Ernest Lim's investing blog

Unique insights into SGX small caps

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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 […]

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 […]

S&P500 logged its largest one day fall since Jan. Buy more, or head to the exit? (27 Mar 2019)

el15

Dear readers, Last Fri, S&P500 logged its largest one day fall since 3 Jan 2019, due in part to the weak European PMI and the yield curve inversion between U.S. 3-month bill and 10-year note yields. At the time of writing this, Dow closed 0.55% higher on Tues as U.S. 10 year bond yields stabilise. Is last Fri’s fall the precursor to something more serious? Or it is a false alarm?   First things first, what are the reasons for the sharp rally since late Dec? S&P500 has rallied approximately 20.1%, or 471 points from the intra-day low of 2,347 […]

Hi-P – Chart looks interesting with rising ADX, amid positively placed DI (21 Feb 19)

el15

This week, Hi-P caught my attention due to its chart. It last trades at $0.990. Day range 0.985 – 1.00. Let’s take a look. Basis below 1.Chart looks interesting with rising ADX, amid positively placed DI Hi-P has been trading in a tight range $0.885 – 0.960 since 8 Jan 2019 and broke out with strong volume on 11 Feb 2019. ADX has been rising to trade 31.6 amid positively placed DI, indicative of a trend. RSI last trades 57.9. Today is T+8 of 11 Feb upmove. There has been some price weakness on 15 & 18 Feb as I […]

S&P500 has jumped 10.6% since 26 Dec! Should we chase the rally? (12 Jan 2019)

el15

Dear all Since my write-up on 23 Dec 2018 (see HERE), S&P500 has jumped approximately 7.5% since then. In fact, S&P500, after touching an intraday low of 2,347 on 26 Dec 2018, it has risen 249 points or 10.6% to close 2,596 on 11 Jan 2019. Is this the start of another upcycle in equities? Should we chase the rally? Below are some of the positive and negative points which readers can take into consideration before we can arrive to a well thought out answer.   Potential positive points supporting the continuous rally a) Fed may acknowledge rising risks to […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, Nasdaq and Russell 2000 hit records, time to switch to underperforming markets? (24 Aug 18)

el15

Dear all, S&P500, Nasdaq and Russell 2000 hit records last Friday with S&P500 closing at 2,875. However, our STI has dropped 11.8% after hitting a decade high of 3,642 on 2 May 2018. Hang Seng has also tumbled 17.4% after hitting a high of 33,484 on 29 Jan 2018. Is this the time to switch out of the U.S. markets and plough it back to STI and Hang Seng? This seems to be the question on most investors’ minds as I am also posed this question during a live interview on Money FM89.3 on last Thursday. Let’s take a closer […]

STI – down 9.4% since 2 May. Correction coming, or buying opportunity? (19 Jun 18)

el15

With reference to my market outlook HERE posted on 11 May 2018, I mentioned at that time that I  have started to sell into strength, as I am cautious on the overall market. I updated on 30 May 2018 (click HERE) that STI is likely to trade sideways with downward bias. Separately, my clients would have been notified on 12 Jun 2018 morning that I have already reduced my percentage invested to approximately 40% as I believe market is likely to trend downwards in the next couple of weeks. In the span of four trading days, STI has dropped 148 […]