Something AK wants to lose and not gain.

I was inspired after talking to a new found friend to try a new diet. So, I have not had any rice, bread, noodles or crackers since 8 November.

I have cut down on stuff with lots of added sugar which, of course, includes sugary drinks. I now drink water or green tea only.

If I want something sweet, I take some roasted almonds, dark chocolate (70% to 85%) or fruits. 


I have increased my intake of animal protein and greens. I have even started to take butter and certainly hope it is the right thing to do.

Cowhead belongs to QAF Ltd. Buttercup belongs to Auric Pacific.
Be careful. I found out today that Buttercup is actually not butter!
http://foodtherapybyaz.com/2014/05/27/i-cant-believe-its-not-butter/
Luckily, I chose to get Cowhead. I like supporting my companies.
AK is definitely a butter virgin.

Although being inspired is important, what really made me want to try this new diet was a visit to the clinic.


I was told that I was 7 kgs overweight. OMG! 

OK, to be honest, I knew that I was probably somewhat overweight because my pants felt tighter around the waist than before but 7kgs? 

That's a lot of excess weight!

Anyway, my new found friend told me that, to lose weight, exercise is 20% while diet is 80% of the formula. That was a revelation. I have always thought that exercise is more important than diet.

So, what have I been eating this week?

Here are some photos of the meals I had:

All prepared at home (except for the dark chocolate, of course).

It has been only a week. I don't know if I have lost weight but I guess I will know in another couple of weeks. 

Stiff upper lip and soldier on. What?


On a separate note, I am thinking of taking a short break from blogging and anything related to my blog which would include time spent on Facebook.

So, if you do not hear from me for a whole week or a few days in the near future, don't be alarmed. Just taking a break.

Trading around core positions for extra money.

Some might remember me talking about how I was trading stocks a bit more in the past. I also talked about how it is possible to trade around our core investments for income here and there.

If we are good at it, we could make some extra money from trading and yet retain a portion of our investments for regular income.



I don't trade stocks as much these days because it entails more work. It isn't just about buying stocks and holding them for dividends. We have to look at charts and decide when to sell and, of course, hope that prices might come down again so that we could buy.

However, sometimes, I just feel like doing a bit of trading and one example in the last two weeks was ST Engineering. I partially divested at $3.35 a share at the end of October with the intention to buy again if its stock price should decline meaningfully.

I decided to sell at $3.35 because that was where the mildly declining 200d MA was approximating back then. 

As ST Engineering's stock price declined over a few days, I resisted the urge to buy as connecting the lowest and second lowest price points gave me a trend line which suggests that there is probably going to be stronger support at $2.98 thereabouts which happens to be where the 123.6% Fibo retracement line is also located.

My BUY order at $2.98 today was filled.

Of course, it does not mean that the stock price will not go lower from here. 

Technical analysis simply shows us where the supports are. It doesn't say if the supports will hold. Now, if the support should break, we might see $2.88 tested next. I could buy more then.

Now, what if the stock price did not decline but went higher instead? 

Trading around a core position means that we still have a core investment retained for income generation.

So, some might remember that the mistake I made with ARA a few years ago was not retaining a core position whereas I sold only half of my investment in Old Chang Kee and retained half for income, for example.

So, when employing such a strategy, it is important to buy into stocks which we would be quite happy to hold because of the regular income we will receive. If the opportunity for a trade should present itself, sell a portion of our investment and retain a core position.

If prices go up, we are happy. If prices go down, we are happy too.

I don't think anyone would be unhappy with such a situation or am I mistaken?

Related posts:
1. Have my curry puff and eat it too!
2. ARA: Re-initiating a long position.
3. ST Engineering: Mystical art.

Accordia Golf Trust: A DPU of 2.32c and still a buy?

I was wondering how badly Accordia Golf Trust's revenue could have been affected by the inclement weather in Japan in recent months. That was really what was holding me back from increasing my exposure to the business trust significantly even as its unit price hovered near its historic low.

In its latest results, it was revealed that performance in 2Q was disappointing. This translated into a DPU of only 0.74c for 2Q. For the 1H, total income available for distribution translated into a DPU of 2.59c.

Personally, I was hoping for a 1H DPU of 2.9c or even 2.95c which would have been possible if DPU for 2Q came in at 1.1c. Investing in golf courses for income, I guess the weather is something I must learn to take into consideration.

Accordia Golf Trust also decided to hold back 10% of the income available for distribution which means that DPU is only 2.32c for the period from 1 April to 30 September. 

So, what is the distribution yield?

I believe that it would be a mistake to annualise the DPU of 2.32c because it would be assuming that the weather would continue to be horrible in Japan for the next six months. 

However, if we like to think of it as a worst case scenario, yes, why not? 4.64c. This, of course, assumes that the management continues to distribute only 90% of distributable income.

At 62c a unit, we are looking at a distribution yield of 7.48%. This, I believe is pretty decent and higher than the 7% distribution yield dangled at Accordia Golf Trust's IPO which was, of course, at 97c a unit (which I thought was pretty much rubbish).

So, the question which I foresee many asking is whether Accordia Golf Trust is still a good investment for income? Well, I think it still is.

I do not believe that Accordia Golf Trust could turn in results which are much worse for the next six months but, of course, one can never be too sure when it comes to the weather. Anyway, chances are that things would improve unless Accordia Golf Trust has really bad luck. It is a matter of probability, really.

Accordia Golf Trust's current gearing level is 28.8% and its stock is trading at a 30% discount to NAV. 

About three quarters of the land the golf courses are sitting on are owned by the business trust. The rest of the land are leased from individuals, corporations or the government.

It is apparent to me that Accordia Golf Trust has ample debt headroom. As the business trust has a pipeline of assets to acquire from its sponsor, with the interest rate in Japan so low, I think it is a matter of time before the business trust makes its acquisitions. Fully debt funded, such acquisitions are likely to be DPU accretive.

If Mr. Market should feel depressed about Accordia Golf Trust's results, I certainly hope that he would show his displeasure in the usual manner which would allow me to accumulate at lower prices.

Related post:
Accordia Golf Trust: A distribution yield of 12.16%?

Is it too late to plan for retirement at age 57?

This is in reply to a reader's comment: here.

Hi hosea,

Welcome to my blog. :)

I am not allowed to give advice to individuals and I don't. ;)

However, if I were 57, I must recognise that I cannot be too adventurous with my money. I need to be more conservative.

Being more conservative, the returns might be lower but there is less chance of a massive or total loss of capital which a senior can ill afford. 




I want to consider investment grade bonds which includes Singapore Savings Bonds and also possibly maxing out my CPF-RA to benefit from a risk free 4% to 6% per annum return. This will provide a guaranteed monthly income in future.

Of course, I would have to make sure that my lifestyle is adjusted according to how much I expect to have coming in at retirement. 

It is not just how much we have coming in that is important. It is also how much is the outflow.

Now, at 57, if I think there is going to be a mismatch in what I need and what I would have coming in, then, postponing retirement to a later age beyond 62, which is only 5 years away from now, might have to be considered. This will also allow my CPF savings to continue growing.




What about investments? 

Well, I could consider blue chips which are less volatile and which have a good dividend paying history. 

I might want to consider ST Engineering, SATS and VICOM, for examples. 

I might have a few REITs which are more conservatively geared in my portfolio but I wouldn't want them to be a major part of my portfolio because I might not have the resources to take part in rights issues if they should happen.




If I have a HDB flat, there are many ways to monetise my flat. I could sell some of the remaining lease to HDB or I could rent out a spare room or two. I could choose to downsize too.

Finally, I remember that I have some savings in my SRS account which I can start drawing from at age 62 over a 10 years period. As long as I must pay income tax, I want to consider continuing to make contributions to my SRS account to pay less in tax.

I don't think it is too late to plan for retirement at age 57 but we have to be realistic with the options which are available. 

Related posts:
1. NDR 2014: Retirement adequacy.
2. Tea with Matthew Seah: Lifelong income with SRS.
3. CPF Life Payout estimator.