To the layman, the stock market is often viewed as a casino. While I generally disagree with this premise, the market is made up a diverse set of investors, a subset of whom may hold and act on these views. Unfortunately, these tendencies have become more pronounced in recent times. With the increasing democratisation of investing through zero commission brokerages like … [Read more...] about The Great Hertz Gamble
Financial News
Evaluating Accordia Golf Trust’s Divestment Offer
Accordia Golf Trust (AGT) recently received a non-binding proposal from its Sponsor to buy out its golf courses. After a lengthy 3 day trading halt, I was quite underwhelmed when the Trust decided to announce a single figure with a distinct lack of concrete details: JPY 63,167 mil OK it was a 2 page announcement, but the only relevant parts were 1 or 2 lines surrounding … [Read more...] about Evaluating Accordia Golf Trust’s Divestment Offer
Flash Note: OUE Commercial REIT and OUE Hospitality Trust Merger
OUE Commercial REIT (C-REIT) and OUE Hospitality Trust (H-Trust) announced a mega merger that involves C-REIT absorbing H-Trust. Given OUE's dodgy history as a REIT sponsor, I was interested to see if this merger would be beneficial to C-REIT and H-Trust Unitholders. Here are my findings. Merger Summary Merger announcement information can be found here (C-REIT) and … [Read more...] about Flash Note: OUE Commercial REIT and OUE Hospitality Trust Merger
Highlights from Berkshire Hathaway’s Annual Letter 2018
Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, released his annual letter to shareholders yesterday evening. People in the investment world would know that this annual letter summarises Berkshire's financial performance for 2018 and usually contains nuggets of investing wisdom. The letter was so influential that before the advent of the Internet, professional money … [Read more...] about Highlights from Berkshire Hathaway’s Annual Letter 2018
Initial thoughts on the Capitaland – Ascendas-Singbridge acquisition
Singapore investors woke up today to some pretty blockbuster business news - Capitaland's proposed acquisition of Ascendas-Singbridge (ASB) from Temasek Holdings to create Asia's largest diversified real estate group. While I am not a shareholder of Capitaland, curiosity got me reading the announcement circular and snooping around Ascendas-Singbridge's site. Here's some of … [Read more...] about Initial thoughts on the Capitaland – Ascendas-Singbridge acquisition
Flash Note: Capitaland Mall Trust acquisition of remaining interest in Westgate
Today, Capitaland Mall Trust finally released more information on its proposed acquisition of Westgate as part of its EGM circular to unitholders. As a unitholder myself, I thought I'll dive in, give my quick thoughts and speculate a bit. The circular and presentation can be found here. Overview Capitaland Mall Trust is proposing to acquire the remaining 70% … [Read more...] about Flash Note: Capitaland Mall Trust acquisition of remaining interest in Westgate
Malaysia Boleh, Malaysia stocks Tak Boleh?
In the wake of the tsunami that swept the Malaysian opposition alliance Pakatan Harapan and Dr Mahathir to power, the iShares MSCI Malaysia ETF promptly tanked 6% in US trading to close near to its 1 year low. Source: Yahoo Finance The investor in me started to click into gear. Putting aside all the political rancor and name calling, what does this earth shattering … [Read more...] about Malaysia Boleh, Malaysia stocks Tak Boleh?
Lessons from Berkshire’s Annual Letter 2017
Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, released his annual letter to shareholders yesterday evening. People in the investment world know that this annual letter summarises Berkshire's financial performance for 2017 and seeks to educate investors on investing. The letter was so influential that before the advent of the Internet, professional investors owned 1 … [Read more...] about Lessons from Berkshire’s Annual Letter 2017
Budget 2018 – 10 Key Points
The much anticipated annual Budget speech was delivered yesterday by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat (HSK) in parliament. It was titled "Together, a Better Future" reflecting a need for a united stand to face the challenges of today and tomorrow. The full speech and associated annexes can be found here. I've looked forward to annual Budget speech every year since taking the … [Read more...] about Budget 2018 – 10 Key Points
Talk: 2018 Economic & Market Outlook
One thing I wanted to do more of in 2018, which I somehow forgot to include in my 2018 expectations and goals, was to grow more professionally and personally through additional qualifications (if any) or classes. In that spirit I attended a course on Python over the past 2 days (which left me even more confused about programming than when I started) and a Dinner talk organised … [Read more...] about Talk: 2018 Economic & Market Outlook
Is Bitcoin for you?
In recent months, there is a lot of hype over the surge in cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin. I mean, look at this sweet sweet chart: (Courtesy of Yahoo Finance) Man, about 2,100% return in 1 year based on the 52 week low compared to current price. You know there's way too much interest when even the random aunties on the MRT are talking about investing (happened to me … [Read more...] about Is Bitcoin for you?