Ernest Lim's investing blog

Unique insights into SGX small caps

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

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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)

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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)

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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 (10 Nov 17)

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Dear all STI has closed at 3,420, in line with my view that STI’s chart continues to be bullish (refer to my technical write-up on STI HERE), despite the elevated RSI.   1. Equities – still favour over bonds over 3-5 year time frame but… Personally, notwithstanding the market rally, I believe that over the long term, equities are still likely to outperform bonds and cash. Having said that, I am not telling all my clients to plough everything into stocks NOW, given that in the near term, there may not be significant catalysts to push the market higher by […]

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 […]

Ernest’s market opinion (18 Aug 17)

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Dear all Our STI has broken a one-month trading range of around 3,288 – 3,348. Where will STI and the other indices go from here?   S&P500 last closed 2,426 Based on Chart 1 below, although 20D exponential moving average (“EMA”) is trending lower, the other EMAs, namely 50D, 100D and 200D EMA are still trending up. RSI closed at 37.2. Since 7 Nov 2016, the lowest RSI was around 35.9 on 10 Apr 2017. Although the directional indicators (“DIs”) are negatively placed, ADX is still at a low 12.2 which is indicative of a trendless market. My personal view […]

Golden Energy – 4th largest in Indonesia but share price lags Geo Energy by a mile! (27 Mar 17)

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Golden Energy (“GEAR”) has slumped 21% from $0.655 on 12 Dec 2016 to $0.515 on 27 Mar 2017. Compare this with a 47% rally in Geo Energy’s share price over the same period. Moreover, GEAR has slumped 10% post its results notwithstanding the strong set of results. Why is this so? I have managed to fix an exclusive 1-1 meetup with Mark Zhou, Head of investments, GEAR (“Management”) to find out more about the company’s business and prospects.   Key takeaways from the meetup Bullish on FY17F Management continues to be bullish about its outlook. Based on Chart 1 below, Indonesia, […]

Ernest’s market outlook (24 Mar 17)

el15

Dear all, After 109 trading days, S&P500 finally staged a 1% drop on 21 Mar 2017. Is this the start of a correction? Let’s take a look at the charts.   S&P500 Just to recap what I have mentioned on 10 Mar 2017 (see HERE), I wrote “All the EMAs are rising steadily. Since 8 Nov 2016, S&P500 has not traded below its 20D EMA for more than one trading session. Amid positively placed directional indicators (“DIs”), ADX has risen from 34 on 24 Feb 2017 to 38 on 10 Mar 2017, indicative of a trend. RSI has weakened from […]

Laggard stocks: Chart outlook for ISOTeam, Midas and Sapphire (17 Mar 17)

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Notwithstanding the rally in the equity market, there are some stocks which continue to be laggards and are consolidating around their key support areas. If the market continues to stay buoyant, it may be a matter of time before funds rotate to the following laggard stocks, namely ISOTeam, Midas and Sapphire.   1.ISOTeam closed unchanged $0.390. Day range $0.390 – 0.395. Ave analyst: $0.600 ISOTeam has been testing the support area of around $0.375 – 0.390 for the past four days. Short term exponential moving averages (“EMA”) are moving lower with 20D EMA crossing below 50D EMA. It is fortunate […]

Ernest’s market outlook (13 Jan 17)

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Dear all, STI performs to my expectations as it heads towards 3,040 (my eventual technical measured target price which I mentioned previously). What’s next? For the charts analysis below, you can cross – reference to my market outlook sent on 6 Jan 17 HERE. (Actually, my bi weekly market update should be done next week. However, I noticed that the market seems to be reaching some near-term potential resistances. Hence, I decided to do a market update. Due to time constraints, I did not put in Hang Seng analysis for this issue)   S&P500 Based on Chart 1 below, it […]