Musings about Life and Investments

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  Since January 2021, the stock markets evolved. China A shares and Tech fell by 20%. Emerging Tech like Tesla, Square, ARK ETFs fell by 30%. Whereas the old economy sectors moved higher. S&P500, European big caps, moved higher. Energy, mining, banking performed better.   I think the old economy China A shares are recovering fast. This will be followed by emerging tech, China tech, somewhere in June or July. Emerging markets too (Fidelity Emerging markets). It looks like a set up for a rally in the second half of 2021.   Here is an update of my investments. It is for sharing only. I find that putting my investments in a model portfolio helps me analyse where I made mistakes and correct them quickly.   New investments for the week:   Taiwan Semiconductor, TSMC. I never liked foundry biz. I used to cover Chartered Semicon and the company ran to the ground. However, the world has an increased need more chips, from mobile devices to cars. There is a further need...

 So to achieve the BRRR successfully in residential real estate, we need to operate in countries which have the following characteristics: 1. Cashflow positive at 75% LTV.  The net rental yield should be at least three percentage points above mortgage rate. Interest only mortgage should ideally be available. On average, net yield in UK is about 7 - 8% if you know how to find the right class of properties. Mortgage rate is 4 - 5% interest only. Singapore's is 2.5%, mortgage interest 1.5% but it is a repayment mortgage. At 75%, it is usually negative cashflow. The more you buy the poorer you get. Australia does not allow interest only mortgage now. The net yield is around 4.5%, which is almost the same as the mortgage interest. In New Zealand, the net yield is around 6% outside Auckland and 4% in Auckland, and the mortgage interest around 3 - 4%. We don't have to talk about China, Thailand, Vietnam and all the exotic third world countries because local mortgage is not easily ava...

Is Singapore the best place to invest for properties? When we talk about properties, we are referring to "residential properties". Each asset class is different. For example, office space is dependent on new business creation minus destruction, plus other factors such as up coming supply, structural changes such as co-working spaces. Retail is adversely affected by e-commerce, but also dependent on surrounding population growth and wages to support a mall's business. Industrial is dependent on demand from new business creation, economic growth, but structurally challenged by co-working spaces and better located office spaces.  The best way to be financially free in a safe and fast way is to find countries where you can do the "BRRR" strategy. What is BRRR? It's "Buy, Refurbish, Rent, Refinance". You cannot achieve financial freedom from zero to S$5 million in 10 years by buying two residential properties and hope they double or triple in value in 1...

  Quite a few friends, followers and clients have asked about BABA. Firstly, I’ve bought ¼ at around USD250, another ¼ at USD235. Because they were at 200MA. I won’t buy any more because the next step is to wait for the turnaround, otherwise I may run out of money. As long as the business is good, long term trend is up, I will still hold.     Alibaba’s revenue grew 64% YOY. 3 major strategic investment priorities of domestic consumption, globalisation, and technology / cloud. Valuation is one of the cheapest among e-commerce players like Amazon, JD, Tencent. Against historical valuations, its Forward PE and EV EBITDA are over 1 standard dev below mean.     EBITA margin has steadily dropped to around 24% while net margin remain stable at 30%.     https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/covid-19-people-vaccinated-can-avoid-masks-travel-us-cdc-14804602   Meanwhile, in the west, they are removing their masks. The worry is they may also have the Ben...

 My portfolio comprises stocks and funds from various gurus and teachers. Here is the description of each one. I shan't name them for fear of being accused of promoting one over the other.  Guru 1: 15 years of track record. Averaged 25% per year return. Highly transparent and informed me of every trade.  Result: from 23 Mar 21 to now.  4.8% return.  Guru 2: 10 years of track record with 30% return per year. Gives me a black box type of system based solely on momentum. Scans through the NASDAQ for the top five momentum stocks.  Result: -15.04%.  Guru 3: Internet sensation with almost 1 million followers. Personal friend. Made 3x in 2020 due to investments in speculative tech companies like SEA Ltd, Tesla, ARK Genomic Revolution, Lemonade, Square.  Result: - 13.2% Guru 4: 12 years of track record of around 7.7% return per year. Purely fundamental analysis.  Result: -28.2%.  My own: 5 years of track record of around 18% per year. Value - mo...