Cory Diary : CDP and Custodian Accounts

There are mainly two ways brokerage can manage our shares in SGX Market. My first trading account in Poems is cash management account and has the shares held in CDP. This mean I can sell the same shares with another brokerage which manages my shares with CDP.  Another thing I like about Poems is the stock price interface feels timely and able to access for more functionality free like market depth (not always), market summary etc. Foreign currencies management is a breeze for me at least. I like this account because there is a face I know for many years whenever I need help. She even gave me an Ang Pao for my first born.

The much cheaper way in fee is through Custodian account. However as the name suggested, the shares are held by brokerage and not CDP. Due to that, we cannot trade the shares managed through this broker with another. For service, mine is Treasures Account and has Relationship manager. They are quite busy however reaching her is not difficult with WhatsApp but it takes time. The interface is not as good for detail portfolio summary however when come to Rights Issue and tracking balances they are Top. Transfer of fund is also a breeze with saving accounts in the same bank.

Recently, CDP has upgraded to able to use QR Code which allows me to use PayNow instead of mailing in through the mail system which will be bad. As I travel oversea often, ATM is not a good option either. So I am glad they have finally implemented a better way to do this. Glad to know and happy to be a shareholder of SGX shares !

For the recent Preferential Offering, decided to apply excess in both Poems and DBS Treasures as I have shares in both accounts. Wish me luck. Maybe I should get few more Custodian accounts to improve my chance ?

Cory

2021-0709

Articles in this Blog is personal take and educational purposes only. Reader should seek their own professional help when making financial decision and be responsible for their decision.

Cory Diary : Sabana Reit

The purpose of this article is to share the danger of the stock market. The game is not fair.

Sabana Shari'ah Compliant Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust


(updated for privacy)  It was darling in the market with it's high yield. I even named it as one of my retirement counter. And then when the master lease issue comes in, I found something a miss.

Started with reducing exposure and then a complete cut loss. From the tip of 1.37 top price, my final cut loss is at 1.055. That's - 22% which is a little late but never late than never. The share price continues to slide down to below $0.50. Losses would have ballooned (updated for privacy)  instead of just $1,442. Never look back again. (updated for privacy)

That's the SHARKS in the market retailer have to be aware. The game is not fair and we need to be on constant vigilant of such as it is worst than casino.


Transaction records below.

Date	Price	Trans	Shares	Trans Value	Comments
28-Dec-12	$1.135	B	30,000	($34,158)
9-Jan-13	$1.155	B	10,000	($11,587)
18-Jan-13	$1.160	B	20,000	($23,274)
23-Jan-13	-	D	-	$1,446	Dividend
1-Apr-13	$1.275	S	20,000	$25,419	Quick trade
23-Apr-13	-	D	-	$964	Dividend
28-May-13	$1.310	B	7,000	($9,201)
30-May-13	$1.240	B	7,000	($8,711)
31-May-13	$1.225	B	16,000	($19,662)
3-Jun-13	$1.215	B	10,000	($12,189)
14-Jun-13	$1.140	B	5,000	($5,730)
19-Jun-13	$1.190	S	7,000	$8,299	Quick trade
23-Jul-13	-	D	-	$1,872	Dividend
19-Sep-13	-	D	-	$1,716	Dividend
23-Oct-13	-	D	-	$140	Dividend
22-Nov-13	$1.085	S	28,000	$30,283	Reduce Exposure
27-Nov-13	$1.090	S	10,000	$10,865	Reduce Exposure
23-Jan-14	$1.055	S	40,000	$42,066	Cut Loss
				($1,442)	Loss include Trans Cost

 Will I trust the management again ? Will you ?

Hard Earn Money leh ...

Cory

20161222

Cory Diary : When higher Dividend has a Price

Just when I thought 2016 will be the year my Dividend will finally dipped since embarking on dividend strategy, year-to-date I have hit another all time high (updated for privacy) . So what happened ?

Thanks, but not thanks, due to "anticipated" Neretal special dividend of 15 cents but with more than 20 cents dent to the Share price after ... a heavy price to pay for indeed if you are someone who has been tracking this counter. Is definitely not a Saizen. And I am not pleased.

If anyone think that dividend strategy does not work locally, think again. (updated for privacy).

Will I be able to maintain this new level of dividend next year ? Probably considering my portfolio is still not optimise. Still some work to do. Another is the high cash level which I have been deliberating on to use. Quite an amount in foreign currency which has hedge S$ currency weakness.

Good news for this two weeks will be my income currency has appreciated 8% relative to Singapore dollars. The bad news is that the rate is dynamic and many of my assets are Singapore dollar denominated including loans.But then interests rate is moving up. And my portfolio is muted towards the Trump Rally to my dismay. One good thing out of it is that our labour cost reduced by 8%. And property in relative terms has become cheaper by 8% too. This is really good for Singapore reeling from high cost of labours and property prices.

Talking about interests rate. Reits got skinned recently and I dipped for some. So glad to be back in the 6%-10% yield range. In the Telco front is a slaughter.I have avoided Starhub and M1 specifically for the past year. Singtel I feel is ok because whatever go down likely will come back up. It is more sentiment for a diversified and strong counter. Will there be special dividend after coming one ? oh no ...hope not another Neratel. There has been huge outflow of money from developing world back to America pushing the DJIA to another high. I would be prepared for the tide returning.

What's more ?

Busy weeks on travel. America is still a land of plenty, and waste. Consumer market rule.
Salary and Bonus assessment period. :)

Cory
20161125

Cory Diary : Last day of week after Brexit

After 2 days of dramatic drops across the world after Brexit, the market has rebounded and returned to normal. It has proven that many doom day experts are just mere mortals. And monkey can decides as well.

As of today XIRR YTD hits 5.2%. (Performance from  Jan'16 till to date ). It would have been much better have I not mitigate my exposure taking profits on some counters. Meaning, do nothing. Nevertheless is still a relieve nothing worst has happened which we all should appreciate.

I have taken the opportunity to buy back CDL and acquired more bank shares. And hopefully get something cheap to replenish my portfolio. I am still a little careful in case there is fallout later.


Cory
20160701

Cory Diary : Britain voted to be out of EU

Could not comprehend why is it so bad about it. In fact I did not even put it as something to watch that can cause another Lehman moment. Some News commentators said is a Black Swan Event which i disagree.

I do not think is hard at all for BreExit vote as below pic but stock market sentiment cannot be under estimated. So I took profit in CDL which has large exposure in GB prior to the vote. I did not anticipate significant impact to others. Dow drops more than 600 pt. My feeling now is there will be more impact coming Monday in SG market. Now my leg is a little shaky because I should have done a little more to mitigate it. Always room for regrets LOL.

BreExit comment

CDL Trades

When Singapore was kicked out of Malaysia Federation, many people think this is the end. LKY cried. The other side was hoping we will failed and down the road we will begged for return at their terms. We didn't. We succeeded beyond the wildest dream.

We need to get back to basic. What's the purpose of a Country ? To have a population that can work together. Policy and government that serve them. Democracy in place. EU takes away all that.

To make it worst, EU immigrants policy alienates the population similar to situation for the Singapore gov when they open the doors too wide that we lose our cultural and togetherness as a nation. They did crawl back and we see the 70% support votes. Unlike Singapore, EU Leaders did not. The British citizen don't even know who they are yet they are the one that decides EU immigrant policies and so i heard.

Leaders today are politically correct to avoid being branded racists and doing the right thing but they forgot about Nation Building. Is not just about Economic. Is about happiness. Is about emotion. Is about togetherness of the Citizens in the country ! And this takes effort and time to integrate and be accepted. Only when we get all this right, then there is value in economy. I am proud of the British people recognising this despite all odds against their parties, institutions and the famous. Just like in America, Trump represents the frustration of Americans. He did not so to speak, "Influence" them. He just represented them. The sooner leaders understands their population and the ground not grass root, they will lead better.

Near term there will be volatility in the market due to sentiments but it also mean opportunity from fear. Cascading effects will only create more opportunities so I need to go slow in my entry.


Cory
20106625

Cory Diary : Portfolio update 20151012

If someone has said in the beginning of the year that China will be the main reason that STI enters correction territory it will be quite hard to accept. Such is the market dynamic. Hard to anticipate even for expert.

Is the correction over with recent days run up ? Well just looking at the 1 yr and 2 yr charts, seems so. However 5 yr and 10 yr charts are yet confirm. That's my own view. Time will tell !

My portfolio ytd went down -5% at the worst period and recovered to -2.6%. STI still at -10% today.
Relative wise i am doing ok but i could have done much better if i have cut loss faster as said in my earlier article.

For those data craze, Equity at 37%. Cash/FD 39%, Structured Investment/Bond 11% and others.
China could have cause another major crisis. It didn't so far. Else i could have tap my war fund.

Decided to sell Saizen Reit as i feel the Japanese yen will continue it's weakening mid term and this gives me some anxiety despite all those hedging in place. Hope to find a replacement soon. Still holding to some Starhub shares though no increase. I feel the impact of 4th Telco will be mitigated by immigration long term.

I sleep well with current portfolio set up and that's all matter. cheers.


Cory 20151012

Cory Diary : Market Fear

I have been working on my SUM on getting a good yield for past months but couldn't get a good discount on equity that i am comfortable with. Every time i look back to 2008 financial crisis price and i will shook my head. If i have done so and so, i would have been shaking leg like AK do. Well not exactly like him. But you know what i mean ?

Fast forward today, chance upon it, thanks to Shang Hai Stock bubbles and slow demand, the world in chaos. FEAR set in. What-if the market falls further ? A dead cat bounce ? Past data may not correlate to today ?

No Action is an Action too ! 

A check on the STI chart there is a huge gallop dive. I decided to take additional position in STI index. A spread out stake in Banks, Telco and the Blues. A calculated risk but likely help me support at least average 7% returns as the upside is very good for mid to long term even if it falls further.

Cory 20150825

Cory Diary : Portfolio Interim Result

The Eruption and Burst of Shang Hai Index reflects logically that poor earning of the economy will not be able to sustain the bull in the long run. While Singapore market avoided the crash so far, the sell down has been quite significant in recent weeks on specific counters.

Telcos have moved down a notch, O&G industry has been disastrous, Shippings have been lowering for a long time and Commodities have already fallen one after another. If we use STI 3370 (2nd Jan'15), YTD STI is almost 5% lower at friday close STI 3202.5. On average most investors are probably around -3% territory after dividends.

My Equity Portfolio performance has been mute. XIRR YTD +1.24%. Though still in positive territory thanks to Dividends (updated for privacy) . Even then i am not sure this will hold on in the next few weeks if we do not see positive news coming in.

Investment Segment wise as follow.

REIT has been holding up well so far which occupies a quarter of my stocks portfolio. I have little exposure to property counter which may change after election.

TELCO holds another quarter. So far net net they have been ok ytd after dividends.

BOND/PREFERENCE SHARES combined occupies another quarter of my portfolio. They are always the ones who provided the damping stability when the market is volatile. I do not believe in TRUSTs.

The remaining quarter invested in some niche services, retail industries and STI ETF. While i have scaled down significantly my O&G related counters in recent weeks, not all are done fast enough. This reminds me that i need to cut loss more swiftly due to Macro Factors coming in.


Cory 20150802

Cor Diary : Gold Metal

Recently i have been trying to simplify my investment yet achieve the stability and diversification needed.

Everything is up for review. Few things I did so far.

- Increased holding in STI ETF and Bond.

- Sold DBS Preference Shares.

- Sold significant portion of my USD and NTD

- Build up some cash by taking profit on a number of run up stocks

I could not find a suitable equity to re-balance into currently. Probably need to find an entry point some time later this year.

Another area i am looking at is metal. Gold has been in my portfolio for a couple of years already and since i last sold around 1700 ( half of them i guess ), it has only been routine value update on my overall net worth which constitutes roughly 1%+. Is there more for hedging when the World or Singapore go seriously wrong.

Inflation wise, i think property is already good at mitigation. I can't imagine myself taking sampan with gold to escape either. As my Gold is virtual, the transaction cost impact is low. Decided to sell all my Virtual Golds. They were held in USD and NTD. And i expect to have some forex gains too. Great ! Achieve another level of simplification.

What else ? hmmm

Cory

20th April 2015

Cory Diary: Reading up on Challenger

Notes taken as i read the AR. Three months Ended 31 Dec 2014 QvQ Comparison

• Revenue : 11% gains. 400k more profit than 2013. A nice 1.43 cents EPS from 1.32 on the backdrop of lower YoY. Do note that the full year revenue reduction actually comes from both Singapore and Malaysia geographical segments. A nice surprise that this Q beats prior year.

• Rental : Increased about 500K. A major cost on profitability.

• Operation: Stable inventory level and operation cash flow. Some capex investment noticeable.

• Management: Propose dividend of 1.25 cents. There's indication management is well grasp of the business climate and trying to innovate.

At 46 cents price level, that's more than 9% earning. Based on 2.35 cent full year dividends, 5.1% dividend yield.

Local Stores are pretty numerous now and oversea expansion did not work well. I do not have the indication that we will see quick result from new activities nor do i expects significant impact for the next few Qs. While staff cost at the mean time can by curtailed, the malls rental cost cannot.

Decided to sell and monitor for the time being. I hope to be back.

Cory

23rd Feb'15

Cory Diary : Excited of 2015 Entry

A number of bets in 2014 are for 2015. There are still some tasks to follow through. If everything works as planned, good performance at least in the 1st half of 2015 should be expected. Why I say that ?

The Good News

Low Oil Price will be good for the Economy. From automobile to plastics. America continues it recovery path and interest rate will be low. More lands are released for Industrial Purposes. Populations expect to continue to increase. With Property and COE at relatively lower level, larger saving will be churned for equity investments.

The Bet

Went deep in a penny stock in 2014. Deep red in oil related. Added energy counter into my portfolio segment. Done an average down on one with calculated risk. Continue to bet on Retail Strengths on stocks riding our Singapore Success Story.

The Ugly

Will continue to monitor Property and Commodity trends. S-Chips will continue to be avoided no matter what as i do not want my 2015 to be ruined by the risk. No IPOs too. Continue to be sceptical with shipping counters.

The Plan

Portfolio needs increase in Financial segment representation. A stronger REITs present probably as well. Same time i like to drive more depths into existing vested counters without testing my nerve limits. Divest those with weaker fundamental and dividend returns that do not support capital protection.

S$40K Dividend target as anything much more is likely on higher risk investments. Well there's a catch ! After totalling historic yield is at best $37K. Though i can decrease my cash reserve but i feel it will takes stronger reason than achieving passiveness goal to dip into my war funds. By the way i did 96 trades last year and there still won't be a plan to monitor this year. Happy 2015 !

Cory

4th Jan '15

Cory Diary : Spending

One of the most darning task to me is to track my expenses. Tried a number of times to track it but just do not have the patience to continue despite being a fan of spreadsheet with the formulas everywhere to compute my investments and net worth almost instantaneously with currency fluctuation, equities, bank saving to pensions.I do spend little on myself materialistically. I do buy computers and gadgets occasionally. Some travels, books and gifts, relatively expensive restaurants, taxi, good massage and parental allowances...da da da de da.

Then it dawn on me that since i have high saving rate naturally, there is no need to track them at all. Silly me !

In 2014, my Net worth increase is more than my Annual Salary Income including AWS. Technically speaking i save every penny i earned. I did this before but what so special for 2014 is not due to my investment returns but Annual Variable Bonuses. To top it off i have a strong increment as well for a person planning to retire early....

You see, I have been putting in some amount of "Strategic Investment" into my work and was duly rewarded by my bosses for leading some alignment tasks and supporting transformation works. Though this pulled me off from focusing in my investments and some white hairs to show. However there's some synergy moving my portfolio to be more passive based which should works out well in years to come.

Privately though i do have a problem of over saving (by nature) which needs to be fixed in 2015. A good problem. :)











Cheers

Cory
2 Jan'15

Cory Diary : Dividend Returns

When i started investing many years ago it was for the gamble and quick money. Dabbled in Warrants in the days when they are extremely popular. Made some good money ~ (updated for privacy)  in/out trading them despite my business work schedule. It was days where the market only knows how to climb.

Danger of Warrants

I did fell once where my "Tang" expired and went with my $1500 in smoke. I remembered my broker screams at me pondering whether i know what the hell it is but i kind of laughed it off in my head. I learned later that 6 months before expiry, i need to be careful. She is still my broker today.

As i got bolder over the years, i plough into larger part of my little saving. Those days I had colleagues who lamented to me how desperate they are to get into the market but they just do not have enough saving. I learned from it.


Soon after, i got burned in an S-Chip counter.16K lost LOL. Why i laugh ? Well, by then i learn to read announcements and annual reports. Despite all the indications that is a "FRAUD" even from public announcements, i continued to hold. I was hoping that the CEO can't be that stupid to give silly excuses. I learned it does.

As my salary goes up, so are my knowledge in the market. My investment grows till 2008 GFC Epic. Even then i was numbed to the daily horror news. I learned about market timing.

S-Chip Scandals

2008 GFC

When the market recovered, my 2009 profits doubled my 2008 losses. Then i entered 2011 and see the how rocky the market can be and chance encounter with Value Investing. I learned to rebalance my portfolio. By then my portfolio has already skyrocketed with my saving and profits.

Value Investing

Is only in 2012 that i really think about stability and more predictable growing returns to support my retirement. This is tougher to grasp for me but i learn more about Reit and the power of strong business model that can protect my investments.

Dividend Play

Learning never stop as i continue to seek new ideas and knowledge. I have become less risk averse actually. And Fd, Index, Wider Portfolio, Bonds and fixed instruments, Large Blue Cap, Currency Balance and Reits have a good present today in my investment. I am still working and mind you ! Is great to see bonus. :)

Last but not least, my Dividends. Manage to swing it back to a little new high.
Looking forward to 2015.

(updated for privacy)

Cory
27 Dec 2014

Cory Diary : STI Index

If you have yet notice, STI Index ended this week 3324.39. STI Jan 1st Jan'14 was 3167.430. That's mean about 5% returns. If we include roughly 3% dividends conservatively, that's 8% for 2014. This is despite of Current Oil Bear, Interest Rates going up, Property Curbs and Commodity Crash.

Quite amazing huh ? Do your math and tell me am I right ? So why ? why ? why ? why ?Maybe is the Singapore Story or thanks to the liquidity.

How many of us can beat that on annualized basis ?
Are your Unit Trusts beating this values. What do you think ?
How about those who put your money with Private Fund Managers after cost ?  How do they perform ?
Do you have concern with scam or time bomb ?

Things i like about STI Index so far is as follow

1. No rights issue
2. Reasonable Dividends ( Cover Core Inflation )
3. Capital Gains annualized results are strong ( Cover Inflation )
4. Low management fee
5. No manager risk
6. Transparent Tracker
7. Singapore Dollar
8. Participate in Singapore Key Industries
9. Risk Spread across companies
10. Do not need active management
11. Do not need a lot of money to invest


Cory
7th Dec 2014

Cory Diary : Dividend Dimension

Why Dividends ?

Keep my CEOs on their toes
Best proof of returns
Income sustainability

(updated for privacy)

No turning back on the Twin Pillars Strategy - Dividends & Growths.
Q1 2014 has been slow due to divestment of some Reits counters. Of course is still in the earlier part of the year. Building portfolio back up with strong cash companies. I will have to catch up to beat 2013 dividends but not going to lose an arm or leg for it.

Cory

17th April 2014

Cory Diary : Part 2 on Base Lining

I just read a thread and decided to think aloud.

Here's the background.

Someone bought Sabana and now sitting at a loss. Advisor came and said this.

If you have buy at a low last year around 90. Is ok to hold on. However those who buy at high, meaning lately, chance of return is remote.

Saying it another way.

Since you have capital gain when you enter at 90, is ok to lose those gains. Those who got recently be prepared for further loss if continue to hold.

Hello ? Hello !!

To hold or not should not have dependency on price entered at different times.
This is why I need to base line my portfolio to avoid falling into the feel "rich" gap.

Cory

8th Feb 2014

2013 Portfolio Review

2013 Measure
SG Stock XIRR figure for the year ended up 11.74%.Compared to STI which is -0.85% (2 Jan'13-2 Jan'14) excluding dividends, performing above after taking into account STI 2-3% dividends.

Annualized Performance since 2007 will be 11.6%.
Dividends received this year $28, 940.

Did well in expanding my dividends and performing above STI. Another key area is the punch (Invest amount) approximately doubled. Net Worth reached a new milestone despite spending is up significantly.

Another area i am happy with is that Reits did not do significant damage to my portfolio. Looks like trading them helps to negate their impacts this year. They will remain a key segment for re-balancing my portfolio for a long time.

Portfolio details
Reit returns flat after consideration of capital loss. In the aspect, on the bright side, they will be position to be better in 2014.
Fixed return continues to maintain good stability.
Growth and SME stocks see large rises.

2014 Focus
Still under invest last year despite some step-up in absolute amount added, my wish is to add more counters and depth for specific counters. However i will continue to exercise caution steps.
Goal : 20% more

Dividends wise, with tapering reduction, contribution from Reit can be lesser. Higher business cost may also means lesser distribution. Goal: Maintain 2013 at minimum.

To reduce impact from any single stock, number of counter has to increase but this will tax my mental bandwidth. Therefore stock selection has an angle of less risk priority.

Re-balancing of my portfolio still required and needs to be watched closely.


Cory
1st Jan 2014