Ernest Lim's investing blog

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S&P500 at 2,979 – limited potential upside (8 Sep 19)

el15

With reference to my earlier write-up (click HERE) titled “Why am I cautious going into July…”, July was coincidentally the peak for S&P500. Hang Seng touched an intraday high of 29,008 on 4 Jul 2019 before slumping 4,108 points to an intraday low of 24,900 on 15 Aug 2019 (Hang Seng closed at 26,691 on 6 Sep 2019.) Personally, given the current market levels and information, I am not comfortable to raise my current percentage invested from 53% to significant levels (say >80%). Why am I cautious in the market? Do read on…   Factors supporting my cautious basis Above […]

Why am i cautious going into July… (2 Jul 19)

el15

Dear all, With reference to my market write-up published on 29 May 2019 (click HERE), where I mentioned that the sell-off in the markets revealed interesting trading opportunities, markets coincidentally bottomed on 3 Jun 2019 and staged a strong recovery. I have already sold into strength and reduced my percentage invested in stocks from 150% in early June to 12% now. Personally, I am cautious in the market going into July. Why is this so?   Basis below 1) Markets jumped yesterday following the U.S. / China trade truce announced over the weekend, despite the lack of details on what […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]