One Year High and Low

High 3,454.37 (May 22 2013)

Low 2,960.09 (February 5 2014)

Date                          STI                                Volume           STI ETF         Nikko STI ETF

June 27 2014        3,271.05 -7.52     102 million shares traded      3.31                  3.38
Fears of early rate hike weigh down Asian stocks.  Local traders shy away after Fed official hints at pending increase.

June 20 2014        3,258.80 -10.22   125 million shares traded      3.33                  3.40
Shares slide as tensions rise in Iraq and Ukraine.  Penny stocks dominate action as rattled investors take profits.

Recently, many Singaporean have read the story of how a widow lost her 1 million within 1 year.  It is really sad to hear such a large sum of money being lost within such a short time span.  This was how her money was lost.  Initially she bought an annuity plan for each of her four children. Each children $200,000 so it's $800,000 in total. She paid up an outstanding debt of $50,000 which leaves her with $150,000 for herself. This was all good and buying the annuity was advised by a financial advisor from Changi Airport Group.  The problem came when she invested $100,000 in her brother's transport company. Then she invested another $400,000 which she withdraw from the annuity she bought earlier.  The business suffered losses and eventually folded. She lost all her money and never got back a single cent. She then withdraw the rest of the $400,000 from the annuity which only lasted her 5 months. She said she didn't know how she finished using the money.

Lesson learned:

Even if you have never invest before, it is still not too late to learn simple stocks purchase principles.   So, if one day you got a windfall of 1 million from winning the Toto or became a Changi Millionaire and do not know what to do, you can consider investing 200,000 SGD into these 5 large blue chips in the STI and just live on the total combine dividend collected and ignore the daily market noise.   They are DBS, Keppel Corporation, SIA Engineering, ST Engineering and Ascendas Reit (their average combine dividend on June 20 is 4.62% per annum).  So, in total, you will received 46,200 SGD yearly (passive income for life) which is around 3,850 SGD per month.  You are even luckier if you are a Malaysian because using an exchange of rate 2.55 give you a monthly income of 9,817.50 MYR.  Therefore, don't spend a single dime of your 1 million SGD and invest it.

June 13 2014        3,293.25 +0.24   125 million shares traded      3.33                  3.40
S'pore market flat in quiet trading.  STI inches up 0.24 point but still outperforms many regional bourses.

Recently, a man in Singapore won the chance to dine with American billionaire Warren Buffett in an online charity auction.  The fact that the man, called Andy Chua, would fork out US$2.17 million just to have a private lunch with the world's third richest man is testament to Mr. Buffett's reputation as a legendary investment guru. 

June 6 2014          3,299.43 +19.79  302 million shares traded      3.34                  3.40
European stimulus package boosts sentiment.  Asian bourses buoyed by hope that liquidity will remain robust.

Give some thought on what is your strategy for winning long-term on your investment and stick with it.

May 30 2014         3,295.85 -4.86    302 million shares traded      3.34                  3.40
S'pore shares slip as traders take profits.  Most Asian bourses end weaker, but many major markets had good month.

This week, SingPost announced that Alibaba Investment Ltd will be investing S$312.5m in SingPost via a placement at S$1.42/share, following which Alibaba will hold 10.35% of SingPost upon completion. Both companies will also set up a JV in the business of international e-commerce logistics. From SingPost’s point of view, this move will allow it to benefit from Alibaba’s expertise in e-commerce and business volumes, thereby obtaining a scale effect and bringing down cost per unit of good handled.

Investors were largely positive about Alibaba’s proposed injection into SingPost, and saw its shares flying 8.4 percent this week to a fresh all time high of $1.68 since its listing in 2003. The high for this week trading of SingPost’s shares saw it hitting $1.75 with 67 million shares traded.

This week investment pondering:
What Is the Right Approach To Investing?

May 23 2014         3,278.02 -9.90    219 million shares traded      3.31                  3.39
S'pore stocks close higher on upbeat US, China data.  STI up 12.36 points, with Yoma Strategic among most active gainers.

This week, added Keppel Corporation @ 10.56, ST Engineering @ 3.77 and CSE Global @ 0.55 into my dividend portfolio.

Your Own Retirement Paycheck Pondering (don't just depend on your CPF) :

Dividend investors focus on generating income from their capital in the form of dividend that lasts in perpetuity. As a result income investors would be able to create their own retirement paychecks from the income generated by their investments. As a result, they would not be dependent on market volatility to generate the income in retirement they need.

In order to ensure that income lasts in perpetuity however, income investors need to consider the following factors, when creating their dividend portfolios:

1) Do not overpay for investments

Investors should avoid overpaying for stocks, since this could bring down their long-term returns.

2) Do not chase yield

Many novice investors tend to focus exclusively on dividend yield when choosing investments. As a result, they tend to ignore factors such as dividend sustainability as well as corporations ability to maintain and grow distributions over time. 

3) Analyze the company in detail first

Investors should perform a detailed analysis of companies they plan on investing in, before they put their hard earned capital to work. By analyzing the company's business model, and how it earns money, investors should be able to determine whether it can afford to grow earnings in the future. Over time, the potential for an increase in earnings will determine whether a company can afford to grow distributions or not. Most companies that have been able to raise distributions for decades tend to have strong brand recognition, which have allowed them to maintain purchasing power with customers, who are willing to pay a higher price in order to obtain the quality product or service. 

4) Focus on companies whose culture has resulted in long dividend track records

In their quest for generating income off their portfolios, investors should focus on companies which have the ability and willingness to pay higher distributions. Companies that have managed to boost distributions for at least ten consecutive years, have achieved this by properly balancing the need to expand with the need to avoid diworseification by distributing excess cash flows to shareholders. Companies which generate so much in excess cash that they do not know what to do with it, after funding their business expansion plans, are very likely to keep paying and increasing distributions to loyal shareholders.

5) Diversify your dividend portfolio

Investors, who plan to generate a defensible income stream, should avoid putting all of their eggs in one basket. A portfolio consisting of at least 30 individual securities representative of as many sectors in the economy as possible, has a much better chance of ensuring that the dividend stream will continue uninterrupted for the long run. While currently it looks like a no brainer to focus on high-yielding master limited partnerships yielding 6%, past experience should note that over committing to a sector could be dangerous to your financial health. Investors who were overweight financial sector in 2007, suffered steep losses in the capital and dividend incomes, as the financial crisis of 2007 – 2009 exposed weak balance sheets and companies cut distributions.

Investors, who follow these five simple principles, will be able to not only generate a sustainable amount of income from their nest eggs, but also grow cash distributions to compensate for inflation. By living off income from their investments, these future retirees would be able to have a sustainable income stream that would be entirely dependent on the underlying investments financial performance rather than stock market gyrations.

May 16 2014         3,262.59 -9.90    322 million shares traded      3.29                  3.37
STI edges down amid CDL share sell-off.  Benchmark index sheds 9.9 points, City Developments stock slips 2.36%.

Investment Pondering:

If I needed $30,000 in annual dividend income, but only had a portfolio worth $500,000, I could do two things. The fist is to design a portfolio with an average yield of 6%, and call it a day. The second thing would be to invest in a mix of more reasonably priced companies, wait for a few more years of savings and patiently compounding my capital before achieving my goal. The risk with the first scenario is that those higher yielding stocks stop growing dividends, which would reduce purchasing power of my income. In addition, if there are dividend cuts, my lifestyle would be even worse off. If you need $30,000 to live on in year one, you would likely need $30,900 in year two assuming a 3% inflation.

What good is a high dividend stock that yields 6% today, if it gives me a 50% chance of a dividend eliminations within next decade, compared to a stock yielding 3% that has only a 10%-15% chance of a dividend cut. If I earn 6% this year, but next year I get a 50% dividend cut, I am not better off eventually than an investor who started out with a 3% yield that was unchanged in year two. As an investor, my goal is to maintain and increase my real income, and only suffer the least amount of losses. If I just focus on the yields today, I might end up missing out on the risks I am taking in the process.

With a more moderate dividend growth stocks yielding somewhere between 2.50% - 3.50% today, I have a better chance of reaching my goals, having a sustainable income stream, and a better fighting chances against dividend cuts and inflation.

I believe that I only need to get rich once. Therefore, my goal is to be patient, and build my dividend foundation slowly and carefully, rather than be in a hurry, and avoiding excessive risks.

May 9 2014           3,252.13 +4.44    208 million shares traded      3.28                  3.35
STI ends day on quiet note after lackluster week.  Ukraine tensions, signs of slowing China growth dampen sentiments.

Added F&N @ 3.04 into my dividend income fund. Read also, Easiest Investment Strategy Is Dividend Paying Companies.

Recently, Fraser and Neave (F&N) has bought a 70 per cent stake in Malaysia's Yoke Food Industries (YFI), as it continues its efforts to become one of the largest food and beverage companies in Southeast Asia.  Yoke Food Industries manufactures, markets and distributes canned beverages in Malaysia.  With the deal, F&N has secured for itself Yoke Food Industries' production capacity in the fast-growing non-carbonated beverages segment.  F&N said the tie-up offers an increased opportunity for the distribution and marketing of its brands in Southeast Asia.  Its beverage brands include 100PLUS, Magnolia milk, and Seasons Asian drinks and teas.

May 2 2014           3,252.55 -12.16   233 million shares traded      3.28                  3.34
Latest US tapering casts gloom over STI.  Local bourse ends short trading week down 0.46% amid cautious mood.

April 25 2014         3,267.57 -16.36   279 million shares traded      3.26                  3.34
STI dips on China fears, profit-taking.  Analysts warn of short-term pullback but remain bullish on stocks overall.

April 17 2014         3,253.80 +0.60    216 million shares traded      3.26                  3.32
STI ends week 1.7% up amid subdued activity.  Fed assurance, strong Wall Street activity help bolster regional bourses.

The best way to take advantage of temporary weakness in stock prices is through the meticulous process of dollar cost  averaging your way into attractively priced stocks every single month. A dividend investor who puts money to work every month won't buy at the bottom, but would have the discipline to put money to work, when everyone else is scared. This puts the odds of success heavily into his or her favor.

April 11 2014         3,198.22 -5.36     204 million shares traded      3.20                  3.26
Regional sell down barely touches STI.  Index dips only slightly as Wall Street turbulence hits Asian markets.

Everyone thought that millionaires take alot of risks but you will be surprise to know in actual facts, millionaires investor don't take risks.

April 4 2014           3,212.72 -7.34     183 million shares traded      3.21                  3.27
STI slips ahead of US data.  Non-farm payroll figures expected to give clues to stimulus tapering pace.

Know your investing process and keep repeating it, that is what I have learned over the years and it is really important.  My own investing process is to invest in a diversified of stocks and pays dividend which will provide me which passive income during my retirement.  Hopefully, it will be before 55 years old.