Happiness in 2012.

The new year is just hours away.



I took this photo in Ueno Park during my recent trip to Japan. The scene has a calming and pleasing effect on me.


Bicycles are important transportation vehicles in Japan. I smiled when I saw this bicycle.


Daibutsu in Kamakura. "If one speaks or acts with pure thoughts, happiness and peace of mind will follow."


This helpful sign outside a shop solicited a

Hyflux: Broke resistance.

On 15 Dec, I said, "Right now, $1.065 is immediate support provided by the 123.6% Fibo line. A stronger support would be at $1.015, the 138.2% Fibo line and a golden ratio."

Hyflux's share price touched $1.015 on 23 Dec, forming a white spinning top at the end of that session. A positive divergence was also formed in the process. A lower low in price and a higher low in the MACD. A buy signal.

A common piece of advice on saving.

I want to say something about a very common piece of advice dished out by many financial advisors and that is to save at least 10% of our take home pay. Now, this is an easy enough one liner but is it easy to put into practice?

For me, however, I have always said that saving even 10% is too little. Of course, everyone's circumstances are different. So, for some, 10% is all they can manage. For

Berkshire Bak Kwa!

Berkshire Hog are known to produce supreme quality gourmet pork. Also known as (KUROBUTA) (Black-pig) in Japan and recognized as WORLD’S BEST PORK.

No hormone or antibiotics are used in the feeding process and natural pork are minimally processed without use of artificial ingredient.

Fragrance is the first Bak Kwa manufacturer in Singapore to introduce the 100% USA Berkshire Pork Bak Kwa.

Tea with AK71: Mechanical car parks.

I am back in Singapore. Got home at 2am and slept at 3am. Woke up at 8am. Unpacked, read the news a bit and replied to comments here in my blog.

Thanks to everyone who sent me well wishes for my trip and apologies to those whom I did not manage to reply to till this morning.

I did not look at the stock market or my blog while I was on holiday in Japan the last 10 days or so. When I looked at

ASSI celebrates second birthday!

In another week, my blog will be two years old. Yes, time flies, doesn't it?

It seems like just a few weeks ago when I started this blog out of curiosity and boredom. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined how it would grow into what it is today.



I took this photo almost a year ago with my Samsung camera phone. Still a favourite of mine. Nice blue lights for Christmas!

I will be

ASSI is featured in NextInsight.

Today, ASSI is featured in NextInsight.

Two blog posts on my passive income generated from S-REITs this year have been republished. Comments from three readers as well as my replies are also highlighted.



AK71 is happy. :)
To see the article in NextInsight as well as to find out which three readers and their comments are mentioned in the article, click here.

Drum roll, please. ;)

REITs: Leasehold properties.

I have had quite a few exchanges with readers regarding REITs and their properties' land leases, if any. Readers who follow the comments section of my blog would be aware of this.

After a while, I realise we could just be running through the same points again and again. So, I am putting up my thoughts in a proper blog post written as a reply to a comment by a reader, Marti:

Hi Marti,

Yes,

Capitaland: Rising MACD in weekly chart.

I look at weekly charts when I am interested in the longer term technicals of a particular stock. I got more shares of Capitaland at $2.35 not too long ago. Its price hit a low of $2.25 so far today.

However, as my motivation for being invested in Capitaland is because of its cheap valuation, I am not too concerned with short term price weakness. Of course, I might do a bit of trading if I

Office S-REITs VS. Industrial S-REITs (3).

Earlier this year, I shared some salient points in a research by DTZ.

Update (23 November 2011):

Singapore's office property market has lost its appeal as an investment, according to real estate firm DTZ.

DTZ said demand for office space has declined, and the sector is now considered "cold".

It defines "cold" as property that is more than 5 per cent overpriced, with potential yield below

Hyflux: Continuing downtrend.

My recent decision to go long in Hyflux has turned out poorly. It was a decision heavy on TA and almost nothing FA wise. So, should I cut? Regular readers know that I do not like to cut as prices are declining.

Prices go down a river of hope and I would like to cut on rebounds and if prices should test resistance. If the opportunity does not present itself, then, it is another stock for the

AIMS AMP Capital Industrial REIT: Accumulate on weakness.

I bought more units of AIMS AMP Capital Industrial REIT today at 93.5c. 

Price touched a low of 93c on relatively high volume today. In the following days, if selling pressure does not let up, we could see the next support at 92c tested. That would bring us back to price levels not seen since December 2009.



Although the MFI and Stochastics both suggest that the REIT is terribly oversold, in

2011 full year passive income from S-REITs.

On 7 Dec, income distribution from AIMS AMP Capital Industrial REIT was received. It was also the final income distribution to be received from my portfolio of S-REITs this year.

Total income distribution received in 4Q 2011:
S$ 29,040.65.

Add this to S$ 75,785.49 received in the first three quarters of 2011, the grand total for the year 2011 is S$ 104,826.14.



I received more income this

Citibank Make A Wish: Win $1,000 weekly!

$1,000 to be won weekly!


6 winners will win $1,000 worth of shopping, driving or dining vouchers each in the next few weeks. Simply make your wish and share the reason for your wish, get as many friends to vote for you as possible, and you could be one of the lucky six!

So quickly, make your wish on the Citibank SG Facebook page by 21 Dec 2011 and tell friends to vote for you!

Find out more

Capitaland: Bought at $2.35.

Property counters continue to be sold down today. Mr. Market is really worried about the aggressive cooling measures announced by the government, it seems.

What do we do when there is lots of fear and prices are battered down? Ask ourselves if there could be some good stocks we might be able to buy on the cheap. I wondered especially if all property counters are going to be affected to the same

Buying a private property as an owner-occupier? Think like an investor!

This blog post is in response to a comment by a reader, Jaime. See it here.



Hi Jaime,

How to buy a private property for self stay? I am most probably considered an amateur when it comes to buying private properties but I am happy to share my thoughts with you.

Just keep visiting showflats if you want to buy new. Or keep viewing apartments (look through the classifieds in the papers or search

Selling a private property just got harder.

The Singapore government has "imposed an Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) for private property of between 3 per cent and 10 per cent for Singaporeans, Permanent Residents and foreigners to moderate investment demand for private residential property and promote a more stable and sustainable market."  Read article here.

This development is likely to hasten the weakening of private

NOL: Is the worst over?

Despite negative sentiments towards shipping companies, NOL's chart is showing signs of bottoming. If it has not bottomed, it has certainly found a floor and a rather strong one at that.



The long white candle formed today was on the back of relatively high volume. Fibo lines show that $1.175 is a rather strong resistance and if we could overcome this convincingly, next resistance levels are at

Tea with AK71: Macarons from ZUJI.

Today, I got a treat from ZUJI. They sent me a box of six macarons. What are macarons? I know what is macaroni. ;-p


Very nicely boxed and ribboned.

 
Wikipedia says it is "a sweet confectionery made with egg whites, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder and food coloring. The macaron is commonly filled with buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two cookies."



Letter says to

LMIR: Too cheap to sell.

Some who managed to get a meaningful number of excess rights might be thinking of selling these rights for a quick gain. After all, selling at 36.5c today would mean a capital gain of 5.5c or 17.7%. This is more than 18 months' worth of income distribution from the REIT if we were to use my estimate of 3.26c in annual DPU, post rights and acquisitions.


Personally, I wouldn't sell my rights

Risks, risks and risks.

This blog post is in response to a comment by a reader, Temperament: click here.



Hi Temperament,

With my limited knowledge of trading, I know that true blue traders must be emotionless. They cannot fall in love with anything. They should not hate anything either. They do what the charts tell them to do, when to long, when to short, when to take profit and when to cut loss. So, I don't think

LMIR: Excess rights.

It seems that LMIR's management has the same approach towards excess rights as First REIT's management.



Smaller unitholders would see more of their application filled compared to larger unitholders. I make this statement after exchanging notes with some friends and readers.

For me, excess rights alloted as a percentage of the units I was holding before the rights issue is about 17%. A

Girls, do up your hair!

In my blog post titled "REITs and rights issues: A Singaporean tale", I let my hair down figuratively. Even if I had really wanted to let my hair down, it would have been a challenge since I always cut my hair very short. ;p

For Christmas, there will be Christmas parties to attend, I am sure. Even a reclusive person like me gets invitations. I guess I am not reclusive enough.

Anyway, many would

CitySpring Infrastructure Trust: Worth another look?

In reply to a reader, Rookie, who asked if I would consider investing in CitySpring Infrastructure Trust now:

Hi Rookie,

CitySpring at 33.5c? With a promised annualised DPU of 3.28c, the expected distribution yield is 9.79%. This annualised DPU is, of course, lower than the 4.2c in the preceding year.

The balance sheet of CitySpring has strengthened after its latest rights issue in September

Tea with AK71: Taste of Hong Kong.

Firstly, this has nothing to do with my recent trip to Hong Kong. This happened in Singapore. :)

I was at Illuma and had a new dining experience. Well, it was a new experience to me.



Taste of Hong Kong. Business was good!



Instructions at every table.



Waffle with bonito flakes, luncheon meat and something saucy. I loved it!

Inexpensive comfort food in an air-conditioned environment with

REITs and rights issues: A zero sum game?

There has been a deluge of articles on REITs recently and my own blog posts on the subject have attracted many comments although not as many as the blog post in which I revealed my total passive income from S-REITs for the first nine months of this year. ;p

I received comments from a reader, Chopra, regarding my simplistic analogy given in "REITS and rights issues: A Singaporean tale." Read it

Bought Hyflux and AIMS AMP Capital Industrial REIT.

My overnight buy order for Hyflux at $1.20 was filled. Looking at the daily chart, it is immediately clear why I put in a buy order at that level. It is support. Even with a confirmation of a reversal signal, we want to buy as close to support as possible. Of course, luck plays a part because in very bullish circumstances, price could have gapped up and gone higher.



A white hammer was formed

Hyflux and Sound Global.

Regular readers know that I invested heavily in Hyflux Water Trust during the last crisis. I was drawn towards its very high distribution yield of some 17% and zero gearing at one stage as well as its very stable businesses. The Trust helped to grow my wealth significantly.


I continue to like the water business and believe that the world will continue to need solutions to water problems. In an