Lone wolf investor

(The impressive Dream Cruise Liner) I am back from Thailand. I have decided to ditch the air for a sea route due to the incident-prone trip I had two weeks ago . I was joking with my wife, we should have waited in Thailand for the ship to sail us back to Singapore. This time there were no “Train to Busan” or “Red Eyed Curse” to contend with. (Map of Phuket) Geographical and economy The Island of Phuket is located at the Andaman Sea, just at the tip of The Straits of Malacca. The country welcomes close to 10 million guests each year with the Russian and the Indian making up the top two spots of visitors. The land size of Phuket is close to the former size of Singapore. The Island is currently close to 80% of Singapore’s land mass. The main exports are cashew and topical fruits, including durian and pineapple. Patong Beach and Wat Chalong are among the most popular tourist attractions. (Wat Chalong hosts one of the original Buddha’s tooth given by Sri Lanka) Tom Yum Criuse I find the 4-d...

  Market Summary 2-8 Dec 2024 *USA* + Fed seen poised to cut interest rates this mth after data showed labour market remained strong but continued to cool in Nov  + US consumer sentiment up for 5th consecutive mth to 74 in Dec, highest level since Apr  -US year-ahead inflation expectations inched up to 2.9% in Dec, highest in 5 mths, vs 2.6% in Nov  + Nonfarm payroll increased by 227,000 in Nov vs expected 202,000, jobless rate at 4.2% vs 4.1% prior mth  -US ISM services PMI declined to 52.1 in Nov from 56 in Oct, slowest growth in services sector in 3 mths  + US factory orders for manufacturing goods increased by 0.2% MoM to US$586.7bn in Oct  -US exports fell 1.6% to US$265.7bn in Oct, imports dropped 4% to US$339.6bn, both at 4-mth low  -US job cuts climbed to 57,727 in Nov from 55,597 in Oct, compared to Nov 2023, jumped 26.8%  -US weekly jobless claims rose to 224,000 from 213,000 in previous week, hitting 6-week high  + US average ...

(Contents) I have the privilege of meeting Aaron Low, the author of the book, Behind The Banyan by Ho Kwon Ping on building a global brand .  (Wolf and Author, Aaron) I met Aaron at the SIAS’s Boardroom Knockout book launch, a couple of months back which he is also the author of the book. We managed to keep in touch, and today I managed to invite him to talk about his journey of creating this book. The setting was at Toast Box, City Square Mall. Below is a snapshot of our conversation.  Wolf: Congratulations on the success of this book. What prompted you to write the book?  Aaron: This project was conceived during the height of the Covid pandemic. I remember it was March 2020 when Singapore just implemented an islandwide lockdown to stop the spread of the virus. Back in those days, there wasn’t much to do during lockdown. Being an ex-journalist, my passion for writing and the love for books prompted me to create this title. Wolf: Why was Ho Kwan Peng the chosen subject...

  The below article is for educational purpose only. Kindly refrain from taking any action. It shouldn’t constitute as an investment advice. Please read the disclaimer . I have taken a small position in Boustead Singapore. Base on news report, they are looking to divest their Como Orchard at $680m asking price. I am taking a situational position base on assumption the sale did go through at their asking price. (Source: Business Times) 1.) The asking price of $680m for Como Orchard is $165m higher than their purchased price of $515m just 3 years ago. I estimate a gain of 17c-20c per Boustead share if the sale do go through. 2.) Base on my assumption of a 40% equity and 60% debt funded for the purchase of the building. The cash amount coming back to JV after debt retirement at JV level to be around 272m or 136m owning to Boustead which has a 50% stake in the JV. 3.) There are currently 56m of borrowings sitting on Boustead’s book. If they extinguished the debt from the sales proceeds...

  Market Summary 25 Nov-01 Dec 2024 *USA* + US PCE prices rose by 2.3% YoY in Oct, up from a 3-year low of 2.1% in Sept + US consumer spending up 0.4% in Oct, core PCE rises 0.3%, up 2.8% on YoY basis, weekly jobless claims fall 2000 to 213,000 -US new orders for key-manufactured capital goods fell 0.2% in Oct  + US corporate profits unchanged MoM at US$3.141 trillion in Q3, after 3.5% rise in Q2  + US personal income rose by 0.6% MoM to US$24.96 trillion in Oct, biggest rise in 7th mths  + Black Friday data shows US shoppers spent US$10.8bn online, up 10% YoY: Adobe Analytics  + US most brokerages retain expectations of 25-bps rate cut from US Fed in Dec  + S&P 500 hovers at records following over 25% year -to-date gain, P/E ratio at over 3-year highs  + US 10-year Treasury note dropped to 4.2%, extending decline for 2nd consecutive week  -Trump’s proposed tariff hikes would boost inflation by nearly 1%: Goldman  -Trump’s tariffs could c...

(Lisa’s choice for toothpaste) (Festival celebrations at Central World) (Turning up for work late, tell your boss than you know) I have just returned from an incident-prone holiday in Bangkok. It started with the delay of our flight. We were told to come half an hour early from the original time by the “Yellow Airplane Co”. In the end, the flight was delayed by 1 hr from the original timing, 1.5 hrs from the communicated timing.  (The faulty train) We took the airport rail from Suvarnabhumi airport. Usually it will take no more than half an hour to reach Central Bangkok. Unfortunately, the train broke down just before it reached Makkasan station. The driver tried his best to fix the train but to no avail. We were thrown into total darkness as the train lost power. It felt like we were on a train in the movie “Train to Busan”.  We were held up in the train for 35 mins with sealed windows. Initially, I wanted to break the train window for much needed air. As I was contemplating ...