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