Year Happy New, My Fellow Warriors!

Year Happy New, My Fellow Warriors! 1

Happy New Year, my fellow warriors! 2017 is a yr of the ‘increasing tide lifts all watercraft’. Below is a snapshot of my Singapore dividend portfolio’s year-on-year performance. 436.5k. This increase originated from price appreciation, injection of fresh capital and re-investment of dividends received. Outperformed the STI ETF slightly by 2.83%. My 5-yr trading earnings are much better than the STI ETF significantly. Comfort DelGro (CDG) traditional cab rental business being disrupted by Uber & Grab. In the old days, conventional investors go for solid usually, uninteresting blue-chips which are considered more recession-proof. Unfortunately, in this new period of tech disruption, being recession-proof is longer enough no. A company must be disruption-proof too.

In my opinion, the real-estate industry is disruption-proof generally rather. The ‘tenant-landlord’ business dynamic has been working reasonably well in the capitalistic world over centuries. There would always be people developing properties, people who owned people and properties who pay rental to use these properties. People rent properties to conduct all sorts of economic activities – selling products, providing services, storing goods etc. There would always be demand for real estate, even when there is disruption.

For example, e-commerce is giving traditional brick-and-mortar retail stores extreme competition. However, for e-commerce to work, the products have to be stored & sorted in a warehouse/logistics service before eventually coming to your doorsteps. Another example, doctors need to execute surgery in a hospital’s operating theatre. The ever-increasing older population require assisted living facilities. Both are near-impossible to disrupt with a smartphone app just.

So, we have to figure out which real property sub-sector would maintain greater demand in the foreseeable future. I am placing my wagers on the logistics, data and health care centre sectors due to the rise of e-commerce, aging population and growing digital overall economy. Markets expect the US Federal Reserve to hike rates thrice in 2018. Naturally, this cut back remembrances of the frenzied ‘Taper Tantrum’ period in 2013 when REIT prices tanked. Investors were fearful that rate hikes would lead to higher borrowing costs and eventually harm distributions of REITs.Contrary to public opinion, a rate hike cycle might not be all negative for REITs.

During the previous major rate-hike cycle from June 2004 to June 2006, prices of S-REITs had appreciated strongly. We are seeing a similar trend in today’s rate-hike cycle. The impact of rising rates could be mitigated. Those well-managed REITs have already hedged 75% – 80% of their money into fixed rates. Furthermore, normally, REITs just have 17%, 18% and 1% of total debts up for refinancing over 2018, 2019 and 2020. Generally, top quality REITs from the Mapletree, CapitaLand and Frasers CentrePoint ‘households’ are fairly ready for the rate-hike cycle. Three factors are aligned for the 3 local banking institutions to soar to greater heights. Higher rates of interest generally lead to higher interest margins for the banks.

A buoyant local property market (surging en-bloc deals) and synchronised global recovery bodes well for loan development. Recovering oil price means lower procedures for O&G loan portfolio. Year for the banking institutions This trifecta should add up to a positive! Now, we move to the hottest topic in financial markets – crypto-currencies.

  • Ask About the Major Client that They Recently Landed and a big One that They’ve Lost
  • 2 Interest Expense ($44,333 × 12%) $5,320
  • 6 Copy quote
  • The annual superior
  • Market & Customers
  • Collaborate with server-side designers, user-experience designers and business analysts
  • Particular business areas

What’s my take on the meteoric rise of Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum etc.? Well, I prefer to stay in my ‘circle of competence’, which is dividend investing. Compounding dividends over long-term could have a powerful influence on overall returns. Unfortunately,as much as i know, crypto-currencies do not disperse cash dividends. One aim to buy low simply, sell high. Or in recent weeks, buy high and desire to sell higher.

Being vested in the collateral market has already been risky enough, I really do not need to expose myself to the extreme volatility of crypto-currencies too. All I know about crypto-currencies is that they are fundamentally a string of algorithms built on blockchain technology. If you ask me, crypto-currencies fall in to the group of ‘alternative investments’, like fine art, wine, antique cars, precious metals. These investments are definitely far from my ‘circle of competence’. Don’t get me incorrect, I am not against crypto-currencies. People have over night amassed huge fortunes literally. I don’t judge how people invest/speculate their money so long as it is within the boundaries of law. Whatever floats your boat.

It uses some 5.25 million people, representing a substantial 18% of the Philippines’ work force, which means roughly 2 of every 10 workers is utilized in the retail industry. But statistics enough, what is Manila like, living on the floor there? I am stuck in a taxi, in a traffic jam from Manila airport into the city. Outside, a thin old man on bare feet is pressing a loaded handcart heavily.