It has been one and a half year since I last blogged. Was busy with my life, especially my study life. I have just completed my ACCA exams and am currently waiting for my results due to be out in August. Hopefully my effort will pay off.
It was tough studying ACCA. It was even tougher to manage a work-study-life balance. You know, having to go home everyday after work with a tired body but still have to think about preparing for your exams. When working, having difficulty to concentrate on your work cause you want to spend time to study for your exams. But glad that I'm able to pull through with the help and understanding of my colleagues.
I am so glad for fate to allow me to have a chance of taking up ACCA. It was something that gave me an aim in life. Allowing me to know what I really want to do in my life. For this, I have to thank 2 very important and respected person whom I met in my life.
I was then 21 years old, still serving my national service. I have obtained a Diploma in Electronics. But then i'm not very interested in it because my O levels results wasn't good enough for me to choose the course that I want to study. At that time I am thinking seriously of what I want to do in life? Even though I studied engineering, I don't want to go into engineering field because i'm have no interest in it. I like investing and I guess that was something that I picked up due to my interest in reading newspaper. I started reading newspaper when I was 14 years old and I got to absorb on some financial news. I realised that the only way to be financially free was to be financially literate, learning the art of investing to allow my money to grow at a faster rate. So I went to research on the degree course that I can study and finally decided on getting a degree in Economics and Finance. As my national service is only during the normal office hours (8am to 5pm), I decided to take the part-time course.
Next comes the consideration of the cost involve in obtaining the degree. It cost almost $40,000 in total. As a person who is still serving his nation, it is not enough to pay off the fees even if I save every single cents of my allowance every month. So I discussed it with my parents and my dad decided to borrow from his company to fund my studies. The directors of the company requested for a meet up with me to discuss about the loan. Then they advise that I should take up ACCA instead and they are happy to fund my studies fully with no string attached. That's how I ended up taking ACCA and I am really grateful for that. Well it cost much less for ACCA qualification compared with the degree, which I think is value for money.
I have so much interest in what I am studying. I studied Financial Management and learned how to value a company and interpret financial statements. I studied Performance Management and learned about managing cost in business. I studied Taxation and learned about the tax system in Singapore. I studied Financial Reporting and learned how to prepare financial statements. I studied Audit and Assurance and learned how the figures in financial statements are derived. All this are critical understanding for me as an investor. I have fun learning all these modules except that I hate the exams. It gives you so much anxiety, knowing that the worldwide passing rate is usually less than 50%, sometimes only 30%. How great is it if I can just study without taking the exams. However, due to the difficulty of the course, it makes you appreciate the qualification even more.
So now since i'm much more financial literate and have much more time, I will start to focus on my investment, applying what I have studied in my stock picking. So which company should I analyse first? I have some company which I am currently interested in like Capitaland, Old Chang Kee, ComfortDelGro etc. Will blog about it once i'm done with my research!
Just an update on my current holding. I am currently holding on to more cash than stocks. The recent stock markets have been breaking new high and thus I think the margin of safety is low. I will wait for a better time to enter the market. And waiting is also considered a strategy.
As written in my previous post, i have bought Apple shares one and a half year ago. Today I am still holding on to it and it has helped me generate a return of almost 50%! I will continue to hold on to it unless there is a severe change in market condition.
Cheers~
Disclaimer: Stock-take.blogspot is a personal diary/private trading journal to record my personal views, analysis, trading and prediction. The purpose of stock-take.blogspot is not intended to induce or promote any insider trading or manipulate activities. All information can be obtained freely from the public internet. Use all information at your own risk or discretion. stock-take.blogspot shall not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Saturday, June 1, 2013
CASH is KING
Due to the recent sell down, I have sold off almost all of my stocks to lock in my profits. Although I believe in holding on for the long term like what Mr Warren Buffet has always preached, I am a fairly new investor and I believe I will make more mistakes along the way. Thus I would like to lock in my profit now, earn some capital gain and give myself a bigger margin of safety to prepare myself for any mistakes I might make in the future. Will stay sidelined till there are buying opportunities with the cash I have in hand!
I am currently pursueing my ACCA studies and have 4 papers left before I can complete the course. Recently I have completed my thesis writing for Oxford Brookes University in collaboration with ACCA for the BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting. My thesis topic was to do a Business and Financial Analysis on Raffles Medical Group. Thanks to this thesis report writing experience, I found that I am truely interested in doing analysis on companies. And I hope I could share with fellow investors what I have learned and applied in my stock picking. Thus I will do an analysis on companies that I have identified and see if it is worth investing in them and post it up on this blog to share. This will help me sharpen my analytical skill and continue keeping me interested! However, I will do it after my exams which falls on 10 June as I need to focus on my study first. Maybe I will also share my thesis report after the result is out which falls in September.
Also I have just bought into APPLE (AAPL) shares recently. My reason being:
1) $140billion of cash in hand - Surely, cash is king! I believe with such huge resources on hand, they could seriously do something about it. Hope they have some exciting new product in line which may be announced in June!
2) Low debt - They have very very very low debt except for the recent debt deal for the purpose of stock repurchasing. The stock repurchasing shows confidence of management in the future of the company. Also, it is cheaper to issue debt than to repatriate the $100billion cash from their overseas operations as it will be subjeted to 35% tax rate! Although someone may argue that it is unethical for Apple not to pay their fair share of taxes, it is totally legal to do so. We are talking about business here and if it is unethical, maybe the governement should do something on revising their law that may encourage companies to repatriate the money, like reducing the tax rate and give tax rebates to companies repatriating the money to re-invest in US.
Furthermore, Apple must find a balance between cost of debt and cost of capital. And currently, cost of capital is more expensive than cost of debt. Thus by issuing debt it is actually a cheaper source of finance for apple.
3) First mover advantage - Apple is the first company that revolutionize the whole industry. It is still producing quality products. The recent drop in their share price is because people think Apple is not as suprising as they used to be. However, their revenue is still increasing. People are still buying their products. And they will still be producing new quality items. Companies are still copying them. Apple is a brand that differentiate itself from its competitor.
These are just some of my brief comments on Apple. I believe in the future of Apple Inc. Its up to you whether you believe it or not.
Cheers~
I am currently pursueing my ACCA studies and have 4 papers left before I can complete the course. Recently I have completed my thesis writing for Oxford Brookes University in collaboration with ACCA for the BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting. My thesis topic was to do a Business and Financial Analysis on Raffles Medical Group. Thanks to this thesis report writing experience, I found that I am truely interested in doing analysis on companies. And I hope I could share with fellow investors what I have learned and applied in my stock picking. Thus I will do an analysis on companies that I have identified and see if it is worth investing in them and post it up on this blog to share. This will help me sharpen my analytical skill and continue keeping me interested! However, I will do it after my exams which falls on 10 June as I need to focus on my study first. Maybe I will also share my thesis report after the result is out which falls in September.
Also I have just bought into APPLE (AAPL) shares recently. My reason being:
1) $140billion of cash in hand - Surely, cash is king! I believe with such huge resources on hand, they could seriously do something about it. Hope they have some exciting new product in line which may be announced in June!
2) Low debt - They have very very very low debt except for the recent debt deal for the purpose of stock repurchasing. The stock repurchasing shows confidence of management in the future of the company. Also, it is cheaper to issue debt than to repatriate the $100billion cash from their overseas operations as it will be subjeted to 35% tax rate! Although someone may argue that it is unethical for Apple not to pay their fair share of taxes, it is totally legal to do so. We are talking about business here and if it is unethical, maybe the governement should do something on revising their law that may encourage companies to repatriate the money, like reducing the tax rate and give tax rebates to companies repatriating the money to re-invest in US.
Furthermore, Apple must find a balance between cost of debt and cost of capital. And currently, cost of capital is more expensive than cost of debt. Thus by issuing debt it is actually a cheaper source of finance for apple.
3) First mover advantage - Apple is the first company that revolutionize the whole industry. It is still producing quality products. The recent drop in their share price is because people think Apple is not as suprising as they used to be. However, their revenue is still increasing. People are still buying their products. And they will still be producing new quality items. Companies are still copying them. Apple is a brand that differentiate itself from its competitor.
These are just some of my brief comments on Apple. I believe in the future of Apple Inc. Its up to you whether you believe it or not.
Cheers~
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Value.Able by Roger Montgomery
Went to a seminar by Roger Montgomery last weekend and somehow, he inspired me.
Currently on my investing journey, I am quite unsure whether the way I make my investment decisions are right or wrong. I guess sometimes my decisions are irrational, bought on impulse, sell on fear. Trying to predict and beat the market. Sometimes I got it right, but sometimes I got it wrong. And I felt a bit of emptiness because I know I am not investing, but speculating.
Also, I bought a book written by him called Value Able.
This book is about value investing and it teaches you how to value a company based on its ROE. One of the favourite quote that I like is "invest in the business, not it's stock". To be a value investor, I have to keep reminding myself about this quote.
After reading it half-way through, I am determined to have a plan in my investment strategies which I learned from the book and follow it. No more being a speculator which I always thought I am not.
Cheers~
Currently on my investing journey, I am quite unsure whether the way I make my investment decisions are right or wrong. I guess sometimes my decisions are irrational, bought on impulse, sell on fear. Trying to predict and beat the market. Sometimes I got it right, but sometimes I got it wrong. And I felt a bit of emptiness because I know I am not investing, but speculating.
Also, I bought a book written by him called Value Able.
This book is about value investing and it teaches you how to value a company based on its ROE. One of the favourite quote that I like is "invest in the business, not it's stock". To be a value investor, I have to keep reminding myself about this quote.
After reading it half-way through, I am determined to have a plan in my investment strategies which I learned from the book and follow it. No more being a speculator which I always thought I am not.
Cheers~
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
IHH IPO
Can't wait for IHH healthcare to be listed. I have always been attracted to healthcare stock. One very simple reason is because healthcare is a need, not wants. And I put my bet in them being a leading premium healthcare provider in the region.
below are the extract from http://www.valuebuddies.com/thread-2159-post-26607.html#pid26607
S'pore retail investors offered 52m IHH sharesIPO to run from July 4-11; Temasek, GIC among 22 cornerstone investors
By JONATHAN KWOK
SINGAPORE retail investors will be able to ballot for 52 million shares in the widely anticipated initial public offering (IPO) of IHH Healthcare.
The company, Asia's biggest hospital operator, lodged the prospectus for its large-scale dual listing in Singapore and Malaysia yesterday.
The 552-page document - excluding appendices - did not reveal the price of the shares but stated that 52 million of the 2.23billion share offering, or about 2.3 per cent, will be for the Singapore public.
About 36 million shares are slated to be placed out to Singapore institutional investors. Including shares for directors, employees and business associates based here, the entire Singapore offering will be 140.6 million shares.
The Malaysia offering will be 208.5 million shares, including 161.1 million shares for the Malaysian public.
Some 498 million shares will be for placement to institutions, such as global investors, and 1.39 billion shares - about 62 per cent of the entire offering - will be for the 22 cornerstone investors which have already signed up for the IPO.
The prospectus also showed that the Government of Singapore Investment Corp is among the cornerstone investors, confirming earlier reports that the sovereign wealth fund had signed up.
Fullerton Fund Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, has also signed up. Global investment manager BlackRock and subsidiaries of the AIA Group will be investing, as will Como Holdings, which is owned by hotelier Ong Beng Seng, and Malaysia's Employees Provident Fund.
Another one of the high-powered investors is Kencana Capital, an investment holding company controlled by Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir, who is the son of former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
About 90 per cent of the public issue will be used to repay debt with the rest for working capital and listing expenses.
The IPO will 'enhance the stature of our company to market our services and expand our market position' and allow 'access (to) the equity capital market' for growth opportunities, said IHH in the prospectus.
Risk factors cited included the group's 'substantial leverage'.
The units making up the group earned combined profits of RM379.9 million (S$153million) last year, down from RM554.4million in 2010, but up from 2009's RM83.2million.
For the first quarter of this year, profits were RM123.8million, from RM101.9million in the same period last year.
The document said that the public offering will run from July4 to 11, with the price of shares set to be determined on July 12 after a placement exercise.
Trading is slated to start on July 25.
Among its operations, IHH Healthcare runs Singapore's Mount Elizabeth, Gleneagles and Parkway East hospitals.
These assets, among others, had been operated by the previously listed Parkway Holdings, which was taken private for $3.5 billion by Malaysian state investor Khazanah Nasional in 2010.
Parkway was restructured and packaged with many other operations - such as medical facilities and a health-care university in Malaysia and health-care operations in Turkey for this listing.
Some reports have suggested that IHH's shares will be sold at RM2.85 each to raise more than RM6.36 billion, though some earlier reports have estimated a more conservative figure of about RM4.7 billion.
While experts have been scrambling to estimate the windfall for Khazanah, the listing will boost Singapore's stock market too.
IHH will be the largest listing so far this year in Singapore, with the biggest so far being the $221.7 million April offering by Bumitama Agri.
below are the extract from http://www.valuebuddies.com/thread-2159-post-26607.html#pid26607
S'pore retail investors offered 52m IHH sharesIPO to run from July 4-11; Temasek, GIC among 22 cornerstone investors
By JONATHAN KWOK
SINGAPORE retail investors will be able to ballot for 52 million shares in the widely anticipated initial public offering (IPO) of IHH Healthcare.
The company, Asia's biggest hospital operator, lodged the prospectus for its large-scale dual listing in Singapore and Malaysia yesterday.
The 552-page document - excluding appendices - did not reveal the price of the shares but stated that 52 million of the 2.23billion share offering, or about 2.3 per cent, will be for the Singapore public.
About 36 million shares are slated to be placed out to Singapore institutional investors. Including shares for directors, employees and business associates based here, the entire Singapore offering will be 140.6 million shares.
The Malaysia offering will be 208.5 million shares, including 161.1 million shares for the Malaysian public.
Some 498 million shares will be for placement to institutions, such as global investors, and 1.39 billion shares - about 62 per cent of the entire offering - will be for the 22 cornerstone investors which have already signed up for the IPO.
The prospectus also showed that the Government of Singapore Investment Corp is among the cornerstone investors, confirming earlier reports that the sovereign wealth fund had signed up.
Fullerton Fund Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, has also signed up. Global investment manager BlackRock and subsidiaries of the AIA Group will be investing, as will Como Holdings, which is owned by hotelier Ong Beng Seng, and Malaysia's Employees Provident Fund.
Another one of the high-powered investors is Kencana Capital, an investment holding company controlled by Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir, who is the son of former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
About 90 per cent of the public issue will be used to repay debt with the rest for working capital and listing expenses.
The IPO will 'enhance the stature of our company to market our services and expand our market position' and allow 'access (to) the equity capital market' for growth opportunities, said IHH in the prospectus.
Risk factors cited included the group's 'substantial leverage'.
The units making up the group earned combined profits of RM379.9 million (S$153million) last year, down from RM554.4million in 2010, but up from 2009's RM83.2million.
For the first quarter of this year, profits were RM123.8million, from RM101.9million in the same period last year.
The document said that the public offering will run from July4 to 11, with the price of shares set to be determined on July 12 after a placement exercise.
Trading is slated to start on July 25.
Among its operations, IHH Healthcare runs Singapore's Mount Elizabeth, Gleneagles and Parkway East hospitals.
These assets, among others, had been operated by the previously listed Parkway Holdings, which was taken private for $3.5 billion by Malaysian state investor Khazanah Nasional in 2010.
Parkway was restructured and packaged with many other operations - such as medical facilities and a health-care university in Malaysia and health-care operations in Turkey for this listing.
Some reports have suggested that IHH's shares will be sold at RM2.85 each to raise more than RM6.36 billion, though some earlier reports have estimated a more conservative figure of about RM4.7 billion.
While experts have been scrambling to estimate the windfall for Khazanah, the listing will boost Singapore's stock market too.
IHH will be the largest listing so far this year in Singapore, with the biggest so far being the $221.7 million April offering by Bumitama Agri.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Securities Trading with Standard Chartered Bank
Just submitted my saving account application to Standard Chartered Bank because I have decided to open a securities account with them. The commission charge is 0.2% with no minimum commission which I think is very good for a small trader like me. Good news for my "gross margin"!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Taking The 1st Step
I opened my first trading account in 2010. I was then 21 years old. I remember vividly the first trading that I made. I guess my newspaper reading habit helps me to decide the first stock for me to invest in. I was looking for good fundamental stock which will grow in value in the future and I read an article in the newspaper that talks about ageing population. Thus I decided to invest in one of the healthcare stock.
I chanced upon Thomson Medical stock and thought that this company is a leading healthcare provider for woman and children and thus I decided to invest in it.
The first trade was quite a struggle when I was deciding whether to enter the market. A lot of "What ifs" appeared in my mind before I click on the "BUY". What if I lose all my money? What if the market crash? But then I convinced myself that the capital amount that I put in is an amount of money that I can afford to lose. If I want to learn how to invest, I have to take this important first step. So I clicked on the "BUY" and my investing learning journey continues till today.
I guess I was lucky then. I bought Thomson Medical at a price of $0.830/share. Within 3 months, Peter Lim announced that he will acquire majority stake in Thomson Medical at a price of $1.75/share and I sold my share, making a return of 111%. I was so elated then. But the subsequent investment that I made wasn't that lucky though and up till today, I am at my breakeven point.
I am enjoying the process of investing. Learning and gaining experience from every profit or loss that I made. I have pick up some books to read to improve my financial knowledge so that I can fine tuned my investing strategies.
I decided to start this blog so that I can record every bits and pieces of my investing journey. I will be sharing information and views on stock that is under my watchlist and some personal views of the world issues.
I chanced upon Thomson Medical stock and thought that this company is a leading healthcare provider for woman and children and thus I decided to invest in it.
The first trade was quite a struggle when I was deciding whether to enter the market. A lot of "What ifs" appeared in my mind before I click on the "BUY". What if I lose all my money? What if the market crash? But then I convinced myself that the capital amount that I put in is an amount of money that I can afford to lose. If I want to learn how to invest, I have to take this important first step. So I clicked on the "BUY" and my investing learning journey continues till today.
I guess I was lucky then. I bought Thomson Medical at a price of $0.830/share. Within 3 months, Peter Lim announced that he will acquire majority stake in Thomson Medical at a price of $1.75/share and I sold my share, making a return of 111%. I was so elated then. But the subsequent investment that I made wasn't that lucky though and up till today, I am at my breakeven point.
I am enjoying the process of investing. Learning and gaining experience from every profit or loss that I made. I have pick up some books to read to improve my financial knowledge so that I can fine tuned my investing strategies.
I decided to start this blog so that I can record every bits and pieces of my investing journey. I will be sharing information and views on stock that is under my watchlist and some personal views of the world issues.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)