9 steps to destroy back-stabbers!

Heard of  打小人? This is an old Taoist ritual to get rid of villains or back-stabbers in our lives!

I have only seen this done in movies produced locally like "881". I have not seen anyone doing this in real life nor have I done it myself.

Anyway, I Googled for more information and discovered "Singapore Taoism Forum"! I didn't know the Taoist community in Singapore had an online forum. Amazing and rather delightful too.

The steps to ridding ourselves of back-stabbers in our lives are listed in the forum as:

1. prepare a set of josspapers with a paper human figure, a tiger, a scholar, a horse and a red paper with many printed figures.

2. make all necessary requests infront of the Lord of Tiger (Hu Ye)

3. engage ritual masters/leaders to perform the beating of Xiao Ren (paper human figure), if a person knows the name or DOB, can always write them down on the human figure before the ritual starts

4. allow the master/leader to start the ritual by asking you certain questions (some don't ask)

5. ritual start, you will see the master/leader using a clog or slipper to beat hard onto the human figure and do certain chanting or sentences reciting (some can be very misleading and harsh, some can even used crude remarks like dying, handicapped, etc)

6. after the ritual, the master/leader will advise you to burn off the human figure (if still in good shape) with the pile of josspapers (including the tiger figure)

7. the scholar, horse and red paper must be retain and needed to be paste on the wall beside the Lord of Tiger altar, allowing the Lord of Tiger to give you the necessary blessing

8. after pasting the papers onto the wall, the ritual considers complete

9. come back to the temple next year for thanks-giving

Spooky!

So, what inspired me to find out about this ancient ritual? This:

Hey, stick the back-stabber's name and DOB on the head of the figurine and you are done. No need to have 9 steps lah.

On top of that, you would be stabbing him in the front and not the back. More honourable, don't you think so?

Wicked, isn't it? ;p

Great Eastern Life paid me $4,000.

Time really flies and there are just too many signs that I am growing older.

Today, I received a letter from Great Eastern Life to inform me that they have paid me $4,000.

The last payment took place three years ago but it sure doesn't feel like it. It feels like only a few months ago. Three years just went by so quickly.

I have quite a few simple endowment plans and this is one of two regular premium endowment plans. The rest are single premium endowment plans.

These days, I don't think we can find such simple endowment plans anymore or at least that is what people tell me. It is the era of ILPs now.

It is really strange how things are mixed up these days but there is a reason why things are strangely mixed up, isn't there?

Related posts:
1. Inflation adjusted retirement income plan.
2. Enhanced Incomeshield for my mom.
3. A common piece of advice on saving.
4. Retiring a millionaire is not a dream.
5. Why a wealthy nation cannot afford to retire?

Getting started in stock investing and trading.

I have met people who told me that they find it hard to learn fundamental analysis (FA) or technical analysis (TA) by reading books. Some would get bored very quickly and lose interest. Some just find it harder to understand and absorb information presented in writing. For sure, not everybody enjoys reading.

Many of these people who are interested enough in the subject of investing and trading in the stock market could end up signing up for courses which could cost $X,XXX per course. I am not saying that these courses are not good as, indeed, like what a friend told me, some learn better in a classroom environment.

A case of different strokes for different folks? Maybe.

However, if I were to tell these people that there is possibly a book out there which they could find enjoyable to read and, in the process, save them lots of money, would they not give the book a chance? Is there such a book? Yes, I found one recently.

The book is an amazingly fun and engaging read. Each chapter is preceded by illustrations in the form of comic strips!

Example:

The chapters are well organised and bring the reader through fundamental analysis (FA) and technical analysis (TA). Yes, the author marries both schools. As this is something which I have always suggested as the most holistic approach to investing, I highly recommend this book.

See:

The book is obviously written with the beginner in mind. However, any seasoned stock market participant who is in the FA or TA camp would find this book a worthwhile read if he is willing to keep an open mind.

The book is now available for order from BetterWorldBooks. With every book ordered, a book will be given to the poor.

Follow the banner below to order a copy of  "Getting Started in Stock Investing & Trading: An Illustrated Guide":



Search for books by "Michael C. Thomsett" and you will find the book. Purchase a copy and you will be doing good in more ways than one.

Related posts:
1. 5 Rules for Successful Stock Investing.
2. Recommended books for FA and TA.

Iron Man 3.

I enjoyed "Iron Man" the movie. I also enjoyed "The Avengers". I am definitely going to watch "Iron Man 3" as well.

In "Iron Man 3", Tony Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible.

With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him.

As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

I like movies which pack a punch, provide food for thought and inspire the audience.

When we are down and out, we are only really down and out if we believe we are down and out.

Unless we are seriously disadvantaged in some way, it is never too hard to improve our lots in life.

If you like what I like, watch "Iron Man 3":
http://sg.sharings.cc/AK71SG/share/ironman3

KFC + Iron Man 3 = $30,000 in prizes!

Customers stand a chance to win attractive prizes up to $30,000 at KFC beginning 10 April 2013 for a limited period!

The reason behind this?

KFC has teamed up with Marvel Studios to bring customers the action of the highly anticipated movie "Iron Man 3" with a hero sized burger that features two hot and crispy Zinger fillets, turkey bacon, sliced cheese plus golden hash brown and NO BUN!

Sounds mouth watering, doesn't it?

Find out how you could be a winner at:
http://sg.sharings.cc/AK71SG/share/zingerddm

Singapore National Reserves.

A reader, Boon Sun, kindly contributed a piece of academic writing after reading my blog post on CPF and SGS recently.

He said 

"I have written an article on Singapore Reserves to raise awareness of the economic importance of this asset of Singapore's. This topic was also raised in one of the MOE/MOF budget seminar. If you think this is useful and easy to understand, you can share with your readers."




Here is his essay in full:

Singapore National Reserves are a critical resource for Singapore’s future. Our financial reserves are managed by the administrative branch of Government such as the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Temasek Holdings and Government Investment Corporation (GIC) and they serve as a strategic asset for these two key purposes:

1) They provide a key defence for Singapore in times of crisis. Our reserves are a strategic asset should a major crisis occur, allowing us to mount a decisive and effective response. In 2009, faced with the threat of our worst recession, Singapore government tapped into our reserves for a withdrawal of S$4.9 billion as part of the Resilient Package in our 2009 budget. This cushioned the economy from a severe economic downturn as the Government increased their expenditure to reduce job losses and keep viable companies afloat.

2) The investment of our reserves also provides a valuable stream of income for the Government Budget, which can be spent or invested for the benefit of the current, as well as future, generations. The Net Investment Returns Contribution (NIRC) from our financial investments by MAS, GIC and Temasek Holdings has allowed Singapore to maintain our investment in social and economic developments. NIRC almost quadrupled from S$2.1 billion in 2006 to S$7.9 billion in 2011. The Net Investment Returns Contribution (NIRC) comprises up to 50% of the Net Investment Returns on the net assets managed by GIC and MAS, and up to 50% of the investment income from the remaining assets (which includes Temasek). The NIRC has allowed Singapore to remain economically competitive by allowing Singapore to maintain low personal and corporate taxes while maintaining our government expenditure.

When the Government achieves an overall budget surplus over a term, the surplus will be kept in our National Reserves as Past Reserves. A term of government usually lasts 4-5 years. To prevent reckless fiscal policies by the current Government, which would result in a depletion of our reserves and hurt Singapore’s economic and social stability, our Constitution protects the Past Reserves of the Government and Fifth Schedule entities. Hence, the Government had to ask the President for permission to draw from the reserves in 2009.

Assets and Liabilities

Singapore’s National Reserves refer to the total assets minus liabilities of the Government and other entities specified in the Fifth Schedule under the Constitution.

Our assets include physical assets, such as land and buildings, and financial assets, such as cash, securities and bonds. As it is difficult to get market valuation for our physical assets, we usually refer to our financial reserves which are made up of our financial assets as our Nation’s Reserves. MAS manages Singapore’s official foreign reserves and government deposits, Temasek Holdings acts primarily as a commercial investment company, and GIC is the Singapore Government’s fund manager. As of 2012 March, MAS holds S$304 billion of foreign reserves and S$150 billion of government deposits, Temasek Holdings has a portfolio worth S$198 billion and GIC manages well over US$100 billion. Temasek and GIC are often termed as Sovereign Wealth Funds, which means they are stated-owned investment funds.

Our liabilities mainly comprise of Singapore Government Securities (SGS) and Special Singapore Government Securities (SSGS). The 10-year yield for SGS is decided by market conditions and ranged from 1.3-1.4% per annum between 15^th and 18^th Jan 2013. The SSGS issued to CPF pays a coupon rate of 2.5% to 4% per annum. To put these figures into perspective, the United States 10-year treasury yield is about 1.84%, Germany about 1.56%, Hong Kong at 1.04%, the Netherlands at 1.70%. Hence, we can see that Singapore enjoys a low cost of borrowing due to its credit-worthiness. Our bonds are ranked as one of the safest by major credit rating agencies. Singapore may have one of the world’s largest public debts (public debt can be measured as a ratio of Debt to GDP) but most of our debts are in local currencies and held by government agencies. Thus, our debt is relatively much more stable and safe as compared to the national debt of other economies.

The System

The diagram below can be used to briefly explain the system in which our Government gets the funds to invest for higher returns and increase our national reserves. Before we can get started, we need to be aware of the differences between different divisions of a government.

In the diagram, we separate the Government into two different sections. One of them is the Government (Executive) which refers to the ruling party of Singapore. Government (Executive) is formed by political party/parties which is/are elected into the Government by the people. Our current Government (Executive) is formed by the People Actions Party, led by our PM Lee Hsien Loong. The other section is the administrative section which is our Public Service division. It is made up of different ministries such as Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Manpower and they are independent of any political parties, and not affected by any political changes in Singapore. Monetary Authority of Singapore is part of Ministry of Finance and both GIC and Temasek Holdings are investment firms owned by Singapore government. Hence, we would group these three entities in one group which manages our financial reserves. These three entities are independent of political influence or the Government (Executive).

Over a term of 5 years, the Government runs either a balanced overall term budget where the deficits and surpluses cancelled out each other, an overall term budget surplus where the net surplus will be added to the Singapore reserves. Due to Singapore Constitution, it is almost impossible for a government to have a term deficit unless the President allows the Government to withdraw from our National Reserves. The borrowed sum of money from our reserves needs to be repaid back to the reserves once the Government runs a budget surplus. As mentioned earlier, up to 50% of the net investment return of our investments is used for our annual budget.

When the economy grows, the employment market also improves. The improvement in employment market increases the CPF contribution from employees, and as long as the increase in CPF contributions outweighs the withdrawal of CPF funds by retirees, the employment situation will lead to a higher net CPF contribution, ceteris paribus. Hence, it is important that for the Singapore labour market to keep growing, so that we have a positive net CPF contribution for Singapore to grow its reserves. However, this inflow of money is threatened by the aging population, as there will be more withdrawal by the retirees and less contributions from economically active residents. CPF liability refers to the total amount of money owed to the workers of Singapore when they retire.

The Government will issue the SSGS bonds to CPF to borrow the cash for various purposes, such as investment by the different organisations. This completes the basic cycle in which how the Government gets the money to invest for higher returns and grow our national reserves.




Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

According to the IMF, Singapore has the 12^th largest foreign reserves of US$250 billion in 2012. Our GDP was US$240 billion in 2011, and Singapore had the world’s highest foreign reserves per capita in the world, at US$50,128.

            Singapore is able to accumulate large amount of reserves due to our high national savings rate, healthy BOP, and fiscal surpluses accumulated over the past decades. These foreign reserves allow the Singapore government to intervene in the foreign exchange market, usually to stabilise the exchange rate fluctuation during economic crisis. In 2011, MAS recorded a net profit of S$2.77 billion.

            Having large foreign reserves is very important for Singapore, which has a small and open economy reliant on exports. A highly volatile exchange rate deters long term foreign investment such as FDIs and would hurt Singapore’s economic growth. It would also disrupt the long term business plans of local companies. Therefore, it is important that MAS intervenes to reduce our short term currency fluctuations.

            As financial markets have been experiencing high volatility over the past few years due to numerous macroeconomic shocks such as the world financial crisis, the EU debt crisis and now the US debt crisis, it is imperative that MAS has a steady flow of foreign reserves for us to tide over the tough economic conditions.

Temasek Holdings

            Temasek’s aim is to maximise shareholder value over the long term. A significant portion of Temasek’s portfolio is invested in Singapore. However since 2002, Temasek has taken active steps to diversify its portfolio into Asia and other markets. Currently, as of 31 March 2012, 72% of the portfolio is invested in Asian markets, with Singapore accounting for 30% of the overall portfolio, 25% of the portfolio is in Australia, New Zealand, North America and Europe while 3% of the portfolio is invested in Latin America, Africa, Middle East and Central Asia.

            Some of the major investments of Temasek Holdings include Standard Chartered PLC, DBS Group Holdings, Singapore Telecommunications Limited, Keppel Corporation Limited, Singapore Airlines Limited, Singapore Power Limited, SMRT Corporation Limited, Capitaland Limited and Olam International Limited. In 2012, the net accounting profit was S$11billion.

Government Investment Corporation (GIC)

            GIC’s mandate is to achieve good long-term returns, to preserve and enhance the international purchasing power of Government reserves. As a rule, GIC’s investments are outside Singapore and not in Singapore companies or instruments. Due to national security issues, the Government does not disclose the size of our financial assets in GIC to prevent speculative attacks on our financial system which would threaten our economic stability.

            We can see that due to the rule set by the Singapore Government, the geographical locations of GIC investments differ from Temasek Holdings, and this complements the different portfolios between these two entities.

Performance of Our Financial Investment

            Due to the long term investment view taken by Temasek Holdings and GIC, we have achieved a real positive return on our investment. GIC has achieved a real investment return of 3.9% after taking into account of the global inflation. Temasek Holdings has achieved a nominal annual return of 16% over the past 20 years. These figures compare favourably against other mixes of portfolio investment in the financial world of investment.

            During the financial crisis in 2008, GIC and Temasek Holdings made the headlines together with other SWFs as they invested heavily into banks by purchasing equities. Due to the timing of the investment, both GIC and Temasek Holdings incurred huge losses through their purchase of equities in distressed banks such as UBS, Barclays, Bank of America and UBS. Since then, the value of GIC and Temasek portfolio has recovered and surpassed the pre-crisis level.

            According to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, as of Jan 2013, both Temasek Holdings and GIC are listed among the Top 10 SWFs in terms of the value of their assets. The top 3 SWFs are the Government Pension Fund (Norway), with assets of US$660 billion, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (UAE) with assets of US$627 billion, and SAFE Investment Corporation (China) with assets of US$560 billion. In 2012, Temasek Holdings recorded a net profit of S$11 billion whereas China Investment Corporation, another SWF of China, recorded a loss of 4.3% on its overseas holding. Thus, our SWFs have performed admirably over the past decades to grow our reserves.

Conclusion

            Our National Reserves form a critical part of our national security in ensuring economic stability. In times of crisis, they act as a powerful tool for government to resolve economic problems. Over the past decades, the three agencies, MAS, GIC and Temasek Holdings, have managed to grow our national reserves despite a resource-scarce economy.

            As the issue of aging population become more acute, the net CPF contribution may fall, reducing the inflows of funds into GIC and Temasek Holdings. Political demands by Singaporeans to establish a wider social safety net would result in an increase in Government’s expenditure. As a result, The Government may require a higher contribution from Net Investment Returns Contribution to fund the increase in government’s expenditure. These two issues pose challenges to the growth of our national reserves.

The 1998 Asian Financial Crisis, the Argentina debt crisis in 2000, the EU debt crisis and the on-going US debt issue show us the need to be prudent in our use of national reserves and to avoid populist policies which many hamper our economic growth in the long run.

A depletion of national reserves could create an economic crisis in Singapore. Thus, we should not be complacent in our management of National Reserves. As the world economy has become more volatile the past few years and in times of economic distress, our National Reserves would serve as a key national asset for us to fall back on.

My blog as a business?

I am quite the idiot when it comes to IT stuff.

Friends have given up asking me to use Excel and Powerpoint. At one point, I thought Excel meant to do well at work and Powerpoint was some special power which magic users had in Dungeons and Dragons.

Talk to me about Cloud and I will tell you it is all about dew point and ADLR which stands for adiabatic lapse rate. Hey, I could sound Greek too, you know, but just from a different corner of the island.

Actually, I have been reprimanded by a fellow blogger before for not becoming IT savvy. I am sure he means well and I do see why he thought I was not doing enough. 

Hey, I even gave up Facebooking after a few months but I only started a Facebook account because a friend told me my blog should have one. I didn't do it voluntarily.

To me, isn't having a blog good enough to reach out to people? Apparently, it isn't! 

Oh my goodness, it is just too much for my Jurassic Age brain to process. Woe is me.

A meeting over the weekend with someone whom I later found out to be an internet marketing guru set me thinking about my blog. 

I was impressed when I found out how he harnessed the power of the internet and made very good money. 

Passive income, I thought. No, he said, not passive. It is still a business that has to be maintained.

Oh dear. That sounds like work to indolent me.

I did some reading on internet marketing over the weekend and I am still quite lost. I mean I have ads in my blog and I also recommend some value for money deals in my blog. So, I guess these are considered internet marketing too, right? 

Then, why don't I make big money from blogging?

Of course, anyone who has followed my blog for a while would know that, for me, blogging was something that happened not by design. 

I started this blog out of boredom and curiosity. 

Any internet marketer would look at my blog's URL and shake his head. Too long. Too hard to remember.

Over the years, I just kept blogging and sharing my ideas. If I made some pocket money from blogging, I was happy but it was, obviously, not a major consideration despite what some people might think and say.

Now that I have been offered a peek into what I might be able to do with my blog, one question is, of course, how do I go about doing it? 

Another question is whether I want to do it?

Truthfully, I am more interested in learning about how to do it than to be actually doing it. After all, it could be something I might be able to do in future. 

A retirement pursuit? Maybe.

In a way, being really passionate about blogging without any overarching need for monetary rewards could have been a good thing because over the last few years, just doing what I enjoy doing, without any plan for branding, I found that I have established a brand. 

What do I mean?

If we were to Google "ASSI" or "AK" or "ASSI AK", my blog would appear at the top of the search results! 

It is true! Go ahead and try it.

I have known this for some time but the significance of it did not hit home until very recently. It is both exciting and scary. 

I am an anonymous public figure! 

I am an oxymoron! 

How is that for wow factor?

Anonymous public figure.

Any marketing person would tell us that a strong brand is an incredible asset. So, could I be sitting on an asset? 

If I could think of how to make this asset work for me, I could quit my day job and become a full time blogger like XiaXue and Mr. Brown, couldn't I?

Ahhhh... (picture Homer Simpson in a daze).

Ooooh... (nope, this is not a paid advertorial for Pizza Hut). 

Sigh... (allow me to look phased out for a while).

OK, back to reality. Hard landing. Ouch.

Anyway, I am just thinking out loud here, as always. I hope I have not offended anyone.

Blogging power!

I think I should be a fashion blogger!

I could start a trend. No?

Want a free burger at Wendy's?

Wendy's "Son of Beef Baconator" is here!

We are always being asked if we want to upsize our orders at fast food restaurants. Well, Wendy's downsized their very popular "Beef Baconator"!

Ever felt guilty for indulging in too much meat? You won't have to feel guilty with Wendy's "Son of Beef Baconator" or "SOBB" in short!

So, how to get this burger FREE?
Follow this link and find out now:
http://sg.sharings.cc/AK71SG/share/wendysSOBB

Ends 30 April 2013.

Marco Polo Marine: Is this a good time to buy more?

Yesterday, I met up briefly with some friends. It was a very invigorating experience as we talked about value investing. When asked if there was a stock which I thought would pass any fundamental analysis on both quantitative and qualitative aspects, without hesitation, I said "Marco Polo Marine".

Massive shortage has resulted in a 15% to 20% AHTS charter rate premium in Indonesia .

I have blogged extensively about Marco Polo Marine's business and why its stock was undervalued and how, even now, it is inexpensive. However, Mr. Market is a sentimental being and how he feels is more important than how he thinks. So, can we tell how Mr. Market feels about the stock?

I have mentioned about the glaring negative divergence in the chart a few times before and how anyone who should buy in then should be cautious enough not to throw in everything including the kitchen sink.

Since touching a high of 45c a share, the stock price has been drifting sideways with immediate support at 41c. Although volume is necessary to push price higher most of the time, it is not necessary to have volume to see price weakening over time, and volume has been very thin in the last month or so.

So, is this a good time to buy more of Marco Polo Marine's stock?

Although valuations are still very undemanding, I get the feeling that Mr. Market is waiting for a positive catalyst which could give the stock price a sugar rush.

In the meantime, we could expect some long holders to sell out their positions. Are they wrong to do so? Well, they could have found better places for their money or they could see with more clarity than I could that stock price is going to suffer a significant decline. Or they could have simply lost patience. There are so many possible reasons.

I like to think that a sideway movement in an uptrend is more bullish than bearish. When there is sideway movement, I like to look at the Stochastics which, in this case, seems to be turning up in oversold territory. Also, as the stock price formed lower highs, CMF has formed higher highs which suggests to me that smart money is still flowing into the stock even as its price seems to be stuck in the doldrums.

I told my friends that we should be brave and be invested. However, we should have a war chest ready. We could see share price lowering to test supports at 41c, 40c or even 39.5c where the rising 100d MA is approximating. 

Having said this, there is no guarantee that supports would be tested. So, if we are still waiting by the side, this is a possibility that we have to accept.

Even though I have strong conviction, I remain pragmatic and if things should go awry, I have the resources to ride through the rough patches. Stay invested but stay prudent.

Related posts:
1. Stock picking: Spotlight on Marco Polo Marine.
2. Marco Polo Marine: Insider buying continues.