I started serious Investing Journey in Jan 2000 to create wealth through long-term investing and short-term trading; but as from April 2013 my Journey in Investing has changed to create Retirement Income for Life till 85 years old in 2041 for two persons over market cycles of Bull and Bear.

Since 2017 after retiring from full-time job as employee; I am moving towards Investing Nirvana - Freehold Investment Income for Life investing strategy where 100% of investment income from portfolio investment is cashed out to support household expenses i.e. not a single cent of re-investing!

It is 57% (2017 to Aug 2022) to the Land of Investing Nirvana - Freehold Income for Life!


Click to email CW8888 or Email ID : jacobng1@gmail.com



Welcome to Ministry of Wealth!

This blog is authored by an old multi-bagger blue chips stock picker uncle from HDB heartland!

"The market is not your mother. It consists of tough men and women who look for ways to take money away from you instead of pouring milk into your mouth." - Dr. Alexander Elder

"For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them." - Aristotle

It is here where I share with you how I did it! FREE Education in stock market wisdom.

Think Investing as Tug of War - Read more? Click and scroll down



Important Notice and Attention: If you are looking for such ideas; here is the wrong blog to visit.

Value Investing
Dividend/Income Investing
Technical Analysis and Charting
Stock Tips

Saturday 31 May 2008

How much is enough?

In another word, bro dream is asking me a complex question with no simple answer. How much is enough? This amount will depend on what are my values, goals, and desires.

I define financial independence end goal as when staying employed becomes an option or effectively out of the rat race; and I do not need to depend on an active employment income. My nett worth drawdown and passive income will be able to support my living expenses for the next 25 years after 55 i.e. assuming not living beyond 80 years old. Both my parents did not survive beyond 70 years old so I don't think I will last beyond 80, probably, my spouse would.

(1) What is my expected monthly living expenses for next 25 years?

I have been tracking my monthly living expenses since Jan 2001 so I know what is the maximum, minimum, and average monthly expenses. Then, I use this formula Expected Monthly Expenses = (Maximum + 4xAverage + Minimum)/6 to estimate.

(2) How much is enough?

Enough = 25 x Expected Monthly Expenses x 12

(3) Where to find this amount?

I will exclude CPF Special, Medisave, home; and absolutely zero debts. I will live at this home till death. BTW, home is five walk from MRT, shopping mall, and park. 15 mins bus ride to Punggol marina. I don't think I will want to shift elsewhere.

(4) Is this really enough?

Next, to do some sanity check and baring unforeseen life events, and if it happens, then life will be much tougher and will have to face it when it come; otherwise, there will be never, never, be enough. No matter how much?

I assume that I need not support the two elder ones when they start working and the monthly expenses will be reduced by 40%, and when the last one start working, the monthly expense further reduced by 20%.

With the assumption, then I overestimate the living expenses forecast for next 25 years to include 3 kids university expenses, medical expenses, major household applicances replacement, house repairs, and some misc.

The sanity check does show this amount is enough barring any unforeseen life events happening

(4) Where is the contingency fund?

I plan to allocate 50% of this amount for drawdown for monthly expenses and it will be able to last for 10-12 years. The other 50% for investment income which will help to offset inflation. From history, the market cycle between the two peaks is less than 10 years. I will be able to recover any capital losses. CPF Special account will be the additional buffer.

(5) Lastly, pray to God for blessing and good health.

May 08 - End Game Goal update



I think the days of easy profits are over, and moving forward towards this End Goal for next three years will be harder and tougher. No more foolish thinking that easy money can be made from the market. Cheers!

Friday 30 May 2008

Thursday 29 May 2008

Kep and SML

Both Kep and SML are doing well today with good volume so will there will a possible breakout tomorrow? Uncle DOW, hope you don't tumble tonite!

SML and Kep - Will the rise continue with this news?

Petrobras Hits in Deepwater GOM
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Petrobras announced the discovery of oil and gas in ultra-deep waters in the Central Gulf of Mexico, in the U.S., via its Petrobras America Inc. subsidiary, based in Houston, Texas. The discovery was made via the Stones # 3 well, drilled to perform the exploratory assessment of the Stones discovery, which is operated by Shell and located in Block WR 508, in ultra-deep Walker Ridge Quadrant waters. Petrobras America Inc. holds a 25% stake there. The remaining partners, in addition to Shell (35%), are Marathon and ENI, with 25%, and 15%, respectively. The Stones # 3 well is located at a depth of 2,286 meters from the water line and reached a total depth of 8,960 meters under the sea bed, finding oil in multiple reservoirs. Future drilling and assessment activities are being planned to define this discovery’s size and commercial viability.
This result confirms the potential of significant oil reserves in this type of reservoir in the Gulf of Mexico, where Petrobras operates the Cascade and Chinook fields which at the present are in the production development and facility construction phase.Petrobras will be the pioneer company in production in this type of reservoir in ultra-deep waters. It will also pioneer using an FPSO (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading) type platform in the region, the production of which is slated to go online in June 2010. In this same area, Petrobras also holds 25% stakes in the Saint Malo field. This field is operated by Chevron and is in the assessment and extension exploratory drilling phase. Also, studies are being done to the production development project for Saint Malo.
Holding stakes in these discoveries confers Petrobras a differentiated position in the Walker Ridge Quadrant and its neighboring areas. Furthermore, these discoveries are aligned with the company’s Strategic Plan and are important steps in the consolidation of a quality Exploration and Production project portfolio in deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico."

Wednesday 28 May 2008

Monday 26 May 2008

Anyone else interested in Brazil Oil?

Keppel Attracts SunAmerica as Cheap Way to Brazil Oil (Update1)

By Kyunghee Park

May 26 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil's push to find $135-a-barrel crude in water more than 2 kilometers deep is prompting AIG SunAmerica Asset Management Corp. to invest in Keppel Corp., the world's biggest oil-rig maker.

Jersey City, New Jersey-based SunAmerica Asset, owned by American International Group Inc., bought 865,000 shares after a 24 percent decline in the first quarter, according to regulatory filings. Since then, Singapore-based Keppel has climbed 19 percent, five times as much as the Straits Times Index. The shares, priced 19 percent below smaller competitor Sembcorp Marine Ltd. based on estimated 2009 profit, may rise 27 percent to S$15 over the next 12 months, according to Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Melinda Baxter.

``Demand for rigs and floating platforms will continue to be robust for at least the next four to five years,'' said Soo Hai Lim, a member of the emerging-markets team responsible for $12 billion of Asian equities, including Keppel, at Baring Asset Management Ltd. in Hong Kong.

``We favor Keppel and Sembcorp Marine because they are the leaders in the industry,'' said Lim, whose firm is a unit of Springfield, Massachusetts-based MassMutual Financial Group.

Untapped Reserves

Keppel is selling more deep-water rigs, which are twice as expensive as those for shallower water, as supplies tighten amid an intensifying search for untapped reserves further from shore. That helped the company post profit margins last quarter that were 1.9 percentage points wider than Sembcorp Marine's, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Of 20 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, 16 recommend buying Keppel and four say to hold it. The company's offshore and marine unit accounted for half of first-quarter net income.

Keppel dropped 2.4 percent to S$11.52 as of 11:20 a.m. in Singapore. Sembcorp Marine fell 3.6 percent to S$4.32.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil's state-owned oil company also known as Petrobras, plans to order 40 drill ships and platforms worth about $30 billion for delivery by 2017 after finding the Tupi field, the largest Western Hemisphere discovery since 1976. The field may contain 5 billion to 8 billion barrels.

``We are likely to see order-book momentum picking up again in the short term,'' Winnifred Heap at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Singapore wrote in a May 21 note. The analyst rates Keppel and Sembcorp Marine ``overweight.''

An offshore platform takes as long as 32 months to design and build after a contract is signed. That means Petrobras will continue to award orders until 2014 to meet a 2017 delivery target, according to analysts.

More Spending

Keppel and Sembcorp Marine may capture 27 percent of the global market this year for semisubmersible rigs, which use anchors weighing more than 10 metric tons, JPMorgan said.

Petrobras, based in Rio de Janeiro, said May 21 it struck oil in a well in 2.1 kilometers (1.3 miles) of water off the coast of Sao Paolo state. The company has leased about 80 percent of the world's deepest-drilling offshore rigs to explore that find and other prospects.

The head of Brazil's oil agency said last month that the nearby Carioca field may hold 33 billion barrels of crude, making it potentially the world's third-largest. Petrobras is evaluating the field and hasn't confirmed the estimate.

Such findings may require even more offshore-equipment spending, Petrobras Chief Financial Officer Almir Barbassa said May 21.

Oil companies including Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc will spend a record $98.7 billion this year on exploration and production, more than quadruple the amount eight years ago. Crude oil rose to a record of more than $135 a barrel on May 22 as OPEC ministers said they could do nothing to stop a rally that may be heading to $200 a barrel.

Jumping Prices

``The underinvestment in the 1980s and '90s in the industry gave rise to this jump in the oil prices,'' Choo Chiau Beng, Keppel's senior executive officer, said April 24. ``There will be demand for offshore equipment.''

Keppel, whose Brazilian yard is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, has completed projects for Petrobras that produce more than half the country's output of 1.8 million barrels a day, according to Keppel's Web site.

The Singapore company's S$11.8-billion ($8.69 billion) backlog at the end of March includes a $1.2 billion Petrobras contract for a semisubmersible platform.

Demand for the offshore units has pushed up prices the past two years. Samsung Heavy Industries Co., the world's second- largest shipbuilder, won a record $942 million order for a drill ship earlier this month from Stena AB, owner of Sweden's biggest ferry company.

Rising Costs

Higher labor and material costs associated with construction of the P-51 offshore platform for Petrobras helped push Keppel's fourth-quarter operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, down 40 percent. That prompted DBS Vickers Securities to advise caution on the shares.

``We are still avoiding Keppel for the moment,'' the Singapore firm said in a May 22 note. It has a ``hold'' rating for Keppel.

Even so, investors say the tight yard capacity and higher fuel prices will translate into more offshore-equipment orders, extending the industry's boom.

``The upcycle for offshore equipment, like drill ships and offshore platforms, has just started,'' said Park Hyoung Ryol, who helps manage $1.2 billion, including Samsung Heavy shares, at Consus Asset Management Co. in Seoul.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kyunghee Park in Seoul at kpark3@bloomberg.net

Saturday 24 May 2008

STI High Low



The rate of fall in STI has slowed down, probably due to lack of aggressive sellers. It might be a good sign. Let see how badly will STI fall on Monday.

SML - can it survive the profit taking on Monday?



Earlier buyers have been sitting on a very nice profit. Let's see how they run.

Friday 23 May 2008

8 Rules to break to build Wealth

By Melissa Ezarik

Being "upside down" is usually a negative term when applied to financial matters, but multimillionaire Robert Shemin believes that sort of thinking is ... well ... upside down.

Shemin, author of "How Come That Idiot's Rich and I'm Not?" feels there are two positions when it comes to wealth: right side up and broke, or upside down and rich. Shemin prefers upside down. The best way to build and maintain wealth, maintains Shemin -- once considered the "least likely to succeed"-- is by breaking the rules you think and hear about when building wealth.

Following are eight rules worth breaking -- in upside-down order -- and what Shemin and other financial gurus have to say about them.

Diverging from the traditional mind-set may put you on the right course to riches.

8 rules to break to get and stay wealthy

8. Avoid mistakes, learn before investing
7. Don't ask for help
6. Follow the path your advisers recommend
5. Don't invest in unchartered territory
4. Try to time the market
3. Have enough money or good credit to invest
2. Don't get into debt
1. Have a plan


8. Before investing, learn enough so that you're not going to make any mistakes

The problem here: Fear causes inaction, Shemin says. "Everything in life has a risk and a cost for doing it, and a risk and a cost for not doing it. Rich idiots focus on the risk of not doing something." In his experience, most people don't get started on stock marketing or real estate investing, or in estate planning, because they're so scared of making mistakes, they're overwhelmed.

"Of course you should expect to make mistakes when you start investing (or any time)," agrees Ramit Sethi, who writes the popular blog, WillTeachYouToBeRich.com. " But if you start with small amounts, any mistakes won't hurt you too bad. Plus, any mistakes can be mitigated by time."

7. Don't ask for help

"We're taught from an early age that you've got to do everything yourself and that if you ask for help, something's wrong -- you're dumb," Shemin says. Yet he adds that getting help is critical to most people's success. "Getting rich is a team sport."

From selecting the best stocks to the best mortgage, trying to figure out everything yourself is stressful and won't likely result in the best decisions, he explains. "Everybody's good at a few things and not good at a lot of things."

M. Nora Klaver, author of "Mayday! Asking for Help in Times of Need," says, "Asking for help is actually a sign of strength. It shows that you recognize the gap between where you are and where you want to be -- financially and otherwise -- and have both the smarts and guts to take action and seek others' support."

6. Choose the path your advisers recommend

Of course, asking for help wisely means asking the right people. Get referrals, and in interviewing potential financial advisers, "ask how they're getting paid," Shemin says. "You really have to be careful about who you're dealing with."

Michael Edesess, author of "The Big Investment Lie: What Your Financial Adviser Doesn't Want You to Know," says, "The path your financial (adviser) advises is the one that will make them the most money. Money they make is money you lose. It's that simple." Edesess adds that there are ethical financial advisers out there but, he contends, "You're most unlikely to find them at the big-name firms."

5. Don't invest in uncharted territory

Shemin gives the example of virtual real estate, which people are buying and selling with real money through Second Life. "When I found out about this, it made no sense to me," Shemin says."And a lot of smart people out there ask, 'Why would anybody buy and sell space on the Internet that doesn't even exist?'"
But that's right-side-up-and-broke thinking. So, Shemin says, "The rich idiot in me found some experts to explain it to me, and now I understand. It's out there and it's growing and it's something that's of interest. I have a lot of students and friends who are making fortunes sitting around on the Internet."

4. Try to time the market (Createwealth8888: Goes with the market tides instead trying to time the market high or low as you can more easily tell a rising and falling market)

Every day, Shemin says he hears people say that the financial or real estate markets are down, making it a horrible time for investing. Sure, if you're trying to make money within 90 days, maybe it's not the best time to invest, he agrees. "But if your goal is five, 10, 20 years away like it should be, then we know over time the market's going to do well," he explains.

"Nobody can effectively time the market," says Sethi. "We've seen this time and time again, with people thinking they can time the market and failing." And as Peter Miralles, president of Atlanta Wealth Consultants, points out, "Timing the market is not investing. Timing is speculation." Miralles sees valuations, or the process of estimating the market value of a financial asset or liability, as less subjective than market timing and something that can lead to success.

3. Don't invest until you have the money or good credit

Certainly most finance experts would not agree, but Shemin says building credit and maintaining a good credit score aren't necessary in building and maintaining wealth.

This example of upside-down thinking is one he learned in his early 20s, when he went to buy his first real estate property. Shemin had grown up in a cash-only home, and it didn't occur to him that never having borrowed meant he had no credit history. The bank denied the loan. But rather than letting the property pass him by, Shemin found a friend with good credit and they cut a 50-50 ownership deal. When Shemin sold the property a few months later, his cut of the profit was about $20,000. "Not bad for a kid with no cash, no credit and no experience," he writes.

Even though he has built a credit history now, Shemin says he hasn't checked his score in more than two years. "Everybody in America worries about their credit score -- it's like a badge of honor," he says, adding that it's only important if you need to use your credit. His own experience has taught him that there can be ways around it.

2. Don't get into debt

"Most people think debt is debt," Shemin notes. "No matter how hard you work, your money is going to work harder for you if you put it in the right things." For him, that has even meant doing real estate deals with a credit card. "A lot of people say credit cards are bad, but not for me. It's discipline. I pay them off every month."

Sethi learned just how common it is to not to understand bad versus good debt when he gave a talk at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and spent most of his time comforting the students who paying for their educations with student loans that they'd made the right financial decision. He knew they would enter an industry where they would almost assuredly be able to pay off their debt. "You made one of the smartest decisions in the world," he told them. "That debt is just a hoist to get to let you get to the next level."

1. Have a plan

Shemin says he failed math in high school, but he does remember learning that things with zero probability happen all the time. "Has anything in life not worked out as you planned? As a business person that happens about eight times an hour to me, so you'd better be prepared," he says. To most people, that means having a plan A. But Shemin says it's best to have a plan B and plan C, and sometimes even a plan D and E for when things don't work out as planned.

Miralles says, "A plan should be dynamic and will change as you grow in wisdom." He suggests building a plan and showing it to as many as five people, and then repeating the process every six months as the plan evolves.

Tanya Marchiol, founder and president of the Arizona independent real estate firm Team Investments, also agrees that it's best to break the rule of having a single wealth-building plan. She's an advocate of financial goals, but says the path to them shouldn't be set in stone.

"There will always be an abundance of opportunities that will present themselves to you. If you have your mind set on only those things written out in your plan, you could very well miss out on that opportunity, (which) could have been the one that would have gotten you where you wanted to be faster than your planned investments allowed," she says.

Yet, Shemin notes, even on the road to wealth, it's important to have the right mind-set and realize you're rich already -- with family, friends, health, freedom and "appreciation for what you have already and the gifts that are yet to come."

Thursday 22 May 2008

Portfolio update - More NOL @ 3.56




Ride this ship safely to Germany or drown half-way at high sea?

Wednesday 21 May 2008

SCI

I sold yesterday and today you go up big, big hor!!!

Tuesday 20 May 2008

Sunday 18 May 2008

NOL - What is brewing there? M&A?

6 bullish white candles, rising price and 4 consecutive days of rising volume. What is driving this stock? Gooogle did not return any recent news.

Let see I could get some more on Tuesday and ride this ship to Germany for M&A.

Saturday 17 May 2008

Do you know where are rocks? (stocks)

I like this story ...

Once, three millionaires decided to take a short break. After some discussion, they agreed that the best way was to row a boat to the middle of a lake and have an afternoon tea.

They rented a boat and rowed to the center of a serene lake. As they sat down to enjoy their tea, they realized that they have forgotten to bring the teapot. they looked with amusement at each other.

"No problem. I'll get the teapot," volunteered the first millionaire. He stood up, put one leg over the side of the boat and began to walk on the water back to the shore. After purchasing a teapot from a village, he walked on the lake and returned to the boat. All the three millionaires were ready to have their lazy afternoon tea.

As they boiled the water, they found out that they had forgotten the tea leaves.

"Leave that task to me," volunteered the second millionaire as he stood up. He put one leg over the side of the boat and walked on the water. After purchasing some tea leaves, he returned to the boat by walking on the water.

Soon, the three millionaires smelled the sweet aroma of the tea and drank it. Then they realized that there were no sandwiches. An afternoon tea would be wonderful if there are some tidbits.

"okay. since both of you had ran the errands earlier, it leaves me no choice but to get some sandwiches," volunteered the third millionaire reluctantly, when the first two millionaires cast their eyes on him.

He stood up like the other two and put one leg over side of the boat. He began to put his weight on his leg. Splash! Splash! He sank and struggled to keep himself afloat. Seeing that he was drowning, the other two millionaires jumped in to rescue him and managed to get him into the boats.

As the third millionaire was drying himself with a towel, he asked sheepishly, "How did you two manage to walk on the water?"

The millionaires looked at each other, then at him and replied, "We know where the rocks are."

If you know where the rocks (stocks) are in your life (market), you too can be a millionaire and walk in the waters of your life without drowning.

(extract from book entitled "from Beggars to Millionaires")

Power of Dream, Self-belief, and Strength of Determination

In today, ST, May 17 2008, Sports section on Page S31.


The Natalie's life story teaches me the lesson on the power of dream, self-belief, and the strength of determination. It is also true for trading success.

Friday 16 May 2008

NOL - did not see it coming




I underweight NOL as I have concerns that high oil price will impact its earning; but, it turned out to be wrong. Maybe now, there are more and more believers buying the Hapag-Lloyd and NOL merger story.

Kep Corp - Good recovery



This stock is really taking me through the roller costal high drop ride. Got in @ $11.34 on 28 Jan 08 and reached all time low $9.29 (-18.6% or -$2.05)

It may test $13 soon.

Thursday 15 May 2008

Portfolio update - Bought JES, Sold SML and WMI




Bought more JES @ $0.42. Sold SML @4.12, bought 4.08. Sold WMI @ 5.02, bought @ 4.96. To recover capital and then use the recent purchase WMI @ 4.90 and SML @ 4.02 for a longer term. (Cleared the cupboard of old inventories)

Is stock trading that easy?

From Kelvin's blog:

Stock trading atttracts many people because it’s easy to try. Many view it as an easy and quick way to riches.

Do you agree with this statement?

Think about it.

---------------------------------------------------------
I have asked about this before - Is stock trading that easy? Some professional traders are given scholarships to learn the craft!

----------------------------------------------------------
My colleague started active trading last year, and he is feeling very stressful now, market goes up, goes down, up, and down. Sell and then goes up big times, buy, and it goes down, cut loss, and then see it goes up, and so on...

I has advised him to read books by Van Tharp on trading psychology, and success-related issues such as self-sabotage. , Ph.D or visit http://www.smarttraderblog.com/

Tuesday 13 May 2008

Kep Corp- slowly moving up



Collected dividend $0.55 for Kep Corp today. Cheers!

SML - possible breakout soon?

Monday 12 May 2008

Portfolio update - add YZJ @ 1.12

Sunday 11 May 2008

Me & my money, thesundaytimes May 11, 2008

Well said by Dr wong:


"One cannot depend on salary alone. We need passive income as well. I hope to be business owner rather than worker"

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I, createwealth8888, trade and invest to achieve a second passive income; and to reach FI stage by Sep 2011, where the passive income from yearly drawdown (4%) from this net worth plus trading profit to become the main stream income and salary to form secondary income or no income.

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Motivational guru Tony Robbins teaches that the reason for doing something rates much higher than the methods you use to get the job done. If you have the strong enough “why” to begin trading – then you will find a way to get the job done. ( extract from David Jenyns )

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Personal goal keep you motivated and focused. Take that goal and put it where you will see it when you wake up in the morning and before you go to sleep each night. If you really want to burn this goal into your subconscious mind you should read it aloud once each morning and evening.

This technique really works. It is not “corny”. This is a key technique Napoleon Hill teaches in “Think and Grow Rich”; the class success book teaches how to turn your thoughts into riches. ( extract from David Jenyns )

Saturday 10 May 2008

Wealth Creation Strategy Video

http://www.listofpennystocks.com/personalvideos/wealth.html

SML - possible breakout soon?



I have added more SML on Friday. Looking at rising volume and price despites STI going down is a very good sign of early buyers are coming on board to take off the profit takers. Is possible breakout coming soon above $4.22? What about its parent SCI? Shouldn't it be performing too? I will be adding more on Monday if SCI come down further.

Friday 9 May 2008

Mp3 Question & Answer Download Sessions

By special request: here's your chance to listen into 3+ hours of question and answer sessions with Stuart McPhee and David Jenyns.

Note: These sessions were recorded in the lead up to the Triple Your Trading Profits workshop. Please do not email us requesting tickets as this event has now passed. We are looking at releasing the DVD recordings at a future date but no date has been set.

http://www.tradeology.com/stuart_mcphee.html

Portfolio update - BUY, BUY, BUY!!!!

Thursday 8 May 2008

Wednesday 7 May 2008

Portfolio update - buy cosco and JES

Portfolio update - Bought JES @ 0.425 for a long ride




Got on board a smaller ship for long and rough ride to its IPO price @ 0.67

-----------------------------
Sunday, 16 December 2007
JES International Holdings Limited


The Company is a major PRC shipbuilding group with production facilities capable of producing different types of vessels. It produces bulk carriers, containerships, ocean engineering vessels (mainly crane barges for offshore oil sector and offshore construction building works) and RO/RO vessels. Our customers include major shipowners based in Europe, Canada and Asia, including the PRC.

Public offer of 16.195m shares at $0.67 per share.
Placement offer of 356.94m shares at $0.67 per share.

Tuesday 6 May 2008

Portfolio update - contra Cosco and synear, 1 win and 1 loss



Contra Cosco ROC 4.9%, synear -1.5%

Saturday 3 May 2008

Trading - could be looking easy?

ST, May 3 2008, Page S33.

Adv: Thriving on passion
Back from the Finance Scholarship programme, UOB trader Charles Chua is driven by adrenaline rush and pumped-up action.

Look at this adv. They are professional traders and scholars in the market to win our $$$. So I don't think that trading is that easy as we like it to be. We could be trading with these professional traders as counter-parties. They are very well trained, and have vast resources to take on the market. I am a small fish takes small bites, and hope that I will be smart enough to survive.

Everyday, Charles get excited when SGX open and so do I. He is happy ending the day with some profit. I am happy to end the week with some profit as I do not have the skills and resources for daily profit.

STI will have to catch up soon


Is harvesting season coming sooner than expected?

Will the sell in May this year will be different? Buy in May and sell in June this year?

Friday 2 May 2008

FerroChina

FRC has been sold down after releasing strong Q1 result. Why like that?


--------------------------------------------------
SINGAPORE, May 2 (Reuters) - Steel-maker FerroChina
rose as much as 4.9 percent after Hong Kong's South China Morning
Post reported that Australia and Russian firms are eyeing at
least a 20 percent stake in the China-based company.
Shares of FerroChina, which makes galvanised steel, hit an
intraday high of S$1.49 with over 4.8 million traded.
The newspaper report, which did not name its source, said
FerroChina has attracted interest from Australia's BlueScope
Steel and Russian firms including Evraz Group ,
part-owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, to buy a 20
percent stake in the Chinese company.
But the unnamed source said FerroChina may receive a large
offer and sell more than one-fifth of the firm.
"Some of the real acquisitive guys may come in with a huge
bid and the whole company could get sold," the newspaper quoted
the unnamed source as saying.
The report follows an announcement from FerroChina last month
that it had hired Merrill Lynch as its strategic advisor.
In March, FerroChina executive director Nelson Fong told
Reuters that the company would consider long-term alliances or
strategic investments by outside parties, but he said the owners
would want to retain some control.

Stocks rise and Dow crosses 13,000 as dollar advances

Does it mean that out of bear and into early bull or just bear market rally? I bet on early bull. Cheers!

------------------------------------------------------------
Stocks rise and Dow crosses 13,000 as dollar advances
Thursday May 1, 6:21 pm ET
By Madlen Read, AP Business Writer
The Dow Jones industrials cross 13,000 as dollar soars and optimism rises about economy


NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street shot higher Thursday as investors, while anticipating another dismal jobs report Friday, viewed the rising dollar and falling oil prices as promising signs for the economy. The Dow Jones industrial average soared nearly 190 points to close above 13,000 for the first time since Jan. 3.
ADVERTISEMENT


The dollar jumped on better-than-expected economic data and the Federal Reserve's apparent resolve to monitor inflation. The Commerce Department said consumer spending rose 0.4 percent in March, more than predicted, and the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. manufacturing contracted in April by a bit less than anticipated.

The readings were not all positive -- consumer spending ticked higher mainly due to rising energy and food prices. The ISM's report also indicated that companies are hurting from climbing costs.

But the dollar, which has recently strengthened after a protracted decline, rallied anyway, pushing the euro down more than 1 percent to $1.5461 in late trading. Trading was thin, with major currency markets in London and elsewhere closed for the May Day holiday, but the dollar's advance helped crude oil fall briefly near $110 a barrel and then settle at $112.52. That alleviated some of the inflation-related anxieties in the market, given that crude recently traded at a record near $120 a barrel.

"I don't know if it's all turned around, but I think oil got out of control," said Todd Leone, managing director of equity trading at Cowen & Co.

The Dow rose 189.87, or 1.48 percent, to 13,010.00, after briefly rising more than 200 points. It hadn't closed above 13,000 since Jan. 3, when it ended at 13,056.72; the Dow is still down 8.15 percent from its record close of 14,164.53, reached Oct. 9, 2007, before the brunt of the credit crisis hit Wall Street.

Broader stock indicators also enjoyed a significant advance Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 23.75, or 1.71 percent, to 1,409.34 -- its first settlement above 1,400 since Jan. 14. The Nasdaq composite index climbed 67.91, or 2.81 percent, to 2,480.71, its highest close since Jan. 10.

The dollar's rise came a day after the Fed lowered key interest rates by a quarter-point, but indicated the economy should keep growing moderately, while inflation is the growing concern.

"What we're seeing is that maybe the economy is not falling off a cliff, but perhaps leveling off," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at New York-based brokerage house Avalon Partners Inc. "I think the Fed (rate-cutting campaign) is over with, even though the Fed's statement didn't say that."

The economic assessment statement accompanying the Fed's rate decision was unclear about its policy going forward, but it has been widely believed that the central bank will pause following a string of cuts that lowered rates by 3 percentage points since last summer.

On Thursday, banks, homebuilders, chip makers and retailers surged, after getting battered earlier this year due to worries about the mortgage crisis and its effect on the global economy.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.77 percent by late trading from 3.73 percent late Wednesday.

As the dollar moved higher against other currencies, gold prices dropped.

Investors are predicting another gloomy reading on U.S. employment on Friday. The Labor Department's report is expected to show a 75,000 net loss in jobs for April -- which would be the fourth straight month of losses -- and a rise in unemployment to 5.2 percent from 5.1 percent in March. In a negative sign ahead of that data, the government said Thursday the number of newly laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits increased by a greater-than-expected 35,000 last week.

However, with the government sending stimulus checks to taxpayers and Fed rate cuts still working their way through the financial system, many investors are focused on the second half of the year, when they are betting the economy will rebound.

Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp., one of the 30 Dow components, declined $3.37, or 3.6 percent, to $89.70, after it said its first-quarter profit rose 17 percent to $11 billion -- not as high as analysts expected, despite record-high oil prices. Lower production volumes caused the company's profit margins to shrink.

But on the whole, corporate profits have been coming in a bit stronger over the past few weeks than the market had expected. Meanwhile, spreads between rates on riskier securities and rates on safer issues have been narrowing, indicating that the credit markets are getting back to normal.

After the Fed's rate cut Wednesday, that pattern continued Thursday. Bank stocks benefited -- Citigroup Inc. rose $1.04, or 4.2 percent, to $25.99; Bank of America Corp. rose $1.85, or 4.9 percent, to $39.39; and JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose $1.60, or 3.4 percent, to $49.25.

In another sign that the financial sector is on the mend, the Fed said late Thursday that investment firms averaged a relatively low $18.6 billion in daily borrowing over the past week from the Fed's emergency lending program. Earlier Thursday, the Fed auctioned off $24.12 billion in super-safe Treasury securities to big investment firms.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 13.57, or 1.89 percent, to 729.75.

Advancing issues more than doubled decliners on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume amounted to 4.32 billion, up from 3.66 billion shares traded Wednesday.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.60 percent. Markets in much of the world, including Europe and Hong Kong, were closed for May Day.

Thursday 1 May 2008

Hyflux - cover story in The Edge, Apr 28, 2008

Most water stocks in singapore are small and unnoticed by investors. But that could change as their order books swell. Hyflux has already doubled its order book to %1.5B and significantly improved its earning visibility for the next two years. Does it means Hyflux will begin to attract smart money?

STI High - Low

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