Ernest Lim's investing blog

Unique insights into SGX small caps

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S&P500 has slumped 13.7% in Dec, largest percentage fall since 1931! Has the bull market ended? (23 Dec 18)

el15

Dear all After hitting an intra-day high of 2,941 on 21 Sep 2018, S&P500 has tumbled 17.9% or 525 points to close 2,416 on 21 Dec 2018. In fact, S&P500 has just logged the worst monthly performance in Dec since 1931! Dow has also fallen 3,535 points from the intraday high of 25,980 on 3 Dec 2018 and 4,507 points from the intraday high of 26,952 on 3 Oct 2018. What is happening? Is Armageddon coming?   Most things have not changed since 21 Sep, except for… In Sep, when S&P500 hit 2,940, the usual concerns were also there, namely […]

Sunpower – price action & bullish divergence warrant a closer look (20 Dec 18)

el15

Dear readers, Some of you have sent me emails to express concerns whether I am still maintaining my blog, as I have not posted an article in the past couple of months. Thanks for the concern and emails. It warms my heart that there are readers who are actively following my blog. Something happened to my family which caused me unable to post articles on a timely basis. (My clients are still receiving some periodic short writeups on the market and specific companies during this period) Anyway, I am glad to be back to work this week! This week, Sunpower’s […]

Sunpower slips into bear market territory – Buying opportunity or falling knife? (24 Oct 18)

el15

This week, Sunpower attracts me due partly to the industry which it is in; the recent US$180m investments made by DCP and CDH into Sunpower whose market cap is only around US$206m, and the considerable 40% share price decline since hitting an intra-day high of $0.645 on 28 Jun 2018 to trade $0.385 today. Let’s take a look.   Description of Sunpower Based on Sunpower’s description, it is an environmental protection solutions specialist in proprietary energy saving and clean power technologies. It has two main business segments, viz. Manufacturing & Services (“M&S”) and Green Investments (“GI”). M&S segment comprise of […]

STI has dropped almost 17% since 2 May! Is a bear market coming? (14 Oct 18)

el15

Dear all, U.S. equity markets have logged their worst weekly performance in the past six months. For our local market, STI has dropped 16.7% from an intra-day high of 3,642 on 2 May 2018 to an intra-day low of 3,035 on 11 Oct 2018. It closed at 3,069 on 12 Oct 2018. Is a bear market coming? There are mixed views. Bears are saying that we have not reached the bottom yet. Some perma-bears are even saying this may be the start of the bear market. Bulls are saying that this represents a window of opportunity to accumulate stocks on […]

Sing Medical trades near one year low despite a 70% jump in 1HFY18 net profit! (3 Oct 2018)

el15

This week, Sing Medical (“SMG”) caught my attention. SMG has dropped 39% from $0.725 on 18 Jul 2017 to trade $0.440 on 3 Oct 2018. My personal guess is part of the fall may be attributable to a) Lower, or no earnings growth for some of the healthcare players in FY18F. However, this is likely not the case for SMG, as analysts believe SMG is on track for a minimum 40% growth in FY18F net profit. It is noteworthy that SMG already posted a 70% jump in 1HFY18 net profit; b) Reduction in the general PE valuations ascribed to the […]

Best World – potential bullish double bottom formation in the making? (19 Sep 18)

el15

This week, Best World has caught my attention. Why is it interesting? a) Chart seems to be in the midst of a double bottom formation Best World has fallen 29% from an intraday high of $1.90 on 19 Mar 2018 to close $1.35 on 19 Sep 2018. It has been trading in a range $1.20 – 1.39 since 15 May 2018. Indicators are mixed with MACD and RSI exhibiting bullish divergences during this period. Except for 200D EMA which is levelling, all other EMAs are rising. 20D has already formed a golden cross formation with 50D EMA. Best World has […]

S&P500 – closed below its 200D EMA – a 1st since Nov 2016! (23 Mar 18)

el15

Dear all, Previously, I mentioned in my write-up dated 21 Mar that I am avoiding the event risk of the U.S. tariff package against Chinese (click HERE). This proves timely as S&P500 fell 129 points, or 4.7% from 2,717 on 20 Mar to close 2,588 on 23 Mar. At 2,588, S&P500 has made its first close below its 200D exponential moving average (“EMA”) since Nov 2016. Why and how is this significant?  During the sharp 10% drop in the first part of Feb 2018, S&P500 has not closed below its 200D EMA. Furthermore, most technical analysts are watching this level […]

S&P 500 jumped 4.3% last week, the best performance since Jan 2013! Is the recent sell off over? (18 Feb 18)

el15

Last week, all three U.S. major indices (i.e. DOW, S&P500 and Nasdaq) have registered their best weekly performance in years. Is the recent sell off over? Let’s take a look.   7 observations on the market U.S 10Y bond yield is still relatively high at 2.875% (click HERE) vis-à-vis 2.418% a year ago. If it suddenly surges to around 3%, it may fuel another sell off; Inflation based on several indicators such as core CPI / core PPI released the week of 12 – 16 Feb are rising faster than forecasts. However, market shows limited reaction towards the inflation data […]

Ernest’s market opinion (27 Oct 17)

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Dear all STI has closed at 3,386, a fresh 29-month high. Some of you who have been less than 30% invested in their portfolios and have not added more exposure in their equities portfolio last month are wondering whether you have missed out of the rally. Should you continue to chase this? Read on for more.   S&P500 last closed 2,581 S&P500 is on a strong uptrend with all the exponential moving average (“EMA”) trending higher. ADX closed at 29.3, amid positively placed DIs, indicative of a trend. RSI closed at 70.7. This is not extremely overbought, relative to past […]

Hatten Land – poised to breach above $0.210 (26 Sep 17)

el15

Hatten Land (“Hatten”) has been trading in a tight range $0.192 – 0.210 for the past two months. Recently, there seems to be a pick up in the volume traded for the past two days. Hatten’s chart looks positive on several fronts.   Chart analysis Based on Chart 1 below, odds seem high that Hatten may be poised to breach above $0.210 in the next couple of months. This is because a) The recent price increase (albeit mild price increase) is accompanied with volume. On the days which Hatten falls, it is accompanied with lower than average volume; b) A […]