China Minzhong: Pushing higher.

To any chart watchers, it is obvious that China Minzhong's share price has broken out of resistance.  From here the immediate resistance is provided by the declining 100dMA which is currently at 73c. It could approximate 72c in the next few sessions.

Overcoming the 100dMA could see a test of resistance provided by the 200dMA which is also declining but more gently so. The 200dMA is at 83c. The last time the 200dMA was tested was earlier this year in February.

With all the momentum oscillators up sharply, the worst is over for China Minzhong's share price, it would seem. MACD suggests a return of positive momentum. MFI suggests demand is stronger. OBV suggests robust and continuing accumulation.

It has to be said that a longer term downtrend that started in early 2011 is still intact. So, traders ought to be careful and watch the longer term resistance.

Related post:
China Minzhong: Crossroads.

Sound Global: Retest of resistance likely

On 7 July, I said that the technicals suggested it could be time to sell Sound Global's shares and that if price were to move higher, it would be a slow grind upwards. This picture has, essentially, stayed intact till now as its share price has been stuck at resistance, not being able to move convincingly above 61.5c, a many times tested resistance in the last few months.

Mr. Market is feeling slightly bullish of late and, so, could his attention move to Sound Global?

The company's fundamentals are strong and with sentiments improving, there is a chance that its share price could move higher. A retest of resistance at 61.5c looks likely. However, whether resistance could be taken out would depend on volume which has been rather low.

After 61.5c, the next major resistance is at 68c.

Related post:
Sound Global: Would I buy now?

Sound Global said it has agreed to undertake the second phase to expand the existing capacity as well as to increase the existing discharge standard of the wastewater treatment plant BOT project in Jingbian County, Shaanxi Province, China.

Sound Global wins Shaanxi wastewater treatment plant BOT project for $16m
Friday, 03 August 2012

© 2012 - The Edge Singapore

Ben & Jerry’s Chunkfest!

Have you been to an ice-cream beach festival? Ice-cream what? Yes, an ice-cream beach festival!

Featuring 15 exclusive and specially flown flavours from around the world as well as our favourite flavours in Singapore, there will be fun, games and activities for everyone. And to top it all, we are also introducing a brand new flavor at the event this year!

Join us from 2pm to 10pm on August 25, 2012!

Follow this link for full details: Ben & Jerry's Chunkfest!

Saizen REIT: Beefing up distributable income.

Saizen REIT has been adding apartment buildings to its portfolio since resolving the CMBS for YK Shintoku. This will go some way to ameliorating the expected decline in DPU due to warrants exercised earlier.

Since my blog post of 26 May 2012, Saizen REIT's unit price has been rising gradually, hitting a high of 16c just two sessions ago. Mr. Market has recovered from his anxiety and is making up for over selling the REIT back in May, it seems.

For anyone who has missed the boat and is thinking of jumping in now, I would say that the risk premium is higher now, obviously. In the last two years or so, the highest Saizen REIT's unit price went to was 18c, if I remember correctly. Would its unit price push to test 18c again? I am almost confident it would but when would it do so? That, I cannot say.

If the REIT's unit price should decline, there are layers of support with longer term supports clustered at 14.6c, 14.4c and 14.3c. The shorter term 20dMA is at 15.4c. People anticipating its half yearly income distribution which is payable sometime in September and to be announced this month could be eyeing the 20dMA. So, the support, if tested, could show some strength in the near term.

Related post:
Saizen REIT: Why did I buy and would I buy more?

Japan Residential Assets Manager, the manager (of Saizen Real Estate Investment Trust (Saizen REIT),said associate Godo Kaisha has agreed to acquire of Rise Yotsugibashi (RYB) from an independent party for JPY 428 million ($6.8 million).


RYB is a brand new building built in June. It comprises 49 residential units, three car parking lots and five bicycle lots....


RYB is currently in the process of being tenanted. It is expected to generate annual revenue and net property income of JPY 36.3 million and JPY 27.5 million respectively, which are equivalent to about 0.9% and 1.1% of Saizen REIT’s annual revenue and net property income in the financial year ended 30 June 2011 (FY2011).

Saizen REIT acquires residential apartment for $6.8m
Friday, 03 August 2012

© 2012 - The Edge Singapore

LMIR: 2Q 2012 DPU 0.79c.

LMIR has increased distributable income, giving a distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.79c in 2Q 2012, payable on 30 August 2012. This an improvement over the DPU of 0.69c in 1Q 2012. Having said this, it is still lower than the 0.815c I estimated, post rights.

LMIR has a gearing level of 9.3% (9.2% in 1Q 2012) and its interest cover ratio is 11.4x (13.3x in 1Q 2012).  There is plenty of debt headroom and I still believe that growth through further acquisitions is likely to be funded fully by debt and we could see DPU improving by a fair amount.

Indonesia remains a growth story with domestic consumption forming some 60% of its GDP. The demand for quality retail space is growing over time.

LMIR remains a bullet proof REIT with a strong balance sheet. However, whether it could deliver meaningfully higher DPU depends on its management which seems slow to act and has, in my opinion, under-delivered, post rights.

Would at I buy at current prices? No.

See slides presentation: here.

Related post:
LMIR: 1Q 2012 DPU 0.69c.

Masters In Management - At The London Business School

In a very competitive job market, are you thinking of how to stand out from the crowd? Have you thought of having a Masters Degree to give you that competitive edge in job applications?

London Business School is looking to increase the number of Masters in Management (MiM) applications it receives from graduates/recent graduates with less than a year’s work experience, who are looking for a post-graduate business course. 

The Master in Management (MiM) programme will lay the foundations for a successful career in business as it gives students a competitive edge in front of global recruiters. 

The MiM programme helps students develop deep knowledge and skills in the key areas of business that can be transferred directly to the corporate world. 
 Develop deep knowledge and skills in the key areas of business that can be transferred directly to the corporate world · Develop deep knowledge and skills in the key areas of business that can be transferred directly to the co
The MiM programme also comes with a Career Skills Programme which runs alongside academic study and assists students with career evaluation, job search and professional skill development.

To stay relevant and current, the MiM programme was developed in extensive consultation with top recruiters and the curriculum focuses on the knowledge and skills that employers demand.

Leading recruiters regularly visit the school and the programme's Career and Business Immersion weeks provide exclusive opportunities to meet top graduate employers.

In just one year, LBS graduates can get a world-respected brand on their CV. 

The 2011 Masters in Management Employment Report shows that:

· 96% of the class secured an offer of employment within three months of graduation

· 42% of graduates went into finance; 35% into consulting and 23% into corporate sectors

· There was an increase in the number of students being hired into the same organisation which shows that recruiters value the contribution MiM make.

· Companies hiring MiMs included A.T. Kearney, Apple, Bain & Company, Booz & Company, Citi, Google, HSBC, L'Oreal, McKinsey & Company, The Boston Consulting Group, Unilever, Universal McCann, UBS and ZS Associates. 

See the full report here.

MiM alum Andreas Lubbe, who used the MiM to fast-track his business career, said: "I felt that there was no degree other than the London Business School Masters in Management that would really help to prepare me for working in top tier companies."

Andreas's programme experience video is available on the London Business School Masters in Management website.http://bs.serving-sys.com/BurstingPipe/adServer.bs?cn=tf&c=20&mc=click&pli=4543570&PluID=0&ord=[timestamp]  

So, if you are thinking of gaining a strong competitive edge in a business career, why not consider the London Business School Masters in Management?  MiM is a full-time, 12 month programme and the next start date is September 2012.

For more information, download the brochure here

Relevant links:
London Business School
Masters In Management


Sponsored Post

Traffic accident with a Malaysian vehicle.

On Saturday night, while driving home on the PIE, there was an accident on the lane I was in. As I always make it a point not to follow too closely the vehicle in front of me when I drive, I was able to stop my car in time although the wet road surface from an earlier downpour made braking more hazardous.

I was really pleased that my safe driving style paid off. However, that happiness lasted for only 3 or 4 seconds. There was a loud bang and I felt the impact as a motorcycle crashed into the back of my car. Sigh. I got out of my car and took a look. Argh! It was a motorcycle from Johor! Nooooo!

From being pleased, I became upset in a flash.

The motorcyclist was dazed and he probably cut his lips in the fall as he had blood on his teeth. His bike had a "P" sticker. A newly licensed rider. He looked frightened too and I later found out that the bike was borrowed from a friend.

I think I must have felt sorry for him and he must have have felt relieved that I did not scold him. He said he had tried to change lanes instead of braking but because traffic was heavy, he couldn't do it and ended up crashing into the rear of my car. He should have stopped his bike instead of trying to change lanes.

Anyway, I made a police report later that night at the advice of a friend. In any traffic accident involving a foreign vehicle in Singapore, a police report must be made within 24 hours of the accident.

Today, I brought my car to the approved workshop and my worst fear was realised. I would have to claim against my own insurance policy first because the other party is a foreign vehicle. It has to be so if I want to get my car repaired soon. There is no guarantee that the cost of repair could be recovered from the other party!

I would also have to pay an excess of $600 claiming against my own insurance policy. I bought an NCD protector. Otherwise, I would also lose my NCD.

Whenever I hear of accidents like this, I would always wonder why it is so difficult to claim against insurance policies of Malaysian vehicles involved in accidents here. In fact, I was told that it is almost impossible.

Singapore vehicles are not allowed on the roads unless they have valid insurance policies. The same should apply to foreign vehicles but if it is almost impossible to claim against their insurance policies, then, it is as good as being uninsured when they are in Singapore, isn't it? Then, they should not be allowed on our roads.

This reminds me of an accident here which I read in the papers some time ago involving a local female reporter. Her vehicle was the second last vehicle in a chain collision and the last vehicle was a van from Malaysia. She really suffered in the entire claim process which lasted months. I cannot remember clearly now but I think she had to bear all the cost in the chain collision as they could not track down the van from Malaysia.

These days, I always try to look on the brighter side of things. If I had not been able to brake in time, I would have been the second last vehicle in the chain collision and things would be more complicated now. I would have been in same situation as the female reporter mentioned earlier. So, I should count my blessings.

However, I am only human and cannot help but feel rather sad now...

To be richer, be comfortable with being invested.

I met someone recently who told me he is swearing off the stock market for good. I asked him why. He told me that he lost a lot of money in the global financial crisis but he managed to recover all his losses in the ensuing recovery. That is good news, isn't it? Well, apparently, Mr. Market took back some of the gains in the last one year. So, he is still in a nett loss position.

I asked if his investments paid any dividends and he said yes but very little. He said that with the amount of time and effort he put into the stock market, he might as well just leave the money in a fixed deposit and save himself some headache (and heartache).

This person was not a very close friend but for some reason when I meet people, the conversation would steer towards investments and personal finance matters. Anyway, as I did not know the person very well, I did not want to volunteer too much information because it could come back to haunt me one day.

However, I could not resist asking if he had thought of REITs. He looked at me with frown and said he vaguely remembered reading in the newspapers that REITs were a waste of time. He asked why did I ask. I told him I have some investments in REITs and they have been very good to me. He was curious and asked me for more information. I was in a slight fix.

I believe that for any investor, the most important knowledge is not TA or FA, it is self-knowledge. Know ourselves and we will know if a product is suitable for us. Know ourselves and we will know if a certain something is what we have been looking for. We could have all the financial knowledge in the world but not knowing ourselves, we could end up having sleepless nights as investors.

Why are investors in the stock market? To make money. Why do drivers go on the road? To get from point A to point B. Well, that would be a logical assumption. There are many types of investors in the stock market just like there are many types of drivers on the road. Each type would have a distinct behaviour but they all share one primary reason for doing what they do.

Some drivers are speed demons and they also like weaving in and out of traffic. On more than one occasion, a speeding car which had overtaken my slower Mazda 2 a few minutes before would be waiting for me at the next traffic light a few minutes later. Of course, if the driver had not been stopped by the traffic light, he could have reached his destination a few minutes earlier. Just for a few minutes, why increase the risk of getting into an accident?

Some spend much of their time in the stock market looking for the next big thing. The theme is multi-baggers. Is this wrong? No, of course not. I do it too. If we could find a multi-bagger, we would be rewarded many times over. However, once invested, the waiting is the hardest. What if something were to go wrong? Luck plays a big part in success.

These days, I still do a spot of potential multi-bagger spotting but I am able to do it now with a greater level of comfort. Why? I have a thick cushion of capital gains and dividends received. On top of this, I have a predictable flow of passive income from my investments in selected S-REITs and some high yield stocks. So, it helps to reduce any feeling of anxiety if my spotting becomes spotty. Being comfortable, therefore, would contribute to our success rate and if we are honest with ourselves, we would agree that this rings true.

We have probably heard from gurus that we must be emotionless in the stock market. I am only human. So, try as I may, I am not totally without emotions. I know that we should be greedy when others are fearful but if I do not have a greater level of comfort, I find it hard not to be at least somewhat fearful. It is like a person on a flying trapeze. He would feel less fearful if he had a safety net, wouldn't he?

I am a creature of comfort in more ways than one. I must feel comfortable in anything I do. I believe every human being is the same. Now, when financial advisors ask us what is our risk appetite, they could very well be asking us what is the level of comfort we need before we might want to take the plunge. Why do they not ask it differently? I wonder.

Finally, after such a long winded discourse, I am back to where I started. I asked this person to closely examine what he needs in order to feel comfortable in being invested in the stock market. That answer lies within him and he has to be honest with himself. Once he has the answer, things would fall into place and he would know what to do. Ideally, anyway.

Related posts:
1. Of primates and their diet.
2. Trading to put food on the table.
3. A common piece of advice on saving.
4. To protect our wealth, we have to take risk.
5. Why do I not panic?

What should a Singaporean have by age 35?

I came across an article in Yahoo!Finance: "The 5 things every Singaporean should have by 35."

The 5 things the author listed are:

1.  A time deposit that would be maturing soon. He thinks that people should start by having a reliable investment scheme in their 20s and went on to say that fixed deposits are a good place to look... er...

2.  A relevant degree. He thinks that a degree is the norm these days and people should get a degree as soon as possible. He also thinks that a degree is the key to employability. I wonder if diploma holders might disagree and, also, I guess for those who are more entrepreneurial, a degree might not really be a necessity.

3. A job with a health plan. OK, this sounds kind of strange to me. It is as if one of the reasons for working for company ABC must be because it has comprehensive health benefits for employees... I would rather have a comprehensive personal medical insurance policy. After all, what if company ABC were to retrench me?

4. All rollover debts resolved. This means no credit card debts. I think we should not have any credit card debts no matter our age. It is the most expensive debt anyone could have! 24% interest per annum? Of course, there are balance transfer offers aplenty these days but they aren't exactly free either, are they? So, zero rollover debts from the day we get our credit cards, period.

5. At least one form of side income. He says it doesn't matter if it is forex trading, franchise ownership or a money making hobby. This is to provide for retirement and some extra spending money. I would agree to this but I would try to make it so that this side income is passive in nature. The side income should be such that it continues to flow in even if we should be incapacitated in one way or another.

The author probably means well but I cannot help but feel that the article was hastily written although it is obvious to me that the writer has a flair for writing.

I suppose people in different age groups would have different things to say about what we should have by age 35. What would you say are the things we should have by age 35?

CapitaMalls Asia: Interim dividend of 1.625c per share.

Hurrah!

CapitaMalls Asia posted profit after tax and minority interests (PATMI) of $232 million for 2Q 2012, an increase of 40.7% from the $164.9 million for 2Q 2011.

Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) were $283.8 million for 2Q 2012, 33.4% higher than the $212.8 million for 2Q 2011.

CapitaMalls Asia has declared an interim dividend of 1.625 cents each.

CapitaMalls Asia’s 2Q earnings up 40.7% to $232m
Thursday, 26 July 2012

© 2012 - The Edge Singapore

Cache Logistics Trust: 2Q 2012's DPU down 5%.

A drop in DPU? Yes, that is right. From 2.086c in the last distribution to 1.981c this time round.

This is due mainly to a private placement of 60 million units in March this year. This is an important reason why I prefer a rights issue to a private placement.

With a rights issue, all unitholders are given a chance to participate in the enlarged capital base of the REIT. With a private placement, retail investors are usually disadvantaged.

Although the DPU might still fall 5% if the REIT had a rights issue instead of a private placement, at least all unitholders would have had a chance to buy new units at a discount which would mean the distribution yields on their investments would be less affected negatively, if at all. Unitholders would also be able to benefit from the price appreciation of the rights units.

Well, it remains to be seen if the management is able to improve DPU in the coming quarters, raising it to the level before the private placement in March.

NAV/unit: 90c.
Gearing: 27.5%.
Interest cover ratio: 7.5x.

With gearing lower at 27.5%, new acquisitions could be in the pipeline.

See presentation slides: here.

Related post:
Cache Logistics Trust: 1Q 2012.

First REIT: 2Q 2012 DPU unchanged.

First REIT has delivered another quarterly DPU of 1.93c, unchanged from the last quarter. However, the quarterly DPU of 1.93c would not be repeated as it includes the final payment from the gain from selling of its Adam Road property. This is why I have cautioned more than once that we should use a more conservative quarterly DPU estimate of 1.6c when valuing the REIT.

The REIT goes XD on 30 July 2012 and income distribution is payable to unitholders on 29 August 2012.

NAV/unit: 79.5c
Gearing: 15.9%
Interest cover ratio: 11.8x
Occupancy: 100%

In 2H 2012, the REIT could see marginally higher income once a 5 storey annex is completed in its Lentor Residence later this year. It is also expected to take advantage of its low gearing and acquire more properties from its sponsor, Lippo Karawaci. The REIT has ROFR to several properties in Indonesia in various stages of completion.

Lentor Residence

First REIT's current unit price is definitely on the high side. Mr. Market is not known for patience. So, if the REIT should be tardy in its efforts to improve DPU, we could see its unit price declining over time now that the contribution from the sale of its Adam Road property will cease.

See slides presentation: here.

Related post:
First REIT: 1Q 2012 DPU of 1.93c and a higher fair value?