Ernest Lim's investing blog

Unique insights into SGX small caps

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STI is up 10.1% YTD; may face profit taking in the near-term (16 Feb 2022)

el15

Dear all STI has been on a tear since the start of the year. With reference to my write-up published on 5 Jan 2022 (click HERE) citing that Asian indices are likely to outperform that of the U.S. market in 2022, STI has indeed notched strong year to date (“YTD”) gains of 10.1% to close 3,439 on 16 Feb 2022. This outperformance is especially stark if we compare it to S&P500’s -6.1% YTD returns. As I have shared with Lianhe Zaobao on 9 Feb 2022, I personally feel that our STI is overbought in the near term with several near-term […]

STI – having closed at a record YTD high, will it continue higher? (7 Nov 2021)

el15

Dear all With reference to my market outlook published on 3 Oct (see HERE) citing opportunities in our Singapore market, STI has soared 191 points, or 6.3% from 3,051 on 1 Oct to close at a year to date high 3,242 on 5 Nov. Will STI continue to march higher, or will there be some profit taking?   Very briefly, my personal view is It is likely that STI may face some profit taking in the near term, attributable in part to the following factors: a) With reference to Figure 1 below, MSCI Singapore index will undergo a rebalancing in […]

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 […]

S&P500 closed at record high! What should we do? Buy or sell? (9 Aug 2021)

el15

Dear all S&P500 has clocked its sixth consecutive month of gains in July 2021. This is the longest stretch since 2018. Furthermore, S&P500 has touched a record high to close at 4,437 on 6 Aug 2021. In the next 3 months, are markets poised for higher highs? Or should we be prudent and take some profit off the table first? Let’s take a look.   Ernest’s personal market observations a) Lack of catalysts to push the market higher Since Covid last year, markets, especially U.S. markets, have been able to push higher due partly to the combination of ultra-easy monetary policies; […]

STI – Will it head for new YTD high after S&P500 clocked its 7th consecutive day of rally? (6 Jul 2021)

el15

Dear all S&P500 and Nasdaq clinch fresh record highs last Friday with S&P500 clocking in seven consecutive days of gains in its longest winning streak since August 2020. Despite the roaring U.S. markets, Singapore Straits Times Index (“STI”) has slipped almost 100 points from its 2021 intraday high of 3,237 on 30 Apr 2021 to close 3,141 on 5 Jul 2021. Can STI exceed 3,237 for 2HFY2021? Most strategists believe so, as their year-end targets for STI are easily above 3,237. Let’s look at the possible reasons why analysts are positive on our Singapore market.   Reasons to be optimistic […]

China Aoyuan – a potential value play? (15 Jun 21)

el15

Dear all Against the backdrop of rising inflation, some market strategists have recommended “additional urgency” to rotate from technology plays to “old economy value stocks” to hedge against potential inflation pressures (as they believe such inflation pressures are not transitory). A stock that may tick all the right boxes may be China Aoyuan (“Aoyuan”) (3883.HK). It belongs to the old economy stocks (i.e. property sector which may be a hedge against inflation) and seems to be a value play, given that it trades at HKD7.01 on 15 Jun 21.   Who is Aoyuan? Quoting from a report by DBS Research […]

Koda – Clear beneficiary of the surge in home furnishing spending trend (1 Jun 21)

el15

Since 20 Aug 2020, Avarga has more than doubled from $0.146 to close $0.305 on 1 Jun 2021. Avarga’s strength is likely attributed to its 69.7% stake in Taiga (Taiga is Canada’s largest wholesale distributor of building materials, such as lumber, panels, doors, engineered wood, roofing and others). Taiga’s business has been flourishing due to the strength in home furnishings and the housing market in Canada and US. By extension, Koda may be another proxy to benefit from the surge in home furnishing spending trend. It is noteworthy that Koda is an Original Design Manufacturer / Original Equipment Manufacturer to […]

Markets are “bubblish”, or aren’t they? (5 Apr 2021)

el15

Dear all Markets have been on a tear for the past five months. Since my write-up published on 1 Nov 2020, citing opportunities in our Singapore market (click HERE for the write-up), STI has soared 786 points, or 32.4% from 2,424 on 30 Oct 2020 to close 3,210 on 5 Apr 2021 (intra-day high today was 3,212). At the time of writing this, S&P500 futures are trading at 4,040, translating to around 24% gain over the same period. In fact, STI is the 2nd best performing market for 1Q2021 amongst 18 global benchmarks. Are markets in the midst of a […]

Thai Bev may be ripe for a bounce; BeerCo IPO potential near term catalyst (29 Mar 21)

el15

Thai Bev has slumped 14% from an intraday high of $0.850 on 8 Feb to close $0.735 on 29 Mar 21. It is looking interesting again as it hovers around its strong confluence of supports from $0.715 – 0.725. Personally, it seems ripe for a technical bounce. Besides the technical outlook, Thai Bev has the highest potential upside among the STI component stocks with a potential capital upside of around 21%! What else is interesting about Thai Bev? Read on for more.   Interesting points on Thai Bev a) Highest potential capital upside for STI component stock With reference to […]

Yangzijiang looks interesting; tests support $0.940 – 0.980 (8 Feb 21)

el15

Yangzijiang (“YZJ”) has weakened approximately 13% from $1.11 on 13 Jan 2021 to close $0.970 on 5 Feb 2021. It has significantly underperformed STI (STI only dropped around 3% over the same period) and is the top STI constituent stocks with the highest potential return (see HERE). Why is it interesting? Read on for more…   Interesting points on YZJ a) Orders are likely to improve in FY21F Based on DBS Research 3 Dec 2020 report, the surge in China (Export) Containerized Freight Index (highest since Mar 2015) and the tripling of the Baltic Dry Index may prompt ship owners […]