July 2021 Updates

July 2021

 

Local Portfolio Value after market close (excluding USD and HKD)

S$146,878.60

Purchase

 

200 shares of Didi Global @ average $9.925

1 free share of Sundial Growers from moomoo's Father's day contest

2 free shares of Blackberry from two other moomoo's contests

Sold

None

Dividends

 

None

Short-Term Transactions

2 x AMC Put 210716 40 with $1.44 premium. Closed out early at $5.21.

1 x NIO Put 210730 40 with $0.30 premium. Closed out early at $0.16.

2 x expired TDOC Put 210730 141 with $1.94 premium

1 x DIDI Put 210723 9.5 with $0.06 premium. Took assignment.

2 x expired DIDI Covered Call 210730 11 with $0.07 premium

Summary

01 July 2021 STI Open: 3,124.19

30 July 2021 STI Close: 3,166.94

 

STI managed to nip the bud and closed above its monthly opening after it has closed below its monthly opening for two consecutive months.

 

However it seems that the index is still range bound between a narrow band of 3,100 - 3,200. It will be good if it can break out from the resistance level of 3,250. Meanwhile there are still individual counters for possible long term investment entry.

 

 

For my SGD portfolio, there is a gain of around S$4K due to the run up in share price of the Reits and banks.

 

No transactions were done. 

Looking forward to the next round of dividends coming next month.

Finally MAS has announced the lifting of restrictions in the dividend payout of our local banks.

I'm not surprised by this news but I am surprised by the timing of it because it was only last month that they gave an indication on this.

 

I must say they acted pretty fast which of course, I am not going to complain about.

This news has likely been priced in since the share price of the 3 local banks did not really rally after the announcement.

However I'm more looking forward to the reinstatement of the dividend payouts to pre-Covid levels which will be a boost to my passive income.

ESR Reit has announced another round of preferential offering. I will likely be subscribing but whether to opt for more, I am still undecided.

Was looking to grab some CLCT at around $1.33 but didn't managed to do so. Its share price moved up to $1.40 after it announced a good set of results.

Either way I am happy. Chances always come back.

For my Syfe Core Growth portfolio, I am seeing a lower TWR which should be a result of the share price plunge of the chinese stocks. However it would be more meaningful to see the returns and review the portfolio when it turns one.

 

Have DCAed into this portfolio couple of days ago and plans to continue this strategy every month end.

For my USD portfolio, I added 200 shares of Didi Global (DIDI) at an average price of $9.925 for this month.

 

100 shares were bought from the market at $10.35. The other 100 shares were assignment from a put that I wrote.

I also received free shares of SNDL and BB, won from some contests in moomoo.

 

I really like the fact that there are frequent questionnaires, quizzes and contests in moomoo that one can participate to win points and free shares which to be honest, are quite easy to get.

If you still haven't sign up with moomoo, here's my referral link if you wish to do so.

 

You can check out the other sign up goodies here too.

By the way they are currently running a quiz where cash coupons can be won. The quiz questions are quite easy and for each correct answer you gave, you get a chance to draw from a gachapon machine.

It's quite fun and so far I have accumulated S$7. Hopefully I can get the S$88 or S$1,888 on the next rounds.

 

This month's options trading is a mixed bag of results for me.

 

After collecting ~S$900 worth of premiums last month, I made a loss of S$481.99 this month mainly due to the 2 AMC Puts which I decided to close early as I did not want to take assignment for now since I already have some existing shares bought in January this year.

I did took assignment for the DIDI Put that I wrote at 9.5 strike price as this counter is one which I have been eyeing but didn't buy when it got listed earlier this month. 

 

Reason is because I felt more margin of safety is necessary for this counter due to its fundamentals and the manner in which it rushed through its IPO despite concerns from the chinese authorities.

 

My personal take is that it was facing pressure from the cornerstone investors to list fast for profit-taking reasons. 

As it turned out, the backlash from the authorities came fast and furious. I'm glad I opted for the increased MoS.

 

Other than these, the other options are profitable ones. The 2 x TDOC Puts expired with decent total premium of US$388 (~S$525).

Moving forward I will continue to use options as part of my tools to supplement my investable income.

For my Cryptos, I have 2.000 BAT from the Brave Rewards worth USD 1.27 currently 😊. Well at least that is something.

June 2021 Updates

June 2021

 

Local Portfolio Value after market close (excluding USD and HKD)

S$142,981.25

Purchase

None

Sold

None

Dividends

 

MNACT @ $131.96

Netlink Trust @ $204

Ascendas Reit @ $534.85

OCBC @ $86.26 + partial scrips

MLT @ $216.10

ESR Reit @ $80

DBS @ $108

 

Total: $1,361.17 + partial OCBC scrips

Short-Term Transactions

1 x expired AMC Put 210604 24 with $1.06 premium

1 x expired AMC Put 210611 24 with $1.65 premium

1 x expired AMC Put 210618 31 with $1.60 premium

1 x expired AMC Put 210618 40 with $0.58 premium 

2 x expired AMC Put 210625 35 with $0.42 premium

1 x expired JD Put 210625 69 with $1.14 premium 

 

Sold 2 x AMC Put 210716 40 with $1.44 premium  

Summary

01 June 2021 STI Open: 3,187.23

30 June 2021 STI Close: 3,134.22

 

STI closed below its monthly opening for the 2nd consecutive month after 4 months for rise. It also dropped below last month's closing.

 

It could have been worse if not for today's jump in the share price of the 3 local banks after MAS signalled the possibility of dividend payouts reverting to pre-Covid levels. However this is subject to further stress test by MAS before anything will be confirmed.

 

For my SGD portfolio, there is a negligible (slight) drop in value with no transactions done. 

This month I received a total of S$1,361.17 in dividends + partial OCBC scrips.

Didn't make any transactions this month for this portfolio.

 

When I have no time to go through annual reports, I usually as a minimum, try to read the Chairman and CEO message in the reports.

 

Read the messages for MLT and MNACT annual reports last week. Gained some insights from the messages.

 

Have wanted to blog about the summarised results and some of my thoughts but didn't managed to do it so far.

 

Anyway in a nutshell MLT is impressive as usual while MNACT is less so. Outlook for the former is great while that of the latter is more uncertain.

For my Syfe Core Growth portfolio, I am seeing a higher month-on-month return so far with this month's reaching the highest based on TWR. However would be more meaningful to see the returns and review the portfolio when it turns one.

 

Have DCAed into this portfolio yesterday and plans to continue this strategy every month end.

For my USD portfolio, no transactions were made for this month.

 

Currently seeing a 260% paper profit for one of my counters. Will continue to let it run and monitor closely. It has been ranging in a tight band recently and has tested the resistance a number of times which should weaken the level.

 

Might have a chance to break out higher.

 

Collected S$903.23 of option premiums this month with the expiry of 7 Puts in AMC and JD.com.

 

Other than these, I have sold another two Puts this month for AMC, expiring 16/7/2021 with a strike price of $40 and premium of $1.44.

 

As seen above, I am making full use of the volatility in AMC to earn some income. I certainly don't mind if this continues.

 

Usually for far OTM Puts with near DTE, premium is usually quite lousy. But the volatility in this counter means one can continue to get decent premiums even for relatively safe options.

Moving forward I will continue to use options as part of my investment / trading tools to supplement my investable income. 

Although I have been saying that I have not touched cryptos yet, recently I realised I actually have a crypto!

And that is 1.750 of BAT, worth a grand total of USD 1.01 currently. Well at least that is something.

May 2021 Updates

May 2021

 

Local Portfolio Value after market close (excluding USD and HKD)

S$143,524.80

Purchase

MSFT @ US$245.90

AAPL @ US$126.70

BABA @ HK$220

Sold

None

Dividends

 

DBS @ $108

Suntec Reit @ $81.80

 

Total: $189.80

Short-Term Transactions

1 x expired PINS Put 210521 58 with $1.07 premium

 

Closed early for 1 x PLTR Put 210521

 

2 x expired PLTR Put 210514 17 with $0.55 premium

 

Sold 1 x JD Put 210625 69 with $1.14 premium

Summary

03 May 2021 STI Open: 3,184.76

31 May 2021 STI Close: 3,164.28

 

As a guidance for my investment plans, I mentioned in my last update that I would place closer attention to this month for the market's reaction to the rising cases of local Covid-19 infections.

 

STI closed below its monthly opening for the first time after four consecutive months of rise since the start of this year.

 

Beginning of a drop? I think it's still early to say but it's good to have some spare funds ready to capture any opportunities that might arise.

 

For my SGD portfolio, value dropped by around $3.5k with no transactions done. 

Also received some dividends from DBS and Suntec Reit this month with more to come in the next. 

Spare cash is still not fully utilised yet. Awaiting for opportunities, including rights issue which we might see a few in the coming months. 

There are a few bright spots among the counters in my SGD portfolio. 

1) I am really glad to see MNACT's continual foray into the Japanese market with their latest acquisition of a freehold office building in Tokyo which is expected to be DPU-accretive. 

This will continue to reduce their concentration risk with Festival Walk. 

Post-acquisition, the Japanese assets will comprise about 27% of the trust's net property income. 

However apart from the rosy side of things, I will pay more attention to the gearing level of the trust since this acquisition will be partly funded by debt. 

Overall I must say I am pleased with MNACT's direction so far. 

2) For the long timer in my portfolio, SingTel, it has quite a number of happenings in recent times. 

Firstly, the new CEO announced the new strategic direction to drive the company forward. 

Secondly, there is a voluntary tender offer for its Thai subsidiary, AIS.

It is nice to see offers like this to unlock value be it for the subsidiaries or fixed assets.

Competition in the telco market is getting stiff. ARPU are getting lower.

To regain the former glory and to achieve greater heights, the way I see for SingTel to move forward is to transform itself into a technology company.

Of course the telco business is still an essential and defensive one that SingTel should continue with. There are so many things that can be done using 5G technology for the IOTs. However tech-based business should be the main driver for the company moving forward.

By the way SingTel is the first to launch a standalone 5G network in Singapore recently.

It's great that SingTel has gotten the digital banking license. Enormous potential there as a revenue driver and a tech-based one at that. However the new business takes time to gain traction and that is one of the reasons why I am holding on to my SingTel shares.

I can write a whole thesis on this but that will be on another day.

The new strategic direction focusing on three main tenets actually partly resonate with my views above for SingTel's transformation.

The first tenet to realign its core business towards capturing 5G market share and the second which is to develop new growth engines in ICT and digital services are good drivers in my opinion.

However I would very much like to see SingTel becoming another SEA or Grab. These are companies truely leveraging on technology to provide services to the mass market.

Just look at Grab. It is no longer a car-sharing platform. Rather, it has gone on to build an entire ecosystem of its own including payment service, loan, insurance, food and document deliveries.

The third tenet to unlock the value of its infrastructure assets is timely and logical for funding of the digital banking venture.

I suspect SingTel will reward shareholders in the form of special dividends too. Fingers crossed.

For my Syfe Core Growth portfolio, I am seeing a small positive return so far. Would be more meaningful to see the returns and review the portfolio when it turns one.

 

Have DCAed into this portfolio yesterday and plans to continue this strategy every month end.

For my USD portfolio, I have not done any intraday trading this month.

 

One of my counters briefly hit 'freehold' status before dropping slightly. As of now I am sitting on 81% gain but that is all on paper.

 

Collected S$372.70 of option premiums this month with the expiry of 3 Puts and early closure of one in Palantir and Pinterest.

 

Other than these, I have sold another Put this month for JD.com, expiring 25/6/2021 with a strike price of $69 and premium of $1.14.

 

Lately it seems harder to find decent premium in the options space but that is probably due to my style of only trading in companies that I don't mind holding.

Moving forward I will continue to use options as part of my investment / trading tools to augment my investable income. 

No, have not touched cryptos yet.

 

That's it, a longer update than usual. Got all excited whenever I write about SingTel.

April 2021 Updates

Apr 2021

 

Portfolio Value after market close

S$147,010.00

Purchase

None

Sold

None

Dividends

 

None

Short-Term Transactions

GME PUT (closed), PLTR PUT (sold)

Summary

01 Apr 2021 STI Open: 3,181.68

30 Apr 2021 STI Close: 3,218.27

 

STI continues to close above its monthly opening for the fourth consecutive month since the start of this year.

 

 

This month's is probably due to the good results from DBS which in turn lifted the share price of the other two local banks as well.

 

I would place closer attention to next month on the market's reaction to the rising cases of local Covid-19 infections.

 

For my SGD portfolio, value increased by 2.25% though I did nothing to it this month. 

This is also largely driven by the rise in share price of the bank counters and partly offset by the fall in Reits.

Current spare cash level is about $10K, which I hope there are opportunities for me to plough into this SGD portfolio in the coming month. 

For my Syfe Core Growth portfolio, I am seeing a small positive return so far though it would be more meaningful to see the returns in the long run.

 

Have DCAed into this portfolio yesterday and plans to continue this strategy every month end.

For my USD portfolio, I have not done any intraday trading this month.

 

However I have closed the GME PUT that I wrote previously as an experimental first try. 

It is a good experiment with a small gross profit of 5.6% for a holding of about one month. I think what's important is the knowledge gained in this practical trading.

 

Apart from this, I have sold another PUT this month for PLTR, expiring 21/5/2021 with a strike price of $21 and premium of $1.01.

 

I think at this price point there is a sweet balance between risk and reward.

 

I have touched abit on this previously.

Moving forward I will continue to use options as part of my investment / trading tools to augment my investable income. 

And no, I have not touched cryptos yet though that was one of my investment aims set earlier this year.

It's tempting to read the enormous gains posted by others in online forums but I prefer to do more due diligence before going into that.

Will definitely update if I forayed into this area next time.

Mar 2021 Updates

Mar 2021

Portfolio Value after market close

S$143,780.25

Purchase

Added 2,500 units of Ascendas Reit @ $2.93

Sold

None

Dividends

 

ESR Reit @ $84

MLT @ $144.20

Ascendas Reit @ $117.46

CICT @ $93.96

Total: $439.62

Short-Term Transactions

JFIN, OVID, TNXP, SOS, GME PUT

Summary

01 Mar 2021 STI Open: 2,973

31 Mar 2021 STI Close: 3,165.34

 

STI closed above its opening this month although we saw a broad market sell off today which is also the last trading day of this quarter. Personally I hope the market continues to soften in the coming weeks for accumulation opportunities.  

 

However as a testament to the buoyant market, my portfolio value increased by about $13K despite adding only $7,325 of capital in the form of 2,500 units of Ascendas Reit. 

I have been monitoring Ascendas Reit, Mapletree Industrial Trust and CapitaLand Integrated China Trust closely for the past month with only the first one hitting my TP to add for first batch. 

Prices of these counters have since ran up but it's ok. Opportunities always come back. 

I am looking to add another $15K - $18K to my income portfolio hopefully within the coming month. 

This month I have also started a Syfe Core Growth portfolio as part of my investment strategy and for market diversification. 

For my fun account / portfolio, I continue to do some intraday tradings and also sold a far OTM GME PUT as an experimental first try. 

It is currently slightly in the green and I can either do one of the following:

1) Wait until expiration. 

2) Exercise it earlier to unlock my funds. 

I am incline to close it out earlier especially if premiums continue to fall. 

Moving forward I would likely add options as part of my investment / trading tools to augment my investable income. 

Jan 2021 Update

Jan 2021

Portfolio Value after market close

S$151,639.60

Purchase

None

Sold

None

Dividends

 

Singtel @ $408

Short-Term Transactions

BB, GME, PLTR, SOL, NOK, AMC, NAKD

Summary

04 Jan 2021 STI Open: 2,858.90

29 Jan 2021 STI Close: 2,902.52

 

STI closed above its opening this month but I don't feel particularly bullish about our local market. 

 

Nevertheless a pullback is always welcomed for opportunities to add. 

I also entered the US market this month which 'partially' fulfilled one of my aims mentioned earlier this year.

Why 'partially'? 

Because this is driven in a large part by the Wallstreetbets (WSB) euphoria. 

I have to admit I am gambling more than investing. No due diligence was made when I placed the trades. I was merely riding on the momentum created by the WSB crowd and betting on the anticipated short squeeze.

This is the reason why I am only betting a small percentage of my portfolio and the wonderful millions of profits shown on Reddit is unlikely to occur in my case.

In a way I find myself enjoying the process more than the profits. 

Enjoy while it last.

And by the way, to the trading houses that stop retailers from trading GME and AMC last night, hope you get your retribution soon. 

Nov 2020 Updates

Nov 2020

Portfolio Value after market close

S$140,870.40

Wifey's Portfolio Value after market close

S$101,797.60

Purchase

Took up my allocation and applied for excess totalling 2,483 units of Mapletree Logistics Trust @ $1.99 in the preferential offering.

Sold

None

Dividends

 

CCT @ $192

CICT @ $47.88

Suntec @ $73.92

 

Total: $313.80

Short-Term Transactions

None

Summary

02 Nov 2020 STI Open: 2,443.13

30 Nov 2020 STI Close: 2,805.95

 

STI closed above its opening this month but we saw a down trend in the last five trading days.

 

In the Oct update I wrote that my portfolio value fell to one of its lowest levels in recent months.

 

What a difference a month makes. My portfolio value increased by about $15K from last month even though I didn't do much and today's market is red.

 

Wifey's portfolio increased by about $12K and she made a small breakthrough with her portfolio reaching a 6 figure sum.

Such is the volatility of the market.

 

I only made a transaction this month and that is the PO of MLT. With this transaction my holdings of MLT increased to 10,000 units.

 

Average price increased from $1.18 to $1.38.

Next up will be the Ascendas Reit and CRCT PO both of which I will be taking up my allocation and applying for excess.

I think the recent slew of POs shows the importance of maintaining some cash instead of putting 100% in the market.

November is a very busy month for me both in work and personal life.

Hopefully some good things come out of it.

Oct 2020 Updates

Oct 2020

Portfolio Value after market close

S$125,996.25

Wifey's Portfolio Value after market close

S$89,582.05

Purchase

None

Sold

None

Dividends

 

DBS @ $108

Short-Term Transactions

None

Summary

01 Oct 2020 STI Open: 2,500.74

30 Oct 2020 STI Close: 2,423.84

 

With no capital injection + the drop in the local market, my portfolio value fell to one of its lowest levels in recent months.

STI closed lower than its opening for the month of October which is similar to September. Point to take note also is that the index actually went lower than the 2,500 support for the last three trading days.

Looks like it is time to go shopping again.

I still have some funds albeit a low five figure amount to be utilised.

 

CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT)

 

This month I have received a $1,942.50 cash back after CCT merger with CMT has been finalised.

 

With this cash back, my new holdings in the new entity (CICT) will be 5,400 units at an average price of $1.724.

 

For wifey, she received $1,295 cash back which brings her new holdings to 3,600 units at an average price of $1.908.

This counter is among those that I might add on in the coming days. Let's see how the market goes.

Sept 2020 Updates

Sept 2020

Portfolio Value after market close

S$129,962.76

Wifey's Portfolio Value after market close

S$92,752.76

Purchase

None

Sold

None

Dividends

1) CapitaLand Retail China Trust (CRCT) @ $241.60

2) ESR Reit @ $66.20

3) Mapletree Logistics Trust @ $153.72

Total: $461.52

Short-Term Transactions

None

Summary

01 Sept 2020 STI Open: 2,538.55

30 Sept 2020 STI Close: 2,466.62

 

My portfolio value fell by about $3,500 this month.

And with work getting busier, there is little time for me to study the market hence I rather not trade.

STI closed lower than its opening for the month of Sept which is contrary to the prior month. 

July closed lower, August closed higher and finally September closed lower again.

This roller coaster ride is a mirror of the lack of clear direction of the local market. In other words the bulls and bears are still fighting with no clear winner yet.

If you ask me how to invest in this market, I would say follow your investment plan if you have one. I have blogged about my plan here and here.

 

If you do not have a plan, you might want to use the STI as a gauge. In my opinion at 2,500 levels, it might be a good time to start nibbling your preferred counters.

 

As always, enter in batches.

 

Three pieces of good news

 

1) Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (MNACT) has announced its maiden entry to the South Korean market by investing into a 50% stake in The Pinnacle Gangnam, a Grade A office in Seoul.

 

Looking at it from a long term perspective, this will further reduce its concentration in Festival Walk.

 

In the near term, this acquisition is expected to offset the temporary reduction of income from Festival Walk.

 

While the initial yield of 3.2% appears to be low, around 97% of the leases have fixed annual rental escalations of 2 to 3%.

One downside is the relative low occupancy rate of 89.6% as compared to the market average of 95%. However this might not be a huge hurdle for a manager as experienced as Mapletree.

 

Even 'steadier', the Reit manager also announced that it will waive its performance fee until the Reit's DPU exceeds 7.12 cents which is the pre-Covid amount achieved.

 

Thumb's up!

 

2) CapitaLand Commercial Trust (CCT) has finalised the merger with CMT although it's all to be expected. To be honest I didn't even bother to send in my vote.

With this finalised I am looking forward to the performance of the new entity, CICT.

3) CRCT has announced it is expanding into new sectors apart from its traditional retail sector. 

 

The Reit will include office and industrial assets as part of its portfolio diversification strategy.

 

This reduces its sector concentration risk which I feel no doubt, is driven by the effects brought on by Covid-19.

 

Indeed, Covid-19 has made many companies realised their risks and accelerated their transformation.

Many of those that failed to realise this have unfortunately been forced to close down. And these companies included many brand names familiar to all of us. We have seen this in Singapore and all over the world during this pandemic.

 

With the above announcement, I expect CRCT to follow up by announcing their maiden investment in the new sectors soon.

Just a gut feeling.