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Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Jan-Feb 2019 Portfolio Updates and Light Reflections on Investing

My little portfolio got a little smaller after divestment of PC Partners at almost break-even price. In our field, we call it "break-even-titis," and I cannot disagree with it after looking at the price.


My sad little pathetic excuse on why I sold the stock was because I think the earnings, adjusted for "cyclical-ness," isn't dirt cheap. The idea wasn't mine to begin with, and so I sold. So I lost out on about 21% gains. From what was published, I didn't think a lot of inventories will be sold. The joint venture sounds a little speculative. But that is my own opinion, and clearly not the market's.

So I guess that is my sad, little, pathetic excuse for selling. On hindsight, the little amount of courage I had in buying the stock as it plunges, prevented me from making huge losses in the end. Investing is very much about luck at times.

For what it is worth, investing has been taking a back seat as other money-reducing hobbies take priority. For a while, I was tempted to buy a little bit of cowell at 80+ cents. I firmly believe this company is worth about 1.2 purely on net working capital, and had about 4 years of cash burn to endure a business down-turn. The only reason why I decided against buying, was the turnover in senior management/directors.

So I decided against it because I do not believe in investing in small amount of money in stocks unless I am dead certain of an idea. Quantitative investing, imo, works, but the minuscule gains over index returns is not worth it.

And so I missed out on about 60% of gains in Cowell as well.
I remember repeatedly buying AA batteries for a very cheap wall clock at my living room, and it became an activity which I must perform every 3 weeks. Eventually, I replaced the clock with a quality, Ikea clock and it has run uninterrupted for maybe a year or more. Buying quality stuff works.

I guess I still looking for the next "Perfect Shape" without the budging trade receivables.

***
STI (ES3) returns: 3.087-> 3.237, +4.86%
HSI (2800) returns: 25.25-> 28.7, +13.67%
Current Portfolio return: 7.99%

Current portfolio, in value, is 63.8% in SGX, and the rest in HKEX.
So the portfolio under-perform as a whole against the indices. This is extremely disappointing.

Transactions made:
a) sale of Samudera Shipping to token sizing due to a shift towards quality
b) purchase of more TTJ due to lowered market prices
c) purchase of more Xinghua Port Holdings due to lowered market prices.
d) sale of PC Partners as described above.

As market swings upwards from depression, I remain amused by how it can influence business valuation. It gets depressing for me as certain companies swing from high-end of the fair value to even pricier levels.
***
I apologize for this low quality post as I do not have any quality ideas or principles to talk about. Until next time...

4 comments:

  1. Good evenijg,

    Have u looked at water oasis group (listed in HK). It's also in the wellness business.

    Clement Ong

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No... I have not been working really hard these days... apologies.
      it looks pretty good when i look at the numbers from stock.cafe though.

      Delete
    2. Hi Clement,
      I had a second look at the company's numbers. Please note that this is just numbers only (which a very well-programmed bot can do the same job).

      It seems like their inventory turn over is getting slower. Cash conversion cycle is reducing as well.

      Long term equity growth is at about 5%. Not fantastic numbers. Along with a flattish revenue, the growth is probably not going to come if the management adopts a care-taker attitude.

      The numbers suggest that this is an effective business. At the current price, I suspect you won't lose much if you perceive this company as a dividend play. Its Cashflow to EBIT, averaged over since 2008, is about 7. I think the downside is not much, but so is the upside.

      Keep a look out for the "prepayment" section of the balance sheet. I have no idea what it is but it appears to be increasing far more quickly than most of its assets.

      I prefer to buy this company over many of the mature retail reits in Singapore, though. Thanks for pointing this company out.

      Delete
    3. Thanks for the reply. I was looking at this company some time vakb together with perfect shape but I thought their numbers were better. Have not really looked at their business in depth though and am not sure about their prospects for growth.

      Delete

A short note to perhaps end the year

Sorry for the lack of updates. I have been distracted by pool of late. My mum's colonoscopy is this Wed, and she has signs of anemia, so...