Learn from late Uncle Chua??? (2)

Read? Learn from late Uncle Chua???


Learn to play golf like Tiger Woods?











Athlete Eldrick Tont Woods, better known as Tiger Woods, was born on December 30, 1975, in Cypress, California, the only child of an African-American Army officer father and a Thai mother. When Woods was a child, his father began calling him "Tiger" in honor of a fellow soldier and friend who had the same moniker. Around this same time, Woods learned to play golf. His father, Earl, served as his teacher and mentor. Around the age of 8, Woods had become extremely proficient at the game, even showing off his skills on television shows such as Good Morning America.

Read more? Tiger Woods


Tiger Woods is a genius in golf.

Do you remember reading any advertisement by golf coaches saying that they can train you to play like Tiger Woods for a fee?


No. Right?

Learn to invest like Warren Buffet?


Buffett demonstrated a knack for financial and business matters early on in his childhood. Friends and acquaintances have said the young boy was a mathematical prodigy, and was able to add large columns of numbers in his head-a talent he still occasionally shows off to friends and business associates.

Warren often visited his father's stockbrokerage shop as a child, and chalked in the stock prices on the blackboard in the office. At 11 years old he made his first investment; he bought three shares of Cities Service Preferred at $38 per share. The stock quickly dropped to only $27, but Buffett held on tenaciously until they reached $40. He sold his shares at a small profit, but regretted the decision when Cities Service shot up to nearly $200 a share. He later cited this experience as an early lesson in patience in investing.


Read? Warren Buffet



Do you remember reading any advertisement by "Gurus" saying that they can train you to invest like Warren Buffet for a fee?


Plenty. Right?

You can also read many books on "investing like Warren Buffet" but none of these books is written by Warren Buffet himself.


Warren Buffet is a genius in investing.



Can we learn from genius and copycat the genius by putting in at least 10,000 hours to learn all we can from genius?


Find your own answer at looking at the mirror every morning.

Mirror, Mirror, Mirror!


Now, we can learn from an illiterate but successful retail investor?

Look at his stocks pick

Uncle Chua's Portfolio & Dividend Income : Sheet1	Profit from a REAL-LIFE success story of a retail investor who picked the right stocks.
	Estate of Chua-----DECEASED
	Uncle Chua's Portfolio & Dividend Income
	SCHEDULE OF DIVIDENDS (01/01/2001 - 31/12/2001)
Date of Payment	Name of Company	Warrant No	No. of Shares	Gross Dividend	Tax	Net Dividend
	Singapore Dividends
1/6/2001	Sing Tel		30200	2265	577.58	1687.42
1/26/2001	SPH		33858	16929	4316.9	12612.1
1/26/2001	SPH		33858	27086.4	6907.03	20179.37
1/22/2001	Natsteel Ltd		100000	81879.19	20879.19	61000
3/9/2001	Times Publishing		5000	450	110.25	339.75
3/16/2001	Asia Pacific Breweries		100312	11957.72	2929.64	9028.08
3/20/2001	F&N		92500	11028.87	2702.07	8326.8
4/12/2001	WBL		15300	306	74.97	231.03
4/12/2001	Robinson & Co		18429	1474.32	361.21	1113.11
5/3/2001	SPH		33858	6771.6	1659.04	5112.56
5/3/2001	Straits Trading		26340	790.2	193.6	596.6
5/22/2001	OUB		84720	5930.4	1452.95	4477.45
5/22/2001	OUB		84720	3388.8	830.26	2558.54
5/31/2001	DBS		24176	3868.16	947.7	2920.46
5/31/2001	DBS		24176	3626.4	888.47	2737.93
6/6/2001	Keppel Fels		10000	300	73.5	226.5
6/13/2001	TIBS		300	10.5	2.57	7.93
6/13/2001	OCBC		210000	27300	6688.5	20611.5
6/13/2001	OCBC		210000	21000	5145	15855
6/15/2001	UOB		198030	49507	12129.34	37377.66
6/19/2001	Keppel Capital		56250	3375	826.88	2548.12
6/20/2001	Keppel Corp		11250	1462.5	358.31	1104.19
6/20/2001	United Engineers		26666	1066.64	261.33	805.31
6/29/2001	Sembcorp		14756	363.9	90.35	273.55
7/6/2001	Asia Pacific Breweries		100312	11957.72	2929.64	9028.08
7/9/2001	F&N		92520	11028.87	2702.07	8326.8
7/10/2001	Times Publishing		5000	331.13	81.13	250
7/30/2001	SIA		35000	7000	1715	5285
8/20/2001	OUB		84720	4236	1037.82	3198.18
8/20/2001	OUB		84720	3388.8	830.26	2558.54
8/20/2001	DBS		24176	3384.8	829.24	2555.56
8/24/2001	WBL		15300	459	112.46	346.54
8/31/2001	UOB		198030	29704.5	7277.6	22426.9
9/4/2001	OCBC		210000	10500	2572.5	7927.5
9/26/2001	Sing Tel		30200	1661	406.95	1254.05
10/8/2001	Straits Trading		26340	526.8	129.07	397.73
11/16/2001	Robinson & Co		18429	4054.38	993.32	3061.06
11/22/2001	SIA		35000	1050	257.25	792.75
12/21/2001	TIBS		300	13.47	3.3	10.17
		Total		371434.07	92284.25	279149.82
	Malaysian Dividends
3/19/2001	Pub Fin F		8000	1260	Tax-Exempt	1260
		Total (RM)		1260		1260
	Singapore Dividends
1/22/2001	Natsteel Ltd		100000	10000	Tax-Exempt	10000
3/14/2001	Cerebros		29000	1740	Tax-Exempt	1740
3/14/2001	Cerebros		29000	1160	Tax-Exempt	1160
		Total		12900		12900
Dated: 22 November, 2002

He got stock tips from his brokers or his common sense???


During his time, these were strong blue chips that paid good dividends and likely to be able to survive over market cycles

Uncle8888 also likes to assume that probably those weaker blue chips that didn't pay him good dividends were already sold.

Keynes finally realized that

.. long-term investing principles that build wealth without churning your stomach at every market turn.

If you seek long-term value in businesses that will be around in every market cycle, generate cash and dividends, you will probably make money. The key to success is not only holding onto those stocks through thick and thin, but holding onto the idea of selecting those investments with great care.


Read? Warren Buffett's Secret Sauce

Read? John Maynard Keynes’s Own Portfolio Not Too Dismal

Honestly, which is the easier way to learn?

From genius or illiterate?


Who?

S&P 500 hits new record

 

NEW YORK: US stocks on Friday finished mostly higher with the S&P 500 hitting a new record peak, even as the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined on profit taking.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 49.06 points (0.30 per cent) to 16,321.71, while the S&P 500 tacked on 5.16 (0.28 per cent) at 1,859.45, setting a new closing record.

But the Nasdaq shed 10.81 (0.25 per cent) at 4,308.12, stepping back after striking a 14-year high Thursday.
For the entire month of February, the Dow rose 622.86, or 3.97 per cent, its biggest monthly gain since January 2013.
The S&P 500 jumped 76.86 (4.31 per cent) in February, while the Nasdaq powered up 204.24 (4.98 per cent).

"The Nasdaq has been a clear outperformer and you're seeing a number of companies taking it on the chin," said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities.

"They've had a pretty good run," James said. "It's time to take some profits."

Analysts said investors were generally optimistic about growth in the US economy, dismissing recent weak economic data as largely the result of unusually cold winter weather that has depressed economic activity.

Among the Nasdaq companies to see declines were software maker Splunk, which finished 2.9 per cent lower after surging early in the day, and cloud-computing company Salesforce.com, which dropped 5.8 per cent after a big rise on Thursday.

Other prominent Nasdaq members also fell, including Facebook (-0.7 per cent), Netflix (-1.5 per cent) and Tesla Motors (-3.1 per cent).

Men's retailer Jos. A Bank Clothiers rejected a $63.50 per-share takeover offer from rival Men's Wearhouse, but agreed to meet to discuss a potential deal. Jos. A Bank rose 3.0 per cent to $62.08, while Men's Wearhouse jumped 6.7 per cent.
Banking giant Citigroup slipped 0.1 per cent after disclosing that it would trim its 2013 earnings by $235 million due to fraud uncovered at its Banamex subsidiary in Mexico.

Retailer Gap Inc. edged 0.2 per cent higher as it boosted its divided by 10 per cent to 88 cents per share in fiscal year 2014.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.66 per cent from 2.64 per cent, while the 30-year slipped to 3.59 per cent from 3.60 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.

 

- AFP/fl

SCI : Can break out of $5.50 this time???

Warren Buffett's Secret Sauce

By John F. Wasik

Warren Buffett knows more about investing than a room full of celebrity chefs know about cooking. But he has secret sauce that has worked for him over the course of a half century that he’s not entirely sharing.

In a recent Fortune blog, the oracle of Omaha shared some of his advice on long-term investing. He bought a farm and some real estate near New York University and held onto them. Surprise! They rose in value.

 

Yet what Buffett rarely acknowledges these days is a prime source for his long-term strategy: John Maynard Keynes.

Yet when I asked him (through his assistant) how Keynes influenced his investment philosophy when I was researching my book Keynes’s Way to Wealth, Buffett’s reply was that Keynes had no influence on his strategy. This surprised me, since Buffett has quoted Keynes over the years and told people to read Keynes to get a grounding in fundamental investing. He said this in an interview with Business Wire (which is owned by his company Berkshire Hathaway):

“Mr. Buffett said if you understand chapters 8 and 20 of The Intelligent Investor (Benjamin Graham, 1949) and chapter 12 of the General Theory (John Maynard Keynes, 1936) ‘you don’t need to read anything else and you can turn off your TV.’”

And Buffett said in 1991 that Keynes was a man “whose brilliance as a practicing investor matched his brilliance in thought.”

The Graham-Keynes-Buffett Connection

Buffett’s reference to Graham’s book, originally published in 1949, is understandable since Graham was Buffett’s mentor and was a giant in investment methodology and the “value school” of investing, which Buffett has championed his entire career.

But where does Keynes fit into the Buffett worldview? Although Buffett has not acknowledged as much in recent years, Keynes’s prosaic chapter 12 in his otherwise turgid 1936 “General Theory” must have made a significant impression.

Keynes may have been the original value investor who realized in the late 1920s that chasing the market with grandiose theories was a fool’s errand. Like Graham, Keynes lost a fortune in the crash of 1929 after losing a smaller sum in 1920 while speculating on European currencies. Yet Keynes learned his lesson and changed his thinking at a time when most investors thought holding stocks was like throwing a match in a gasoline can.

Here’s Keynes, in a letter to insurance executive F.C. Scott in 1934:

“As time goes on, I get more and more convinced that the right method in investment is to put fairly large sums into enterprises which one thinks one knows something about and in the management of which one thoroughly believes. It is a mistake to think that one limits one’s risk by spreading too much between enterprises about which one knows little and has no reason for special confidence… One’s knowledge and experience are definitely limited and there are seldom more than two or three enterprises at any given time in which I personally feel myself entitled to put full confidence.”

Here’s Buffett from his Fortune blog:

 

“You don’t need to be an expert in order to achieve satisfactory investment returns. But if you aren’t, you must recognize your limitations and follow a course certain to work reasonably well. Keep things simple and don’t swing for the fences. When promised quick profits, respond with a quick `no…’ Forming macro opinions or listening to the macro or market predictions of others is a waste of time. Indeed, it is dangerous because it may blur your vision of the facts that are truly important.”

Keynes again on making long-term investments (from 1934):

“Investing is an activity of forecasting the yield over the life of the asset; speculation is the activity of forecasting the psychology of the market.”

Buffett from his blog:

“If you instead focus on the prospective price change of a contemplated purchase, you are speculating. There is nothing improper about that. I know, however, that I am unable to speculate successfully, and I am skeptical of those who claim sustained success at doing so.”

Whatever source is moving Buffett, as you can see, the intellectual groundwork had been laid by Keynes — and Graham. It’s not known if Graham connected with Keynes during the time that both investment savants developed their value investing theories.

I tried to find correspondence between Keynes and Graham when I was researching my Keynes book at Cambridge University. I didn’t find anything, although that doesn’t mean that they didn’t know of each other’s activities.

Keynes was a celebrity during the 1920s and 1930s. His talks on investing were well attended during the time he managed The King’s College/Cambridge fund, two insurance company portfolios and money for himself and famous Bloomsbury Group friends.

 

Although his fame as an economist is global, Keynes’s stunning success as a professional investor is not well known, even among economists.

When I asked Prof. Paul Krugman after a Chicago talk last year if he was familiar with Keynes’s investment record, he replied that he wasn’t familiar with that part of his life. And this coming from a Nobel Prize winner who is one of the world’s leading Keynesians!

Utlimately, it doesn’t matter who takes the credit for long-term investing principles that build wealth without churning your stomach at every market turn.

If you seek long-term value in businesses that will be around in every market cycle, generate cash and dividends, you will probably make money. The key to success is not only holding onto those stocks through thick and thin, but holding onto the idea of selecting those investments with great care.


John F. Wasik is the author of Keynes’s Way to Wealth: Timeless Investment Lessons from the Great Economist and 13 other books.  An investor protection advocate, he speaks and writes regularly on investing, economics and personal finance.
 

Rotary back in black with S$5.17m Q4 net profit

By

Jacquelyn Cheok jaccheok@sph.com.sg

                         

Rotary Engineering, a mainboard-listed oil and gas infrastructure services company, on Thursday posted a net profit attributable to owners of S$5.17 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2013 (Q4 2013), reversing a net loss of S$18.4 million a year ago.

Revenue more than doubled from S$84.3 million a year ago to S$181.5 million in Q4 2013, due to "the execution of major projects secured at the beginning of this year", Rotary said.

For the full-year, net profit surged to S$20.7 million, compared to the previous year's net loss of S$80.4 million, while revenue grew 34 per cent to S$595 million, also from the execution of major contracts secured at the beginning of the year.

Singapore contributed 56 per cent of the group's full-year revenue, while overseas operations, which comprise projects in Middle East and Asean, accounted for the rest.

Swiber swings to record profit

Josh Lewis                   

 

 27 February 2014 02:04 GMT

Singaporean service provider Swiber Holdings posted a rise in profits for 2013 on the back of a surge of sales in South-East Asia.

The company posted a profit of US$90.9 million, up 45.3% from 2012's net profit of US$62.5 million.

The jump in profits came as revenues climbed 11.2% year-on-year, from US$952.2 million to nearly US$1.1 billion.

Swiber attributed the increased result to a 75.3% surge in sales in the South-East Asia segment to US$780.8 million.

“We are pleased to have delivered our second consecutive year of record-high revenue and net profit,” Swiber chief executive Francis Wong said.

“The South-East Asian market, where we enjoy a long and solid track record, remains strong, given expected accelerated oil and gas exploration to boost domestic oil production in this region. We remain bullish on rest of Asia too, where rig demand is expected to be strong for the next few years.”

He added that the company was well positioned to expand its market growth and was looking to replicate its success in the South-East Asian market by increasing its foothold in the Latin American market.

As of 31 December the company's order book stood at roughly US$800 million.

 

Sembcorp Marine nabs $1.08bn in drillship contracts

Bianca Bartucciotto                   

 

 27 February 2014 00:24 GMT

Swiss-based Transocean has awarded two $540 million contracts for a pair of drillships to Sembcorp Marine’s subsidiary Jurong Shipyard in Singapore.

Learn from late Uncle Chua???

Uncle8888 has met someone last week for lunch meeting.

Told him we can learn from late Uncle Chua.

Read? Uncle Chua's investing skills


What are the two lessons we can learn from him - an illiterate?

Making money from stocks is not about how good we are at prospecting business or doing deep dive analysis into companies; otherwise full time professional analysts will be very rich and retire early to manage their own investment portfolio.

Lesson one: You have large war chest during market crash and dare to buy big.

Lesson two: Replenish your war chest for the next market crash and patiently wait to repeat lesson one.


You don't think so?

Sembcorp Marine's subsidiary inks US$214.3 million contract to supply jack-up rigs

By Rachel Scully

                             

A subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine - PPL Shipyard - inked a US214.3 million (S$271.3 million) contract with a unit of Marco Polo Marine (MPM) to supply a turnkey jack-up rig.

The contract includes an option for two similar jack-up rig units to be exercised by MPM, the company said on Wednesday.

The rig is scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2015, and is able to operate in deeper waters of 400 ft and drilling high pressure and high temperature wells to depths of 30,000 ft.

Mr Seah Lee Yun Feng, the group chief executive of MPM, said the agreement with PPL Shipyard "marks the start of a significant leap forward in terms of our operations and service offerings".

Yield of dreams: Investors have "a once in a lifetime opportunity" in blue chips (3)

Read? Yield of dreams: Investors have "a once in a lifetime opportunity" in blue chips (2)


26%, 12% and 8% per annum respectively.

SCI is now a slow and steady growing utility company for dividend play.

It will be nice to collect many more years of dividends without doing anything.

The Power of Zero-cost Growth!

Sembcorp Delivers Robust FY2013 Performance

- Utilities business achieves strong profit growth of 20%

Sembcorp Industries (Sembcorp) delivered a robust performance for the full year 2013 (FY2013). Net profit grew 9% to S$820.4 million from S$753.3 million in FY2012, while turnover increased 6% to S$10.8 billion from S$10.2 billion the previous year. The Utilities and Marine businesses continued to be our main profit contributors, accounting for 51% and 39% of Group net profit respectively.

In FY2013 the Utilities business delivered strong profit growth of 20%, with net profit increasing to S$449.9 million from S$374.6 million in FY2012, underpinned by solid growth from China and gains from the initial public offering (IPO) of Sembcorp Salalah Water and Power Company (Sembcorp Salalah) in Oman. The Marine business reported a net profit of S$336.9 million in FY2013, up 3% from S$326.7 million in FY2012. Meanwhile, the Urban Development business reported a 22% increase in net profit to S$50.2 million from S$41.1 million the previous year.

Return on equity for the Group was 17.1% and earnings per share amounted to 45.7 cents. Economic value added was a positive S$619.5 million while cash and cash equivalents stood at S$2.3 billion.

In the fourth quarter of 2013 (4Q2013), Group net profit grew 9% to S$223.8 million from S$204.7 million in 4Q2012, while turnover increased 6% to S$3.0 billion compared to S$2.8 billion.

Tang Kin Fei, Group President & CEO of Sembcorp Industries, said, “Sembcorp delivered a strong performance in 2013 with all our businesses delivering profit growth. Demonstrating the success of our global growth strategy, our Utilities business saw its net profit up 20% and profit contribution from its overseas operations increasing to over 50%.

“During the year, we created value for shareholders by successfully developing and then selling down our stake in the Salalah Independent Water and Power Plant through an IPO in Oman. With this, the board is pleased to propose a total dividend of 17 cents per ordinary share, including a bonus dividend of 2 cents per ordinary share.

“With a strategic presence in key emerging markets, significant growth in capacity and a strong Marine orderbook of S$12.3 billion, Sembcorp continues to be well-positioned to deliver sustainable long-term growth.”

2013 Dividend

The Board of Directors is pleased to propose a final tax exempt one-tier dividend of 17.0 cents per ordinary share comprising an ordinary dividend of 15.0 cents and a bonus dividend of 2.0 cents. If approved by shareholders, this will be paid on May 16, 2014.

FY2014 Outlook

Utilities

In 2014, Utilities’ underlying core business is expected to deliver a steady performance compared to 2013.

2014 will see continued growth from our overseas operations. Strategically positioned in key emerging markets, the business continues to focus on its significant growth in capacity.

Marine

The Marine business has a net orderbook of S$12.3 billion with completions and deliveries stretching into 2019.

Moving ahead and in anticipation of the tight labour supply situation, the business will further improve operational efficiency, productivity and safety management as well as ensure timely delivery of projects to its customers, although margin remains challenging. Demand remains strong at the new Sembmarine Integrated Yard @ Tuas. Construction of its wholly-owned shipyard in Brazil remains on track to commence initial operations in the second half of 2014.

Urban Development
The Urban Development business is expected to deliver a better performance in 2014, underpinned by land sales in its new urban developments in China and Vietnam.

Group
With a strategic presence in key emerging markets, significant growth in capacity and a strong Marine orderbook, Sembcorp is well-positioned to deliver sustainable long-term growth.

Highlights from Sembcorp’s FY2013 Financial Results

• Turnover at S$10.8 billion, up 6%
• Profit from Operations* at S$1.3 billion, up 4%
• Net Profit at S$820.4 million, up 9% • EPS at 45.7 cents
• ROE at 17.1% • Proposing a final tax exempt one-tier dividend of 17.0 cents per ordinary share, comprising an ordinary dividend of 15.0 cents and a bonus dividend of 2.0 cents

*Profit from Operations = Earnings before Interest and Tax + Share of Associates and JVs’ results (net of tax).

- END -

 

Book : Better Stock Trading: Money and Risk Management

 

 

 

 

 

 

We may have read many books and countless of articles in the Internet on investing.

 

How many such readings have transformed into our own personal success in investing?

 

Uncle8888 has learnt one thing from Daryl.

 

It is zero-cost averaging. He has copied it with great success.

 

He called it Pillow Strategy.

 

 

Read? Pillow Strategy

 

 

Sembcorp Grows its Renewable Energy and Industrial Water Operations in China

- Expands wind power capacity in Huanghua, Hebei province, by almost 50%
- Doubles industrial water capacity in Nanjing, Jiangsu province

Sembcorp Industries (Sembcorp) continues its growth momentum in China with the expansion of two of its utilities facilities – its wind power plant in Huanghua, Hebei province, which will see its wind power capacity increase by almost 50%, and its industrial water plant in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, which will have its industrial water capacity doubled. Besides meeting the country’s growing energy and water needs in a sustainable manner, the expansions also demonstrate the Group’s focus on growth in China, a key market for Sembcorp.

Expansion of wind power capacity in Huanghua


Sembcorp will build, own and operate an additional 48-megawatt wind farm in Huanghua, through its joint venture with Guohua Energy Investment Co. The RMB454.9 million (approximately S$94.4 million) expansion will increase the wind power capacity in Huanghua by almost 50%, from 99 megawatts to 147 megawatts, and is expected to be completed by the first half of 2015. This expansion will also increase the Group’s renewable energy capacity worldwide to 380 megawatts.

The total project cost will be funded through a mix of equity and borrowings. With its 49% stake in the joint venture, Sembcorp’s share of the equity investment will amount to RMB78 million (S$16.2 million), which will be financed by internal funds.

This expansion is in line with the Group’s commitment to grow its renewable energy portfolio as a responsible energy player, and to help China achieve its environmental goals. Hebei province has a provincial-level 12th Five-year Plan for Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction that aims to reduce carbon emissions. In keeping with this objective, Hebei has been promoting the wind power industry across the province to reduce dependence on traditional energy sources and increase the proportion of energy produced from renewable sources.

Expansion of industrial water capacity in Nanjing


In addition, Sembcorp will be doubling its industrial water capacity from 120,000 cubic metres per day to 240,000 cubic metres per day in the Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park (NCIP), Jiangsu province.

The total expansion cost will amount to RMB65.2 million (approximately S$13.5 million), which will be funded through a mix of equity and borrowings. Expected to be completed by mid-2015, the expansion will be undertaken by Sembcorp NCIP Water, a 95:5 joint venture between Sembcorp and NCIP Utilities Co. Sembcorp’s share of the equity investment of RMB24.8 million (S$5.1 million) will be financed by internal funds.

An established developer, owner and operator of utilities assets, Sembcorp currently has 24 operations across China. The Group has been present in the Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park since 2005. Driven by strong demand, Sembcorp will be able to serve the fast growing water needs of existing and potential customers in the industrial park by doubling its industrial water capacity to 240,000 cubic metres per day.

Alan Yau, CEO of Sembcorp China, said, “These two expansions are in line with our China growth strategy and exemplify our firm focus in this important market. With our commitment as a responsible energy player and track record in specialised water solutions for industry, we help meet China’s growing demand for energy and water, while supporting the government’s pledge to limit environmental impact.

“With the increasing emphasis on environmental protection, renewable energy and other new energy resources have been earmarked as key development sectors in China’s 12th Five-year Plan. Sembcorp supports this agenda with our renewable wind power plants in China. In particular, with our Huanghua wind power plant strategically located in Hebei, we play a part in reducing air pollution in the province.”

Sembcorp has invested in energy and water assets in the China market for over a decade and its utilities presence now spans 10 provincial regions across the country.

These two expansions are not expected to have a material impact on the earnings per share and net asset value per share of Sembcorp Industries for the current financial year.

- END -

A Word of Warning on Gold: Investor Fear May Be Fading

By E.S. Browning

 

Gold is the stuff myths are made of.

Among the myths: It is a store of value, a hedge against inflation or a hard alternative currency.

Its behavior over recent decades suggests that it has been inconsistent in those roles. It has done better as something simpler: a bet on fear.

Gold rose on basic economic fears in the 2000s but fell starting in 2011 as those fears abated. Now fears are spreading again about waning Federal Reserve stimulus and about global growth. Gold has rebounded 11% since mid-December.

Experienced gold analysts are warning clients to be careful: If the fears subside, the price of gold could do the same.

"Gold goes up as an insurance policy and then it is sold at a loss when people no longer want insurance," said Rhona O'Connell, head of metals research and forecasts at Thomson Reuters GFMS, a research firm known for its work on gold.

Gold could move higher temporarily, but Ms. O'Connell says its price is likely to have trouble making significant gains before 2016 because economic confidence has improved.

Sameer Samana, senior international strategist at brokerage firm Wells Fargo Advisors, suggests clients use gold's rebound to sell anything they have left.

"What we have found in our work is that a broad basket of commodities is a better hedge against inflation, a greater diversification and a better hedge against the dollar," Mr. Samana said.

Gold does well "when you are very nervous about the world," he said.

He prefers copper, aluminum and zinc in a time of recovery.

Gold differs from other investments in an important way: It isn't very useful. Some is used for rings, watches, dental implants and electronic connectors.

But the vast majority is hoarded as bars, coins or, in developing countries, heavy jewelry that serves more as a protection against disaster than an adornment.

Unlike stock, gold doesn't offer a stake in a business's results. It doesn't pay dividends or interest. It doesn't grow crops like farmland or provide shelter like a building. It is useful when people are fearful and flee to it.

Gold soared in the 1970s amid oil crises, runaway inflation and a volatile stock market. When the economy recovered gold collapsed.

Gold rebounded in the troubled 2000s but peaked in 2011, the year Standard & Poor's downgraded U.S. sovereign debt and stocks fell nearly 20%. Economic stability since then has put a lid on gold.

Particularly disappointing, gold has never come close to returning to its 1980 record once inflation is taken into account.

Gold futures hit a record $825.50 in New York on Jan. 21, 1980, which in today's dollars is $2,481.98. Gold's 2011 high was $1,950.15 in today's dollars, 27% short of a record. On Friday, gold futures closed at $1,323.90.

Stocks have hit inflation-adjusted records repeatedly since 1980, most recently in December and January. Gold hasn't. It is barely halfway back to its 1980 record, taking inflation into account.

Gold in that time has worked better as a speculative bet on fear than a store of value. Because Western economies tend to experience more stability than fear, gold is typically a risky holding there.

The Permanent Portfolio, a San Francisco mutual fund that invests in bonds, gold, stocks and foreign investments, ballooned to $17 billion a year ago from $57 million in 2000. Now it is back to $9 billion.

Michael Cuggino, its president, says gold wasn't the only reason for redemptions; investors have fled bonds and other conservative investments.

 Some money has returned to his fund since gold began recovering in December.

Still, "when people got concerned about gold in the second quarter of last year, there were more redemptions than previously," he said. He is optimistic about gold but sees the mentality shifting. Investors, he said, are more concerned about returns than protection.

One reason for gold's recent rebound is demand in China and India, where economic worries have risen. Swiss refineries have worked overtime to recast big bars favored by Western banks into smaller ones preferred in Asia.

 

Singapore's Sembcorp Marine Q4 net profit rises 9.2%

[SINGAPORE]Singapore's Sembcorp Marine Ltd, one of the largest offshore drilling rig producers in the world, said its net profit in the fourth quarter rose 9.2 per cent as higher operating profit offset lower contributions from associates and joint ventures.

Sembcorp Marine, which is the world's second-largest jackup rig producer after crosstown rival Keppel Corporation Ltd, posted a fourth-quarter net profit of S$182.4 million (US$143.89 million). Its full-year net profit rose 3.2 per cent to S$555.7 million, above a mean forecast of 23 analysts of S$528.50 million.

The company's order book fell to S$12.3 billion from the all-time high of S$13.5 billion a quarter earlier.

Sembcorp Marine is the second-worst performer so far this year on Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index, losing about 8 per cent after Genting Singapore PLC's 9 per cent drop.

Singapore’s inflation at 4-year-low in January

SINGAPORE: Singapore's consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.4 per cent in January from a year ago, slowing from December's 1.5 per cent increase as the lower cost of transportation offset a rise in food prices.

The 1.4 per cent gain in January's CPI was the lowest since February 2010 when prices rose 1.0 per cent.

Food prices increased 3.0 per cent last month from a year ago, partly due to this year's Chinese New Year celebration taking place in January instead of February.
But transport costs fell 2.7 per cent year-on-year.
The majority of economists had expected inflation to pick up slightly in January, with the median estimate at 1.6 per cent.
Looking ahead, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Ministry of Trade and Industry said they expect inflation to pick up in coming months as rising wages lead to higher prices of domestic consumer services.
They said core inflation -- which in Singapore excludes the cost of housing and private road transport -- is expected to rise over the next few quarters and average 2-3 per cent in 2014.
As for the CPI, it will most likely increase by 2-3 per cent for the whole of 2014.
Singapore's CPI rose 2.4 per cent last year. 

- CNA/nd

Book : Stop Not Till the Goal is Reached

 Now, we have a book with this title: Stop Not Till the Goal is Reached.


 Who are those still insisting that goal is not necessary?




 















Read? No Goal. No Aim. No Dream. You are more likely to end up as an Average in your 60s! (2)



 

Let it go or Hold it tight???

Just For Thinking ....



Read? Let it go or Hold it tight?


Over many seasons of cold winter in the stock market, you have to be really good in one of these actions; otherwise you might be dead before the next winter season.



Let it go!


Migrate

Like these migrating animals

 

 

 

 

Hold it tight!

 

Hibernate

 

Never wonder around in the long winter season thinking that you can survive the long winter without let it go or hold it tight hor!



Get it?

A bird in hand: Cum Dividend now!

"Lan Jiao" (bluebirds) yield now (cum dividend)

Oil and gas sector shows strong signs of recovery

Let it go or Hold it tight???

Just For Thinking ...

Some of us are still waiting while others may have jump into it for some income dividends to reduce more money rotting in the bank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let it go or Hold it tight?

 

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Right?

A bird in the hand?

Meaning?

It is better to focus on the bird (dividend income) in the hand, and rather not waiting to catch uncertain growth-dividend or multi-baggers at the next Fat Bear.


How many birds in the bush you will need to catch in order to beat that one bird in the hand for waiting that many years?



You may need to do some homework here.


Looking at the magic of compounding return.

 

Cost of outsourcing your investment e.g. STI ETF (3)

Just For Thinking ...


When they claim that these are low-cost funds.

Low-cost based on what?

(1) As % of Net Asset Value

or

(2) As % of Net Cash Flow

or

(3) % of whatever


Anyone did some serious homework themselves to verify these low-cost funds?

Can share?


Read? Cost of outsourcing your investment e.g. STI ETF (2)

STI Major Data Points since 1990

Just For Thinking ...

TA: Can be as simple as you like and you don't have to take a paid TA course to do it.

Only for those who may like to think of doing some homework themselves ...


Read? Fundamental or Technical Analysis? - Revisit 3

Uncle8888 simply uses support and resistance for his simplified TA.

All these lines were pre-drawn to be carry forward into the future of STI movement.

You may check back in those older blog post to verify.


S&R?

You can see it for yourself and feel it with your own feeling.

Chun bo?

Changes to CPF contribution rates from January 2015

Employer contribution rates to the Medisave Account (MA) will be increased for all workers to help them save more for healthcare needs. Workers aged above 50 to 65 will see an additional increase in the employer contribution rates to the Special Account (SA) to help them save more for retirement.

Employee contribution rates to the Ordinary Account (OA) will increase for workers aged above 50 to 55.

The table below shows these increases in CPF contribution rates for Singapore Citizens (SCs), and for Singapore Permanent Residents (SPRs) from their 3rd year of obtaining SPR status.

Increases in CPF contribution rates for SCs and SPRs from January 2015

Employee's age (years)	Percentage point increase in CPF contribution rates (for wages ≥ $750)			Allocation of increase
	Contribution by employer	Contribution by employee	Total	OA	SA	MA
50 and below	+1%	-	+1%	-	-	+1%
Above 50 - 55	+2%	+0.5%	+2.5%	+0.5%	+1%	+1%
Above 55 - 60	+1.5%	-	+1.5%	-	+0.5%	+1%
Above 60 - 65	+1.5%	-	+1.5%	-	+0.5%	+1%
Above 65	+1%	-	+1%	-	-	+1%

Medisave contribution rates for Self-Employed Persons (SEPs) with annual net trade income of $18,000 and above will be raised by 1%.

The rates in the table below are applicable to SEPs for annual net trade income from 2015.

Contribution rates applicable to SEPs from 2015

Annual net trade income (from 2015)	Age as at 1 January of work year
	Below 35 years	35 to below 45 years	45 to below 50 years	50 years and above
Above $6,000 to $12,000	4%	4.5%	5%	5.25%
Above $12,000 to $18,000	Phased in* from 4% to 8%	Phased in* from 4.5% to 9%	Phased in* from 5% to 10%	Phased in* from 5.25% to 10.5%
Above $18,000	8% (Maximum $4,800)	9% (Maximum $5,400)	10% (Maximum $6,000)	10.5% (Maximum $6,300)

*Please refer to the CPF website for the phased-in rates.

Retirement Income for Life??? (12) - Re-posting

He keeps saying he wants to retire early.

 

So, Uncle8888 passed him this retirement planning Excel worksheet.

After simulating with the retirement planning Excel worksheet, he realizes that he will need 13% ROC.

 

13%!!!

 

 

Uncle8888 told him frankly that he is still far away from early retirement.

 

He will need to save more and invest for higher growth.

 

13% is a tough number to achieve.

 

5-6% ROC is more reasonable.

 

 

Read? Retirement Income for Life??? (12)

Book : All About Low Volatility Investing

Buay tahan volatility?

May be you should borrow this book from NLB to find out to avoid it.

Noble's 2013 profit down by nearly half

By

andrea soh sandrea@sph.com.sg

        

NOBLE Group's 2013 earnings tumbled 48 per cent to US$243 million, as losses on supply chain assets and from associates spiked.

Net profit attributable to shareholders fell to US$243.5 million, from US$471.3 million a year ago. This translates to earnings of 3.4 US cents per share, compared with 7.06 US cents before.

Revenue inched up 4 per cent to US$97.8 billion.

The group's losses on supply chain assets spiked from US$488,000 in 2012 to US$65.8 million, while its share of losses from associates rose seven-fold from US$14.8 million to US$106.1 million.

ONGC search for jack-ups as it eyes drilling boost

             

Josh Lewis                   

 

 21 February 2014 02:26 GMT

India’s state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is on the hunt for a number of jack-ups that can drill in water depths of 300 feet.



CW8888: You can see for yourself the quality of Mgmt.
 

     

Classes of retirees - Revisit

Why more money during retirement is much better?

Last Tuesday, Uncle8888 went to Old People's Park Centre and Chinatown jalan jalan and makan makan.

Try the famous Hong Kong Soy Sauce Chicken Smith St Food Centre #02-127.

Long queue as expected.


At Old People's Park Centre's food centre, he still see the same thing:

1. They were happily drinking cold beer and eating roasted duck, pork belly and char siew and cheering each other.
2. They were happily drinking MacCoffee and chatting at one cozy corner inside MacDonald and enjoying air-con.
3. They were happily drinking kopi-o at the coffee stall and chatting in the natural afternoon air flow.
4. They were sitting at the bench and staring at the crowds.

Read? Classes of retirees