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 […]

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)

el15

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 […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

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 […]