In the first edition of our 4 Stocks This Week column in 2020, we zoom into the new companies that have been added into Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) in the past two years. When we invest in the STI, we are gaining exposure to a diverse and strong group of companies – or more commonly termed the 30 largest and most liquid companies – listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). Often, this is part of a passive investing strategy and to achieve market returns. While investors can take a hands-off approach and just let their investments grow over a long horizon, the STI itself is regularly reviewed and updated if there is a need. Read Also: SPDR STI ETF VS Nikko AM Singapore STI ETF: What’s The Difference Between These 2 Straits Times Index ETFs Listed On The SGX? Precis

The weekly 4 Stocks This Week column on DollarsAndSense was started in 2017 with a simple objective was simple: to provide a convenient read each week for busy investors to stay updated with what is happening on the Singapore Exchange. 4 Stock This Week is not a recommendation from us to buy or sell any of the stocks that wke feature. Its purpose is to highlight interesting stocks that investors should be aware of, rather than to analyse these stocks. For this week’s edition, instead of the usual coverage of four stocks, we’ll do a year in review of the other 51 instalments of 4 Stocks This Week that our team has written in 2019. Over the past year (51 weeks), we’ve covered 123 SGX-listed stocks, 4 ETFs and 8 Daily Leverage Certificates. The most covered stock was Sas

1. SPH REIT  --  10th Oct 20192. Kep Infra Trust  --  14th Oct 20193. Kep DC REIT  --  15th Oct 20194. Kep Pac Oak US REIT  -- 15th Oct 20195. MapletreeCom Trust  --  15th Oct 20196. Kep REIT  --  16th Oct 20197. Kep Corp  --  17th Oct 20198. SPH  --  17th Oct 20199. CapitaMall Trust  --  21st Oct 201910. Mapletreelog Trust  --  21st Oct 201911. MapletreeInd Trust  --  22nd Oct 201912. FrasersCom Trust  --  22nd Oct 201913. Frasers Cpt Trust  --  23rd Oct 201914. Suntec REIT  --  23rd Oct 201915. CapitaCom Trust  --  23rd Oct 201916. SGX  --  24th Oct 201917. MNACT  --  25th Oct 201918. CapitaR China Trust  --  25th O

Today, we are going to share with you how to invest your CPF investment money in a no-brainer way. The best part? You need not be financial savvy to do this. A beginner can do it! And I’ll reveal the exact step-by-step process, which you can follow easily. What is CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS)? It is to provide option to CPF members to invest their CPF savings in your Ordinary Account (OA) and Special Account (SA) in various instruments such as insurance products, unit trusts, fixed deposits, bonds and shares in Singapore. The Average CPF Interest Rate is 2.5% to 4% for Ordinary Account. Check their latest CPF interest rate here. Below is the latest CPF rate (1st Oct to 31st Dec 2019).   Share this Infographic On Your Site </p><br /><br /><br /><br /&

Singapore has a long-term vision of being a Smart Nation, and Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong spoke on this at the Smart Nation Summit held in June this year. This vision was outlined five years ago as Singapore transitioned to a wired and connected economy, and with a technologically-literate population, easy access to smartphones and laptops, as well as good IT infrastructure, the vision has progressed well over the years. PM Lee also outlined three important characteristics for Singapore in order to make the Smart Nation initiative a reality: strong engineering capabilities, more leaders and managers who can differentiate between what is real and what is fluff, and a society that embraces science and technology instead of fearing it. On the first point, I believe we have many compa

No, silly. That’s not my performance. I wish. As my posts get far and infrequent, each would naturally be a mish mash of several stuff that’s unrelated. So, of course, I’d choose the 1 with the most attention grabbing headline. It’s not scammish though… I’m featuring a friend’s performance. More on that later… @Homan (From the comments section) Here’s the screenshot that I couldn’t attach to the comments section then. So I’m attaching them here for you: So yea, pretty far OTM. All obviously expired now. (In fact, I could’ve doubled my premiums earned if I was a tad more adventurous and sold nearer to the money options, but I prefer to sleep better.) At the point of typing this, the following are the current outstandi

The impact of the ongoing trade war between China and the US can be seen in 2Q19 results of which 16 out of 61 stocks that were under RHB Invest’s active coverage reported earnings that were below estimates. Meanwhile, earnings revisions for the Straits Times Index (STI) have turned negative again. On top of that, there exist risks of further downgrades to consensus estimates if China-US trade tensions escalate. Despite a 7.4 percent decline from its 2019 peak, the STI is trading at a very reasonable valuation – 12.6 times one-year forward price-to-earnings (P/E), which is at its minus one standard deviation band. Meanwhile, the 4.4 percent forward yield remains attractive and is the highest amongst Asian markets. In the face of slower economic growth in Singapore and an uncertain

If you are looking for a Singapore stock to buy for the long term, look no further than Micro-Mechanics (Holdings) Ltd (SGX: 5DD). The company is involved in the designing, manufacturing, and marketing of consumables and precision tools that are used in the semiconductor industry. Let’s look more closely at why Micro-Mechanics should be a keeper in your stock portfolio. FY2019 report card Micro-Mechanics’ latest financials were anything but spectacular. Revenue for its full year ended 30 June 2019 (FY2019) declined by 7.3% to S$60.3 million thanks to a slowdown in the global semiconductor industry. This fall in the top line, together with higher depreciation costs from capital investments, caused the company’s earnings to plummet 24.5% to S$12.9 million. Even though earn

Dividend investors generally invest in well-known blue-chip companies since these companies tend to pay consistent dividends over a long period of time. Yet, those who are willing to explore beyond their comfort zone might occasionally bump into smaller companies that have the potential to sustain, as well as grow, their dividends over time. Though these types of investments are rare, they can be quite profitable to invest in when the opportunity presents itself. In this article, I’ll look at one of these rare breeds that has grown its dividend by 400% in the last decade. The outperformer The company I’m talking about is Micro-Mechanics (Holdings) Ltd (SGX: 5DD). For starters, Micro-Mechanics designs, manufactures, and markets high precision parts and tools that are used in th

The impact of the ongoing trade war between China and the US has been felt in 2Q19 results for Singapore technology-related manufacturing companies. Five out of the 12 companies under CGS-CIMB Research’s coverage reported 2Q19 results that came in below analysts’ expectations while only four companies managed to beat expectations. With no end in sight, the trade war is making itself felt in the form of uncertainty and/or delays in customers’ plans while analysts also opined the impact of the escalating trade war will likely to continue into 2H19. However, some analysts believe that Southeast Asia countries, including Singapore, may benefit from the situation as they have always been an alternative manufacturing hub to China when customers seek to mitigate risks arising from the produ

The Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) is up just 1.2% so far for the year. With the US-China trade war, Hong Kong protests, Brexit, and general economic slowdown worrying investors, it’s not surprising to see the Singapore stock market languishing. If you are looking for stock ideas amid all the macro fears, you have come to the right place. Using our data provider, S&P Global Market Intelligence, and a Magic Formula methodology popularised by Joel Greenblatt, we found some of the best stocks for the month that could go on to perform well. The basic premise of the Magic Formula is to find the 30 best shares in the market as ranked by their cheapness and their quality and to hold on to that basket of shares for a year before repeating the ranking process. For a deeper underst

Information technology (IT) can be considered a sunrise industry as it offers great future prospects for enhancing our quality of life. The sector itself is large and varied, ranging from companies that manufacture components for the electronics industry to software companies that write programs for clients. SGX has recently highlighted the IT sector as the best-performing sector over first the seven months of 2019, generating a total return of 29.8%. With the ongoing trade dispute between the US and China, electronic manufacturers may witness higher costs seeping into their supply chains, while demand may also remain muted moving forward. However, I believe all these headwinds will eventually pass, and they are currently creating mouth-watering opportunities for long-term investors to pi

Micro-Mechanics (Holdings) Ltd (SGX: 5DD) is involved in the designing, manufacturing, and marketing of consumables and precision tools that are used in the semiconductor industry. On Thursday, the company released its financial results for the full year ended 30 June 2019 (FY2019). Here are some key highlights from the announcement. Show me the money Revenue for FY2019 tumbled 7.3% to S$60.3 million due to a slowdown in the global semiconductor industry. Sales fell across Micro-Mechanics’ major geographical markets, including that of China, Malaysia, and Singapore. This fall in the top line, together with higher depreciation costs from capital investments, caused the company’s earnings to contract by 24.5% to S$12.9 million. Consequently, earnings per share fell from 12.33 S

HRnetGroup Ltd (SGX: CHZ) is the largest recruitment firm in Asia ex Japan. It was listed two years ago on the Singapore stock exchange. HRnet recently caught my attention as it share price is trading at 52-week low of S$0.56 (as of writing). What’s more, it has plunged by 38% from its 52-week high price of S$0.90. Personally, the very first question that I have in my mind now is whether the stock is cheap. This question is important because if the firm’s shares are cheap, I might take some time to learn more about the company’s future prospects. Clearly, there is no easy answer. However, we can still get some insight by comparing HRnet’s current valuations with the market’s valuations. The three valuation metrics I will focus on are the price-to-book (PB) ra

Electronic companies can be great candidates for investment if they check all the right boxes, as the focus in the last few years has been on the technological advancements in computers and the internet. This has created a booming industry that has caused demand to surge for electronic components and parts. While some believe the industry remains inherently cyclical and is subject to sharp booms and busts, others feel the cycle has lengthened enough for most companies to be able to make consistent profits. A previous article of mine had questioned whether electronic companies’ businesses had peaked. Though it may seem that many companies in this industry have seen weakening revenue and profit numbers on a year-on-year basis, it still seems worthwhile for investors to sift out the st

We take a look at the 10-year history of Venture Corporation Limited (SGX: V03) to demonstrate this blue chip company’s track record of stability and consistency.

Planning for one’s retirement can be a major challenge, as there are so many aspects to take care of. Aside from setting aside enough savings as a buffer against financial calamities or family emergencies, it’s also important to build up a strong and resilient investment portfolio that can provide both steady growth and a stream of passive income. This is where proper due diligence plays a key role in determining which companies investors include in their retirement portfolios. Necessary characteristics include a great track record of handling crises and emerging unscathed, along with a history of growing dividends. So, here are four well-run companies that deserve a place in investors’ retirement portfolios. 1. Venture Corporation Limited Venture Corporation Limited (SG

Return on equity (ROE) is a simple metric to showcase how good a company’s management is in turning every dollar of shareholders’ equity into earnings. It’s calculated by taking the annual earnings of a company (found under its income statement) and dividing it by the shareholders’ equity (found under the balance sheet). Generally, the higher the ROE figure, the better it is for shareholders. We all want the companies we’ve invested in to generate as much profit as possible for every dollar of our equity, don’t we? A recent report by the Singapore Exchange revealed the ROE of the top 10 largest industrials shares of the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI). The first five shares out of the 10 with the highest ROEs are: Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd

1. SPH REIT  --  11th Jul 20192. SPH  --  12th Jul 20193. Kep Infra Trust  -- 15th Jul 20194. Kep Reit  --  15th Jul 20195. Kep-KBS US Reit  --  16th Jul 20196. Kep DC Reit  --  16th Jul 20197. CapitaCom Trust  --  17th Jul 20198. Kep Corp  --  18th Jul 20199. SATS  --  18th Jul 201910. FrasersCom Trust  --  22nd Jul 201911. Mapletreelog Trust  --  22nd Jul 201912. CapitaMall Trust  --  23rd Jul 201913. MapletreeInd Trust  --  23rd Jul 201914. Frasers Cpt Trust  --  23rd Jul 201915. MapletreeCom Trust  --  25th Jul 201916. Cache  --  25th Jul 201917. SIA Engg  --  26th Jul 2019 18. Suntec Reit  --  26th Jul 201919. Fr

Strong free cash flow and a low payout ratio should give investors confidence in Venture Corporation Ltd's (SGX: V03) dividend-paying ability.