Ernest Lim's investing blog

Unique insights into SGX small caps

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STI at 3,051 – Presents some attractive opportunities (3 Oct 2021)

el15

Dear all With reference to my market outlook published on National Day (see HERE), both STI and Hang Seng have hit their highs on 10 Aug and 11 Aug respectively before dipping. Based on Table 1 below, S&P500, Hang Seng and STI have fallen 1.8%, 6.1% and 4.0% respectively since my writeup. Table 1: Indices’ performance since my last writeup Source: Ernest’s compilations Amid the recent weakness, you may be wondering whether it is a good time to accumulate on weakness. Before we get to this, let’s take a look at the indices’ charts.   S&P500 closed 4,357 Based on […]

Singapore – Asia’s worst equity market YTD, any opportunities ahead? (29 Oct 20)

el15

Dear all It is less than a week from the U.S. election. U.S. markets are understandably jittery. S&P500 has fallen 316 points, or 8.9% from its intraday high of 3,550 on 12 Oct 2020 to touch an intraday low 3,234 on 30 Oct 20. In fact, S&P500 has tumbled 195 points or 5.6% this week. S&P500 closed at 3,270 on 30 Oct. The media has written extensively on the risks surrounding U.S. election since months ago hence the election event risk is hardly a new one. Examples of risks which media has written about is the possibility on contested election […]

Recent weakness provides accumulation opportunities (9 Sep 20)

el15

Dear all Based on Table 1 below, U.S. indices have fallen between 5.5% – 10% from the close of 2 Sep to 8 Sep. Nasdaq led the decline with a 10% drop. These are interesting times indeed! Why do I say so? Read on below. Table 1: Performance of various indices from 2 Sep to *8 Sep 20 Source: Ernest’s compilations (*STI and Hang Seng are based on 9 Sep closing prices) In my personal opinion, this recent U.S. market weakness provides accumulation opportunities for the well prepared and for those who have been waiting on the side-lines to accumulate […]

Stocks sorted by total potential return (7 Sep 2020)

el15

Dear all U.S. markets have fallen sharply with Nasdaq dropping almost 1,200 points or 10% from an intraday high of 12,074 on 2 Sep to an intraday low of 10,876 last Fri. For example, Apple Inc. has lost $219b in market cap from the close of 1 Sep through 3 Sep which is larger than the market cap of Exxon Mobil Corp., for long the world’s largest company! In view of the recent decline, some clients have asked me which are the stocks that they can look at. Below is my compilation of the top ten stocks and the bottom […]

S&P500 has rebounded 31% from 23 Mar 20! Time to buy, hold or sell (19 Apr 20)?

el15

S&P500 has staged a whopping 683 points, or 31% rebound from its intraday low of 2,192 to close 2,875 on 17 Apr 20. Many clients have asked me (almost daily) whether we have already seen the bottom and is this a good time to buy stocks etc. At 2,875, S&P500 is just 15% away from its record intraday high of 3,394 on 19 Feb 2020. The rally in Wall Street is at a stark contrast to grim news from Main Street in terms of job losses; significant number of deaths from Covid 19; lockdowns and poor corporate results. Both bull […]

STI – to head towards 3,390 points in 1Q2020? (25 Dec 19)

el15

Merry Xmas! As we approach end 2019, most market strategists are putting their market estimates for end 2020. Although I do not profess to be in the league of these market strategists, just for fun, I am expecting STI to head towards 3,390 in 1Q2020. STI closed at 3,222 on 24 Dec 2019. I have outlined my basis and the risks involved.   Factors for my bullish basis a) Chart looks positive after bullish break Based on Chart 1 below, STI has staged a bullish break above its flag formation on 12 Dec 2019. Notwithstanding below average volume for the […]

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 […]

Ernest’s compilation of stocks sorted by estimated total potential return (29 Sep 17)

el15

Dear all S&P500 hit another record last Fri! Some private banking clients have enquired on any interesting stocks to take a closer look with a horizon of 1-3 years. Therefore, I have compiled a list of stocks based on Bloomberg’s data as of 29 Sep 2017. Table 1 shows only the top five stocks with the highest estimated total potential return. Table 1: List of top 5 stocks with the highest estimated total potential return Source: Bloomberg as of 29 Sep 2017   Noteworthy points 1. This compilation is based on Bloomberg’s data sorted with my set of criteria namely, a) […]

STI dives 130 pts in 1 week! Time to buy in? (16 Jun 16)

el15

STI has tumbled 130 points, or 4.5% from an intraday high of 2,882 on 9 Jun 2016 to close 2,752 on 16 Jun 2016. The recent rapid sell off seems to reveal some interesting opportunities especially for those readers who have taken profit and moved to mostly cash (similar to me) since last week. Like most people, I am not clairvoyant and am not always able to catch the lowest level to buy into stocks.   Also, I will not know for sure whether: 1. Brexit will occur; 2. What is the exact impact (short term, medium term, long term […]