Portfolio of 8 Singapore Stocks - 28 Oct 2015 [updated to correct error]

On 28 Aug 2015, I started exploring a portfolio of 8 Singapore stocks with a value of ~$100,000 (Portfolio of 8 Singapore Stocks). Although the actual value would have been $99,126 (without considering transaction costs), I am assuming $100,000 for simplicity. You could think of the difference as the transaction costs.

How has it fared since? In truth, two months is way too short a time to be meaningful. Nonetheless, here's how it looks:

Stock	No. of  Shares	28 Aug 2015	28 Oct 2015	Value
OCBC	1,300	$9.280	$9.200	$11,960
Keppel	1,700	$7.200	$7.160	$12,172
M1	4,200	$2.92	$2.870	$12,054
Boustead	14,600	$0.855	$0.955	$13,943
Kingsmen	15,200	$0.820	$0.780	$11,856
VICOM	2,100	$6.000	$6.150	$12,915
HourGlass	17,000	$0.735	$0.740	$12,580
GKGoh	14,900	$0.840	$0.825	$12,293

Thanks to CSCCC who highlighted that I had made a mistake with M1's price on 28 Aug 2015, I have adjusted the error as indicated in yellow highlights above.

The portfolio is now $99,723, so it really hasn't moved the needle over the two elapsed months. This valuation does not take into account any dividends. The split is 3-5 between the winners and losers (as indicated in red above). The only significant winner has been Kingsmen.  So it looks pretty flat-line for now and in need of some resuscitation.

Disclaimer: I have not bought such a portfolio on those dates. I am only doing this exploration for fun. But it is true that I do have all these stocks in my holdings and did buy more of some of them during Aug-Sep 2015.

Related:
8 SGX Companies to Keep Watch On

Yawning with the Bears of 2015

In late Aug 2015, I went on a buying spree as the market became a sea of red over several weeks (see Playing with the Bears of 2015). I actually saw my portfolio collapsed by $60,000 during that period. It looked like the year was heading towards negative returns. Not very exciting.

What does $60,000 mean to you? For some, it could well mean two years of salary? For others, it could mean forgoing a few overseas holidays with the family.

I went away for a week of holiday in Sep 2015. I realised I was actually pretty Zen about it. I didn't check my portfolio at all during the week overseas. Instead, I was devouring seafood and other exotica in Japan. Blowfish sashimi anyone?

When I returned from my escapade, I was most pleasantly surprised to discover that the $60,000 'loss' had been reduced to $30,000. I hadn't sold anything. The slow climb to recovery continues.

Even as that is going on, we hear warnings that Singapore could be slipping into a recession and we have to be prepared for it. So will there be more pain ahead?

Times like this, we trust that we have invested into well run companies with sustainable business models that would navigate the challenges and continue to survive. Speculating in penny stocks is likely a gamble not worth risking. In general, I don't anyway. Maybe I'm just risk adverse?

I am sometimes reminded that how well stocks perform do not necessarily correlate with how well the economy performs. While discretionary goods will likely suffer, essential goods and services will continue to be needed. Supermarkets will still be patronised, bread will still be bought for breakfast, cars will continue to go for their required inspections, etc. We will still need to eat and shit. The basics don't go away. We are certainly not returning to the cave age.

Indeed, some goods and services may well have been considered luxuries in the past. But lifestyle changes have turned some of these into 'essentials'. Consider how dependent we are on Internet services, being constantly connected on our mobiles. Times have changed.

My take is that stocks with these consumer demands will thrive. Certainly, the dividend payout provide the additional safety net of an income stream even as we sit and wait. I can be patient.

Investing is a boring affair. Anything else is a gamble. 

Yawn. [Did that make you yawn too? This is so powerful!]

Seafood at factory prices and with discount too - Fassler

Is it possible to get seafood at factory prices and still get a discount? Sounds too good to be true. but Fassler is apparently offering just that.

Fassler Gourmet
46 Woodlands Terrace, Singapore 738459
Opens Mon-Fri 0800-1700H; Sat 0800-1300H
http://www.fasslergourmet.com/

[They have a new outlet at Tiong Bahru as well.]

Having just come back from an overseas holiday, wifey and I decide to drive over to Fassler to stock up our empty fridge. To our delight, they were offering a membership discount scheme.

For a purchase of $50 or more, you can join as a member for a year and get discounts for subsequent buys. Upon signing on at a membership fee of $50, you are given a $60 coupon which can be immediately redeemed. Kind of strange as it is equivalent to saying that you are getting a discount of $10 for free membership.

While it has an online presence where you can also other their products, the membership offer doesn't seem to be offered online. But you can sign up on the spot at their Woodlands Terrace factory/shop.

Wifey and I usually go there to buy their salmon, whether smoked or sashimi grade. It comes as a whole slab. enough for 4 meals x 4 persons. And it's much cheaper than the same item found at Cold Storage. Scallops, clams, various kinds of fish, soup packs, etc.

If you're visiting for the first time and don't know where all the food are, ask the staff. It's in a walk-in refrigerated unit on the right. They provide winter jackets. If you're wearing a pair of bermudas or shorts, you're not going to last very long in there. You've been warned!

For other shops along Woodlands Terrace, see:
A Guide to Woodlands Food Factory Outlets

Staying connected when travelling overseas - Mobile WIFI

It's so hard these days to travel overseas and be disconnected from the Internet. The itch starts to set in to want to stay connected. By day two, it's cold turkey.

In the past, I would subscribe to the Singtel overseas daily plan when needed. This can range from $15 to $30 depending on the country. In some countries, buying a prepaid SIM works out to be a better deal. Set it up on a mobile WIFI device and the whole family can use the connectivity. Unfortunately, it tends to be used up real fast.

At Changi Airport, a service centre has been set up to provide such services for travellers, both inbound and outbound. I paid $8 for 5 days (special rate with a coupon code from a travel fair) for 6 days of use in Japan, as the first day's charge is waived.

Check it out: https://www.changirecommends.com/owifi.aspx

And if you use this link to make a reservation, I get a $5 voucher for the recommendation: https://www.changirecommends.com/owifi.aspx?rc=if0nn88]

The data plans vary across countries. These can range from 400 MB limit per day to unlimited. In some countries, once the limit is reached, throughput is throttled, but still functional. In other countries, the mobile WIFI is completely cut off when that happens! So need to check.

For Japan, the limit was 1 GB daily. 1 GB is a lot for a day. Unless you're surfing video none stop! It sure was handy for my Google Map app on my smartphone as I used it extensively to navigate around in Tokyo and to check which train lines to take and connect to.

I encountered frequent dropped connections on my second day there. Resetting the device seemed to work. I wasn't sure what the reason was. Initially, I thought it occurred whenever there were a lot of strong WIFI signals around. And there are plenty in Tokyo!

But I think the problem was that the battery power drained by the afternoon after several hours of use. Once that happened, it must have gone into a power saving mode. I connected it to a power bank for continuous use. That seemed to work fine thereafter.

Else I would have been completely lost in the maze of Tokyo undergrounds and trains! Happy travels.

Changes to the Citibank Dividend Card

I am one of those people who believe in putting everything I can on credit cards, but I will pay in full when the bills come in. It's so convenient these days where credit cards are accepted everywhere.

Aside from the convenience, more interestingly are the discounts and rebates. Getting money back from your spending, why not? Nothing to lose.

One of the cards I like to use is the Citibank Dividend Visa Card. A few days ago, Citibank circulated a notice that it is making changes to its Citibank Dividend Card. The changes will take effect from 28 Sep 2015.

Merchant Category Amount of cash back earned on the transaction based on that month's statement of account if spend is less than S$888^ if spend is S$888 or more^ Petrol 0.25% 8%* Grocery 0.25% 8%* Dining 0.25% 8%* All others 0.25% 0.25%

The footnote to the table further elaborated that the amount of cashback (dividend) is capped at $25 for each of the first three categories (i.e. petrol, grocery and dining). Effectively, that means that any spending on a category above $312.50 will not earn any further cashback. On the positive side, the dividend will no longer expire.

My monthly expenditure on grocery and dining tends to go way above that. Looks like I should start diverting spending to my other credit cards like DBS/POSB and UOB One cards? Citibank Credit is going to lose some of my credit spending.



No minimum spend is required to earn the cashback. But as indicated in above table, the cashback will be much lower if the total spend that month is less than $888. Huat ah!

It's rather difficult to figure out what the impact is for the individual. I wish they could have provided some indications by using my last few months' credit bills to illustrate how it would have differed from the past.

I hear OCBC has also made changes to their card (The annoying OCBC Frank credit card). Azrael was pretty annoyed by the changes to OCBC's. The banks always maintain an escape clause that allow them to make changes anytime. So it's their prerogative. But it is annoying.

Watch your credits!

Related:
4 credit cards with great cashbacks and discounts