Cory Diary : Investment Tracker 2019 - 0116

If we could recall, Year 2018 is where Cory Portfolio was mostly in the negative territory. See link here. The first two weeks of 2019 is quite amazing. Losses in 2018 has all but recovered.

This is one reason why staying invested in Market is important for people who long. From the above chart we can see how strongly STI ETF bounced back overtaking Cory PF line. However, I am happy. Are you ?

Strictly speaking, we hope to target additional 10% from this point onward. Why ? For the two years of dividends.


Cory
2019-0116

Cory Diary : Refreshing Portfolio Setup

It has been a fruitful week. From the low of two fri ago on 1/4 , STI ETF swing back up to close strongly driving whole week of positives. This is certainly a positive week spurt which happens only few times a year. Staying invested folks have a field day. However for those who shorted the general market thinking it will go negatives are caught wrong footed this time as is a 7.2% swing in total. Is so hard to predict.

This also drives my portfolio upwards with different counter benefits differently from it. Passion is everything. Here's my new Radar 2.0 setup format for Year 2019.

 Look out for 0%, 5% and 10% markers They are investment size.

The Green's : Reit/Trust
The Purple's : Fixed Income Equities
The Cyan's : Volatile / Growth / Speculation
The Orange's : Blue Chips and STI Index

Cory

2019-0113

Cory Diary : DBS FHR8

I have the opportunity to re-price my housing loan with DBS. There are 2 options currently other than doing nothing which will be paying more.

Additional Information

For the first 2 years, the gap all-in is about 0.345% between Fixed and Floating package.
FHR is tied to DBS Fixed Deposits 8 months rate. The rate is kind of "Board Rate". I read somewhere that there is limits on how much a bank can change as there is some MAS oversight. Not sure is true and how stringent will MAS allows though. Nevertheless there is more transparency in how the final loan rate is charged.


Rationale for Fixed Package

This 0.345% gap can be closed within a year of rate rise which could make the Fixed package more attractive however the spread for year 3 and 4 will be wider and to floating method. Since the lock-in period is 2 year, i could re-price again but there is some work and fees to consider. I think DBS structured this way so that they can manage their fixed package risk.


Rationale for Floating Package

If there is no significant upward moves for the first 2 years in FHR8 rate, the floating package could be cheaper than fixed. This is especially so with Fed recent rate hike that invited some quarters of criticism. And they may stay low for Year 2019. Not sure about 2020 though. However with SSB limits up from 100k to 200k the bank may up the rate to make themselves more attractive. This won't matter much if there is no one to lend to with property curbs on-going or recession strikes. So if all goes well, there aren't need for a re-pricing exercise after lock-in period unless we like to do a refinance to other banks or there is a better re-price package like FHR4 ? :)


Seems like either options will work fine as they do not offer significant advantage over one another. I would probably choose the later.


Cory
2019-0112