1st purchase
I've finally decided not to be held hostage by the oil companies anymore. These people hike up their pump price whenever there is justification but take ages to reduce when crude price comes down.
I took the plunge and bought an EV last Friday.
Have been thinking about this for some time because of the above but what firmed up my mind to make the move are three primary reasons:
Firstly, my current car is left with less than four years of COE. While there is still time to consider my choices, the trade-in value also correspondingly goes down with time.
Secondly, I saw a report recently which states that the number of COE to be released in the coming quarter will be reduced. This is in contrary to what I have thought.
Last but not least, the move by the government to reduce the PARF rebate recently shows that they are firm on their push towards EVs for the local roads.
I have actually narrowed my choice to two models recently - BYD Seal 6 and Aion V.
The plan is to compare both and take the one that offers the best deal.
So last Friday I have planned to go to the BYD showroom. However the sales contact that I had was on his off day. So I popped by the Aion showroom instead.
Long story short, what was supposed to be a chat to get the best package evolved into a purchase because the sales person managed to give me what I want.
I was impressed by the test drive too. So was wifey who sat as a rear passenger.
Honestly, it's hard to find another SUV in the market at this price point that comes close to the spaciousness, features and comfort that the Aion V offers.
2nd purchase
Second purchase also happened on the same day - Ascendas REIT.
This is an accumulation to existing holdings.
Have been queuing at $2.69 for couple of days and managed to get it on the last trading day on the month. Was pretty sure I would get it sooner or later since this price has been tested a few times over the week already.
As mentioned before for this counter, anything less than $2.70 is a buy.
3rd purchase and 1st sale
Tried the OCBC precious metals account. Bought my first tranche of paper silver and sold them slightly more than two weeks later for a profit of S$466.14.
2nd sale
This is for a put option that I wrote for a premium of US$2.80.
Big news
The strike by Israel and the US on Iran, and the subsequent retaliatory strikes by the latter on Israel and US bases around Middle East have a definite impact on various markets. However the magnitude and how long it stays on the temporal scale remains to be seen.
To me it all boils down to one person - Donald Trump, and how wide he wants this latest conflict to be.
Ultimately when this guy wage a war, it all boils down to one thing - oil. Same for Venezuela, same for Iran.
It's so delusionary that he feels he should be getting the Nobel Peace Prize.
So what's this means for me on the investment front?
On my main income portfolio, it probably means suddenly there would be more opportunities at least in the coming week to add new counters that I have been eyeing or accumulate to existing positions.
On the put option that I've just sold, I have to wait and see if the counter dives. Fundamentally the counter is pretty solid. However if I gets assigned I would take it up since the strike price is one which I am comfortable to pay for owning this counter.
On the precious metals side, it seems like they have already ran up and logically so since it's a flight to safety for investors. For me I would wait for the next opportunity to trade for this asset class.
On the more immediate front, I need to go top up petrol now before anything else.
Ciao!
