in the two-year period 2008-2009. And only five emerging markets managed to fully recoup their 2008 losses.

After posting a sterling return of 70.8 per cent last year, Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI) is still some 10 per cent below its 2007 year-end level


----------------------------------------------------

So what is your strategy for stocks pick going forward if you analyze the above data?

What impacts investment decisions?

Marriage, children and housing cause significant changes in risk aversion which affects people's choice of optimal portfolio mix


By CHOO XIAO LI, NG HUI YIN,WONG SOON LEONG and KONG YOON KEE

SOME key events in life bring about a significant change in attitude and perspective when it comes to making investment decisions. Marriage, for instance, brings with it a sense of joint ownership and responsibility for the couple as they set up a new family unit. Similarly, the arrival of the first child and subsequent ones brings additional long-term financial commitments and significantly affects their priorities in life.

Housing loan, probably the biggest financial commitment in life, requires setting aside a major part of the monthly salary and/or CPF contribution to service the monthly instalments. Many of us heave a huge sigh of relief when the loan is fully paid up.

Our team of three final-year students at Nanyang Business School, NTU, under the supervision of our lecturer, decided to study four key events: marriage, arrival of the first child/children, full repayment of housing loan, and use of CPF for investments for their impact on Singaporeans' attitude to savings, riskiness of their investment portfolios and conservativeness with respect to investments. We also looked at how age impacts individuals' risk aversion.

Overall, our survey findings show that major life events cause significant changes in risk aversion which affects people's choice of the optimal portfolio mix.

For instance, marriage results in a significant change in investment strategy as on getting married, people prefer to have less risky assets in their portfolio. We found that a mere 2.18 per cent indicated that they would choose the riskiest portfolio (comprising 60 per cent high-risk, 30 per cent medium-risk and 10 per cent low-risk assets) after marriage. This was a plunge from the one quarter of respondents (25.84 per cent) saying that before marriage they would choose the riskiest portfolio.

On the other hand, the proportion of those who chose the safest portfolio (10 per cent high-risk, 30 per cent medium-risk and 60 per cent low-risk assets) quadrupled from 11.80 per cent before marriage to a healthy 47.63 per cent after marriage.

Financial planners, wealth managers and others in investment advisory roles are encouraged to take special notice of the four events that we studied as these have been found to have significant impact on people's investment preferences and risk aversion.

We polled 500 adult Singaporeans through face-to-face and online surveys in December 2009 and January 2010. A total of 178 responded - equally split between men and women - giving a healthy response rate of 36 per cent.

Our survey showed that marriage leads to Singaporeans wanting to save more for their future, possibly for the downpayment for the HDB flat or private apartment and/or to prepare for the arrival of children.

Newly married couples are prepared to give up the potentially higher returns of riskier investments for the relatively stable returns of safer assets even though these typically provide lower expected returns. Marriage also leads many to lean towards making more conservative decisions such as selling their risky investments and opting for safer investments such as fixed deposits during a volatile market.

We believe that when a married individual is investing the combined wealth of the couple, he believes that his accountability is not just to himself but also to the spouse. Hence, he would take a more conservative approach in investing, which accounts for his shying away from riskier investments.

Our survey shows that the arrival of the first child also significantly impacts the attitude of Singaporeans to savings as they tend to save more in terms of number of months of savings available for living expenses. We found a huge increase in respondents who opt for more than 12 months of savings: from 24.16 per cent before marriage having their first child to a high of 71.35 per cent after marriage having their first child.

In addition, they prefer to invest more in safer assets and to make more conservative investment decisions after having a child or children. Bringing up a child or children can be costly for a typical Singaporean family. With education costs, child development expenses (tuition, piano, ballet lessons, etc) and medical costs that come with having children, parents make conservative investments to avoid any abrupt and substantial losses from investments that would make it difficult for them to fulfil their obligations.

Buying a house is probably the single biggest investment for many of us and it is a lifetime goal for many to own a fully paid home as quickly as possible. We find that Singaporeans want to manage their investments more conservatively while they are still servicing their housing loan: We observe that 28.65 per cent of the respondents see themselves switching to more aggressive investment allocations after fully paying off their housing loan. (Createwealth8888: I became more aggressive in stocks after fully paying off my house loan and emotionally stronger to ride bear market and economic downturn that may threathen job security)

In the event of unexpected adverse macroeconomic situation, a homeowner who is still servicing his housing loan may find that he is in negative equity with respect to his home, that is the amount that he owes the bank is more than the value of his apartment as its value had dropped significantly due to the bad economy. In this case, the bank may call upon the homeowner to repay some of the loan to reduce its exposure to him. The homeowner would be better prepared for this if he adopts a more conservative investment portfolio and has set aside more savings; otherwise, he risks foreclosure of his property by the bank.

At the same time, our results also show that Singaporeans tend to behave differently after they have paid off their housing loan in full as they will invest more aggressively and are more willing to accept higher risk in order to seek potentially higher return.

Besides cash, CPF is an important alternative source of funds for investments. Our survey shows that Singaporeans are more inclined to invest a greater part of their portfolio in riskier assets when they are using CPF monies compared to when they're using cash: A third (33.15 per cent) of the respondents will choose to invest in a more aggressive portfolio mix if they use CPF to invest, compared to just 7.3 per cent who will invest in an aggressive portfolio if they use cash.

A possible explanation is that Singaporeans do not view their CPF savings as 'cash'. While cash is immediately available to buy goods and services, CPF savings can only be used for selected purposes such as insurance, mortgage payments and retirement spending. Thus, they 'do not feel the pinch' when losses occur if they are investing using CPF.

Next, our survey also finds that people in different age groups differ in their risk aversion. Those between 21 and 30 exhibit the least risk aversion as they have minimal financial commitments to meet. Also, being younger, they have a longer time frame to recoup any financial losses.

On the other hand, those in their 30s are most risk averse. This could possibly be due to the fact that most of them face substantial financial commitments, given the need to support their children and repayment of housing loan. Those in their 40s are less risk averse than those in their 30s as they would most probably have lower outstanding housing loan liability and may have built up some savings by then.

Choo Xiao Li and Ng Hui Yin are final-year banking and finance students and Wong Soon Leong is a final-year actuarial science student at Nanyang Business School, NTU. Kong Yoon Kee is a lecturer of the school

STI re-enter 3,000. This is the 2nd attempt

Closing 3,002.62 +14.13 +0.47%

Sembcorp Industries in deal to acquire US water services firm Cascal for US$206m

By Desmond Wong


SINGAPORE: Sembcorp Industries is making an offer to buy the US-listed listed water and wastewater services firm Cascal for as much as US$206 million.

As part of the deal, Sembcorp's utilities unit has offered to buy a 58.4 per cent stake in Cascal now owned by Biwater Investments.

Sembcorp is offering US$6.75 per share if it gets at least 80 per cent of the outstanding common shares have been validly tendered and not withdrawn.

The price will be brought down to US$6.40 if the number of shares tendered is less than 80 per cent.

Sembcorp said it will then make a tender offer for the remaining shares that it doesn't already own.

Sembcorp added this acquisition will transform it into a global water service provider and provide the platform for the group to accelerate its future growth.

The entire acquisition is expected be funded by internal funds and borrowings.

Sembcorp expects the purchase to be accretive to earnings starting from the second year.

Cascal is a leading provider of water and wastewater services.

The company operates in 21 locations across eight countries - the United Kingdom, South Africa, Indonesia, China, Chile, Panama, Antigua and the Philippines and four continents.

It has a growing customer base of homes and businesses that represent a total population of about 4.7 million people.

Low Margins are bad. High Margins are good - Revisit

True or not?

Can investing be made so simple by thinking that all low margins are bad and all high margins are good? Then every Tom, Dick, and Harry can become good investors by looking at margins. In the real business world, it is not that simple. You have to go beyond it to fully understand how such companies have managed to survive with this business model over market and economics cycles.

It is somewhat similar to the ideas of "Low Sales Commissions are bad. High Sales Commissions are good." Marry The Guy Who Has 60% Sales Commission. Some low commissions salesmen may be paying high income taxes. Get it?

Understanding Stock Market Risks - No 7 Risk

Understanding Stock Market Risks - No 6 Risk

This Great Bear of 2008 taught me there is another risk to think about:

7. Dilution Risk

Even if you only invest in blue chips that are strategically important to Singapore and the government will never allow them to fail. So there is very little risk of complete failure but you are still expose to the dilution risk i.e. your interests in your holding get diluted by these companies injecting more capitals to strengthen up their balance sheets by raising more capitals through private placement or right issues.

Private Placement to Institutions

You either get out or get diluted. If you have decided to hold on; then it may take a long while for your current holding to get even.

Right Issues

Same here. You can choose to get out or exercise your option to prevent your current holding been diluted by subscribing to all your entitled right issues to hold it at higher investment cost.

If you don't, then your interests will take a long while to get even.

Noble - Still weak and don't expect it to cheong liao

Cambridge (CIT) - Breaking into the next higher box

Q1 2010 Earning Presentation slides

HDB quarterly resale prices hit new record!

Createwealth8888:

A HDB flat is a home for living and not for profit taking. Home for Living and not for profit taking - Part 4

Hope the HDB Minister can do something drastic to put a

to these nonsenses before the next generations become home slaves and waste their lives.

Every family needs a HOME but not all need a home and house/houses.

----------------------------------------------------
By Hoe Yeen Nie

Posted: 23 April 2010 1422 hrs

HDB quarterly resale prices hit new record

SINGAPORE: HDB resale prices have hit a fresh record in the first quarter of this year rising by 2.8 per cent compared with the previous quarter. But the latest figures show signs of a market that's finally stabilising after months of runaway prices.

Some analysts expect demand to continue to rise in the next few months but said cash premiums are unlikely to go much higher than the current median of S$25,000.

The official figures confirm estimates released earlier this month.

Resale transactions have dipped by about five per cent while median cash premiums, or COVs, have risen at a much slower pace than in previous quarters.

They went up S$1,000 in the last three months compared to the jump of S$12,000 between the third and fourth quarters last year.

They now stand at S$25,000, with flats in Bishan fetching the highest COVs, of about S$32,000.

Strong demand for newer estates has also translated into high premiums.

Towns like Punggol and Sengkang are seeing premiums of about S$30,000.

Eugene Lim, associate director, ERA Asia Pacific, said: "If you compare Punggol, Sengkang prices vis-a-vis mature HDB estates, they are still cheaper. Even though with high COVs of around S$30,000, you find that S$30,000 actually is the average COV nowadays for most flats. So, if you're paying thereabouts, why not get something newer versus something older?”

Analysts said measures to cool the market have worked including the launch of more HDB projects.

Other measures include restricting the cash portion of the second concessionary home loan, channeling the loan through the buyer's CPF account.

Moving forward, ERA'a Eugene Lim said the government may consider further measures to ease demand.

And while some observers say possible interest rate increases later this year will hit buyers' pockets, others disagree.

Jeffrey Hong, executive director, HSR International Realtors, said: “In general they don't look at, ‘At the end of 30 years of loan, how much do I actually pay for my flat?’ The first-time buyers are more concerned about how much they pay on a monthly basis. So if the increase in the interest is not much, the increment of the monthly payment is probably S$20 to S$50 a month more."

In the rental market, demand between January and March increased sharply, with transactions up 69 per cent over the previous quarter.

The HDB said subletting transactions went up from 3,902 in the last three months of 2009, to 6,606 cases.

Analysts said this is partly driven by foreigners returning to Singapore to work as the economy improves.

However, rents remain relatively stable, with median prices for four- and five-room flats hovering just under S$2,000 a month.

Analysts said this is partly driven by foreigners returning to Singapore to work as the economy improves while the HDB said the spike is also due to an increase in renewals of rental flats.

In the last three months, 2,323 flatowners applied to continue renting their flats, 19 per cent more than the previous quarter.

The HDB added that more homeowners are also aware that they have to apply to the HDB for approval which could add to the increase.

However, rents remain relatively stable with median prices for four- and five-room flats hovering just under S$2,000 a month.

ERA's Eugene Lim said strong demand will not likely translate into escalating rents because the supply of flats that can be subletted is high.

Under HDB rules, flats can be sublet after a minimum of three years.

But analysts said there is no similar jump in demand in the private rental market, suggesting that rental budgets remain low.

In the private residential market, prices were up 5.6 per cent, marginally higher than the 5.1 percent hike initially estimated

Four lessons

I keep hearing this guy saying people are damn free and whole day talking cock. Some free coaching for him to become the next guy to talk cock whole day.

Lesson Number One


A crow was sitting in a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?" The crow answered: "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Lesson Number Two

A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy". "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull "They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.

Lesson: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there. You must earn the right to sit high up and bullshit.

Lesson Number Three

When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be Boss. The brain said, "I should be Boss because I control the whole body's responses and functions." The feet said, "We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go." The Hands said, "We should be the Boss because we do all the work and earn all the money." And so it went on and on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally the asshole spoke up. All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss. Promptly, the asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work. Within a short time the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, the feet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered. Eventually they all decided that the asshole should be the Boss, so the motion was passed. All the other parts did all the work while the Boss just sat and passed out the shit!

Lesson: You don't need brains to be a Boss - any asshole will do.

Lesson Number Four

An organisation is like a tree full of monkeys, all on different limbs at different levels, some climbing up, some fooling around and some simply just idling... The monkeys on top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces...The monkeys on the bottom look up and see nothing but assholes...
 
Lesson: Those at the bottom seem happy getting shits from the assholes.

DOW - Bull market is known to run for a long time. Another new High!

DOW closed above 11,200 on Friday!

11,204.28 +69.99 +0.63%

As of Friday the Dow Jones industrial average has entered its longest winning streak in more than six years.

Heard these ...

• Yet the words "pullback" and "correction" are two of the most common words from the mouths of market pros these days.
• Every time technicians say the market is overheated, it seems only to go higher. An expected pullback during earnings season, much like that which accompanied the two previous reporting periods, has failed to materialize as well.
• If a pullback should come and gives you an opportunity to increase that exposure, that's great. But you can't hope for that pullback," Flam says. "What happens is you get that pullback and say, 'Oh no, we're going to go down,' and you don't actually buy."

DBS - Time for it to lead STI back to 3,000

With a new CEO and his new initiatives, thing starts to look rosy.

No planning, but they want to retire early

By TEH SHI NING


HALF the working Singaporean population has yet to make financial plans for retirement even though three in five wish to retire by age 60, a new survey by global financial services firm Russell Investments has found.

'These findings are somewhat startling,' said Mahendran Nathan, Russell's chief executive for Asean, Hong Kong, Taiwan and India, who thinks they reflect a lack of awareness of the need for retirement planning and thought over what an increased retirement age might imply.

The desired retirement age of 60 reflected in the survey's results is shy of the current statutory retirement age of 62. Singapore's government has been preparing companies for the rollout of new re-employment legislation which will effectively raise the retirement age to 65 by 2012, and 67 eventually.

HOW TO RETIRE?

Semb Corp - Breakout today!

Kep Corp - Good execution by the BBs!

Classic execution by BBs.

First creates a seller market by pushing it down to the low of $9.78 and

then wipe out the weak holders and later take out the weak sellers.

STI - Nothing really change

Closing @2,983.10 +2.41 +0.08% for the week

DOW - Simply amazing intra-day recovery!

Closing poistive: 11,134.29 +9.37 +0.08%

Will STI bears stay away after seeing DOW recovery?

Anna Quindlen's Commencement Address at Villanova

The following is from Pulitzer Prize winning author Anna Quindlen's commencement address to Villanova University, Friday 23 June 2000:

It's a great honor for me to be the third member of my family to receive an honorary doctorate from this great university. It's an honor to follow my great-uncle Jim, who was a gifted physician, and my Uncle Jack, who is a remarkable businessman. Both of them could have told you something important about their professions, about medicine or commerce.

I have no specialized field of interest or expertise, which puts me at a disadvantage, talking to you today. I'm a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is all I know. Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. The second is only part of the first.

Don't ever forget what a friend once wrote Senator Paul Tsongas when the senator decided not to run for reelection because he'd been diagnosed with cancer: "No man ever said on his deathbed I wish I had spent more time in the office." Don't ever forget the words my father sent me on a postcard last year: "If you win the rat race, you're still a rat." Or what John Lennon wrote before he was gunned down in the driveway of the Dakota: "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."

You walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree; there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on a bus, or in a car, or at the computer. Not just the life of your minds, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank account, but your soul.

People don't talk about the soul very much anymore. It's so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is a cold comfort on a winter night, or when you're sad, or broke, or lonely, or when you've gotten back the test results and they're not so good.

Here is my resume: I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent. I no longer consider myself the center of the universe. I show up. I listen, I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows mean what they say. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my friends, and they to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today, because I would be a cardboard cutout. But call them on the phone, and I meet them for lunch. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh.

I would be rotten, or at best mediocre at my job, if those other things were not true. You cannot be really first rate at your work if your work is all you are.

So here is what I wanted to tell you today:

Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast? Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze over Seaside Heights, a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over the water gap or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a cheerio with her thumb and first finger.

Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work. Each time you look at your diploma, remember that you are still a student, still learning how to best treasure your connection to others. Pick up the phone. Send an e-mail. Write a letter. Kiss your Mom. Hug your Dad. Get a life in which you are generous.

Look around at the azaleas in the suburban neighborhood where you grew up; look at a full moon hanging silver in a black, black sky on a cold night.

And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to spread it around. Once in a while take money you would have spent on beers and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or sister.

All of you want to do well. But if you do not do good, too, then doing well will never be enough. It is so easy to waste our lives: our days, our hours, our minutes. It is so easy to take for granted the color of the azaleas, the sheen of the limestone on Fifth Avenue, the color of our kid's eyes, the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again. It is so easy to exist instead of live. I learned to live many years ago.

Something really, really bad happened to me, something that changed my life in ways that, if I had my druthers, it would never have been changed at all. And what I learned from it is what, today, seems to be the hardest lesson of all. I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get. I learned to look at all the good in the world and to try to give some of it back because I believed in it completely and utterly. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned. By telling them this:

Consider the lilies of the field. Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear. Read in the backyard with the sun on your face. Learn to be happy. And think of life as a terminal illness because if you do you will live it with joy and passion, as it ought to be lived.

Well, you can learn all those things, out there, if you get a life, a full life, a professional life, yes, but another life, too, a life of love and laughs and a connection to other human beings. Just keep your eyes and ears open. Here you could learn in the classroom. There the classroom is everywhere. The exam comes at the very end. No man ever said on his deathbed I wish I had spent more time at the office. I found one of my best teachers on the boardwalk at Coney Island maybe 15 years ago. It was December, and I was doing a story about how the homeless survive in the winter months.

He and I sat on the edge of the wooden supports, dangling our feet over the side, and he told me about his schedule; panhandling the boulevard when the summer crowds were gone, sleeping in a church when the temperature went below freezing, hiding from the police amidst the Tilt a Whirl and the Cyclone and some of the other seasonal rides. But he told me that most of the time he stayed on the boardwalk, facing the water, just the way we were sitting now even when it got cold and he had to wear his newspapers after he read them.

And I asked him why. Why didn't he go to one of the shelters? Why didn't he check himself into the hospital for detox? And he just stared out at the ocean and said, "Look at the view, young lady. Look at the view."

And every day, in some little way, I try to do what he said. I try to look at the view. And that's the last thing I have to tell you today, words of wisdom from a man with not a dime in his pocket, no place to go, nowhere to be. Look at the view. You'll never be disappointed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

• One of her messages is that people should not confuse their lives and their work. "I think a lot of us are too invested in our work — to the extent that it totally defines us."  Most of the time if we meet some one for the first time, sooner or later the conversation will touch on what are you working as? Our jobs totally define us.
• But, then no man ever said on his deathbed I wish I had spent more time at the office (kind of paradox)
• "I show up. I listen. I try to laugh." (we may not even be interested in listening not to say on laughing) This, she says, is part of getting the most out of life. Though it sounds like simple advice, she insists that it's hard work. "It's not easy at all, especially the showing up part." She says, "look at how so many of us communicate with each other, on the telephone, on e-mail, not as much face to face as we used to."

Genting - Countdown to fire-crackers day. More pains coming?

Kep Corp - Finally breakout today after yesterday failure to break!

SINGAPORE - Keppel Corp, the world's largest offshore oil rig builder, reported on Thursday a better-than-expected 13 per cent rise in its first quarter net profit as a strong performance for its property arm compensated for a falling marine orderbook.

The conglomerate, whose interests span from offshore and marine engineering to property and infrastructure, earned S$322 million (US$234.7 million) in the three months to March, up from S$285 million a year ago, and compared to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S estimates of S$246 million.

Keppel and rival Sembcorp Marine benefited from a significant jump in oil exploration in the several years leading up to the financial crisis, but oil prices have since weakened, resulting in a steady decline for rig building orderbooks.

Keppel said last year it aimed to secure S$2 billion in orders in 2010, but in the first quarter alone the company has managed to secure S$1.6 billion worth of new orders.

Analysts are expecting the company, which has a market value of US$11 billion, to book a lower net profit of S$1.05 billion in 2010, down 17 per cent from S$1.26 billion made in 2009.

KepCorp aims to list infrastructure unit K-Green in 2Q 2010


By ANGELA TAN

Keppel Corporation Ltd said on Thursday that it is expecting to list its infrastructure division, K-Green Trust, in the second quarter of 2010.

KepCorp said the business trust, with Senoko WTE Plant, Ulu Pandan NEWater Plant and Keppel Seghers Tuas WTE Plant as seed assets will offer a new value-creating earnings platform for the group.

Noble buys 25% stake in Mexico port terminal

Noble Group said on Thursday that it has bought a 25 per cent stake in Terminales Portuarias del Pacifico (TPP).

TPP has been awarded a tender to develop a multicommodity terminal facility at Lazaro Cardenas Port, on the west coast of Mexico.

Construction of the two-phase terminal is set to commence by May 1 2010, with completion expected in 2011. Phase 2 of construction is planned for 2017.

Noble, which is currently supplying thermal coal to CFE at the Lazaro Cardenas Port, said the terminal provides it strategic strength and flexibility in its deliveries to CFE.

Kep Corp 1Q 2010 Report Card

1. Net profit improved 13% to S$322 million compared to 1Q09.

2. Earnings per share of 20.2 cents, up 13% from 1Q09’s 17.9 cents.
3. Annualised ROE remained above 20%.
4. Economic Value Added increased from S$211 million to S$240 million.
5. Cash outflow of S$501 million.
6. Net cash decreased from 0.14x to 0.07x.

HOW TO RETIRE?

By Cheng Huang Leng

Four Pre-Conditions for Retirement

I retired in year 2000 at age 52. I am now 61, thus I can claim that I got more experience at retirement than most! I thought I should share my experience with mariners because I have seen too many friends and neighbours who became so bored that they have become a nuisance to their spouse and children and to others!

A few of them have solved the problem by going back to work. They were able to do so because they have a skill/expertise that is still in demand. The rest (and many are my neighbours) live aimlessly or are waiting to die – a very sad situation, indeed.

You can retire only when you fulfil these 4 pre-conditions:

1. Your children are financially independent (e.g. they got jobs),
2. You have zero liability (all your borrowings are paid up),
3. You have enough savings to support your lifestyle for the rest of your life,
AND most importantly,
4. You know what you would be doing during your retirement.

DO NOT retire till you meet ALL 4 Pre-Conditions. And of course you should not retire if you enjoy working and are getting paid for it!

The problem cases I know of are those who failed to meet Pre-Condition #4.

When asked, “What would you be doing during your retirement?” some replied, “I will travel/cruise and see the World”. They did that, some for 3 months and then ran out of ideas. The golfers replied, “I can golf every day.” Most could not because they are no longer fit to play well enough to enjoy the game. Those who could, need to overcome another hurdle - they need to the find the “kakis” to play with them.

It’s the same with mahjong, bridge, badminton, trekking and karaoke – you need “kakis”! Most could not find others who share their favourite game and playing/singing alone is no fun. AND when they do find them, a few of them found that they are NOT welcomed like my obnoxious neighbour whom everyone avoids.

Thus if you are into group sports or games, you must form your groups BEFORE you retire. You need to identify your “kakis”, play with them and discover whether they “click” with you.

The less sporty “can read all the books bought over the years”. I know of one guy who fell asleep after a few pages and ended up napping most of the time! He discovered that he did not like to read after all. We do change and we may not enjoy the hobbies we had.

Routine Activities To Fill Your Week

For most people, your routine work activities are planned for you or dictated by others and circumstances. When you retire, you wake up to a new routine – one that you yourself have to establish as nobody else would do it for you!

The routine to establish should keep your body, mind and spirit “sharpened”. A good routine would comprise:

a) One weekly physical sport – you need to keep fit to enjoy your retirement. If you are the non-sporty type, you should fire your maid and clean your home without mechanical aids. Dancing and baby sitting are good alternatives.

b) One weekly mind stimulating activity – e.g. writing, studying for a degree, acquiring a new skill, solving problems or puzzles, learn or teach something. You need to stimulate your mind to stay alive because the day you stop using your brain is the day you start to die.

c) One weekly social activity – choose one involving lots of friends/neighbours. Get yourself accepted as a member to at least 3 interests groups. Unless you prefer to be alone, you do need friends more than ever as you get older and less fit to pursue your sport.

d) One weekly community service activity – you need to give to appreciate what you have taken in this life. It’s good to leave some kind of legacy.

With 4 weekly activities, you got 4 days out of 7 covered. The remaining 3 days should be devoted to family related activities. In this way, you maintain a balance between amusing yourself and your family members. Any spare time should remain “spare” so that you can capitalise on opportunities that come your way like responding to an unexpected request to do a job or to take advantage of cheap fares to see places or to visit an exhibition.

Mind stimulating activities

Most judges live to a ripe old age. They use their brains a lot to decide on cases. I am sure MM Lee’s brain works overtime. He’s 80+ and still going strong. In “Today” you would have read of 2 inspiring oldies. One is a granny who learned to play the guitar at age 60 to entertain his grandchildren. She’s 70+ today and those grandchildren have grown to play with her. Another is an Indian radiologist who on retirement, qualified as an acupuncturist. He’s age 77 and still offers his services (by appointment only) including free ones to those who have no income. I guarantee you that they are happy people who discovered a “2nd wind” to take them to the sunset with a smile on their faces.

Mind stimulating activities are hard to identify. They require your will to do something useful with the rest of your life, a mindset change and the discipline to carry it through.

Your Bucket List

Despite your busy routine, you will at times be bored. Then it’s time to turn to your Bucket List.

Your bucket list contains a list of things to do before you kick the bucket. They are not routine and are usually one off activities. You need them to have something to look forward to. These include anniversaries, trips (and pilgrimages), visits to friends and relations abroad, re-doing your home, attending conferences (related to your hobbies), acquiring a new set of expertise. 4 such activities that are spaced our quarterly would be ideal.

Retirement Is A Serious Business

If you can afford to retire and want to, do prepare to live to your fullest. You need to be fit to enjoy it – therefore get into shape now. You do not want to get up on a Monday and wonder what to do each week, therefore identify your set of weekly routine activities now and try them out to confirm that they are the activities that you will be looking forward to doing each week, week after week. You bucket list of “rewards” or “projects” or “challenges” is needed to help you break away from the routine thereby make live worth living. Start listing what you fancy and refine it as you chug along in your retirement. You will have so much fun, you would wish you were retired since your turned 21!

I will be happy to share my personal retirement experience with mariners. Just write to me.

Cheng Huang Leng
chenghuangleng@gmail.com


How to Retire – Q&A

My article on “How to Retire” triggered many mariners to pose questions like these:

Q: Any problems if I share your article with my other friends?

A: No problem! Do feel free to share my thoughts with any person whom you feel would benefit. There is no need for acknowledgement or to ask me for prior permission.

Q: Should I not create a "passive" income - so that even when we are not working, there is something coming in?

A: I think it’s neater to saved enough money to support the lifestyle of our choice WITHOUT depending on (or expecting) any other sources of income during retirement. However, any such “income” that comes your way e.g. rent from property, dividends from shares, and money from your kids or the will of your favourite auntie, should be treated as “bonus” that could be used to pay for your “dream” list. A dream list comprises items that you would dream of doing if you got the money! A bucket list should comprise items that you can already afford to do before you kick the bucket.

Q: How much is “enough” to save for retirement?

A: Enough is a relative word - hence none can agree to a number. I am told that Aristotle Onassis used to get his crew to fly his personal jet from London to Paris every morning to buy a loaf of bread for his breakfast! For him, I suppose a million a month would just about meet his living costs! On the other hand I know of many who are quite happy living in Singapore on $1,000 a month. You can live comfortably elsewhere for $200 a month. For my current lifestyle, my wife and I spend about $36,000 annually.

Q: It’s good to carry on working and get paid even after 55 or 60. However, the stress that is to be overcome can probably do a lot of damage to the ageing person, true or false?

A: Stress is good if you enjoy what you do. It’s bad otherwise and the damage to you is part and parcel of your job. Thus, be clear and honest with yourself as to why you continue to work when you can afford not to. 

Createweath8888 like his answer!

Q: I plan to open a small fishing tackle shop so that my spouse and I can spend time in the shop after we retire.

A: To me, true retirement activities are those where you spend your savings instead of make money. Thus I would consider operating a shop like yours a "hobby" meaning you do it for the fun (or pain?) and without expecting any monetary returns. In fact, it is even better if you expect to lose all your money on the venture! If you expect to make money, then it should be treated as a business. In that case, you have not yet retired.

Q: Should not one also keep spiritually healthy? So, may I suggest that one day (usually Sunday) be kept for the Lord?

A: A weekly spiritually stimulating activity would be a great idea. Renewing one’s faith is one such activity. For those who are not religious, it means identifying an activity that will help you renew (and/or reinforce) your commitment to your set of beliefs, principles and values. They are important because they are your anchor points. You lose them and you will lose purpose, meaning in life, etc. One good way is to read (books and/or articles) and reflect. Those not keen on reading can always reflect in somewhere quiet e.g. in a park, among trees or in a cave!

Q: I enjoy my work, I feel needed and I am getting paid. Why should I retire?

A: I agree that you should not retire BUT, you cannot work forever UNLESS you own the business! Thus if you are on a year to year extended contract, you should plan for the day when you are not needed anymore!

Q: I was planning to retire when my youngest son completes his studies and get a job etc but life threw a few surprises at us once in a while. I am 48 this year and will be expecting one more child in January (accident!!). Looks like I will have to shelve this thought for a while.

A: You can still retire as planned. A child does not require much money to bring up IF you DIY (i.e. no maids), use recycle toys and stuffs (just ask our mariners) and let him grow at normal pace (i.e. no mind camps and piano lessons). Let him enjoy his childhood fighting with other kids, climbing trees, catching spiders and getting into trouble! And when you do it yourself, you will not have time for any of your routine retirement activities till he is able to fight with other kids without your help. From my personal experience of helping to raise my grandson 5 days a week from 7.30 to 7.30, I am exhausted and would collapse at 8.30 pm and sleep like a baby till morning and I am mentally challenged thinking of things to do to keep him from being bored!

By the way, you should get your older children to share the chores and if they are working, to even contribute to the “accident” project fund.

Q: Can you arrange for "potential future retirees" to form a "kaki club" - especially mariners who can share the same passion and interests and keep in contact with each other?

A: Yes I can help form SIGs (Special Interest Groups) and that’s the easy part. The hard part is for you to develop and list your “passions and interests”.

The following suggestions/ideas were received. Thank you for sharing.

1. Perhaps one thing a retiree can do is to write his own life story and pass on to his children.

2. Retirees should mix with younger people and not only with retired peoples. From experience, I know that retirees who see their "kakis" kicking the bucket one by one, slowly become withdrawn as they start to fear for the day of their going. Unless, one is spiritually prepared, the fear can be overwhelming.

3. One must feel needed. You can be needed by becoming someone’s "kaki" or a guardian.

4. One activity to pursue is re-educating yourself and then you pass it on. You will be busier than working full time but every minute will be fruitful and joyous. This is due to meeting more and more people of all ages and kind. The really wonderful thing is you can pull back anytime you feel like it and to fuel it with unlearning, relearning, looping back to those who want to know. And of course some of the wonderful people you meet actually provide sustenance too.

I like to thank mariners who posed the above questions. They have helped to plug the gaps in my article.

I would also like to thank mariners (and there were many) who wrote to share their retirement experience and to thank me for my article.

Yours sincerely,
Cheng Huang Leng
chenghuangleng@gmail.com

Risks And Returns - Part 2

Risks And Returns

Low Risk High Return

In the real investment world, there is no such thing as Low Risk High Return; otherwise investing becomes so simple. Even uncles and aunties also can become fund managers. 

During market crashes, the yield of some financial instruments at that moment are rising due to the perceived risks are increasing. 

Potential buyers are demanding high returns for taking perceived higher risks. When the perceived risk gets higher, the yield must get even higher; otherwise the market will never find willing buyers. However, there will be some brave early buyers who believe such higher risks are not real.

In the market, from time to time, there may be some isolated opportunities for low risk high return available to some better informed ones; but soon load of buyers will come and chase them back to low risk low return.

So generally speaking, there is no such thing as low risk high return. If you happen to know such low risk high return financial instrument available to you, then keep it to yourself; otherwise load of buyers will come after them.

New survey shows 60% of Singaporeans want to retire by 60

By Satish Cheney

Posted: 22 April 2010 0631 hrs

SINGAPORE: A new survey showed that 60 per cent of Singaporeans want to retire by the time they reach 60 years of age.

However, only 40 per cent have developed - or intend to develop - a proper retirement plan.

The survey was commissioned by Russell Investments, a global financial services firm.

The aim is to show how Singaporeans are preparing for life after work.

The company said that less than 20 per cent have accessed professional financial advice when it comes to retiring.

More than 500 fully-employed Singaporeans aged between 35 and 55 participated in the poll conducted in December 2009 and January 2010.

A big fear for more than half the respondents is that they will outlive their money.

In fact, around 70 per cent said they are "very likely" to indulge in part-time employment when they retire.

"Singaporeans are actually preparing themselves for a decline in their quality of living during retirement - no wonder the majority of locals aren't looking forward to their retirement years," said Edmund Teo, Regional Director, Sales and Marketing at Russell Investments.


9 in 10 S'poreans do not feel well prepared for retirement - Revisit

DOW - Little change. Closing 11,124.92 +7.86 +0.07%

Each thinking harder what to do next?

Want to make money something must be done, status quo is not an option.

Low Rates Good for Banks, but Pity the Saver

The New York Times
On Friday April 16, 2010,
 
Aren’t low short-term interest rates wonderful?


If you are a bank, the answer is yes, particularly because the low rates are accompanied by somewhat higher longer-term rates.

If you are a saver, however, your view might be very different.

This month some interest rate spreads have reached record levels. The difference between what the Treasury pays on a one-year bill — less than half a percentage point — and what it pays on 10-year bonds — a little below 4 percent — expanded to the largest on record this month. In banking jargon, that is a very steep yield curve.

For banks, that is a license to make money with very little risk, particularly since they can get people to open savings accounts that pay close to nothing.

Saving matters but Investing determines - Part 2

Genting - Ready for fire-crackers when Marina Sands IR opens?

Kep Corp - Attempting to breakout today but failed!

Tmr result may be it wll make another attempt

Saving matters but Investing determines - Part 2

Saving matters but Investing determines - Part 1

You work hard and squeeze yourself to save $50K each year and save that $50K into a bank. In less than 20 years, you will become a Millionaire.

But, instead of saving the $50K in a bank, you choose to invest most of the $50K saving e.g. 90-95% in the stock market. Can you be definitely sure that you will become a Millionaire in 20 years time? You can't never be sure.

LP wrote this First deserve, then desire.

Everybody who are in the stock market believe that they deserve and then desire. Those who think that they don't deserve have already chopped their fingers and stay away from the stock market as they don't desire anymore.

Mr Market is a great re-distributor of your hard earned saving. Mr Market may re-distribute part of the saving from the Smart Savers who are Dumb Investors to the Smart Investors who then become happy Spenders.

If you don't believe me. Read this: Resident wants ban on CPF cash for investments

If you have decided to invest most of your saving into the stock market instead of putting them into a bank; then it is very important to stay focus on your investment.

Your investing journey is a long road ahead to success or failure. Watch your steps carefully as any silly investment mistakes in between the journey can wipe out most of your investment. Take care and have a safe journey!

DOW marching on ....

DOW closing UP on second day

11,117.06 +25.01 +0.23%