Category Archives: OCBC

Reading too much into news & Wall Street movement can derail our financial plan

OCBC, Z-FINANCIAL EDUCATION, Z-INVESTMENTS, Z-Personal Finance, Z-STOCK INDICES, , , , ,

Very often we try to check the Wall Street movement and the futures to have an idea of what is likely to happen in the local stock market at the start of the trading day. After all, the Wall Street houses a few largest exchanges in the world. Most of us see this totally out-of-phase time difference as an important leading indicator to position our trades. Big falls are often discussed extensively with a lot of anxiety and anticipation of how low the STI can retreat in response to those falls. Some of us may even be tempted to ‘sell into strength’ at the start of the trading session.

Actually, there were times the STI did not fall in tandem with the Dow Jones or NASDAQ. Just over the last weekend, many were anticipating that the STI would be in for a big fall when the Dow Jones sank 572.46 points from the close of 24,505.22 on their Thursday to 23,932.76 at close on their Friday. But, the STI actually moved up by 7.48 points from the close of 3,442.5 on Friday, 6 April 2018 to 3,449.8.98 at close on Monday, 9 April 2018.

Then on Tuesday, 10 April when President Donald Trump brought out the possibility of aerial strike in Syria, the Dow Jones sank 218.55 points, but the following day, STI advanced 13.38 points. Despite those devastating news, the STI actually advanced close to 100 points (or close to 3%) for the week. For the same period, the Dow Jones also advanced 427.38 points from 23,932.76 to 24,360.14 and the NASDAQ advanced 191.54 points from 6,915.1099 to 7,106.6499. Perhaps, there may be some kind of co-relationship between Wall Street and STI over time, but it does not mean that the STI move in exact lock-step with the Wall Street movement.

Perhaps, those who try to time the sell are not really selling off their stocks for good. It is likely that they wanted to take advantage of the steep fall in the Wall Street to sell and hope to buy them all back when the share prices tank significantly. This could be a wise thing to do if the Wall Street and the STI have perfect correlation on day-to-day basis, but we often find ourselves caught in the situation if our timing is incorrect.

Let us look at transaction cost to assess if the risk is worth taking. Take OCBC for example. Assuming if we were to sell off 1000 shares at the opening bell at $12.77 on Monday, 9 April, and let’s say we were lucky enough to buy back the same stock at the lowest share price of the day at $12.93 on Friday, 13 April, it would still be a loss of about $248 dollars. Even using a priority banking nominee account on Standard Chartered trading platform which is supposedly the lowest brokerage, it still set us back by $220.50. Apart from the trading loss, there is also an end-of-FY dividend distribution of $190 that sellers are likely to miss out given that the ex-dividend date is around the corner. Without considering the loss of dividend, we have to wait till the stock price drop to $12.65 and $12.71 respectively (or a drop of 12 cents and 9 cents respectively) to buy back in order to just break even. With the dividend loss thrown in, the purchase price would have to go lower by a further 19 cents before we can break even. Given that that ex-dividend is drawing near, it is unlikely that the share price retreats significantly for us to cover the transaction cost, trading losses and the loss of dividend. So, the dividend is likely be lost just because of the little folly unless something significantly bad happens from now till the ex-dividend date. Perhaps if investors lost their patience, they may even go ahead to buy back the shares at a higher price. So instead of benefiting in stock investments by simply holding them, we may lose out in terms of the brokerage and all the additional costs in selling and buying them back. Of course, one may argue that the stock price is likely to drop when it goes ex-dividend, but it is still possible that the drop is less than the dividend amount or even creeps up after the ex-dividend. So why leave our fate to chance?

With so many news from many major economies happening every day, it would certainly ruin our financial plans in the long run if we keep reacting to the stock market movements. Sometimes just simply doing nothing is the best strategy of all.

Afternote – Just hours ago, US together with its allies, France and UK, attacked Syria over the alleged use of chemical weapons. Care to make a guess of the STI movement for this coming Monday?

Disclaimer – The above arguments are the personal opinions of the writer. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell the mentioned securities, the indices or any ETFs or unit trusts related to the mentioned indices. 

Brennen has been investing in the stock market for 28 years. He trains occasionally and is a managing partner for BP Wealth Learning Centre. He is the instructor for two online courses on InvestingNote – Value Investing: The Essential Guide and Value Investing: The Ultimate Guide. He is also the author of the book – “Building Wealth Together Through Stocks” which is available in both soft and hardcopy.

DBS – The pleasant surprise

DBS, OCBC, UOB, YZ-BANKS, , , , ,

Abstract – Two years ago, the sudden devaluation of the Chinese yuan RMB caused DBS share price to fall below its book value. Since then, DBS Holdings share price has been on the rise. In a similar fashion, the share price of OCBC and UOB also fell to below their respective book value. For the past two years, the share prices of all the three banks were rising at unprecedented pace. As of 23 Feb 2018, the share prices of DBS, OCBC and UOB were respectively at $29.59, $13.37 and $28.05 respectively.

It came as a big surprise to many that DBS announced a very generous dividend distribution policy following their internal assessment that they have been more than fulfilled the Basel reform requirements. Historically DBS has never been this generous and their dividend distribution to share price ratio has almost always been lagging behind OCBC. Even during times when they offer scrip dividends, their discount has always been lower than that of OCBC. As their share price advanced, the number of scrip dividends that can be converted from the dividends gets smaller, and it became extremely daunting for people who has been targeting to get, for instance, 500 shares for every year of dividend declared. In simple arithmetic, by the time the share price hit about $20, we need to have at least 15,152 DBS shares before one can get 500 shares of scrip dividends assuming that no discount was given for taking scrip dividends. As the share price goes upwards, it is almost an impossible task as the horses are running well ahead of the chariot.

But that all changed overnight as DBS suddenly moved up the dividend generously from the expected final dividend of 33 cents for FY 2017 dividend to 60 cents and topped it up with a special dividend of 50 cents. In addition, it further announced that the dividend going forward to be marked up to $1.20. This means that we should generally expect the dividend pay out to be $1.20 per share for 2018 and, perhaps, even for the next few years. The whole dividend equation changed overnight. What that has been a more and more distant dream of getting 500 shares for each yearly dividend distribution became an instant possibility overnight. For example, in the above case, we do not need 15152 shares for have 500 shares of declared dividend. Instead, we need to have only 8333 DBS shares to get an equivalent of 500 DBS shares in declared dividend. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, depending on whether one owns the shares or still wanting to buy the shares, the share price never look back. It has been gradually rising two weeks ago from $25.36 on 7 February, the closing price on the day before the results announcement, to $29.59 as of yesterday. This represents a rise of more than $4 or about 16.7% rise within a matter of two weeks, literally unperturbed by the Chinese new year holidays in between. With the newly declared dividend for at least in the near future, it actually helps provide a ‘floor’ share price for the stock.  (For those who wish to have a better idea of the valuation may wish to refer to my on-line course on the investingnote.com platform – Value Investing – The Essential Guide) For example, the share price of $24 would now have been considered a steal when it was said to be ‘extremely expensive’ even at $20/- just twelve months ago.

Apart from the positive effect on its share price, the newly declared dividend distribution by DBS has other pulling effects too. It turned on the pressure for the other two banks to up their dividends going forward as well. In fact, in the latest results announcement for FY2017, both OCBC and UOB have already declared a higher dividend whether in the form of the final or special dividends. As we all know, bank performances tend to move in tandem with each other. So, with the more generous declaration for DBS, it is also likely that the heat for OCBC and UOB be turned on to bring up their dividends as well. Even if that do not happen in the near future, the current perception of a higher dividend declaration would help push up their share prices. Adding to this tail-wind is the expectation of higher net interest margin in the coming months. That means the shareholders of the all the banks would ‘huat’ (prosperous) in the light of this pleasant announcement.

Disclaimer – The above arguments are the personal opinion of the writer. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell the mentioned securities.  

Brennen has been investing in the stock market for 28 years. He trains occasionally and is a managing partner for BP Wealth Learning Centre. He is the instructor for two online courses on InvestingNote – Value Investing: The Essential Guide and Value Investing: The Ultimate Guide. He is also the author of the book – “Building Wealth Together Through Stocks” which is available in both soft and hardcopy.

Striking the football with two legs, not one

DBS, OCBC, Z-FINANCIAL EDUCATION, Z-INVESTMENTS, Z-Personal Finance, ,

Several days ago, The Straits Times published an article entitled “Singapore stocks pay best dividends across Asia”. Indeed it is true. Even with the current market run-up, many blue chips companies have been paying a nominal dividend of about 3-4% at today’s market price. Should one had bothered to explore further and bought into an undervalue stock some time ago, the return could have been much higher offering both capital gains and good dividends such that one would not even bother to sell them. A lot of these shares could even displace high-yield instruments like REITs and perpetual bonds that offer a yield of around 5%-6% on average. While REITs and perpetual bonds offer comparatively good yields for investors, they do not have much buffer in terms of liquidity. REITs, for example, have to distribute 90% of their income to avoid the corporate tax. When there is a credit crunch or when there is a need for funds, they either have to sell off the properties or to raise funds by issuing rights.

 

As pointed out in the last post, many investors got into stocks were partly because the interest offered by banks had been too low for too long. So, buying into REITs and perpetual bonds appeared to be no-brainer due to their high payout. Hopefully somewhere in the future, they are able to recover their investments through the dividends they received…..the higher the better. (See Figure 1) The setback is that when the interest rates start to perk up, these investments are likely to be beaten down more drastically. This could result in capital loss, thus offsetting the higher dividend payout.

  

Stocks tend to have more leeway when comes to dividend distribution. Usually the payout is in the region of around 35-60%, depending on the discretion of the directors. There is usually more room for paying out higher dividends when the company has no urgent need for funds. They could even tap into their cash hoard should there be a need for expansion. In fact, I was a little surprise that 15-18 months ago, many blue-chips counters at their lows against the declared dividends in the previous year. For example, DBS was trading between $13 and $15 per share, resulting in a dividend yield of more than 4% based on the declared dividend of $0.60 per share in the previous year. By the same token, OCBC was trading between $8 and $8.50 per share when the declared dividends in the previous few years had been $0.36 per share. The dividend yield would have been more than 4.2%. The gap between the blue-chips had been too close, and it would be either that blue-chip trading price to increase or REITs price to fall going forward. Today, the share price of DBS and OCBC is around $19 and $9.60, and still offering a relatively good yield of 3.15% and 3.75% respectively.

 

For both capital appreciation and dividends, I never forget about how this stock darling – Cerebos Pacific. It is a company that sells the Brands of Chicken. The stock is relatively illiquid with the main shareholder being the parent company Suntory Ltd. The free float was only 15%. (Note: it is important to note that holding illiquid stock is not necessary a good thing. If we wish to hold illiquid stock, our mindset should be to hold as long as it needs.) My purchase price averaged around $2.50 per share by 2003 after consolidation. The dividends had been 9 cents standard dividend and 16 cents special dividend. That went on for a total of 9 years from 2003 to 2012, providing a yield of 10% over an uninterrupted period of 9 years. The special dividend was given every year so much so that shareholders think that the 16 cents special dividend was considered to be a new normal. Needless to say, by the 6-7 years down the road, existing shareholders were collecting dividends and laughing all the way to the bank. At the same time, the share price has been creeping upwards. All these happened in the midst of the global financial crisis in 2008/2009 and also when the company was setting up a new plant in Thailand also around that time. By the time, Suntory took the company private, it had already paid out 9 nominal and 9 special dividends over the 9 years. That would have enough to cover 90% of the initial investment. The buyout price in 2012 was $6.60 per share, offering yet another 6-digit return with little money down. It was like a 10-year bond paying a coupon of 10% and paying the 260% of the capital invested. David Clark in the book “Warren Buffet and the interpretation of financial statements” would have called this equity-bond. It is a form of equity, but it works like a bond from investors’ perspective.

Happy investing!   

Brennen has been investing in the stock market for 27 years. He trains occasionally and is a managing partner for BP Wealth Learning Centre. He is also the author of the book – “Building Wealth Together Through Stocks” which is available in both soft and hardcopy. Analyses of some individual stocks can be found in bpwlc.usefedora.com. Registration is free.

The local banks – DBS, OCBC and UOB

DBS, OCBC, UOB, Z-INVESTMENTS, , , ,

The local banks have just released their financial results for the financial year 2016. All the three banks suffered a decrease in profit for FY 2016 compare with FY 2015. OCBC seemed to have it worst, while UOB did comparatively well. Before the results were released, it was widely expected that the banks would suffer a decrease in profit in view of the flagging economy, and most importantly their exposure to the offshore and marine industries that had turned sharply for the worst following the sharp decline in the crude oil price last year. For almost whole of last year 2016, we have seen several major defaults and major loan re-structuring exercises in this sector. Surely, in such a scenario, it would be a miracle if the banks can go through the year unscathed.

One interesting thing to note, however, is the impairment charges that the banks set aside in FY 2016. OCBC and DBS increased the impairment charges by 48.8% and 93.0% respectively, while UOB decreased it by 11.6%. One deduction, I can make is that UOB felt that it had already accounted for all the problem loans, and there was no longer a need to make further provisions. Meanwhile, OCBC and DBS were still making provisions for loans that might deteriorate in time to come. One possibility is that they are pre-empting the possibility of Ezra that can go in the path of Swiber or Swissco. Due to this significant impairment charge, the EPS of OCBC and DBS were marked down by 13.7% and 3.0%. The drop in the EPS of UOB is mainly due to the higher operating costs for the year, and is a different nature from the other two.

For the net interest margin (NIM), the fate is entirely different for all the three banks. OCBC’s NIM remains unchanged at 1.67%, UOB decreased from 1.77% to 1.71%, while DBS increased from 1.77% to an uninspiring 1.80%.

On the whole, the business risk for the banking sector has increased. Asset qualities were decreasing, and decreasing at a very fast rate. In the meantime, the share price for the banks has been on the uptrend for several months. All this translate to the fact that the ‘margin of safety’ continues to get thinner as the days passed.          

 To know more, register at on bpwlc.usefedora.com. Registration is free. Paid students who are attending the stocks review master program on 11th March 2017 are entitled free access for the online courses.  Passwords will be sent to your emails to enable your access to the modules.  Courses are other sectors are also available.      

 Brennen has been investing in the stock market for 27 years. He trains occasionally and is a managing partner for BP Wealth Learning Centre. He is also the author of the book – “Building Wealth Together Through Stocks” which is available in both soft and hardcopy.

If we missed the best stock upsides

OCBC, UOB, YZ-BANKS, Z-FINANCIAL EDUCATION, Z-INVESTMENTS, Z-Personal Finance, Z-STOCK INDICES, ,

Today marks a little more than one month after Donald Trump won the US election. When he first won the election, the market at first reacted negatively, followed by a strong rally and then tapered off in the last two days. The banking stocks, in particular, were the biggest beneficiaries of this rally. DBS has advanced from about $15.20 to a high of $18.32 and then settled at $17.83, an increase of $2.63 or about 17.3%. Similarly Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) had also advanced $0.73 or 8.6% from $8.53 to $9.26. United Overseas Bank (UOB) also showed a significant increase of $2.31 or about 12.4% from $18.59 to $20.90. Of course, if one holds the bank stocks, the return for this month alone is extremely significant.

Despite the rally, many people still asked the same question just a few days ago– DBS bank, can still buy now? Does it mean that these people missed boarding a stationary wagon and is now chasing a moving one? Actually, if we look at the bank stocks, in particular DBS, it has been parking below $16 for many months, right from the beginning of the year or even before. Why do we need to wait for it to move up to chase it? Why can’t we buy it at our own pace and wait for the rising tide to raise our boat?  It appeared logical right now in hindsight, but seemed to be an irrational decision when the share price was oscillating between $15 and $16 per share for a long time. Very often, when a stock or the market rallies, the onset is often the sharpest and this is when the smaller players start to take note. By the time when one start to confirm, double confirm, triple confirm, a significant part of the upside has already been priced in the stock. So by the time retail investors start to buy into the market, perhaps there is only the last 20-30% upside. We always come across a statement to the effect that if we missed the best 10 trading days, our stock performance would just appear ordinary. Worse still, it could even be negative performance despite that the STI moved up significantly. To me, stock market has a place for both big and small players. Big players cannot play like a small player and a small player cannot afford to play like a big player. Big players buy into the market to cause the market rally, but the advantage of small players is to be able to buy into stocks without causing big ripples in the stock market. That’s where we should play to our advantage. Remember that our wealth is not just measured by the amount of money we have in the bank. Our wealth is measure by the sum of our cash, stocks, properties and whatever assets that we possess.  So, there is no need to be in cash all the time. It is important to engage the stock market all the time than to wake up only when the rally has already been well underway.

Happy investing!

For more, join me at investing note by clicking here!     

Brennen has been investing in the stock market for 26 years. He trains occasionally and is a managing partner for BP Wealth Learning Centre. He is also the author of the book – “Building Wealth Together Through Stocks” which is available in both soft and hardcopy.

What can we expect from the American election?

DBS, Jardine C&C, OCBC, UOB, ,

Now that the American election is over, and Donald Trump has been announced to be the president-elect. The inauguration is scheduled to be on 20 January 2017. As a biggest economy in the world, we can expect big event changes to have a bearing on the many smaller economies. Certainly, the promises made by Donald Trump during his campaigns would be closely followed, as they may become the new government policies during the term of the new president. Of course, one may argue that these may be promises, and they may not be fulfilled or at most partially fulfilled after looking at the cost-benefits of all these promises. After all, until the fate was sealed on last Thursday, Donald Trump had been an underdog in this neck-to-neck race with Hillary Clinton. To change the odds of winning this election, he might have to resort to populist promises to win votes.

 

However, as investors, we tend to make anticipations of the future to guide us in our buy or sell decisions. So the closest or best clues would be to go along the lines of his background as well as to rely on his promises during the campaigns. As it is, he has been a real estate magnate businessman with zero political back-ground, many would have expected that he would be especially focused on infrastructure developments. These constructions would likely to bring about inflation resulting in FED hiking up interest rates more aggressively. So in all likelihood, our bank interest rates would also perk up in time to come. As it is in the last few days, the local bank stocks such as DBS, OCBC and UOB were holding up relatively well while many local stocks were on a down-trend. In particular, DBS advanced $1.20 or about 8% in the last two days on Thursday and Friday. Conversely, the interest rates sensitive stocks such as bonds, REITs, property counters as well as many debt-laden companies were hit quite badly. Many emerging market currencies are also affected as funds are expected to repatriate back to US in search of higher interest rates. Thus many Asian currencies have also been on the downward trend. In fact, companies, especially the debt-laden ones that borrowed or purchased goods in US dollar are likely to be hardest hit. Consequently, many Indonesian company stock prices fell very hard. They purchased goods in US dollars and sold locally in rupiahs. Stocks like Jardine C&C, which held 50% of Astra shares, had already retreated about 10%. This situation is likely to continue as long as the spectre of interest rate hikes remains in the mind of investors.

 

The other significant factor mentioned in his presidential campaign was pro-American, pro-white policies that point toward protectionism. This means that many economies depending on US for trade will be also affected. These countries include Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, Philippines, Vietnam and even Singapore. Furthermore, with their respective currencies retreating against the US dollars, it is likely to make things very expensive for these countries. Certainly the respective stock markets are not going to be spared as well. The fear factor should likely continue to weigh on the Asian stock markets in the short term.

 

While the situation looks grim, it is only based on anticipation. The reality may not turn out to be this way after more detailed review of those promises. It could even be that the President may decide to soften his stance on free trades after his inauguration.

 

So, end of the day, it is still important to continue to stick to our long term-plan in building our stock portfolio. The fear factor may even present interesting opportunities for us to buy stocks that are beyond our reach during euphoria.      

Good luck!

Brennen has been investing in the stock market for 26 years. He trains occasionally and is a managing partner for BP Wealth Learning Centre. He is also the author of the book – “Building Wealth Together Through Stocks” which is available in both soft and hardcopy.

Buy-and-hold strategy does not mean buy and don’t sell

DBS, OCBC, SPH, , ,

For those who may not know, buy and hold strategy is a proven strategy and is used by long-term investors in hope to benefit from the capital appreciation of the component stocks in a portfolio. It is often associated with Warren Buffet (WB)’s style of investing, especially when he mentioned that the holding period for the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio is FOREVER. It is probably a sweeping statement, but many people had taken it to the extreme that when we buy a stock, we should not sell it. Of course, if we look at the ST index from its all-time high and compare it with today closing of 2869.74 as of 30 September 2016, one would have thought that by adopting the buy and hold strategy, one would have lost more than 25%. But does it really mean that buy-and hold strategy does not work anymore? Not quite. Otherwise, why would fund houses and insurance companies still continue to adopt such a strategy? Remember, these are big fund managers and when they hold a stock, they do not just own 2,000 shares. They probably own 200,000 shares or even 2,000,000 shares even if it means $20 per share. For the fact that they continue to use this strategy means that it is still relevant even with the advent of high-frequency trading computers. In my opinion, if it works for big funds, it should also work for individuals as well. And because big fund managers hold large quantity of stocks, we simply cannot expect them to empty their portfolio of, say 200,000 of OCBC in one day, and then buying it all back on another day on a short-term basis. In fact, most of the time, their portfolios do not change at all. In the way, they are practicing buy-and hold strategies. These fund managers have to think long-term in order to pay the clients and retirees, who are long-term stake-holders. The key here is to think long-term. (Sometimes, I am quite bemused by people who mentioned “Aiyo, must think long-term ah!”. Thinking long term does not mean that we do not sell a stock at all!)

 

Given the relevance of buy and hold strategies for large funds, can small retails players like us mimic the actions of these fund managers to make money? Certainly yes. The fact that we do not hold too many lots per stock, it is sometime easier for us to manoeuvre better than the fund managers.

 

Allow me to go back into my history. After falling and recovering from the bad experience in the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC). (Click here for the detailed history), my aim was to hold this great stock called DBS. On my record, I purchased 1000 shares at $14.80 in February 2004. (In fact, it was less than 10% below yesterday’s closing at $15.39 considering that they are more than 12 years apart.) My long term plan was to have at least 10,000 shares in 10 years. Based on this objective, my shortfall was 14,000 shares. The period between 2004 and 2007 was a fantastic time for stocks because the ST Index advanced all the way from below 2000 to its all-time high of 3,875.55 in October 2007. The global economy was doing so well that one very significant local political personnel was said to be saying “All the pistons are working at full force”, pointing to the perfect functioning of US, Europe and China. (Of course, we know in hindsight that Global Financial Crisis (GFC) came one year later and everything got imploded.) Needless to say, in between 2004 and 2007, if one were on the buy side and sold 1-2 months down the road, or simply buy and hold all the way, he should be able to make money. This is especially true for DBS, which is a good proxy to the stock market. Even though I have a long-term plan to continue to accumulate DBS in the long run, the speed of price advancement was so rapid that each time when I bought it, it became attractive to sell it off some months down the road. In fact, it was prudent to take money off the table because rapid advancements are very often met by rapid pull-backs. In such a situation, I could even say that I was trading, though not exactly short-term trading because each time my holding period was a few months. The share price of DBS in the period between 2004 and 2007 advanced from $14.80 when I bought it to a peak of $25.00. By the end of 2007, however, my shareholding in DBS did not increase at all because I had sold just as much as I had bought it. It was probably with some luck that the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) came along that I was able to pick up a lot more shares and subscribe more rights at $5.42. While I did lost some money on paper on the 1000 shares that I kept, it had been more than offset by the capital gains in the ‘trading’ that I made off from the DBS shares that I had bought and sold along the way. Furthermore, the GFC was probably a once in a lifetime chance to accumulate DBS. It came glistening right in front of my eyes. Such opportunities should not be missed at all cost. This was even truer for someone who had been bashed badly during the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC), and only to see opportunities slipped through the fingers from a low of 805 on the ST Index to more than 2000 within a matter of 15 months or so. (Click here to view my background).

 

Of course, one may argue why I did not even sell off my 1000 shares that I had been holding. The reason is simply that I am not GOD. (There is a Cantonese saying – 早知就没黑衣) I can’t predict the future. If I could predict the future, I would have even sold my 1000 shares and bought it back at the peak of the crisis. My long term plan, however, was clear that I needed to accumulate DBS shares in the long run, and the GFC provided me an opportunity to do so.

 

Then another opportunity came knocking again. After the GFC, DBS advanced again past $20 by late December 2014. Having come up from a relatively low base during the GFC, I managed to sell some shares at $18.50 in October 2014. At this share price, it would have translated to more than the market capitalisation of DBS before the GFC when it was at $25.00. (The reason was that DBS raised rights of 1-for-2 shares during the GFC.) I would have thought that the share price would not go beyond that point, but the general optimism pushed the share price further up to past $20. I sold again at $20.20 in December 2014. It finally reached $20.60 in early 2015. Of course, the crash in the oil price and a series of ‘scares’ in the last 18 months or so, made the share price of DBS came tumbling down again to less than $16, which now becomes a super strong resistance level. When it reached a level of around $13/$14, it allowed me to buy back those quantities and even more than I had sold.    

 

In a similar way, I have been reducing my SPH shares for the past 1-2 years because I felt that the fundamentals of SPH are weakening. It is not because of bad management or SPH was making wrong investments. In fact, I believe that the management has been quite good, peppering shareholders with good dividends. That was why the share price has been quite well-cushioned enabling me to sell a bulk of my stocks off at above $4.00, except for the last 2,000 shares which I sold recently.  The fact is that media and publishing business is under a huge threat from the internet, which is highly accessible locally. The threat is beyond their control and that is why the profit from the print business is dwindling. The only thing that probably helped them along is the SPH REIT, which probably had already hit a plateau. Of course, SPH is not sleeping and is on a look out for fantastic investments that may pop out along the way, but until today, it is still not there yet. Of course, when the price becomes attractive again, Perhaps, I may be back in again.  

So in summary, buy-and-hold does not mean buy and don’t sell. Sometime, it is prudent to sell and take money off the table even if the stock has not reached its full potential. Very often, there is a need for stocks to digest a bit before they can climb further. In fact, as it is DBS is now hovering for the past six months or so below $16. If I had not sold anything and stood only on the buy side from 2004 till now, I probably would have made only from my dividends and not too much from the capital gains. It is the long-term strategy and, of course, some luck that counts. It does not mean buy and don’t sell.

Good Luck!

 

Disclaimer – This post is not a recommendation or an advice to buy or sell the stocks mentioned here-in. These are past performances. They do not reflect future performances. 

 

Brennen has been investing in the stock market for 26 years. He trains occasionally and is a managing partner for BP Wealth Learning Centre. He is also the author of the book – “Building Wealth Together Through Stocks” which is available in both soft and hardcopy.

Sell in May and go away strategy: Why not a contrarian view?

DBS, IPC, Jardine C&C, OCBC, OSIM, YZ-BANKS, Z-FINANCIAL EDUCATION, Z-INVESTMENTS, Z-STOCK INDICES, , , ,

The old saying sell in May and go away strategy seemed to have taken its toll this year when STI was sharply sold down from 2960.78 on 21st April to 2730.8 on 6th May 2016, a drop of 230 points, representing about 5.8% decrease on the ST index. After that, there appeared to be an increase in volatility as the bull and the bear tussled to tip over each other. By the end of today, after approximately 3 weeks of trading or so, the ST index ended at 2791.06, a mere increase of 60 points from 6th May.

According to The Straits Times (ST, 30 May 2016), it happened four out of five times in the last five years. If that view still holds true, then would it not be interesting for us to take a contrarian view and buy into the market when we bade farewell to the last ship that left us. And, of course, if they do return going forward, we can slowly sell back to the market.

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Frankly, taking advantage of this apparently universal ‘market theory’, I was actually a net buyer in the month of May. After all, isn’t it important that to gain from stocks, we should either be ahead of the market or, if we are courageous enough, even to act against the market movement. Otherwise, we are just a market follower moving up and down with the market. When market tanks, we lose; and when the market roars, we win. That said, I bought back some of the stocks that I had sold in April such as Jardine C&C and IPC to pocket the difference and yet maintain my original exposure in these stocks. In other words, I ‘squared off’ my position.

Hopefully, I am well-positioned when there is a big buy to propel the market. There could, however, be a stumbling block this year as the spectre of higher interest rate can derail this strategy. Big investors and fund managers may not return any time soon as they go in search of better yield elsewhere especially when local economic outlook still looks uncertain. Should such an event happens, it would affect the market liquidity. Accordingly, we should expect the spread between lending and saving to widen, thereby benefiting the bank stocks. With the cash return from OSIM, following the privatization plan by its chairman and CEO, Mr Ron Sim, I had also increased my stake in the bank stocks. However, one has to be careful about over-exposures in bank stocks in an increasing interest rate environment as non-performance loans (NPL) will also increase as well. If the interest rate continues to perk up, it will come to a time when the deteriorating asset quality will overwhelm the benefits of higher interest margin.

Happy investing!

Disclaimer:

This article is not a recommendation or an advice to buy/sell the mentioned stocks. It is a sharing of his opinions with the readers.

Brennen has been investing in the stock market for 26 years. He trains occasionally and is a managing partner for BP Wealth Learning Centre. He is also the author of the book – “Building Wealth Together Through Stocks” which is available in both soft and hardcopy.

Banks may be cheap now, but…

DBS, OCBC, YZ-BANKS, Z-INVESTMENTS, Z-Personal Finance, Z-STOCK INDICES, , , ,

Cash is king. Yes, during financial turmoil like this when stock markets all over the world are sinking, having cash is the key. According to The Straits Times on 20 January 2016, just last year alone, about US$735 billion left emerging market. China accounted for $676 billion which formed the bulk of the outflow. Similarly, the fund inflow last year was about US$231 billion against US$1.2 billion per year from 2010 to 2014.

On the corporate front, banks are natural victims during times of liquidity crunch too. Most bank share prices have sunk more than 30% from their recent high when the ST index hit 3500. Right now, banks are trading near or below their book value (BV). Exactly, five months ago, I had written in my blog that there was always a possibility that banks might start to raise funds through rights issue if the turmoil persists. So far, none of the banks have raised alarm, but still it is possible if banks deem it fit to do so. After all, there were past precedence of fund raising activities during financial crises. For example, DBS raised S$4.2b in end 2008 through 1-2 rights issue. Similarly, OCBC and UOB raised $1 billion each through preference shares issue. In a similar way, during Asian financial crisis in 1998, DBS acquired the POSB. Looking ahead, it is still a possibility especially during such times when other banks or companies may fall into bad times. Such huge fund raising activities can come in handy for future acquisitions.

Brennen has been investing in the stock market for 26 years. He trains occasionally and is a managing partner for BP Wealth Learning Centre. He is also the author of the book – “Building Wealth Together Through Stocks” which is available in both soft and hardcopy.

If this stock market turmoil ends up in a liquidity crunch, do you know what the banks will do?

DBS, Jardine C&C, OCBC, YZ-BANKS, Z-FINANCIAL EDUCATION, Z-INVESTMENTS, Z-Personal Finance, ,

During the times when there is liquidity crunch, such as now when there is an impending interest rate hike in US or when there is a  stock market rout in the region, what is the most important thing for the banks? Yes, CASH at hand! When there is an extreme liquidity crunch, the banks will tend to play it safe. Whether or not they are going to use it, raising cash is the most important thing to do during such times.

Historically, there were many precedences. During 1998, when there was the Asian Financial Crisis, DBS bought POSB. It was the people’s bank with a huge amount of deposits. The main lending activities of POSB at that time was mainly in secured lending such as housing loans and the deposits at that time was huge.

In the recent global financial crisis in 2008, DBS raised S$4.2 billion through rights issue. Seven hundred and sixty (760) million rights were offered at $5.42c, a hefty discount of 45% from the last day trading price of $9.85. Each right was offered at 1:2 basis, meaning 1 right for every 2 shares owned.

In parallel OCBC went into offering preference shares at $100 per share in August 2008. To sweeten the deal, the dividend was offered at 5.1%, a rate way above bank’s interest rate even until today. OCBC raised $1 billion from that exercise. Following that move, UOB also followed suit with the same offering but at a slightly lower rate of 5.05%. UOB also raised about $1billion from the exercise.

In such times, when people are fearful and cashing out of the stock market, this appeared to be the best time for the banks to raise cash. After all, with bank interest rate at historical low couple with the stock market turmoil, many investors are looking to park their encashed money in safe instruments that offer sufficiently good returns. With the bank’s brand name and offering good dividend payout, it is possible for the banks to raise funds with relative ease.

What do the banks do with those money? Well, during market turmoils is one of the best opportunities for the banks. It is a question of survival of the fittest. Many so-called ‘fantastic companies’ will not be trading at historically fire-sale prices unless during such times. Remember that Astra, was one of the crown-jewel of the Indonesia companies before the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis. It was forced to sell its shares to Cycle and Carriage (C&C) before C&C was taken over by the Jardine group. If the shares of Astra had not been sold to C&C, Astra would not have been in existence or could have been disintegrated into smaller companies. Who knows Danamon Bank in Indonesia may be up for sale once again with better selling conditions. The last time, when the deal fell through was in 2013, when the Indonesian regulators allowed only to a maximum cap of 40%. DBS, on the other hand, was looking into acquiring 67.37% (for a price tag of $542.4m) which will ultimately trigger it to make a take-over offer of the bank.

Shareholders, in particular those who hold blue-chips, should maintain your liquidity now. You may be put in a situation to acquire rights or preference shares at a steep discount. Perhaps if you look at it in a long-term basis, it may not a bad deal. When the good times come back again, maybe you are rewarded with 500 DBS shares or 1000 OCBC shares as dividend in its yearly dividend distribution exercise.

(Brennen Pak has been a stock investor for more than 26 years. He is the Principal Trainer of BP Wealth Learning Centre LLP. He is the author of the book “Building Wealth Together Through Stocks.”) – The ebook version may be purchased via www.investingnote.com.