March 2014 Stock Portfolio Breakdown

Just happened to remember to do this. Trying to make it a regular thing.

March in general was a month full of dividend (passive income) announcements but I have come to realize that it is also a month of very few payouts. Most will come in April and May. Hopefully I can jump ahead as I do feel that I'm somewhat lagging behind in terms of my passive income target for the year.

Once again, here's my current portfolio breakdown, adjusted to reflect the segmentation more accurately, in the most approximate sense:

44% Growth Stocks
28% Passive Income Stocks
19% Value Investing Stocks
9% Net Cash

From a strategy perspective, this breakdown might explain clearer why I am still relatively far from my target for passive returns. I really should be channeling more funds towards passive income if I want to achieve my target.

For country breakdown:

31% US Stocks
69% Singapore Stocks

See last month's stats.

Story Of Shorts

I have mentioned my strategy to short a few well known stocks based on what I felt were over-priced reactions to general euphoria, fanfare and sentiment.

Facebook
Google
Manchester United PLC
Twitter

Look at them now.

In Manchester United's case, I will short even more stocks now. This is even more of a no-brainer with Manchester United set to miss out on next season's Champions League and preparing a warchest to shell on new players.

Huat ah!

Charisma Energy

Very lackluster trading in the past one month on the SGX.

My pet stock, Charisma Energy (formally YHM) has continued to languish at the 0.059/60 level without much price movement. It has been fluctuating between 0.058 and 0.064 over the month of March. The floor of 0.058 seems extremely well defended.

Hopefully April we can see some positive price movements.

Long Weekly EURUSD Put Option

This morning I had itchy fingers and really wanted to get into a trade even though I've done my best to minimize my FX trading.

Hence I found a great way to gain far more upside with little outlay.

I bought a weekly EURUSD Put Option with a strike of 1.3650. It's currently price of 1.3768 is still quite far away from being ITM (In-The-Money), but for $11, this is a cheap little wager that can last me half hte week at least.

Let's see how the trade goes.

Secret Millionaires Of Reddit

Got to know of this Reddit forum after reading Investment Moats' latest post.

It is really quite amazing that there are so many inspirational and frugal people out there. People who debunk the myth that you need to be lucky, brilliant or entrepreneurial to strike it rich.

All we need is good ol' hard work under employment, have good saving and spending habits, and invest not to lose money (either smartly or adversely). Sounds easy but quite obviously not everyone is up to the task.

Something to think about and plan around, because I have a strong feeling that this is my best route to financial freedom.

Cornerstone Strategic Value Fund (CLM)

Recently found this fund languishing at such a low price (US$6.46).

Paying a ~17% dividend with monthly payouts, this looks like a good investment that many have not set sights on yet.

Will probably accumulate.

Short Manchester United PLC

If you were as big a fan as I am, you'd know by now how much I want David Moyes out.

From 2013 EPL Champions, to current 7th place, out of the League Cup, FA Cup, and 0-2 down in the 1st leg of the UCL against Olympiakos. SAF's legacy was just to tough to find continuity on.

Nobody foresaw such a monumental plummet and for all the advertising sponsors queuing to jump on the bandwagon of supporting purportedly 650 million fans worldwide, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that its revenues will head downwards once the club doesn't make the UCL next season AND spends a bazillion dollars on new players.

The final straw is the poor performances on the pitch, which will likely alienate the club and its fans for some time. This obviously translates to poorer gate receipts less eyeballs globally watching games, and less merchandise purchases. To blame David Moyes or not is a matter of opinion.

At the current prices of $15.23 on the NYSE, this stock is ripe for a short.

Do your own due diligence please.

#moyesout

2014 Dividend Accumulator IV

As what I've learnt in Malay class, sedikit-sedikit lama-lama jadi bukit. It is a Malay proverb that means "Bit by bit, over time, it will accumulate into a mountain"

Here's to many many more bit by bits.

01 Jan $155.23
10 Jan $1.22
05 Feb $5.88
01 Mar $75.00
04 Mar $5.60

Total Dividends for 2014: $242.93
Average per Month: $20.24

At least we've crossed the $20 mark...

The Ukraine And Russia

The situation in the Ukraine is escalating very rapidly.

At this stage, there is a high chance of war happening. And once it does happen, watch out for a very bad reaction in the markets.

Already even with a rate hike by the Russian Central Bank hasn't helped the fast weakening Russia Ruble.

Source: Bloomberg



Trade safe and take your opportunities as they come.

2014 Dividend Accumulator III

What a dry month February was.

Why I like the months of March and April is because this is when the dividends tend to begin to roll in. Since most REITs and income-paying stocks pay out quarterly dividends, we await for the Q1 batch over this period.

If all goes to expectation, I should see a nice healthy flow coming in soon.

So here is the continuation:

01 Jan $155.23
10 Jan $1.22
05 Feb $5.88
01 Mar $75.00

Total Dividends for 2014: $237.33
Average per Month: $19.78

mREITS

mREITs are Mortgage-backed Real Estate Investment Trusts listed in the US. 

They were very much in favour in 2011 and 2012 with very high yields (13-17%) and capital appreciation!

But last year was a tough year for mREITs with talk of the FED tapering. Spreads widened and yields became depressed as talk of mREITs facing increased gearing costs affected the quarterly payouts.

Then suddenly the taper stopped with Janet Yellen choosing to hold on to pumping Fiat money into the system for awhile longer. And mREITs came back in favour again.

I got into some of it late last year, attracted by the falling but still high yields. Even factoring withholding taxes, the yields I could get were around 10-12%. 

After the hold on tapering, these mREITs have shot back up, most have gone past 20% in capital appreciation. And with a hopeful revision of the quarterly payouts upwards, hopefully we will see even more capital appreciation.

Yet, tapering will have to happen at some stage. While Yellen has put a hold on things, she has indicated that tapering will continue probably soon. By then I would assume that most mREITs' prices will get hit again.

But wait, this hiatus has actually done a good thing for mREITs. It has bought time for alot of the mREIT managers, many of whine weren't clear how badly tapering would affect their payouts and stock prices. Already, we are seeing several mREITs started to diversify from mortgage paper, while others are hoarding cash to lower eventual gearing.

These are good moves that eventually prompted me to decide to continue holding my mREITs (it was actually this that I was deliberating about previously). Hopefully I have discipline to keep on holding them for a far longer term. And hopefully they will compound and pay off for me!

HUAT AH!

Facebook Paying USD19B For WhatsApp

It's so ridiculous that it's mind-boggling.

Who inside FB actually came up with such a valuation when Rakuten can buy Viber for just USD900mio?

Even with if only USD4B is in cash and the rest in FB stock, it still hardly makes sense.

Let's look at some of the reasons why its a joke:

1) So Many Alternatives
Viber, Skype, Line, Telegram, WeChat, KakaoTalk...the list just goes on. And each one has got features that differentiate itself, though hardly. So what makes WhatsApp that much different?

2) 400mio Subscribers So What?
With so many alternatives, 400mio is not that big a deal anymore. Many users user several messenger apps on their phones. With FB taking over, more subscribers may leave than flow in.

3) New Charging Schedule?
Obviously whoever decided to buy WhatsApp up there in Facebook HQ thought that charging would easily recoup the money. So how does $1.99 a year sound? Not so bad you say? Tell that to the billions of users who will switch to a free messenger.

4) In Need Of Something Revolutionary
In order to keep subscribers active, something very revolutionary will need to be added to the existing offering of WhatsApp. Have FB already given this much thought? I sure hope so. How much different can a messenger app be?

5) Telcos Want Some Pie
Recently the CEO of Singtel signalled an intent to charge either WhatsApp or its users the use of its network. Well the telcos won't let the messengers eat up its lost revenue (does anyone SMS anymore) with doing anything would they? Get ready of Battle Royale!

Personally, I think its a good idea to short FB stock now.