Build a New Investing Brain

August 22, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 569 Views 0 Comments

Since young, I always thought that there must be a scientific approach towards investing. I don’t believe that intelligence play a part when it comes to investing because I have seen many smart professionals lost their hard earned money in the stock markets. I have also seen not-so-educated friends making huge piles of money from their investments. So the perennial question: is investing a form of art or science?

While we cannot change the external environment, we can certainly control our own thoughts and actions. Many people mistakenly thought that the market is our greatest enemy. Actually they are wrong. The greatest enemy is yourself. Your decisions, thought processes, actions and personal experiences shape your investment destiny. To truly succeed in investing, we must know our own self and do self-assessments. Otherwise, it will be very hard to change the way you think in order to change the way you invest.

As an investment advisor to high net worth individuals, Wai-Yee Chen has spent years watching her clients make investment decisions—some good decisions and some not-so-good decisions. Though confronted by the same market variables, those clients often make very different choices with very different results. Here, Chen argues that it’s usually not the data that affects investor decision-making as much as the way investors themselves think.

Gold; currency

BullionStar Singapore: Strong Buy Signal on Gold

August 21, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 681 Views 0 Comments

This article is extracted from BullionStar, a Singapore online bullion company where you can buy gold and silver at competitive prices.

Crisis? What crisis? One could be forgiven for thinking that the plunge in gold price during the second quarter of 2013 could spell the end of one of the longest bull-run for the world’s gold markets. But apparently this was not the really the case, at least not for physical gold. According to the May 2013 press release from The World Gold Council (WGC), demand for bullions and jewellery, which makes up of 72% of global demand, has seen a surge following the mid-April price fall. This has left many retailers in China and India running out of stocks and refineries having to introduce waiting lists for buyers. On the other hand, gold-backed ETFs have seen outflows of 350 tonnes out of a total of 2700 tonnes held, from January to end of April.

The divergence in behaviours reflects the dichotomous nature of investment in gold, with consumers who prefer bullions and jewellery behaving very differently from investors of paper gold. This phenomenon indicates that even if there is an outflow of investments from the paper gold market, there will be always be a ready market among Indian and Chinese consumers.

Stocks

Biosensors reported poor Q1 FY2014 results

August 16, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 631 Views 0 Comments

Biosensors total product revenue for the quarter ended 30 June 2013 decreased by 6% to US$65.0 million from US$69.0 million recorded in the previous year’s corresponding quarter.

Total interventional cardiology revenues decreased by 7% to US$60.9 million in the quarter ended 30 June 2013 from the US$65.7 million reported in the previous year’s corresponding quarter due to a drop in the Group’s drug-eluting stents (“DES”) sales mainly as a result of the Group’s efforts in reducing distributor channel inventories in China in anticipation of China new tenders pricing taking effect.

Biosensors continues to see strong, double~djgit sales growth in EMEA and Asia Pacific regions. Sales of critical care products remained constant at US$3.4 million in the quarter ended 30 June 2013, compared to US$3,3 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter.

Total revenue, including licensing and royalty revenue, for the quarter decreased 11% to US$76.6 million from US$86.3 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter. The table below shows the Group’s revenue and the principal components of the revenue, as a percentage of total revenue, for the periods indicated:

Cost of sales and gross profit:
Overall gross margin for products was 75% for the quarter ended 30 June 2013, compared to 81% for the previous year’s corresponding quarter.

Stocks

K1 Ventures Declared Dividends of $0.02

August 14, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 590 Views 0 Comments

K1 Ventures shareholders’ funds increased from $338.7 million at 30 June 2012 to $349.9 million at 30 June 2013. The increase was attributable to profit for the year of $54.6 million offset in part by dividends paid to shareholders of $32.5 million and other comprehensive expense of $10.9 million.

The profit for the year ended 30 June 2013 was primarily attributable to a net profit of $19.3 million from the sale of the Group’s investment in McMoRan Exploration Co. (“MMR”) and $27.7 million of investment income from Knowledge Universe Holdings LLC (“KUH”). The other comprehensive expense for current year was mainly attributable to the sale of MMR as the value was realized and transferred to profit & loss.

K1 Ventures total assets of $638.1 million at 30 June 2013 increased by $10.6 million compared to the previous year end driven by cash distributions received from investments including the sale of MMR, partially offset by dividends paid to shareholders. The increase in fixed assets resulted from the purchase of rail
equipment and locomotive upgrades at Helm. The decrease in investments mainly arose from the sale of MMR. The decrease in stocks was mainly due to the disposal of held for sale six-axle locomotives.Group

Property investment; Singapore market; housing prices

Billionaire Kwek claimed that home prices may slip 5%

August 11, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 707 Views 2 Comments

Over the last two weekends, my wife and myself visited private condominium showrooms of D’Nest, Urban Vista and Q Bay. We were not planning to purchase our second property at the moment but is visiting the showrooms just to have actual sensing of the market. Even though there has been much media coverage on the state of private home in Singapore in recent years, we feel that “seeing is believing”. It is more important to have actual sensing of the market because that will provide better picture of the market dynamics.

Well, according to an article in PropertyGuru, Executive Chairman of City Developments Limited (CDL), Mr Kwek Leng Beng forecasted that private home prices in Singapore are expected to drop by up to five percent due to an oversupply of residential properties from 2014 onwards. He went on to state that private home prices would likely drop by five percent from now until 2014 if all the cooling measures implemented by the government remain in place. He urged the government to lift some of its cooling measures, such as the two year “qualifying certificate”for developers. With these qualifying certificates, it will be suicidal to keep buying land at high prices just because we want a land bank,” Kwek said.

Gold

Record Bankruptcy for US City, Detroit

August 8, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 692 Views 0 Comments

This article is extracted from BullionStar, a Singapore online bullion company where you can buy gold and silver at competitive prices.

On 19^th July 2013, Detroit became the largest city in United States history to file for bankruptcy protection after piling up debt of more than USD$18 billion. For more than a decade, the city has been borrowing money to pay for its expenses and fund its expensive pension system. Apparently, the breaking point came about after Detroit failed to reach agreements with the bondholders and creditors to restructure the city’s debt out of court.

People who are familiar with The Federal Reserve’s money creation process would not be surprised by Detroit’s bankruptcy. Since President Nixon decoupled the link between gold and the U.S dollar in 1971, it effectively ended any form of gold peg internationally. Without any convertibility to gold by any currency, governments all over the world are free to create as much fiat money as they wish without any restriction. As a result, debt levels began to climb. At this point of writing, U.S debt alone amounts to more than USD100 trillion.

The dire consequence of our current debt-based system is that it could get out of control, resulting in hyperinflation and social security problems.

Gold Gold; silver

The Myths about Gold Bullion

August 3, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 649 Views 0 Comments

This article is extracted from BullionStar, a Singapore online bullion company where you can buy gold and silver at competitive prices.

Despite the surge in financial risks during the Great Recession, gold bullion continues to be absent in most institutional and individual investment portfolios. Global pension funds and insurance companies with trillions of dollars’ worth of assets continue to overlook gold as a form of sustainable wealth protection insurance. Many individuals have also misunderstood gold and ignored the substantial benefits of owning gold. All these misconceptions are due to the prevailing myths about gold bullion ownership.

One of the top myths is that gold is a bad investment compared to equities. This myth seems to have its roots in the 1979-1980 rally when gold reached $850 per ounce. Those who had bought gold during this peak cycle would have to wait for about twenty-eight long years in order to break even. However, those who bought gold on 15 August 1971, when President Nixon cut the link between gold and the dollar, would have a different story to tell. Gold was priced at $38.90 per ounce and those who purchased at that time would have enjoyed a gain of about 5000 percent, surpassing Dow Jones gain of about 1500 for the same period.

Insurance coverage; medical shield; financial planning; personal finance

Shape your child’s financial destiny

August 2, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 726 Views 1 Comment

As a wealth builder, I considered it my duty to help shaping my child’s financial destiny. A few days ago, I bought an endowment plan after much financial planning with my wife. The policy was purchased under my name but eventually when it matures twenty years down the road, we plan to use the money for our daughter’s university fees.

We thought that since I am the sole breadwinner, the policy should insure me, so that in case if anything happened to me, the policy can still sustain and provides for my daughter’s education fees.

Beyond this saving plan, I hope that my daughter will grow up cultivating a good saving habit and develop prudent personal finance skills. This is important, especially so in an expensive city like Singapore. To this end, my wife and myself think that parents have a critical role in shaping their child’s financial destiny.

Lead by example
Contrary to what many parents thought, toddlers by as early as 14 months, are masters at reading social cues. This means that children often observe and take the cues from parents’ life habits. If your financial situation is consistently in a bad shape, you are not going to convince your child when you try to educate him/her on financial prudence.

Stocks

SingTel grilled over digital investments

July 27, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 571 Views 0 Comments

I read an article in The Strait Times which stated that SingTel was grilled by investors over its digital investments during its latest annual general meeting AGM. Apparently, some of the investors were concerned about the company’s decision to budget multi-billion dollar for its new digital investments and queried the company on the soundness of such an ambitious plan. I am not vested in any SingTel shares and neither did I attend any of its AGM, but after reading the article, I have some comments.

Most investors thought that buying the shares of a company means having a stake in the entity, albeit as minor shareholders. They are absolutely right. But technically, in most cases, they do not have much say or influence over key decisions made by the management of the company.

Take for example, in SingTel’s case, even though many minor shareholders were unhappy over the company’s strategy to invest billion of dollars in digital portals, the resolution was still passed. So honestly, I would say the AGM was really just a formality to inform the outcome of management’s decision.

My thinking is that if you are uncomfortable with the direction undertook by the company which you invested in, you should just divest away your stake.

Gold

BullionStar Review: Gold Buying Frenzy in Asia

July 27, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 809 Views 0 Comments

This article is extracted from BullionStar, a Singapore online bullion company where you can buy gold and silver at competitive prices.

According to Scott Morrison, Chairman of Swiss precious metals processor, Metalor Technologies, gold refineries were unable to keep up with the demand from Asia investors as the plunge in gold price sparked frenzy in buying gold bullions and jewelry from China to India. His company expects to complete its US$15 million gold refinery on Singapore by the end of this year. The refinery will have a capacity of 150 metric tons a year, he said.

In a bid to expand Singapore’s share of gold bullion trading, the government removed 7 percent GST from investment-grade precious metals in 2012. The aim is to enhance trading and encourage the buying and selling of gold and silver. Retail players should welcome this move as having an vibrant ecosystem of trading facilities will help to boost the liquidity of precious metals.

As a result of this policy change, international financial institutes like Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase have opened vaults in Singapore. In recent years, in order to meet the demand for physical gold which is being highly sought by the local investment community, premiere online bullion dealers like BullionStar Singapore were established to facilitate the trading of gold and silver at competitive prices.

Stocks

Invest in Singapore Industrial Sector Stocks

July 24, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 682 Views 0 Comments

Below is an article from guest blogger, Richard who works as a stock analyst and has 3 years of experience in the stock market. He likes to write articles and hope to share his experiences with investors in Singapore If you would like additional SGX Dividend Stocks data, information or screening tools, please visit website http://sg.dividendinvestor.com, a leading source for in-depth research and analysis for stock investments.

While talking about the Singapore stocks outlook, we should examine the general global economic outlook. As being a small country the Singapore stock market is much shaped by what is going on in the global markets. By investing in Singapore Stocks, investors can generate income for their future. I am sharing five Singapore stocks from Industrial sector in which you should invest.

MYP Ltd (SGX: F86)

MYP Ltd is a Singapore-based company. It is engaged in investment holding and providing of shipping agency, terminal operations, warehousing and logistics services. Its operating segments include Agency and terminal operations and Strategic projects/Logistics. In June 2012, Ow Chio Kiat sold its 25.69% interest in the Company. In April 2013, it completed the divestment if SSC Shipping Agencies Pte Ltd, Island Line Pte, Nanyand Maritime (s’pore) Pte Ltd and Hai Poh Terminals Pte Ltd.

Blog updates make money

How to make money from blogging

July 23, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 795 Views 0 Comments

In my previous post, I wrote about making money from blogging. As promised, in this post, I shall elaborate how you can make decent money from your blog. Bear in mind that this article is written solely based on my personal experience. It may not be the only way of making money from blogging. After all, I am not a full time professional blogger and my main source of income is not derived from blogging. So if there are better alternative ways, feel free to share.

Passion
There are many people who think that they can make a living from blogging full time. In reality, this is very difficult to achieve. Indeed, you probaby can make a few hundreds or thousands here and there from affiliate marketing or sponsorships. But in most months, there might be neligible or even no income at all. Over the years, I have seen so many local bloggers fizzled out from the scene after only a few months. I supposed most of them gave up blogging after realizing that it really cannot bring food to the table on a daily basis. So if you wanted to make a career in blogging, your first priority should not be in making money from your blog.

Blog updates

Making money from blogging

July 17, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 866 Views 2 Comments

July 2013 has been a fantastic month for me so far. Both my career and blog reached new milestones during this month. Firstly, I have been promoted. This is the first promotion in my job journey and I am so happy that my hard work for the previous years had paid off.

Thinking back, those extra duties and late nights at office were worth the efforts. With the promotion increments, my financial situation definitely improved a lot, given that I am the sole breadwinner. The next step for me is to continue reducing my housing and car loans.

Secondly, I am pleased to inform my readers that one of my articles was featured in Yahoo Finance! on 3rd July. It was a pleasant surprise because I was not informed prior to the article being published and I happened to chance upon it. Furthermore, this article was written quite sometime ago last year. So I didn’t really expect it to be featured by any online media companies. Nonetheless, it was a form of recognition and made me feel encouraged to keep blogging. Hopefully more of my articles would be featured by Yahoo Finance!

Lastly, I made $1000 from my blog, SG Wealth Builder, last month.

Stocks

OCBC Bank: Top Investment Ideas (July 2013)

July 13, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 581 Views 0 Comments

The following coverage is from OCBC Bank Investment Seminar conducted on 9 July 2013.

Continue Drip-Feeding into Equities
We remain positive on global equities, especially with the recent correction in prices. Going forward, markets will remain volatile with uncertainties about Fed monetary policy and China. However, we see this as an opportunity to buy, and continue to recommend that investors drip-feed capital into the markets.

The US and Japan are still our preferred regions: an allocation to US equities is an important element of your core portfolio. Meanwhile, as expected, investment-grade bonds have borne the brunt of the rise in long-term interest rate; we prefer high-yield bonds.

Recommendations
Equity funds: With U.S. economic data pointing to increasingly solid growth and the outlook for corporate earnings steadily improving, investors can gain exposure to the country’s recovery through the Franklin U.S. Opportunities Fund. The fund invests in leading growth companies with a sustainable competitive advantage.

Investors who prefer a geographically diversified fund that captures both yield and growth could consider Blackrock’s BGF Global Equity Income Fund, with monthly pay-out amounts of around 3 per cent per annum. The fund provides exposure to developed markets such as the U.S., investing in quality companies with strong growth potential that deliver a steady dividend stream.

Stocks

Investing in Singapore Stocks

July 10, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 0 Views 1 Comment

Below is an article from guest blogger, Richard who works as a stock analyst and has 3 years of experience in the stock market. He likes to write articles and hope to share his experiences with investors on Singapore stocks. If you would like additional Singapore stocks data, information or screening tools, please visit website http://sg.dividendinvestor.com, a leading source for in-depth research and analysis for stock investments.

Singapore is the fourth largest foreign exchange trading center which is also rated as the most business-friendly economy in the world. The country had an estimated growth rate of 8.2% for the second quarter of 2007. The country has many financial advantages. It has also a strong currency. Focus on these Singapore stocks to add your portfolio.

SembCorp Marine Ltd. (SGX: S51)

SembCorp Marine Ltd is a marine and offshore engineering company. It is engaged in the provision of management services and an investment holding. The company provides ship repair, shipbuilding, rig building and offshore engineering and construction. It operates in two segments: Ship and rig repair, building and conversion, and ship chartering.

The company has a market capitalization of 9.03 Billion, EPS is 0.26, P/E ratio is 16.58 and the dividend yield is 2.55% at the annual dividend payout of 0.06

Rickmers Maritime (SGX: B1ZU)

Rickmers Maritime is a Singapore-based company.

Uncategorized

July’s Stock Markets Outlook

July 8, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 715 Views 0 Comments

Guest blogger Argutori is an avid blogger who manage a private portfolio. His fund pursues a fundamental value oriented strategy focusing on developing and frontier markets in the Asian region. The fund focuses on countries that have progressive foreign investment policies, young and growing populations, and stable or improving economic situations. The aim is to find and invest in companies that have stable franchises for good prices before the masses.

While my blog is largely focused on Southeast Asian stock markets, I also try to keep things in perspective and consider the global situation. Stock markets have had a relatively good run so far this year and there is a lot weighing on the US recovery, which has spilled over to emerging markets. I’m struggling to piece together the economic data, media commentary and market movements, which appear to me to be disjointed. Which lead me to ask “What’s really going to happen with equity markets for the rest of this year and how can I best position my portfolio?”

It feels like the world’s gone crazy and the markets aren’t acting in line with rational expectations – worse than anticipated economic data sends the markets up because it means that the Fed will have to keep pumping dollar bills into the system.

Gold

BullionStar Review: Will the end of quantitative easing signal the collapse of gold prices?

July 4, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 620 Views 0 Comments

This article is extracted from BullionStar, a Singapore online bullion company where you can buy gold and silver at competitive prices.

It has been an interesting year thus far for gold. Having traded between USD$ 1600 to USD$ 1800 for much of last year, it has trended downwards for the first few months of this year, cumulating in a nose dive in the middle of April, where prices tumbled 15% in a mere 2 days and is currently trading around USD$1,400.

One of the main contributing reasons many agree on is the ongoing talk by the United States Federal Reserve to taper quantitative easing, with some suggesting a tapering starting as early as the end of this year. The reason offered was that the amount of money that has been pumped into the economy has already started to stimulate the economy and since this is the case, the government do not have to interfere in the markets anymore. Other reasons that were offered included the slowdown in the Chinese Economy or the hedge funds liquidating their long positions in the stock markets.

What implications are there should the Federal Reserve slow down the printing of the dollar? The dollar will definitely increase against other currencies, which is what we have already seen as investors move their money out of other asset classes (gold and silver included) to invest in the US dollar and their stock exchanges.

Money management; personal finance

New measures on property loan

July 1, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 798 Views 0 Comments

Over the weekend, the government rolled out new measures on property loan to curb excessive borrowings by property investors. The new ruling requires lenders to take into consideration of the debtor’s other existing loans when granting property loans.

The aim is to strengthen credit practices by financial institutions and encourage financial prudence among borrowers. The central bank will also refine rules related to the application of the existing Loan-to-Value (LTV) limits on housing loans. These refinements seek to ensure the effectiveness of the LTV limits that were put in place to cool investment demand in the housing market. In particular, they aim to prevent circumvention of the tighter LTV limits on second and subsequent housing loans.

The question at the back of investors’ mind will be whether the new measure will be the ultimate needle to burst the housing bubble. My take is that this new measure will not have any significant effect on the housing market.

To put things into perspective, the current housing situation is not truly due to demand and supply dynamics. The private home market has witnessed huge gains in prices in recent years because of the hot money flowing from foreign countries such as United States and China as a result of loose monetary expansion.

Stocks

OCBC Blue Chip Investment Plan

June 27, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 1070 Views 3 Comments

On Tuesday, OCBC Bank partners with SGX to launch the OCBC Blue Chip Investment Plan (BCIP). Under this plan, investors can opt to use cash, CPF or their SRS accounts to invest a fixed amount on a monthly basis. For as little as $100 a month, retail investors can get to invest in local blue chips.

You do not need to go through the hassle and open any securities trading account or Central Depository (Pte) Ltd securities account for your shares under this plan. All you need is an OCBC deposit account, OCBC CPF Investment Account or OCBC SRS account.

My view on this scheme is that OCBC has identified a gap in the market and that this scheme is actually meant to address this gap. According to SGX, retail investors account for only 89 per cent of the daily turnover for stocks with a market capitalisation of under S$200 million. But retail investors make up only a quarter of the daily turnover for blue chips, with the rest of the trading controlled by institutional investors. So clearly, most retail players’ participation rate has been low because blue chips’ entry price is relatively high compared to other counters. OCBC hopes that the new plan gives investors an option to buy smaller number of shares with their chosen monthly investment amount.

Stocks

How to read an annual report in 10 minutes

June 25, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 605 Views 0 Comments

The annual report is the only published document that provides investors an annual snapshot of the company’s progress, so it is essential that investors spend some time and effort to read the content. Very often, important information can be gleaned from the annual report. So you should make the effort to read the annual report of the companies you invested in.

While you must be a qualified accountant to compile the report, you certainly do not need to be an accountant to read and understand the annual report. Below is a few pointers extracted from Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) on how to read an annual report in 10 minutes.

1) Read the first two and last two paragraphs of the CEO/Chairman’s statements. This will give you an idea of the company’s performances. Do the same for management’s discussions and operational analysis.

2) Check if independent auditors gave a clean bill of health.

3) Look at the financial statements in the annual report and check for the following:
i) Check if the net profits for the last 5 years are rising or falling. In general, avoid investing in businesses with new direction or in the midst of a turnaround because the risk of losing your investment is very high.

Book review; investment

A Unique Guide to Wealth and Financial Independence Using Value Investing Strategies Singapore

June 20, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 760 Views 0 Comments

Many people spend their life working for active income. They are either ignorant or skeptical about stock investments. Even those who have invested their money, more often, entered into less effective methodology of making money in the stock market. They go for quick money gains and end up losing their net worth by speculating in the market. However, according to authors Victor Chng and Rusmin Ang, the odds can have a better likelihood if one knows what sustainable methodology to use.

In their newly revised book, Value Investing in Growth Companies: How to Spot High Growth Businesses and Generate 40% to 400% Investment Returns, Chng and Ang explore a unique way of analyzing companies using value investing strategies. This unique and simple methodology, called the “Jigsaw Puzzle model,” is broken down into four segments, namely Business, Management, Numbers and Valuation. The authors introduce this concept for building an accurate picture of a company before deciding whether or not to invest. It also forms the basis for investors and traders who want to generate multiple returns in the area of small and fast growing companies to achieve the wealth and financial independence they want and deserve.

The strategies discussed in this book are designed to create a relatively stress-free method of creating a secondary source of income.

Self improvement

Working and living in a foreign country

June 15, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 649 Views 5 Comments

How is it like working and living in a foreign country? I just watched a Japanese documentary show detailing the life of a Japanese lady who married a Peruvian guy in Peru. It was a heart-warming show which narrated how a Japanese lady lived her life in a foreign country for 20 years.

We all know that the Japanese is a closely knitted community, so initially it was not easy for a young Japanese lady like her to be working and living in a foreign country like Peru. But she managed to overcome the language and cultural barrier. Along the way, she fell in love and married a Peruvian guy. Of course, her Japanese parents initially objected to their marriage, but they accepted him after he lived with them for a short while in Japan.

What struck me was that despite working and living abroad in another foreign country for two decades, her love for her native country remains strong. She still misses Japan very much and what I found admirable was that she has been contributing articles to a Japanese publication all these years because she mentioned that nowadays people go for online news. So she hope to do her part and revives newspaper readership.

Book review; investment

Value Investing

June 14, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 602 Views 0 Comments

Last night, I read the investment book, “The Value Investors: Lessons from the World’s Top Fund Managers” for the second time. The Value Investors contains a lot of useful investment insights from successful fund managers and value investors, so I strongly recommend the book to investors, especially newbies.

Indeed, hands-on experience is important when it comes to stock investments. But then again, having the right knowledge on security analysis will certainly reduce the learning curve needed for picking the winning stocks.

Investment wisdom
Nobody can claim to beat the stock market consistently but it is important that you learned from your investment mistakes. Three investment wisdom gained from Irving Kahn, one of Benjamin Graham’s disciples, is that in order to succeed in picking the winning stocks, you need to have patience, discipline and skepticism.

To many, these three traits seemed straightforward, logical and common sense. But when it comes to real life application, many investors (including myself) were guilty of not following these rules. Very often, we would be tempted to invest in certain hot stocks after reading good reviews from analysts. We fear that if we waited on the sideline for too long, the opportunity to buy cheap and make profits would be gone.

Gold; portfolio management

Beware of Ponzi-like gold scams in Singapore

June 7, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 798 Views 0 Comments

Published by BullionStar Singapore

Always remember, caveat emptor (buyer beware)

It is important for each one of us to do due diligence, in whatever endeavors we undertake. When it comes to precious metals investing, for example, you could not afford to think that just because the investment is sound, it follows that you can’t go wrong.

Look at all the gold exchange-traded funds and mutual funds whose values are derived from gold futures, the physical gold of which does not even exist. If you try to have such paper gold delivered, you’ll be left with nothing. This is why we advocate buying physical gold, the type that is stored in finite supply in your residence, or in our vault.

But even within the physical gold market, we can expect scammers to spring up, finding a way to defraud investors. Here’s a tip: whenever you hear about a certain company, just search on the Web, ‘Company X scam.’ If the search results show a lot of complaining customers or court cases, stay away!

Note, however, that these companies are aware of their Google-savvy potential clientele. The company may have ‘planted’ their own positive reviews that have the search word ‘scam’ in them.

salaries

Civil Service Mid-year Payments

June 7, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 1174 Views 0 Comments

It is that time of the year in which civil servant collect mid-year bonus. For this year, it is heartening to note that the government accepted NWC’s recommendation to raise the wages of low-wage workers by at least $60. Not much though, but definitely a step in the right direction to help the low income group who struggle with rising living expenses. As the economy matures, there should be more schemes in placed to ensure that this group of Singaporeans are not left behind.

The Singapore economy grew by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2013, compared to 3.3% in the previous quarter. The Ministry of Trade and Industry forecasts GDP growth of 1% to 3% for 2013. The global economy is expected to improve gradually this year with modest growth in the US and moderate growth in Asia supported by healthy domestic demand, although the Eurozone is expected to remain in recession. Risks to the global growth outlook remain, such as a potential flare-up of the Eurozone debt crisis and fiscal uncertainties in the US. The overall unemployment rate in Singapore remained low at 1.9% in Mar 2013.

Against this backdrop, the Government has decided to pay a mid-year Annual Variable Component (AVC) of 0.4-month.

Investments

Investing in Singapore Government Securities (SGS)

June 6, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 813 Views 0 Comments

As a form of risk diversification, it is important for every investor to maintain a portfolio investment consisting of different asset classes such as equities, currency, precious metals, property and bonds. Typically, these asset classes move in opposite directions and therefore smooth out the volatility in your portfolio in different economic scenarios.

In the current low interest rate environment, it may be prudent to invest bonds. Below is some of my research on Singapore government bonds – SGS, extracted from the www.sgs.gov.sg. The information below is for sharing and not to be misconstrued as financial advice or recommendation.

What Are Singapore Government Securities (SGS)
Singapore Government Securities (SGS) are marketable debt instruments of the Government of Singapore. These debt instruments take the form of either Treasury bills (T-bills) or bonds, and are considered safe investments, as they are backed by the full faith and credit of the Singapore Government. The terms of issuance for T-bills and bonds are governed by the Local Treasury Bills Act and the Government Securities Act respectively.The Singapore Government is obliged to pay the holders of SGS a fixed sum of money on the maturity date of the securities. SGS cannot be cashed in before their maturity dates, but investors can always sell them in the SGS market.

Gold; portfolio management

BullionStar’s My Vault

June 6, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 819 Views 1 Comment

For international and domestic investors seeking a safe haven for their precious metals, BullionStar’s “My Vault Storage” offers a convenient, end-to-end solution for the purchase, sale, storage, and delivery of an assortment of bullion products.

Bullion investors assume a considerable amount of risk keeping even a moderate amount of bullion in uninsured storage solutions. Also, the fact that there is more “paper” Gold or Silver in circulation than there are backing of physical precious metals increases the risk of defaults on the commodity exchanges.

Even though Singapore is a safe country with low crime rates, gold investors should not take chances with their precious metals. If you have a substantial holding of bullion, it makes sense to store them at a secure facility run by a reputable company. In this regard, only a bullion vault should provide gold investors a form of assurance that their gold or silver bars are in safe hand.

By engaging the services of some of the top secure storage facilities in Singapore, one of the safest countries in the world, and with easy to use online system, Bullion Star is able to address these concerns with “My Vault Storage”. BullionStar provides the maximum level of security for your wealth by minimizing physical, economic and political risks to your precious metal holdings.

Stocks

Is Haw Par Corporation a dividend stock?

June 5, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 1 Views 0 Comments

Many Singaporeans can probably relate Haw Par Corp as the manufacturer of the famous Tiger Balm but how many investors know that it also owns the famous Underwater World at Sentosa? I like this company because it had been consistently giving out dividends for the past 20 years. The company is cash rich, is financially strong and is trading at below net asset value.

However, this counter has risen in value so much for the past two years that it is beyond my entry price, which is $4.00. Looks like I have to wait until the next stock market crash to load up this overlooked stock in SGX.

The original business of manufacturing and distributing through Southeast Asia pharmaceuticals under the Tiger Brand names, the best known of which is ‘Tiger Balm’, was founded at the turn of the century. This was subsequently incorporated under the name, Haw Par Brothers (Pte) Ltd and in 1969, Haw Par Brothers Intl Ltd was formed to acquire the main part of that business. The Company took on its present name, Haw Par Corporation Ltd in December 1997.

In the seventies and eighties, it has grown into a conglomerate with diversified interests. The Group’s core business in healthcare and leisure products promotes healthy lifestyles through its health products, Haw Par’s healthcare products are manufactured and marketed under its established Tiger Balm and Kwan Loong brands.

Book review; investment

Financial Independence (Getting to Point X)

June 2, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 539 Views 0 Comments

Below is a press release on Financial Independence (Getting to Point X), a personal finance book. Readers can pick up valuable tips on how to manage personal wealth.

Written by John J. Vento, an expert with decades of experience helping people of all walks of life realize their dreams of financial independence, Financial Independence (Getting to Point X): An Advisor’s Guide to Comprehensive Wealth Management (Wiley; March 2013; 978-1-118-46021-4) arms you with the knowledge and tools you need to get to your Point X—the point at which you no longer have to work for your money but where your money works for you.

Throughout our lives, we will encounter many questions and problems relating to money, but every one of them will fall, in some way, under one or more of the 10 Key Wealth Management issues addressed in this book.

No matter how you define your particular path to financial independence or “Point X,” whether it is an annual income of $25,000 or an estate of $250 million, you need to not only understand but effectively deal with 10 fundamental wealth management issues. They are:

Committing to living within your means and conscientiously saving for the future;
Understanding taxes and how to effectively minimize your tax obligation;
Realistically defining your standard of living, including your net worth and your current cash flow;
Managing debt;
Insuring yourself and your family in case of extreme illness or death;
Protecting your property;
Planning for the education of yourself and your children;
Investing intelligently and productively;
Planning for retirement; and
Preserving your estate.

Parenting

Father’s Day

June 1, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 694 Views 0 Comments

Father’s Day is approaching soon. In the past, this date has always held not much significance for me. My family would usually have a dinner celebration for Mother’s Day. But not for Father’s Day. It is not that my family don’t love my Dad or whatever. Just that it’s not my family’s style to express our appreciation for my Dad in such manner.

But this year is different because it will be the my first Father’s day without my Dad, who passed away at home a few months ago. I think I haven’t really gotten over his death because when he passed away, I was not at his bedside. I was on a business trip in India and could not make it back in time to see him for the last time.

For the past few days, I missed my Dad a lot. I reminisce my childhood times spent with my Dad. He was a hardworking man who spent a lot of time at work, so my siblings and myself don’t often get to see him at home. Once in a blue moon, when he was free, he would bring us to amusement parks. I loved those trips because I would get to ride in his 6 wheels Nissan lorry.