My Full-Time Job and My Part-Time Investment Portfolio Management

Just For Thinking ....


Uncle8888 has never thought of benchmarking his job performance to his company's CEO. He knows that he is unlikely to close that huge salary gap no matter how hard he works.

But, he dares to benchmark his investment performance to the World's well-known investors as he knew he could narrow down that performance gap with his 3Ms - Method, Mind and Money Management.

In the stock market, there are no bosses, no peers, no staff, and no customers to judge him. It is he and himself to judge his own investment performance. He will reap what he sows! This is the fairest outcome in life. Right?


Grow a few Money Tree and enjoy retirement income for life!

 

Fishing offences on the rise

SINGAPORE: Fishing enthusiasts said more people are hooked on the sport and many are heading overseas to reel in a good catch.

In Singapore, anglers are also heading to its reservoirs.

But here, the Public Utilities Board (PUB) said that on average, some 240 to 250 people a year have been booked for fishing offences in recent years.

These include fishing at non-designated areas and using live baits.

Every quarter, Singapore's top fishing community sees some 200 to 300 new anglers. According to aficionados, they are getting younger too.

Scott Tan, president of Gamefish & Aquatic Rehabilitation Society, said: "Especially among the younger generation, there is a very big uptake… Nobody really did (statistics) on how many fishermen there are, but if we go by informal (online) forums like Fishing Kaki alone, it has 350,000 registered members who are active."

Sport fishing can be costly.

At the lower range, getting started could cost you about $$100, and heading overseas can cost as much as $$20,000 a trip.

Mr Tan said: “Sport fishing can be done very cheap. We have sets at S$100, S$300. But if you're going for stuff like… tuna, marlin, your S$10,000 comes in here. (For) big game fish, you need to hire a sea boat to get out there to catch fish. Also, sometimes, (there are) areas where you require helicopters -- that's when S$10,000, S$20,000 comes in.”

It is no surprise that many turn to Singapore’s reservoirs for a cheaper fix.

There are 17 reservoirs in Singapore and of them, 10 are open to the public for fishing activities while only six are open to the public for water activities.

PUB said some of the reservoirs, including Jurong Lake Reservoir and Bedok Reservoir, not only allow for fishing but also canoeing and other water activities.

But fishing in illegal areas here is a growing problem, and Mr Tan thinks he knows why.
He said: "(For example at Lower Seletar Reservoir), we can't get any fish at all… Not only is it fished out, but fishes have a certain memory that once they sense there's a lot of fishing going on (in an area), they will totally avoid the area altogether. They move around and that's when you'll have a problem because as they move around, the sport fishermen will follow.”

But PUB said specific areas are carved out for safety reasons.

Roderick Ho, senior engineer at PUB’s catchment and waterways department, said: "We want to take care of the anglers' safety so we made sure we chose an area which is not steep. Secondly, the area must not pose a risk, not only to the anglers but also to the general public and water activity users."

PUB said those caught fishing outside designated areas or using live baits in reservoirs will be fined S$50 on their first offence and S$200 on their second offence.

On subsequent offences, offenders may be fined up to S$3,000.
 

- CNA/gn

Retail Investors' Behavior in the Market: Selling their best winning stock, Re-investing into other Not-So-Best stocks or Holding on to their worst losing stocks over market cycles???

Just For Thinking ...


Over the last few years of reading so many investing blog postings and chatting in cboxes and forums; Uncle8888 has realised many retail investors are more likely to sell their best winning stocks when market turns bearish and then later "re-invest" into other stocks as it is not easy to buy back their best winning stocks due to Anchoring Effect of their last purchase price.

Their other stocks are free from Anchoring Effect so it is easier to find them as replacement stocks. But, their best winning stocks sold may prove to be the best when market finally recovers at the next market cycles.

This is something we may have to seriously think over it. Right?

Kep Corp FY 14 Q1 Report

1. Net Profit decreased 5% to S$339 million, compared to 1Q 2013's S$357 million.
NB: Net profit for this quarter is largely in line with 1Q 2013's, excluding one-off gains from the reversal of provision from the sale of a power barge and write-back of tax provision made by Keppel Land in 1Q 2013.)

2. Earnings per Share was 18.7 cents, down 6% from 1Q 2013's 19.8 cents.

3. Annualised Return on Equity was 13.4%.

4. Economic Value Added decreased from S$217 million to S$151 million.

5. Cash outflow of S$395 million.

6. Net gearing was 0.14x.

 

 

 

 

Blog Break from 15 to 18 Apr 2014 (2)

Read? Blog Break from 15 to 18 Apr 2014

Gone fishing!

This is where luck matters the most.

The biggest fish caught for this fishing trip.

 

3rd and 4th New Record set by Uncle8888's Investment Portfolio in 2014

Read? 2nd New Record set by Uncle8888's Investment Portfolio in 2014


Noted 3rd and 4th new record were set on Tuesday and Wednesday while Uncle8888 gone fishing.

Lian Beng

Probably the worst is over by looking at price-volume action.

Blog Break from 15 to 18 Apr 2014

Gone fishing!

This is where luck matters the most.

 

K-Green Trust's Q1 profit rises 9.4%

K-GREEN Trust on Monday posted a 9.4 per cent increase in profit for its first quarter ended March 31, 2014 to S$3.5 million,

This translated to earnings per unit of 0.56 Singapore cents for the quarter, up from 0.51 Singapore cents a year ago.

This was despite the business trust's revenue dipping 1.3 per cent to S$16.8 million in the quarter.
The trust, which has an investment focus on green infrastructure assets, said it expected the underlying performance of its three assets to remain stable, thanks to their long-term concession agreements with Singapore statutory bodies, National Environment Agency and PUB.

Keppel Reit posts record quarterly distributable income

KEPPEL Reit on Monday announced a record quarterly distributable income of S$55.1 million, up 5.5 per cent year-on-year, for its first quarter ended March 31, 2014.

This translated to a distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.97 Singapore cents for the quarter, unchanged from a year ago.

The Reit said this was due to improved performance from Ocean Financial Centre and Prudential Tower, as well as the additional income from 8 Exhibition Street in Melbourne which was acquired in August 2013.

Net property income rose 14.7 per cent to S$39.5 million, thanks to the better performance of its properties

2nd New Record set by Uncle8888's Investment Portfolio in 2014

Read? Another New Record set by Uncle8888's Investment Portfolio


Today, another Moment of Happiness again!!!


Cheering the 2nd new record set in 2014

CapitaLand plans to take CapitaMalls Asia private through S$2.22 a share offer

SINGAPORE: Southeast Asia's largest developer CapitaLand has launched a voluntary conditional cash offer to take shopping mall arm CapitaMalls Asia (CMA) private by buying CMA shares that it does not already own for S$2.22 each.
The offer -- made via Sound Investments Holdings -- is conditional on receiving acceptances such that CapitaLand holds more than 90 per cent of CMA.
CapitaLand, which owns around 65.3 per cent of CMA, will have to pay around S$3 billion to buy over the remaining 34.7 per cent.
According to CapitaLand Group CEO Lim Ming Yan, taking over and delisting CMA will "significantly simplify" CapitaLand Group's structure.
"CapitaLand will be in a better position to capitalise on the growing trend towards integrated developments in our core markets of Singapore and China," he said.
CapitaLand said its offer price of S$2.22 in cash for each CMA share represents a premium of 27.0 per cent over CMA's one-month volume-weighted average price. The offer price is also 20.7 per cent higher than CMA's net asset value per share as of December 31, 2013.
CMA shares, which were suspended earlier on Monday, were last traded at S$1.805 apiece.
CapitaLand spun off CMA in late 2009 in what was then one of Singapore's largest ever initial public offerings. 

- CNA/ac

Really retail intelligent investors 20 years ago???

Just For Thinking ...

Anyone know your parents, grand-parents or grand-relatives who are still holding UOB, Kep Corp, OCBC, Sembcorp Marine after 20 years?

It is really good to find out how come they can overcome the basic human emotions over their own money over many market cycles of Greed and Fear!

Institutions can easily do it as it is not their own money and can play by the money rules set for them.

This Weekend Blog Short Break!

Checking out Kukup for fishing spot!

US stocks sink again; Nasdaq down 1.3%

NEW YORK: The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index led Wall Street sharply lower again on Friday, closing out a dreary week at its lowest level in more than two months.

The Nasdaq sank 54.37 points (1.34 per cent) to 3,999.73, its lowest close since February 3, when the index settled for one session below the psychologically important 4,000 level.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 143.47 (0.89 per cent) to 16,026.75, while the broad-based S&P 500 shed 17.39 (0.95 per cent) to 1,815.69.

US equities were in the red most of the day, but losses deepened in the last 90 minutes of trade.
Highflying technology and biotechnology stocks are "driving an overall correction in the market," said Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer at Cornerstone Wealth Management.

Lian Beng nine-month profit jumps 67% to $50.3m

Revenue also rises 67% to $585.6m; group to continue to focus on construction segment

 

 

By Lynette Khoo

                          

 

 

Mr Ong Pang Aik: Says the group's stronger revenue was not solely due to the recognition of M-Space as revenues from construction and ready-mixed segments also showed improvement. - FILE PHOTO

CONSTRUCTION company and developer Lian Beng recorded a 67 per cent jump in net profit to $50.3 million for the nine months ended Feb 28 as it recognised profit from its industrial project that was just completed.

Revenue also grew 67 per cent to $585.6 million, mainly bolstered by its industrial development property M-Space, which attained TOP (temporary occupation permit) in January this year.

Lian Beng's executive chairman, Ong Pang Aik, noted that the group's stronger revenue was not solely due to the recognition of M-Space as revenues from construction and ready-mixed segments also showed improvement.

The construction segment remained a key driver to the group revenue for the first nine months of fiscal 2014, contributing about 53 per cent, while its property development and ready-mixed concrete segments contributed 30 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.

Tech stocks lead market rout; Nasdaq falls 3.1%

NEW YORK: The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index on Thursday led US stocks sharply lower as anxiety about pricey technology equities returned with a vengeance and dragged down the broader market.

The Nasdaq tumbled 129.79 points (3.10 per cent) to 4,054.11.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 266.96 points (1.62 per cent) to 16,170.22, while the broad-based S&P 500 fell 39.10 points (2.09 per cent) to 1,833.08.

The sell-off came on a day when Chinese trade data disappointed and suggested more weakness in the world's second-biggest economy.

But the losses deepened throughout the day, suggesting continued fear over the valuations of high-flying tech companies like Netflix, Facebook and Tesla Motors.These companies were among the biggest losers.

Most analysts do not consider conditions comparable to those of the early-2000s tech bubble, but the memory of Nasdaq's plunge in that period is not that distant.

"It's certainly a valuation correction," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank.

"We've got lots of liquidity, but we have a stretched market," Ablin said. "Probably the best solution would be to have earnings and revenues rise."

- AFP/rw

 

 

 

SGX unveils revised securities market fees

They will take effect starting 1 June.

Singapore Exchange will introduce its revised securities market fees, with changes to clearing, transfer and onward settlement fees, with effect from 1 June 2014. This initiative is part of SGX’s on-going efforts to strengthen and improve liquidity in Singapore’s securities market.

Following its initial announcement of the revised fees in February, SGX has continuously engaged market participants as they prepare for the implementation of these fee changes. The effective date of 1 June 2014 has been scheduled to provide all market participants with time to complete changes required to their systems and processes.

Reduced clearing fees

The clearing fee will be reduced from 0.04% to 0.0325% of contract value. The cap of S$600 on this fee for contracts of S$1.5 million, or more, will be removed. Investors, retail and institutions, will benefit from lower transaction costs when investing in SGX stocks.

Settlement fees pursuant to a transaction on SGX-ST

Transfer and onward settlements pursuant to on-exchange transactions on SGX-ST will be standardised to a charge of $30 per settlement instruction.

Settlement fees for transactions not pursuant to a transaction on SGX-ST

Settlement fees for all settlements not pursuant to transactions on SGX-ST (i.e. not pursuant to an on-exchange transaction) will be standardised to a charge of 1.5 basis points of the settlement value (min $75) per settlement instruction.

“Our initiatives are targeted at improving liquidity in our market and ensuring the safe and orderly conduct of trading activity. We thank market participants for their support in our efforts to boost the Singapore securities market and strengthen market quality and liquidity.

The best interests of investors and industry participants remain our top priority as we introduce initiatives to reduce cost, increase trading and liquidity along with appropriate controls and safeguards in our marketplace.” said Muthukrishnan Ramaswami, President of SGX.

On 1 June, the new “SGX Market Maker and Liquidity Provider Programme” will also be available to all market participants, who trade as a principal using proprietary capital and can satisfy certain eligibility criteria.

 

Another New Record set by Uncle8888's Investment Portfolio

Read? Another new record: 13th time in 2013



A total of 13 new records were set in 2013 and the last one was set in Nov 2013.



Today, another Moment of Happiness again!!!


Cheering the 1st new record set in 2014

Your CPF Investment Account : Uncle8888's foolish advice!!!

Just For Thinking ....



Are you foolish enough to think over Uncle8888's foolish advice on  investing strategy for your CPF Investment Account?


Keep your itchy hands off your CPF Investment Account!!!


For the past 37 years, Uncle8888 has used his CPF Investment Account a few times only and most of the time it was foolishly kept to earn just 2.5% return.

But, when he actually used it; he received N x 2.5% return for many years! It is like planting Money Tree!

Read? Keep your itchy hands off your CPF Investment Account!!!

Read? CPF OA rate @ 2.5% on regular CPF investment income peanuts return???


Read? CPF Investment Account and CPF OA Rate at 2.5%


Read? Invest with CPF investment fund or Cash in the stock market?

Read? Using CPF Investment Fund For Investing

Dovish Fed minutes send US stocks up more than 1%

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks Wednesday bolted higher with tech equities leading the way after US Federal Reserve minutes showed no support for an early rise in interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 181.04 points (1.11 per cent) to 16,437.18.

The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 20.22 points (1.09 per cent) to 1,872.18, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index soared 70.91 points (1.72 per cent) to 4,183.90.

Stocks were higher through early afternoon, but rose more after the Fed minutes were released at 1800 GMT. The minutes, as expected, showed the US central bank foresees continuing the steady cutback to its stimulus program.
But they also showed there was not a groundswell of Fed powerbrokers who supported a speedy rise to benchmark interest rates.

"There's been this overriding fear in the market that tightening would be sooner on the horizon than people imagine," said Brent Schutte, market strategist at BMO Global Asset Management. "Today's minutes walk back some of those fears."
For the second day in a row, the Nasdaq outperformed the other two indices after lagging badly over the last month.
Facebook jumped 7.3 per cent, Priceline rose 4.0 per cent and Apple rose 1.3 per cent.

Biotech equities, a particularly hard-hit group of late, also did well. Celgene jumped 6.6 per cent, Biogen rose 5.2 per cent and Gilead Sciences advanced 0.9 per cent.

Merck (+3.7 percent) led the Dow, with strong gains also posted by American Express (+2.6 per cent), Visa (+2.4 per cent) and Boeing (+2.2 per cent.)

General Motors took another hit from the scandal over its delayed recall of vehicles, dropping 2.6 per cent on reports that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will fine the automaker $28,000 for failing to respond to questions over the recall.

Aluminum producer Alcoa jumped 3.8 per cent after earnings of nine cents per share excluding restructuring costs bested forecasts of five cents per share.

Intuitive Surgical, which works in robotic-assisted surgery, projected that first-quarter revenues would be $465 million, compared with $611 million a year ago. The company also announced a charge of $67 million to settle product liability claims against the company. Shares slumped 6.8 per cent.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury held steady at 2.68 per cent, the same level as Tuesday. The yield on the 30-year rose to 3.57 per cent from 3.54 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.

- AFP/rw

Dare to Be Great???

To greatly improve your investing performance; benchmark against the best.


Dare to Be Great???

 

 

Keppel extends near market, near customer strategy into China

Company signs agreement to manage a shipyard in Quanzhou, China

Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M), through its wholly owned subsidiary, FELS Offshore Pte Ltd, has signed a management services agreement with Titan Petrochemicals Group Limited (Titan) - a company in which commodities trading conglomerate Guangdong Zhenrong Energy Co. Ltd. (GDZR) is a major shareholder - and Titan Quanzhou Shipyard Co. Ltd (TQS), to manage the TQS shipyard.

TQS, located in Quanzhou in Fujian Province, is one of the largest shipyards in China, occupying a total area of 110ha with 3,600m length of coastline.

When completed, TQS will have four ultra-large and wide dry docks, including one of the largest modern-designed docks in China, which will enable it to convert double hull vessels such as Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) units. Besides ship repair and conversion capabilities, the yard is also able to construct offshore rigs including jackups and semisubmersibles.

Under the agreement which is for a 30-year period, renewable thereafter as mutually agreed, the yard, managed by Keppel O&M, will undertake projects using Keppel's proprietary designs.

TQS is wholly-owned by Titan, which is a provider of logistics, transportation, distribution and marine services for petrochemical products in Asia. This agreement is conditional on the completion of the on-going financial restructuring of Titan and the resumption of the trading of its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Mr Chow Yew Yuen, CEO of Keppel O&M said, "The offshore oil and gas market in China has been growing significantly, and there is increasing demand for high specification rigs and production vessels. At the same time, China is a market which has strong preference for China-made products. Having this yard is an extension of our near market, near customer strategy and enables us to service the Chinese market with our suite of proprietary solutions while meeting its requirement of building in-country. This is further complemented by our other shipyard in China, Keppel Nantong, which undertakes specialised shipbuilding and offshore fabrication.

"With 20 yards around the world, we have the experience in managing existing shipyards and optimising their operations, just as we have done so in Brazil, the Netherlands, USA and the Philippines. Together with the strength of GDZR's extensive connections and experience in China, and our expertise and established track record in the global offshore and marine industry, we are confident that this is a win-win partnership that will enable Keppel and Titan to become a major offshore solutions provider for China."

Mr Zhao Xu Guang, Chairman of Titan added, "We are looking to enhance our presence in the offshore and marine business, and partnering Keppel, the world's leading rig builder, is a significant step in this direction. I am confident that with Keppel managing this yard which has good development potential, we will be able to quickly build up the track record of the shipyard and deliver winning Keppel designs and products to Chinese oil and gas operators. Having studied the market, we believe there are a significant number of potential projects that this yard is capable of undertaking."

Both Keppel and Titan are optimistic about the growth potential of China's offshore and marine industry. China's dependence on oil and gas imports has increased from 43% to 56% in 2012, and is expected to exceed beyond 60% in the next few years. With its oil production on land having reached a plateau of 200 million tonnes annually, China is looking to expand its offshore oil and gas production to meet rising energy demands domestically.

In its 12^th five-year plan, China announced plans to more than double its investment in offshore exploration and production (E&P) activities to RMB 300 billion, up from RMB 120 billion in its 11^th five-year plan. Offshore oil and gas production is also targeted to double to 100 million tonnes, from 50 million tonnes, annually.

The above agreement is not expected to have any material impact on the net tangible assets and earnings per share of Keppel Corporation Limited for the current financial year.

- End-

Sembcorp expands industrial wastewater treatment business in Hubei

By Vivien Shiao

                          

 

Sembcorp Industries will be expanding its industrial wastewater treatment business to China's Hubei province, with the development of its first beachhead in Jingmen City.

Sembcorp said it would own a 95 per cent stake in the joint venture to build, own and operate an industrial wastewater treatment plant in the Jingmen

Chemical Industrial Park. Jingmen Xinyuan Investment Company, wholly owned by the Duodao District Government of Jingmen city and a business arm of the JCIP Administration Committee, will hold the remaining 5 per cent.

The total project investment of 98.7 million yuan will be funded through a mix of equity and borrowings.

Sembcorp's 95 per cent share of the equity investment amounts to 37.5 million yuan (S$7.8 million), which will be financed by internal funds.

Difference between Knowledge and Wisdom in the stock market- See the chart!

 

 

Read? Difference between Knowledge and Wisdom

 

 

 

 

In the stock market, we need both knowledge and wisdom to become rich in the next window of opportunity. Seeing is not believing. See the above chart again. Now. Seeing is ....!

For seniors and veterans in the stock market, check your own wisdom benchmarking in 1998, 2001, 2003, and 2009; only the wise ones were laughing to the bank and the more knowledgeable ones are still talking loudly!

Right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

US stocks fall more than 1% as tech slump continues

NEW YORK: US stocks on Monday slumped for a third day in a row as investors worried about whether high-flying technology stocks are overvalued and cautiously anticipated earnings season.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 166.84 points (1.02 per cent) to 16,245.87.

The broad-based S&P 500 sank 20.05 points (1.08 per cent) to 1,845.04, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 47.97 (1.16 per cent) to 4,079.75.

The losses followed weakness since the middle of last week. Technology and biotech stocks have been among the feeblest equities, although a handful of hard-hit equities posted gains Monday.

"Most of this selling has concentrated on these darling stocks and I guess investors are questioning their value," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.

Cardillo also attributed the losses to "a little anxiety before earnings."

Earnings season unofficially kicks off Tuesday with Alcoa after the markets close and with reports Friday from banking giants JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

Weak technology stocks included LinkedIn (-3.7 per cent), Yahoo (-3.5 per cent) and Tesla Motors (-2.2 per cent). Apple lost 1.6 per cent and Google fell 0.9 per cent.

But some other tech and biotech stocks bounced back. Biogen advanced 2.1 per cent, while Facebook added 0.4 per cent and Netflix edged up 0.2 per cent.

Financial stocks were generally weak, including Bank of America (-2.0 per cent), Wells Fargo (-1.8 percent) and Dow members Goldman Sachs (-2.9 per cent) and American Express (-2.9 per cent).

A handful of companies in the Dow posted increases, including technology companies IBM (+1.4 per cent), Intel (+1.2 per cent) and Cisco (+0.6 per cent).

Cardillo said some investors may be moving funds out of "darling" momentum stocks to more "defensive" names. IBM, Intel and Cisco all pay dividends.

Ireland-based Mallinckrodt announced it will buy US rival Questcor Pharmaceuticals in a roughly $5.6 billion cash-and-stock deal expected to expand the firm's drive in the specialty drugs field. Questcor shot up 18.7 per cent; Mallinckrodt fell 2.5 per cent.

Dow member Pfizer slumped 3.0 per cent despite reporting over the weekend that its palbociclib treatment resulted in "significantly prolonged" survival rates for patients with advanced breast cancer. However, Morgan Stanley said the timing for regulatory approval remained unclear.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury declined to 2.70 per cent from 2.73 percent Friday, while the 30-year dipped to 3.56 per cent from 3.59 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.

 

- AFP/rw

The Best Investment Advice I Ever Received

by Alexander Green, Chief Investment Strategist    

At the recent Investment U Conference at the beautiful Park Hyatt Aviara in Carlsbad, Calif., the speakers each shared their answer to the question "What is the best piece of investment advice you ever received?"

That's a tough one. Over the past 29 years, I've been a stockbroker, an investment analyst, a money manager and a financial writer. I've made good money in the market. And I've taken my lumps (especially in the early days).

However, we weren't asked to talk about the most important lessons we learned from our own experiences. We were asked to talk about the single best piece of investment advice we'd ever received.

I decided not to pass along some of the obvious ones, even though they hold great value for those who haven't heard them.

Take Warren Buffett's classic encapsulation of stock market psychology: You want to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.

If you have the guts to follow this one rule, you can ignore everything you ever learned about sales, earnings, cash flow and profit margins. When investors are panicked and filled with pessimism, buy. And when they are supremely confident an asset has nowhere to go but up - be it stocks, gold or real estate - get the heck out.

This Time It's the Same

If you're ever tempted to doubt Buffett's contrarian advice, you might remember another gem I considered using from investment legend John Templeton: The four most dangerous words in investing are: "This time it's different."

Investors who ever got fully margined on stocks, highly leveraged on pre-construction condos or ran to cash near a market bottom could have saved themselves a lot of agony (and money) by heeding Templeton's words. Bubbles form. Bubbles burst. Asset performance reverts to the mean. Bank on it.

I also briefly toyed with something uttered by boxing champ Mike Tyson. "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."

Tyson didn't mean this as market advice, of course, but it's entirely apropos. In the past I worked with hundreds of individual investors and was surprised how folks who were confident they would invest for the long term and buy the dips abandoned ship as soon as the waves began hitting the deck.

Everything was hunky-dory until they got punched in the mouth. Then all bets were off.

Your Worst Enemy

But, in my estimation, the truly best piece of investment counsel I ever received was dug from the pages of Benjamin Graham's investment classic The Intelligent Investor. "The investor's chief problem - and even his worst enemy - is likely to be himself."

If you want to see the person most responsible for your investment plans not working out the way you imagined, go stand in front of the mirror.

If you say it's not your fault because you turned your money over to a broker, insurance agent or registered rep who handled it poorly, well, who made that decision to delegate?

If you take advice from an investment letter editor who's been on the wrong side of the market the last five years, well, who decided to subscribe to that letter and act on the advice?

If you say you don't know enough to manage your money yourself, whose fault is that? Investing is not rocket science. Yes, it takes a little time - and a little trial and error - to learn the basics. But if you've spent more time watching Seinfeld reruns than obtaining the knowledge essential to securing your financial future, you'll find little sympathy here.

Taking responsibility for your financial future is liberating. After all, you can't control the economy, can't affect the financial markets, can't set Fed policy and can't foresee the future. But the really important factors you can control.

The Seven Factors

For example, the future size of your investment portfolio will be determined by seven - and only seven - factors:

1. How much you save.



2. How long you let it compound.



3. Your asset allocation.



4. Your security selection.



5. The annual performance of your investments.


6. The expenses you absorb.



7. And the taxes you pay.
 

Only one of these factors you cannot control: the annual performance of your investments. So what should you do? Revisit the list. You should save as much as you can, let it compound as long as you can, asset allocate properly, diversify broadly, minimize your investment costs and tax-manage your portfolio.

If you don't understand these things, you need to. (We talk about them regularly here.) If you aren't doing these things, you should be - in both good times and bad.

History shows that the highest returns don't accrue to those with the biggest brains... but to those with the strongest stomachs. Wall Street is littered with the bones of those who knew exactly what to do at market tops and bottoms yet couldn't bring themselves to do it.

In sum, it's only when you take responsibility for your investment decisions that you experience success and the security and satisfaction that comes with it. And if you don't find success?

As Shakespeare reminds us, "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves."

Good investing,

Alex

Making utilities a pillar in Sembcorp

Sembcorp Industries' CEO Tang Kin Fei has played an instrumental role over the past 2 decades. By LEE MEIXIAN


SOME 20 years ago, Sembcorp Industries, a heavyweight in Singapore's utilities sector and a blue-chip conglomerate, didn't actually have a utilities business.

Today, utilities, comprising energy, water, solid waste management and on-site logistics, contributed $450 million in 2013 net profit - more than half the $820 million total net profit reported that year.

Moreover, profit from utilities is expected to double in the next five years, on the back of a strong development pipeline of power and water projects in mostly rapidly developing economies.

One person who was instrumental in adding the utilities pillar to the company's then largely marine operations back in 1995 is Sembcorp's present-day group president and CEO Tang Kin Fei.

The utilities business arose because of a conundrum that Mr Tang found himself grappling with back when he was heading Sempec, a seven-person unit of Sembawang Engineering engaged in onshore plant engineering services.

Book : The Joy of Not Working

Becoming Man or Woman of Leisure

Simi LP Theory on investing made simple???

Just For Thinking ....


The more Uncle8888 thinks back, the more he thinks that investing is as simple as LP Theory: It is either Tua LP or Bo LP?

 



























In 1998, AFC, he missed out the best once in his lifetime opportunity to huat tua tua from the stock market.

Bo LP!!!

Why???

A single household income with three kids at age of 10, 8, and 3 and not financially well prepared for crisis; Uncle8888 sibei bo lam par!

How to huat?


In Sep 2011, WTC Attack and 2003 SARS, Uncle8888 was well prepared since Jan 2000 by consolidating all his spare money into his biggest war chest ever.

Limpeh wu lam par. Not bad. So huat ah!


In 2009, GFC, wu lam par but impotent!

He missed out again on second time! KNS!


Impotent. Got lam par also no need.



Lesson learnt for the next crisis.

Practise Lam Par Theory!

Tua Lam Par comes from bigger war chest???

Investing made simple! Right?

Nasdaq sinks more than 2.5%, leads market lower

NEW YORK: The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled more than 2.5 per cent on Friday, as investors overlooked a solid US jobs report to sell off prominent names from across the tech sector.

The Nasdaq sank 110.01 points (2.60 per cent) to 4,127.73.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 159.84 (0.96 per cent) to 16,412.71, while the broad-based S&P 500 slumped 23.68 (1.25 per cent) to 1,865.09.

The Department of Labor reported the US economy added 192,000 jobs in March, essentially meeting expectations and suggesting a continuation of the trend of slow but steady improvement in the labour market.

But analysts said the sell-off was spurred not by the jobs report or other news, but by the same negative sentiment that has hit tech and biotech names intermittently over the last few weeks.

A recurring concern is that hot technology stocks like Facebook and Netflix are overvalued.

"It is not about economic news, or earnings, or geopolitics; this is a market event," said Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer of Cornerstone Wealth Management.

"This is the frothiest part of the market cracking in a big way. Small caps are overvalued and the hottest names in the Nasdaq are leading the way down."

The losses among tech companies were broad based and included giants like Apple (-1.3 per cent), Microsoft (-2.8 per cent) and Google (-4.7 per cent).

Also declining significantly: Facebook (-4.6 per cent), Tesla Motors (-5.9 per cent), Netflix (-4.9 per cent), LinkedIn (-6.3 per cent). Biotech names took a hit, including Biogen (-4.4 per cent), Celgene (-4.3 per cent) and Gilead Sciences (-2.4 per cent).

But the tech sector had one bright spot with Friday's first day of trade for GrubHub. The online food ordering company quickly jumped 30.8 per cent to $34 from its initial public offering price of $26 per share.

Used-car retailer CarMax fell 4.2 per cent on earnings that missed expectations by a penny at 52 cents per share. Revenues also fell short of expectations, even though total units sold rose 12 per cent.

A potential acquisition of Swedish pharmaceutical company Meda by US peer Mylan collapsed after Meda announced its board rejected the proposal and that all talks were terminated. Mylan rose 1.5 per cent.

Bond prices jumped. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.73 per cent from 2.79 per cent Thursday, while the 30-year dropped to 3.59 per cent from 3.63 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.

- AFP/fl

 

 

 

 

As retail investors can we supplement our earned income through active (DIY) investment strategy? Worth the time and effort doing it???

As retail investors can we supplement our earned income through active (DIY) investment strategy?



Worth the time and effort doing it???

Three Things to do ...

ASK,

MEASURE,

DECIDE.



From Jan 2000 to 4th Apr 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once upon a time .... in History and ... in Dream Land; but woke up to reality!