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Mapletree Commercial Trust – Why Did I Invest in the Blue Chip REIT? (Guest Post)

April 8, 2020 admin

Mapletree Commercial Trust had been in my “shopping list”, and a drop in its unit price of late presented a golden opportunity for me to add it to my long-term investment portfolio – which I did last Friday (03 April 2020) when the REIT’s unit price fell to my intended entry price of S$1.57.

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Jun Yuan Lim is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as ljunyuan and has 834 followers.

Mapletree Commercial Trust (SGX:N2IU) was one of the “casualties” of the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak in Singapore, where its unit price took a huge tumble by 34% at the time of writing (it fell from its 52-week high of S$2.48 to S$1.64.)

This “blue chip REIT” had been in my “shopping list”, and a drop in its unit price of late presented a golden opportunity for me to add it to my long-term investment portfolio – which I did last Friday (03 April 2020) when the REIT’s unit price fell to my intended entry price of S$1.57.

In my post today, I will be sharing with you reasons why I’ve invested in the REIT.

Let’s get started…

Brief Introduction to Mapletree Commercial Trust

Mapletree Commercial Trust was listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (“SGX-ST”) on 27 April 2011, and subsequently joining the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) on 23 September 2019 (taking the place of Hutchison Port Holdings Trust.)

At the time of writing, the REIT’s properties in its portfolio are all located in Singapore, and they are:

Vivocity

Mapletree Business City

PSA Building

Mapletree Anson

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Harbourfront

Historical Financial Results of Mapletree Commercial Trust between FY2011/12 and FY2018/19

One of the first things I look at before I invest in any company or REIT is to first study its historical financial results (for at least the past 5 years.)

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The F.I Mainstream Movement Is Fueled By A Crisis Like This (Guest Post)

April 7, 2020 admin

Many businesses closing down their operations or shutting down due to worldwide lockdown. Many employers and employees from the Travel, Entertainment and Aviation industries were severely disrupted and hit by the crisis that they either have to retrench their staff headcount or staff has to take on unpaid leave.

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Brian Halim is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as 3Fs and 2078+ followers.

For Emerging Markets, 2015 Isn't 1997 - WSJ

I started writing articles in this blog barely a few months after we’ve endured one of the Great Financial Crisis back in 2009.

I was barely into a few months of working when the great financial crisis and recession hits the world and I recalled the shockwaves hit the entire population hard. People lost their jobs and many were retrenched without package to compensate for their loss. Many businesses had to shut down, some bigger ones had to downsize because of the scale of the crisis and credit liquidities plunge as banks, enabler for businesses, struggled to stay afloat.

I was fortunate to have kept on my job throughout the duration of the crisis. The only thing that probably impacted me was the salary increment that was freeze and bonus that was scrapped. It sucks especially after enduring a year of hard work but it was still better than the wider population out there who had lost their jobs.

When people lost their jobs, they lost their main source of income. This is bad because not only these people have to cope with losing their cash cow but they also have to cope with the existing expenses that remain on the table such as mortgages, car loans, credit cards, utilities, food on the table, and children’s education.

Most of these people either do not have emergency funds or other sources of income that could help them tide through the crisis. In short, they were unprepared by the shock and were left hanging by a thread facing unprecedented crisis that could impact their entire years of hard work and sustainability.

Because of such unprecedented shock in the economic cycle, I began to join the F.I mainstream community by writing articles and meeting with alike minded people, who believes in the same ideology of achieving financial independence over time.

Financial Independence is not simply just about having sufficient passive income (mostly through the dividends or rental income derived from our investments) covering our daily expenses.

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3 Key Points To Lookout For When Buying Stocks In A Recession (Guest Post)

April 6, 2020 admin

A recession is a significant decline in economic activity, lasting more than a few months. But many asked, when to buy stocks? How to better time a market entry in a recession? Well, here are 3 points to guide you along.

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Royston Tan is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as Royston_Tan and has 22 followers.

A Looming Recession? Look at Interest Rates - WSJ

For those looking to time a market entry, some data points on when might be a good time.

WHEN TO BUY STOCKS IN A RECESSION? THE IDEAL TIME TO PICK A BOTTOM

While I don’t recommend trying to time stock purchases with a crystal ball in front of you, especially during a bear market potentially as severe as the one we are currently facing, I will provide some reference point as to when might be the IDEAL time to PICK a bottom and start investing more aggressively in a recession.

This is not going to be from my GUT but instead using historical statistics to time entry. YES, I know that historical performance is never representative of the future trajectory of the stock market, especially one that is seemingly unprecedented as the current one.

Then again, having some maths behind you beats randomly pulling out some FORECAST based on your gut.

Before I disclose “my formula” on when to buy stocks in a recession, the question I like to ask is: Are we already in a recession? Seems to be a no-brainer question especially with more than half the world being on lockdown, right?

WHAT DEFINES A RECESSION?

A recession is a significant decline in economic activity, lasting more than a few months. There is a drop in the following 5 economic indicators:

Real Gross domestic product (GDP)
Income
Employment
Manufacturing
Retail Sales

The current situation seems to tick all the boxes in this category.

A “simpler” definition for a recession is when the GDP growth rate is negative for two consecutive quarters or more. While it might seem simple, there might be some confusion. Should we be measuring GDP growth on a YoY basis (ie compare 1Q20 to 1Q19) or should we be measuring it based on QoQ (ie comparing 1Q20 to 4Q19).

The latter comparing on a QoQ basis is often being termed as a “Technical Recession” within the Singapore context (If you type technical recession in Google, most of the results are related to Singapore).

HOW DOES THE US CALCULATE GDP GROWTH?

In the US, the Bureau of Economic Analysis uses real GDP to measure the US GDP growth rate. Real GDP takes out the effect of inflation. GDP is calculated every quarter but is being annualized. The aim of annualizing is to remove the effect of seasons. If the BEA did not do this, there will always be a spike in the 4Q growth rate due to the holiday seasons.

The BEA provides a formula for calculating the US GDP growth rate which I will not detail much in this article.

IS THE US ALREADY IN A RECESSION?

NEW YORK CITY TIMELAPSE (EMPTY AMERICA) — fullinsight

Depending on which article you read, some might say that the US is already in a recession while others such as this Bloomberg Tracker (last updated March 11) which pegs the probability at “only” 53%, still the highest level since GFC. However, that tracker was done before the jobless claims blew up over the past 2 weeks, now more than 10m, so I reckon that probability ratio will probably be inched up significantly in the next update.

Given the COVID-19 scenario that we are facing, whether we choose to look at GDP growth from a YoY or QoQ basis, it is difficult to argue against the fact that US GDP growth will be negative in 1Q20 and 2Q20.

Even if the COVID-19 issue miraculously resolves itself today, the uncertainty surrounding a possible relapse will result in nations all over the world engaging a protectionist stance that will stymie the global economic recovery process.

My best guess, if I am to look into my crystal ball is that the peak of the COVID-19 issue for developed nations such as US, Italy and Spain will probably be sometime in late-April to early-May by which the focus will then turn to developing nations such as India and Indonesia where cases are just beginning to ramp up.

Developed nations will continue to shut off their borders to foreigners for fear of a relapse, just like what China is currently doing. The V-shape recovery which many people are hoping for is probably not going to happen in such a scenario.

HOW BAD IS THIS RECESSION GOING TO BE? …

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Why Did I Add UOB (SGX:U11) to My Long-Term Investment Portfolio (Guest Post)

April 3, 2020 admin

Some insights about UOB ’s historical financial performance, along with its dividend payouts to shareholders over the years and many more.

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Jun Yuan Lim is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as ljunyuan and has 797 followers.

Why Did I Add UOB (SGX:U11) to My Long-Term Investment Portfolio

With my investment in UOB (SGX:U11) on 06 March 2020 at my intended entry price of S$23.26 (based on this entry price, and a dividend payout of S$1.30/share in FY2019, my dividend yield is 5.6%), I now have all 3 Singapore banks, plus another financial institution in Hong Leong Finance (SGX:S41) in my long-term investment portfolio.

In my post today, I would like to share with you reasons why I’ve invested in the bank…

Brief Introduction to United Overseas Bank

Before I talk about the bank’s historical financial performance, along with its dividend payouts to shareholders over the years, let me first a quick introduction about the bank.

Besides Singapore, UOB has more than 500 branches and offices in 19 countries (Australia, Brunei, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Vietnam.)

Historical Financial Performance of UOB over the Past 10 Years

Before I put my hard-earned money into any company, I will need to make sure the company fulfils some criteria – one of which is an improving set of financial results reported by the company over the years.

In this section, I will be sharing some of the key financial statistics reported by UOB over a period of 10 years (between FY2010 and FY2019):

Net Interest Income, Net Fee & Commission Income, and Other Non-Interest Income:

UOB’s “Total Income” comprises of 3 business components – (i) Net Interest Income, (ii) Net Fee & Commission Income, and (iii) Other Non-Interest Income.

Let us now take a look at the performances of these 3 business components between FY2010 and FY2019:

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Koufu Limited (SGX:VL6) – My Analysis of the F&B Company (Guest Post)

April 2, 2020 admin

Some insights for Koufu business, its financial results between FY2018 and FY2019, dividend payout history, catalysts and threats which I feel may positively or negatively affect the company’s growth ahead, and finally, its current vs. historical valuations.

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Jun Yuan Lim is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as ljunyuan and has 797 followers.

Photos for Cookhouse by Koufu - Yelp

I have received a number of requests from fellow community members in InvestingNote over the past couple of months asking me to do a company analysis of Koufu Limited (SGX:VL6).

In my writeup about the F&B company today, you’ll learn more about the companies businesses, its financial results between FY2018 and FY2019, dividend payout history, catalysts and threats which I feel may positively or negatively affect the company’s growth ahead, and finally, its current vs. historical valuations to find out whether or not at its current share price, Koufu is considered cheap or expensive.

Let’s get started…

A Brief Introduction to Koufu Limited

Koufu is a brand familiar to Singaporeans – the company operates foodcourts/coffeeshops under its namesake brand. At the time of writing, there are a total of 37 Koufu foodcourts in Singapore.

Apart from its namesake foodcourts, the company also operates foodcourts/coffeeshops under the following brand names (with the number of outlets at the time of writing in brackets):

Cookhouse by Koufu (5 outlets)

Rasapura Masters (1 outlet)

Fork & Spoon (2 outlets)

Happy Hawkers (18 outlets)

Gourmet Paradise (2 outlets)

The company has also businesses in the following:

F&B Kiosks & Stalls:

R&B Tea (27 outlets)

1983 – A Taste of Nanyang (3 outlets)

Supertea (1 outlet)

Cafes & Restaurants:

1983 – Coffee & Toast (3 outlets)

elemen 元素 (4 outlets)

Grove 元素 (1 outlet)

Shopping Mall:

Punggol Plaza – a 4-storey development comprising about 50 retail outlets. The mall is managed by Abundance Development Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Koufu Pte Ltd

Overseas:

Besides Singapore, Koufu also have business operations in Malaysia and Macau, where they operate under the following brand names (with the number of outlets at the time of writing in brackets):

1983 – A Taste of Nanyang (2 outlets in Macau)

Koufu (2 outlets in Macau)

R&B Tea (1 outlet in Malaysia, 1 outlet in Macau)

Financial Performance of Koufu Ltd between FY2018 and FY2019

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SIA Rights Issue: Debunking The Complication Behind The Math (Guest Post)

April 1, 2020 admin

Most of you would probably have been aware of Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) plight and the need to do a massive fund-raising exercise, fully-backed by Temasek. This means that if Singaporeans are not willing to support our national carrier by subscribing to those new shares, Temasek will come in to backstop 100% of the issue. SIA looks to raise a total amount of S$15bn (SIA Rights), through a combination of S$5.3bn in Rights Shares issuance and S$9.7bn via Rights mandatory convertible bonds or MCB for short.

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Royston Tan is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as Royston_Tan and has 17 followers.

SIA reassures cabin crew on medical leave system, Singapore News ...

SIA RIGHTS ISSUE: DEBUNKING THE COMPLICATION BEHIND THE MATHS

By now, most of you would probably have been aware of Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) plight and the need to do a massive fund-raising exercise, fully-backed by Temasek. This means that if Singaporeans are not willing to support our national carrier by subscribing to those new shares, Temasek will come in to backstop 100% of the issue.

SIA looks to raise a total amount of S$15bn (SIA Rights), through a combination of S$5.3bn in Rights Shares issuance and S$9.7bn via Rights mandatory convertible bonds or MCB for short.

S$15bn looks like a HUGE amount of equity to be raised, particularly when one compares with SIA’s key competitor Qantas which, a few days prior to SIA’s announcement, highlighted that it has managed to secure ONLY A$1.05bn in collateralized (against its fleet of 7 Boeing 787 aircraft) debt funding at an interest rate of 2.75%. Qantas share price appreciated by 26%.

Unlike SIA which has been levering up on its balance sheet to make new aircraft purchases, Qantas, on the other hand, has maintained a steady net debt balance of A$3bn over the past 3 years. Comparatively, SIA’s net debt balance has ballooned to S$8bn (including lease liabilities) as at end-2019 as a result of their aggressive fleet renewal plan.

So, Qantas (with a market cap of A$5bn) requires an additional A$1bn to tide over this major aviation crisis (for now perhaps) while SIA (now with a market cap of S$7bn) requires a potential total of S$15bn (plus S$4bn in bridging loan) and one can see the huge disparity in terms of capital management.

With that notion in place, let’s evaluate the two Rights issuance, first the SIA Rights Share followed by the SIA Rights Mandatory Convertible Bonds.

I will then follow up with 4 scenario analysis for a potential SIA shareholder and calculate what might the market value of the SIA Rights Shares and SIA Rights MCBs be worth when they start trading.

They are; …

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The Hammer Candlestick Trading Strategy Guide (Guest post)

March 31, 2020 admin

The Hammer candlestick pattern is a powerful entry trigger. If you were to trade it, your stop loss is at least the range of the Hammer (or more). But won’t it be great if you can reduce the size of your stop loss and improve your risk to reward?

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Rayner Teo is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as Rayner and has 310 followers.

According to most textbooks:

Whenever you spot a Hammer candlestick pattern, you should go long because the market is about to reverse higher.

And that’s what you do.

But the next thing you know…

The price immediately reverses and you get stopped out for a loss.

And you wonder to yourself:

“Wait a minute, isn’t a Hammer candlestick a bullish signal?

“Why did the market reverse against me?”

“What’s going on?”

Well, let me tell you a secret…

A Hammer candlestick pattern doesn’t mean jackshit (and I’ll explain why later).

But first, let’s understand what a Hammer candlestick pattern is about…

What is a Hammer candlestick pattern?

A Hammer is a (1- candle) bullish reversal pattern that forms after a decline in price.

Here’s how to recognize it:

Little to no upper shadow
The price closes at the top ¼ of the range
The lower shadow is about 2 or 3 times the length of the body

And this is what a Hammer means…

When the market opens, the sellers took control and pushed price lower
At the selling climax, huge buying pressure stepped in and pushed price higher
The buying pressure is so strong that it closed above the opening price

In short, a hammer is a bullish candlestick reversal candlestick pattern that shows rejection of lower prices.

Now, this is important.

Just because you see a Hammer candlestick doesn’t mean you go long immediately.

Here’s why…

The truth about Hammer candlestick (that most gurus don’t even know)

Are you ready?

Here you go…

A Hammer is usually a retracement against the trend
The Hammer doesn’t tell you the direction of the trend
The context of the market is more important than the Hammer

Let me explain…

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A Look into the Possible Share Price Movements of Singapore’s Blue Chip Companies in the Week Ahead (30 Mar – 03 Apr 2020) [Guest Post]

March 30, 2020 admin

During the course of last week, the STI fell to a low of 2,208 points, before rebounding up strongly to finish the week at 2,528 points. In my opinion, in order for the trend to be considered as reversed (i.e. from a downtrend to an uptrend), it must close above 2,560 points when trading for the week closes this Friday (i.e. 03 April.) Otherwise, in my opinion, the overall trend is still a downward one.

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Jun Yuan Lim is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as ljunyuan and has 772 followers.

The share prices of quite a number of blue chip companies rebounded last week – but in my opinion, the trend is still a bearish one.

Before I proceed to analyse the share price movements of each of the 30 blue chip companies last week, and possible movements in the week ahead (for the trading week between 30 March and 03 April 2020) based on a weekly timeframe, here’s the share price movement of the STI on a weekly timeframe:
STI’s Movements on a Weekly Timeframe

During the course of last week, the STI fell to a low of 2,208 points, before rebounding up strongly to finish the week at 2,528 points. In my opinion, in order for the trend to be considered as reversed (i.e. from a downtrend to an uptrend), it must close above 2,560 points when trading for the week closes this Friday (i.e. 03 April.) Otherwise, in my opinion, the overall trend is still a downward one.

Now, let us take a look at how each of the 30 blue chip companies performed last week, and how they are likely to perform in the week ahead:

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Updates from Manulife US REIT & Prime US REIT (Guest Post)

March 27, 2020 admin

Most of the REIT investors endure some extreme volatility in this March Madness. Their holdings have quite a good run in 2019.Coming into 2020, investors believe that the low rate environment is here to stay. Even when the threat of Covid-19 reaching the United States and Europe, investors rationalize that when the interest rate plunge, this must be a more conducive environment for the REITs. What comes next is that in a span of 2 weeks, many REITs saw their stock prices plunge 50%.

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Kyith Ng is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as Kyith and has 954 followers.

Most of the REIT investors endure some extreme volatility in this March Madness. Their holdings have quite a good run in 2019.

Coming into 2020, investors believe that the low rate environment is here to stay. Even when the threat of Covid-19 reaching the United States and Europe, investors rationalize that when the interest rate plunge, this must be a more conducive environment for the REITs.

What comes next is that in a span of 2 weeks, many REITs saw their stock prices plunge 50%.

Manulife US REIT and Prime US REIT both endure the same fate as their peers.

In the past 2 days, both REITs provided some updates to analysts, so as to address the potential uncertainties of investors.

Since then both REITs saw their share price go up 20-25%. Manulife’s share price held up better, probably because they are in the Index and are much more liquid.

Their transparency may have worked wonders for their share price. However, overall, a lot of the REITs managed to bounce off their lows.

Here are some updates that I have gathered.

Possible Reasons for the Sharp Price Falls

Management updated that possible reasons why the draw down was so swift was due to

Manulife’s entry into the index. When index funds, exchange-traded funds systematically sell down, there isn’t many fundamentals per se
There was a lot of margin calls from the Private Banks (my friend KK from RisknReturns mentioned a few days ago that the three US Office REITs may have been removed from the list of marginable stocks on private banks)
Funds redeeming and switching around. They are switching from smaller stocks to more liquid stocks
Ultra-rich Chinese are facing heavy margin calls (we can guess who they are). Manulife US REIT does not have them on their register

Are Manulife US REIT’s Properties Affected?

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Mapletree Commercial Trust – Why Did I Invest in the Blue Chip REIT? (Guest Post)

April 8, 2020 admin

Mapletree Commercial Trust had been in my “shopping list”, and a drop in its unit price of late presented a golden opportunity for me to add it to my long-term investment portfolio – which I did last Friday (03 April 2020) when the REIT’s unit price fell to my intended entry price of S$1.57.

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Jun Yuan Lim is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as ljunyuan and has 834 followers.

The F.I Mainstream Movement Is Fueled By A Crisis Like This (Guest Post)

April 7, 2020 admin

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Brian Halim is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as 3Fs and 2078+ followers.

3 Key Points To Lookout For When Buying Stocks In A Recession (Guest Post)

April 6, 2020 admin

A recession is a significant decline in economic activity, lasting more than a few months. But many asked, when to buy stocks? How to better time a market entry in a recession? Well, here are 3 points to guide you along.

Why Did I Add UOB (SGX:U11) to My Long-Term Investment Portfolio (Guest Post)

April 3, 2020 admin

Some insights about UOB ’s historical financial performance, along with its dividend payouts to shareholders over the years and many more.

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Jun Yuan Lim is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as ljunyuan and has 797 followers.

Why Did I Add UOB (SGX:U11) to My Long-Term Investment Portfolio

Koufu Limited (SGX:VL6) – My Analysis of the F&B Company (Guest Post)

April 2, 2020 admin

Some insights for Koufu business, its financial results between FY2018 and FY2019, dividend payout history, catalysts and threats which I feel may positively or negatively affect the company’s growth ahead, and finally, its current vs. historical valuations.

SIA Rights Issue: Debunking The Complication Behind The Math (Guest Post)

April 1, 2020 admin

SIA RIGHTS ISSUE: DEBUNKING THE COMPLICATION BEHIND THE MATHS

The Hammer Candlestick Trading Strategy Guide (Guest post)

March 31, 2020 admin

The Hammer candlestick pattern is a powerful entry trigger. If you were to trade it, your stop loss is at least the range of the Hammer (or more). But won’t it be great if you can reduce the size of your stop loss and improve your risk to reward?

According to most textbooks:

A Look into the Possible Share Price Movements of Singapore’s Blue Chip Companies in the Week Ahead (30 Mar – 03 Apr 2020) [Guest Post]

March 30, 2020 admin

Updates from Manulife US REIT & Prime US REIT (Guest Post)

March 27, 2020 admin

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Kyith Ng is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as Kyith and has 954 followers.

Possible Reasons for the Sharp Price Falls

Are Manulife US REIT’s Properties Affected?

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Jun Yuan Lim is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as ljunyuan and has 834 followers.

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Brian Halim is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as 3Fs and 2078+ followers.

A recession is a significant decline in economic activity, lasting more than a few months. But many asked, when to buy stocks? How to better time a market entry in a recession? Well, here are 3 points to guide you along.

Some insights about UOB ’s historical financial performance, along with its dividend payouts to shareholders over the years and many more.

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Jun Yuan Lim is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as ljunyuan and has 797 followers.

Why Did I Add UOB (SGX:U11) to My Long-Term Investment Portfolio

As Singapore’s COVID-19 cases surpassed 1,000 cases this week, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong gave a speech on 3 Apr, Friday 4pm.

Some insights for Koufu business, its financial results between FY2018 and FY2019, dividend payout history, catalysts and threats which I feel may positively or negatively affect the company’s growth ahead, and finally, its current vs. historical valuations.

SIA RIGHTS ISSUE: DEBUNKING THE COMPLICATION BEHIND THE MATHS

The Hammer candlestick pattern is a powerful entry trigger. If you were to trade it, your stop loss is at least the range of the Hammer (or more). But won’t it be great if you can reduce the size of your stop loss and improve your risk to reward?

According to most textbooks:

This post was originally posted here. The writer, Kyith Ng is a veteran community member and blogger on InvestingNote, with username known as Kyith and has 954 followers.

Possible Reasons for the Sharp Price Falls

Are Manulife US REIT’s Properties Affected?