White Bellied Sea Eagle

A pair of white bellied sea eagle perching on a tree.

The tree is located on an island South of Singapore. Photo taken in March 2013.

Timing Sale of Equity Part 2

22 and 23 May 2013 are two dates that are important in investment learning. On 22 May, the price of Comfort Delgro was floating around $2.18 to $2.19. The price touched $2.20 on a very short time basis. This price has not been seen in the history of the company.

On 22 May 13, I had placed on queue to sell some shares of Comfort Delgro at $2.20. It was to me a reasonable price. Just 1 cents above the then current market price and in fact, it breached $2.20 briefly but unfortunately I was not at the front of queue and I failed to sell.

On 22 May 13 night (US day), chairman of Federal Reserve, Bernanke made a speech to US Congress and the Dow ended up in negative territory. Subsequently on the next day, Singapore STI came plunging and lost more than 1.7% (-61.20 points). Comfort Delgro was not to be spared, it plunged to $1.925.  A drop of more than 13%. If I had successfully sold the share at $2.20, it would have been a good profit. However, timing and luck were not on my side.

Similarly, a week earlier, I had sold some shares of Singapore Post at $1.365. On 23 May 13, the price of SingPost was down to $1.35. Timing was on my side.

While investment guru Mr Warren Buffett had said that a sound investment strategy is independent of time and investor should look at long term strategy, it was inevitable that timing does play an important role in a profitable outcome.

It was reported in the news that Singapore Labour Foundation (SLF) was actively liquidating their inventory of Comfort Delgro shares that caused the plunge.

Masala Thosai

A photograph of masala thosai from Komalas in Little India.

The quality of this thosai is not good as it is a public holiday and there was a crowd. It costs me S$3.50

If I can taste correctly, the sauces are vegetable curry, white coconut milk, meat curry and pepermint sauce. My favourite is the pepermint sauce. Hope I can make this sauce 1 day.

Men Gold Braclet

Bought a gold braclet today when the price of gold hit USD1389 per ounce. In commercial price, it is S$57.50/gram.

Gold has dropped significantly from last year when it was in excess of USD1700 per ounce. The braclet weighs 14.94 gram and including workmanship and value added tax, it costs S$1009.12. Considering that the braclet can be used as an ostentatious ornament, I felt that it was better than holding a piece of gold certificate. Of course, gold certificate can be sold easily for a profit.

There is possibility of gold price facing continuous selling pressure to perhaps a USD$1200 level. However, the saving transmitted to commercial gold price may not be significant. Afterall the weight of the braclet is less than 50 gram.

PS: Workmanship cost S$89.934 for the braclet.