Ernest Lim's investing blog

Unique insights into SGX small caps

outlook

CKH Holdings at 19-year oversold levels; multi-year low price amid 10-year low valuations (6 Aug 19)

el15

Dear all What a hectic and exciting week! This week, CKH Holdings (00001.HK) (“CKH”) caught my attention with its 19-year low RSI level since end Dec 2000. At the time of writing this, CKH last trades at HKD67.60, level last seen around 21 Feb 2014. With such a precipitous decline, CKH is trading below its 10-year average valuations. Given the basis below, my personal view is that CKH 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 […]

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 […]

STI slumps 198 points after hitting a decade high of 3,642 on 2 May! (30 May 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. Clients would have been aware / notified that I have already reduced my percentage invested to <60% early last week. STI has since dropped 126 points from 3,570 on 11 May 2018 to close 3,444 on 30 May 2018. For those who wish to accumulate on weakness, I have compiled a list of stocks here, using Bloomberg’s data as of 30 May 2018. The criteria for compilation […]

STI notched a ten year high on 2 May – is it a screaming buy for all SG stocks (11 May 18)

el15

Dear all, Dow has logged a seventh consecutive rise and small caps as measured by S&P600 index have just closed at a record high as of 11 May 2018. Our Singapore market has also done us proud too by becoming Asia’s best performing equity market on 2 May 2018. In view of the above, is it a screaming buy for our Singapore market, especially our small caps which have under-performed? Let’s take a closer look at the charts and my personal action plan.   S&P500 closed 2,728. Day range 2,717 – 2,733 Based on Chart 1 below, S&P500 seems to […]

Island reversal; potential Dow Theory sell signal… What does this mean for our markets? (30 Mar 18)

el15

Dear all, Besides the headline grabbing news on Facebook and the U.S. China trade tariffs etc. some of you may have noticed other equally interesting / alarming headlines such as the island reversal chart formation seen in Nasdaq 100 (click HERE) and Nasdaq Composite index, and reports that a potential “Dow Theory” sell signal, one of the oldest and arguably the most widely followed market timing tool, may happen anytime (click HERE). What should we do? Let’s take a closer look at the charts and my personal action plan.   S&P500 closed 2,640. Day range 2,610 – 2,659 Based on […]

Markets – whipsawed by multiple events (20 Mar 18)

el15

Our markets have been whipsawed by multiple events, such as rising inflation expectations and bond yields, protectionism (for e.g. Trade tariffs), upcoming FOMC meeting and sudden key personnel changes in the White House etc… How should we react or trade in current market conditions? Let’s take a look at the market events and the indices’ charts…   5 observations on the market Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s first FOMC meeting tonight. A 25bps rate hike is almost certainly expected but markets will be scrutinising what the new Fed Chairman will be saying during the conference; Based on an article on Washington […]

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 […]

Global indices have tumbled 6% since their recent high. Will they go lower? (7 Feb 18)

el15

Dear all, With reference to my earlier write-up citing that “Volatility in the market is among the lowest in 118 years…” (click HERE), I guess the old saying is still true. i.e. “Be careful of what one wishes for”, especially in the equity markets! Global indices have recently tumbled at least 6% since their recent high. Will markets fall further?   S&P500 closed at 2,682 S&P500 has swung from an intraday high of 2,873 on 26 Jan 2018 to touch an intraday low of 2,593 on 6 Feb 2018. 20D and 50D exponential moving averages (“EMAs”) are turning downwards. Other […]

Ernest’s market opinion (27 Oct 17)

el15

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 […]