Ernest Lim's investing blog

Unique insights into SGX small caps

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Halliburton trades at 9-year low price, amid 10-year low valuations (17 Jun 19)

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Dear all This week, Halliburton (“HAL”) caught my attention as it closed at US$21.38 on 14 Jun 2019, lowest since 1 Jun 2010 and 7 Aug 2009, amid 10-year low valuations. Given the basis below, my personal view is that HAL may be presenting a favourable risk reward setup for a long trade.   Potential basis to long a)  At US$21.38, this is the lowest close since 1 Jun 2010. At 12.5x current PE and 1.9x P/BV (see Figure 1 below), these valuations seem attractive as compared to its 10Y average PE and P/BV 29.3x and 3.2x respectively; Figure 1: […]

Hang Seng & STI have fallen close to 2,900 & 250 points in one month! (28 May 19)

el15

Dear readers, Asian markets have fallen quite a bit in the past one month. For example, Hang Seng has fallen close to 2,900 points since touching a high of 30,280 on 15 Apr to trade 27,391 which is the low last seen in January. STI has fallen almost 250 points from an intraday high of 3,415 on 29 Apr to close 3,165 today. Looking at the indices may be deceiving as many shares have fallen a lot. For example, based on Table 1 below, most stocks have fallen at least 10%, with Sembmarine tumbling almost 17% in less than a […]

SIA nears 10-year low price amid 10-year low valuations! (26 May 19)

el15

Dear all This week, our National Carrier SIA caught my attention with its 10% fall in the past three months to close $9.17. At $9.17, it has fallen to close to the lows last seen in Oct 2018 and May 2009. In fact, when I informed my clients on SIA on 23-24 May, it was trading around $9.10-9.11 which is the lowest last seen in the past 10 years! Given the basis below, my personal view is that SIA may be presenting a favourable risk reward setup for a long trade. Do take a look at the basis and more […]

ISOTeam – on the verge of a bullish break from a potential double bottom formation! (21 May 2019)

el15

Previously, I have done a write-up (click HERE) on ISOTeam (“ISO”) after interviewing Anthony, CEO and Richard, GM on an exclusive basis in Dec 2018. I have bought in at that time and have taken profit in Jan 2019. Since Apr, I have been accumulating ISO, as its chart seems to portend a potential upside breakout after a lengthy potential double bottom formation. ISO closed at $0.230 on 21 May 2019. Let’s take a look at its investment merits and more importantly, its investment risks below.   Investment merits a) Potential bullish break from a double bottom formation Since 2017, […]

Sinopec falls 33% since last year; nears 19-year oversold level (14 May 19)

el15

Dear all This week, Sinopec (00386.HK) caught my attention with its 33% fall since 21 May 2018. With its sharp fall, it has become extremely oversold with RSI at 15.1. Given the basis below, my personal view is that Sinopec may be presenting a favourable risk reward setup for a long trade. Do take a look at the basis and more importantly, the risks inherent in such trades.   My personal basis a) Attractive valuations At HKD5.63, Sinopec is trading at approximately 10.3x current PE and 0.8x P/BV. These valuations are attractive as compared to its 10-year average PE and […]

Sembmarine – leveraged play among oil companies (29 Apr 19)

el15

Dear all, This week, Sembcorp marine (“SMM”) caught my attention amid positive industry reports and its strengthening chart. I have started to accumulate SMM with my usual take profit target of a few bids, if any. Let’s look at the basis, and importantly, the investment risks.   Basis a) Analysts are turning positive Based on Figure 1 below, average analyst target price for SMM is around $1.93, representing a potential capital appreciation of around 12% from the current price $1.72. It is noteworthy that JP Morgan has turned positive on SMM last month with a target price of $2.10, after […]

Qualcomm – extremely overbought after a 74% rally within 3 months! (23 Apr 19)

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Dear readers, This week, Qualcomm caught my attention as it has appreciated approximately 74% from US$49.10 to trade at US$85.62 in less than 3 months. This is due in part to the favourable announcement that Qualcomm and Apple have reached a multi-year settlement agreement (click HERE for more information)   Why is it interesting? Personally, I think Qualcomm may be a potential short target with a favourable risk to reward proposition with a take profit of a few bids, base mainly on a technical perspective.   Basis to short a) With reference to Chart 1 below, Qualcomm is on a […]

Sing Medical – Chart seems to be strengthening (13 Feb 2019)

el15

This week, Sing Medical’s (“SMG”) caught my attention. At the time of writing this write-up, SMG is trading +0.005 to $0.430. Day range 0.425 – 0.430.   Some interesting observations on SMG a) Chart seems to be strengthening Based on Chart 1 below, SMG seems to have breached the near term downtrend line established since Mar 2018. Today is T+7 of the sharp upmove dated 31 Jan 2019 thus, I guess those contra players (who plan to contra and not hold the stock) have already exited. Indicators such as OBV, RSI and MACD are strengthening. ADX last trades 34.5 on […]

ISOTeam trades near 4 year low despite record order books and bright outlook (10 Jan 19)

el15

ISOTeam (“ISO”) caught my attention. Despite sitting on a record order book, ISO has tumbled approximately 44% from an intra-day high of $0.385 on 10 Apr 2018 to close near a four year low at around $0.215 on 10 Jan 2019. The share price decline was attributable in part to its 4QFY18 surprise loss announced in Aug 2018 (financial year ends in Jun). Nevertheless, my gut feel is that 4QFY18 should mark the trough in earnings and results should improve on a quarter on quarter basis in the next few quarters. As this company is a potential turnaround play, I […]