What I Learnt from my World Cup 2014 Bets

Just a couple of weeks back, I was sharing on how to bet on world cup through Singapore pools at the convenience of your house. Maybe it was too convenient for me~

Unfortunately, I got wiped out even before the Semi-finals and Finals (just like the England and Spain!).

Nevertheless, while i was mildly affected, I would also like to share a few Random Thoughts and Lessons I believe would be beneficial to you or amusing perhaps (where you laugh at my losses :/)

#1 There is no such thing as a change in fate/fortune even after things have gone awry for some time. 

It is like what you often hear in casinos: "It will surely be Black (or Red) this time round!" even after the same color has appeared for more than 5 times. The same goes for both soccer betting and forex/stock investing etc.

In relation to stocks, I have this saying to share: What goes up can continue to go up and what goes down may stay there permanently too.

#2 Betting on the exact score is like speculating on a Penny Stock

Checking out the odds for every match can be exciting (and it has proven to be too much excitement). "What is the quickest way to earn big bucks!" -> through high risks of buying an exact score!
And failure is what I achieved. Pain is what people who "invested" in penny stocks like Blumont and Asiasons experienced when they fell almost 80% in 3 days.

Most often than not, even if you got the luck to strike it big once (e.g. earn big money on one penny stock), it will not work its charm all the time. What can go up can come down and the only thing that can differentiate this is by looking at its underlying fundamentals.

#3 Looking at the "Professional Opinions/Reviews" is like listening to the Stock Advisors

Look at Spain and England. Look back at what the "Experts" have said about them, some even say Spain can be in the top few teams. One key thing to take away from this is that sometimes they may be right too, but you have to do your own research as well.
The person promoting a pan will always say that the pan is fantastic and awesome! You are the only person who knows what is best for you~
Same for Investing - No one will take care of your $$ for you if you don't master the basics in stocks investing yourself!

Conclusion

I didn't know once that I can come out with a few theories that link back to investing through just a few simple bets. Even though soccer betting is tempting and the fact that it happens once in 4 years make many people want to place down huge bets to enjoy the Feeling (be part of it); it is advisable to advocate a limit on the bet amount.

Nevertheless, I hope that you have learnt something from my post and can "Like" my facebook page at www.facebook.com/kissinvesting. Lastly, Go forth and Enjoy the next few big matches coming up this week!!!

How to Bet on World Cup 2014

To many people, World Cup is not just watching 22 people kicking the ball around.. (like what the ladies always say)... it's time to fulfill our betting urges!

Nevertheless, just a word of advice, please curb your gambling bets to a sum you can control and only go for legal operator like Singapore Pools.

Singapore Pools
They even set up a World Cup website for people to sign up online and bet through making a phone call easily. Registration is here.

***Update*** I think that registration is a breeze! No need to queue up with many people all the time and just need to pay $1 for each top-up (in my case, I just play for fun with $500... :D)

Furthermore, they have these 4 places to allow people to watch the matches live there as well. I believe when it comes to quarter-finals onwards, people will all be gathering there and basking in the atmosphere together as well!

App

There is now even an App where you can look at the odds at one shot! & nope, its not created by me...
Just find it interesting to share with you all... Not bad i would say...

Lastly, just a video to keep your hormones under control...



Hope everyone (including me) win lots lots! HUAT AH!!!

World Cup Singapore Time and Places to Watch the matches live!

The World Cup 2014 is finally here! And those who want to immerse themselves in the Soccer Fever can look at the group play draw/schedule, the Singapore showing times and places to watch them!

The Singapore showtimes (All timings shown are in Sg 24hour format)

Group A
13/06 04:00 Sao Paulo Brazil - Croatia
14/06 00:00 Natal Mexico - Cameroon
18/06 03:00 Fortaleza Brazil - Mexico
19/06 06:00 Manaus Cameroon - Croatia
24/06 04:00 Brasilia Cameroon - Brazil
24/06 04:00 Recife Croatia - Mexico

Group B
14/06 03:00 Salvador Spain - Netherlands
14/06 06:00 Cuiaba Chile - Australia
19/06 03:00 Rio De Janeiro Spain - Chile
19/06 00:00 Porto Alegre Australia - Netherlands
24/06 00:00 Curitiba Australia - Spain
24/06 00:00 Sao Paulo Netherlands - Chile

Group C
15/06 00:00 Belo Horizonte Colombia - Greece
15/06 09:00 Recife Côte d'Ivoire - Japan
20/06 00:00 Brasilia Colombia - Côte d'Ivoire
20/06 06:00 Natal Japan - Greece
25/06 04:00 Cuiaba Japan - Colombia
25/06 04:00 Fortaleza Greece - Côte d'Ivoire

Group D
15/06 03:00 Fortaleza Uruguay - Costa Rica
15/06 06:00 Manaus England - Italy
20/06 03:00 Sao Paulo Uruguay - England
21/06 00:00 Recife Italy - Costa Rica
25/06 00:00 Natal Italy - Uruguay
25/06 00:00 Belo Horizonte Costa Rica - England

Group E
16/06 00:00 Brasilia Switzerland - Ecuador
16/06 03:00 Porto Alegre France - Honduras
21/06 03:00 Salvador Switzerland - France
21/06 06:00 Curitiba Honduras - Ecuador
26/06 04:00 Manaus Honduras - Switzerland
26/06 04:00 Rio De Janeiro Ecuador - France

Group F
16/06 06:00 Rio De Janeiro Argentina - Bosnia-Herzegovina
17/06 03:00 Curitiba Iran - Nigeria
22/06 00:00 Belo Horizonte Argentina - Iran
22/06 06:00 Cuiaba Nigeria - Bosnia-Herzegovina
26/06 00:00 Porto Alegre Nigeria - Argentina
26/06 00:00 Salvador Bosnia-Herzegovina - Iran

Group G
17/06 00:00 Salvador Germany - Portugal
17/06 06:00 Natal Ghana - USA
22/06 03:00 Fortaleza Germany - Ghana
23/06 06:00 Manaus USA - Portugal
27/06 00:00 Recife USA - Germany
27/06 00:00 Brasilia Portugal - Ghana

Group H
18/06 00:00 Belo Horizonte Belgium - Algeria
18/06 06:00 Cuiaba Russia - Korea Republic
23/06 00:00 Rio De Janeiro Belgium - Russia
23/06 03:00 Porto Alegre Korea Republic - Algeria
27/06 04:00 Sao Paulo Korea Republic - Belgium
27/06 04:00 Curitiba Algeria - Russia

Figure out that many would be rather restless during work this period of time since all the matches are played during the Zzzzz timing!

Where to watch them w/o broadband at home?!

SAFRA
SAFRA Mount Faber, Tampines and Yishun will be screening all matches at their aircon lobbies while the Toa Payoh branch will air the final. Each venue can house up to 150 persons.

Community Centres
Full Schedules here

Mcdonalds

Hong Lim Park

Bars
Harry's
Hollandse Bar
The Bank Bar+ Bistro
The Penny Black
Muddy Murphy's

From Millionaire to Pauper in less than 2 Years

If you have read the heart-wrenching news, about how a widow got donations & insurance payouts worth S$1million and then squandered it all in just 1 YEAR; you would be utterly disappointed in her.

"I also don't know how I finished (using) the money," she said.

Furthermore, she has 5 kids to look after and now that she's broke, she has to turn back to working a low wage job again.

While you may feel sad for her and the circumstances she fell into, perhaps a few of you will think of why; Why does this happen?!

"how the h*ck can you spend all that in a year!?!?"

More often than not, people who come by large sums of money, whether be it through inheritance, striking lottery, sportsmen who suddenly get rich etc. are set to lose it back all again. (Look at michael jackson, mike tyson). 

Why? This is because of one simple reason - Lack of Financial IQ. If one is not prepared for a financial windfall, the money disappears quickly, with some even reaching a financial position that is worse than before they received the windfall. Some even go to the extent of being bankrupt.

Qn: So How Should You increase your financial IQ?

Ans: Through 3 words.

1) Read - It's just like studying to pass your basic driving theory test. You need to understand the terminologies and how stuff works before actually working on it. Reading up on personal finance can be easy; you can just borrow the library books for FREE so what's stopping you?

2) Invest - After getting basic financial knowledge, it's important to take action (like learning driving lessons to get more confidence before taking the test). Many people are afraid to invest their hard-earned money because they are scared to lose it all. However, when you leave your money in the savings account, you are potentially losing out even more than those who make mistakes but improve on them along the way.

3) Assets - While i may not agree 100% with Robert Kiyosaki on his many philosophies, I do advocate the idea of accumulating assets. As he has always mentioned in his books, Assets can put money in your pocket and make you richer while Liabilities take $ out and make you poorer.

Conclusion

In my own conjecture, i believe there are still many more out there that lack the necessary financial wisdom to secure their own comfortable retirement next time. I have the dream to help as many as I can and hope that I can reach out to them one way or another; taking on the late Dennis Ng's dreams to build a foundation with the donations of people who benefitted from the knowledge i shared.

Highlights of the Singpost-Alibaba Collaboration

If you haven't already know, Singpost announced a trading halt yesterday in the afternoon, pertaining to Alibaba's investment in it. The news can be found here.

Instead of boring you with the nitty-gritty details; let's take a look at the main highlights:

1. Alibaba Investment Limited will invest S$312.5 million to purchase 30 million existing ordinary shares held in treasury by SingPost and 190.096 million new ordinary shares and take a 10.35% stake in SingPost upon completion.
   
2. Both parties are forming a joint venture (JV) to leverage on each other's strengths and distribution networks/technology discuss.
   
3. Currently, SingPost’s e-commerce and related businesses account for about 26% of its total revenue. The CEO has said that he understands that their core domestic business [mailing biz] continues to be under pressure from rapidly declining domestic traditional mail volumes.
   Thus, he is looking at driving growth through Singpost's regional e-commerce logistics and strengthening it to be a regional revenue stream.
   
4. Funds from this investment provide SingPost with financial flexibility to significantly scale up its e-commerce logistics business and build new capabilities as they are poised for growth in the region.

My Opinion

It seems that everything is oiled into place - CEO with the right focus on e-commerce, a strong backing from Alibaba and plenty of ka-ching to expand quickly. 

While Singpost is selling for a relatively high P/E ratio of 23.08 (from bloomberg as at 28 May); if it can turn its e-commerce biz from 26% of its revenue to 50% - it will mark a very strong growth rate like seen from Raffles Medical (growing at P/E 20+ with strong earnings growth over past years) 

Furthermore, it also offers a 3.79% dividend yield, so it can also provide some decent cash-flow for an investor even if it is a long wait for capital gains.

What do you think about this deal for Singpost? Let me know by leaving a comment under my facebook page @ www.facebook.com/kissinvesting. Thanks & HUAT AH!

How to buy thailand undervalued stocks

Unrest in Thailand

The political turmoil in Thailand shows no pause or any sort. In fact, this 12^th military coup in the history of the country is making things worse for the country’s economy.

Thailand has been facing unrest for over the past six months and the Thai Baht has come down 2% compared to US dollar after the coup news.

Nevertheless, as investors dig through Thailand's history of coups, they will realise that the stock markets usually rebound sharply once things are stabilized.

Finding Undervalued Thai Stocks

So out of curiosity, I decided to run a stock filter based on the following:

1. Exchange is SET [Stock exchange of Thailand]
2. Return On Equity (FY) is >10 (%)
3. Dividend Yield is 5 - 10 (%)
4. P/E excluding extraordinary items (Q) is <10

Screenshot of Stocks which match the 4 filters

The rationale behind these screens? I want the stocks to be cheap and performing well in terms of ROE. One filter Warren Buffett tends to look for is "Has the company performed consistently well?" ROE is also referred to as "stockholder's return on investment." It reveals the rate at which shareholders are earning income on their shares.

Lastly, no one will know when the coup will end. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I wish to look for a good dividend yield to help me tide over the uncertainty ahead. Of course, consistent dividend payouts and free cash flow will be important in judging if the yield can be sustained.


School of Thought

While it may not be comprehensive enough to capture other quality stocks as well, I believe a stock screening is definitely better than nothing. Moreover, there are still numerous stocks which we can zoom into their qualitative aspects.

In my next few posts, I will be touching on those Thailand stocks (if any) that possess one or more qualities such as great growth potential, high profit margins, margin of safety and more!

Like my post to receive more regular updates like this at www.facebook.com/kissinvesting. Thanks & HUAT AH!

Why SMRT share price shoot up/increase 44.6%

SMRT had a huge run-up in its stock price - whopping 44.6% gain in less than 1 month from 23 April where it laid stagnant at S$1.02 for quite some time. This is despite the fact that there are no significant developments in the company!

Nevertheless, many market observers would be lamenting now that they missed such a market darling. Will the up trend continues or will it fade away? Let's take a look at why its stock price soar so high in the first place...

Proposal to sell hard assets to Singapore's govt

After numerous train breakdowns, one of the key concerns is the improving and refurbishing of its railway lines which cost tons lots of money, driving its profits down due to high costs. The potential sale would turn SMRT into an asset-light operator (For more information, you can read the news article here) where: 

• it only charges a cost-plus pricing for operating the lines (a d*mn good deal i would say)
• The high operating costs are now borne by the government, in turn, by the tax-payers. 
• Don't forget about its lucrative rental and advertising side-lines where the opening of Sports Hub will lead to another set of good results.

Over the long run, if the framework is approved, it does help to validate the surge in share price. However, as of 20 May 2014, SMRT is selling at 36.88 times P/E ratio, 2.68 times of the STI multiple. The earnings will have to increase by 100% or 2 times in order for the P/E ratio to be in a more acceptable range of 18+.

Lastly, such a major decision may take some time to materalize and even more time will be required to turn it into profits. People should be careful of buying in a frenzy and getting stuck at the top for a long time in order for fundamentals to catch up to the euphoria.

3 reasons to bet on Croesus Retail Trust

Gone were the days where Croesus Retail Trust lingered at below its IPO price of S$0.93 around one year ago. It has been on an upswing recently, up almost 8% in a month. This can be due to the positive news where it still has the first right of refusal to 2 additional malls in Japan.

Other than that, there are 3 compelling reasons why Croesus Retail Trust is worth another look:

1. Strong Financials: Besides reporting Actual results that out-performed forecasts in 3 straight quarters, it is offering a dividend yield of 7.37%.
2. Right Place, Right Time: Croesus Retail trust properties are all situated in Japan, a country where many asset values have fallen drastically for the past decade. Nevertheless, under Abenomics, the middle income crowd seems to be getting back into shape.
3. Awards: Winning the title of "Best Small Cap Company" drives in the notion that management team is delivering a good job in steering the company to greater heights.
4. Growth Plans: Opportunities of Rental Reversions are intact. With accretive acquisitions & rental increases -> it can lead to higher distributions in the future too.

Nevertheless, investors will have to take note of the high gearing ratio (53.5% as of 31 March 2014) which seems to be more than the average REITs in the market. If you are interested about the company, you can read more here.

Hope you like my post! You can receive more regular updates by "Like"-ing my facebook page at www.facebook.com/kissinvesting. Thanks & HUAT AH!

Learn how to Enjoy 1 for 1 movies and starbucks coffee!

If you haven't already noticed, the discounted movie tickets (using Passion card or NTUC card or any credit cards) at Cathay Cineplexes are no more for the time being until June 2014... Leaving us with the other option of regular priced tickets at S$13?!

That's seriously expensive... Inflation has made its way into the movies as well! I remember I grumbled having to pay $7 during my school days.. lol..

Meanwhile, there is a glimmer of hope where you can enjoy 1 for 1 movie tickets (I just used it to watch Spiderman 2 movies at $6.50 each)!

Now you can enjoy all these offers by just downloading the Nets Savers App and using any card that has Nets Flashpay to make payment! Share this with your frens as well!

Hope all of you can Save more $_$!

Singapore ranked 2nd in World's Economic Free Countries Index

The Index of Economic Freedom for 2014

According to the economic freedom index, Singapore is the second "free"st economy in the world behind Hong Kong. The index marked the country with a score of 89.4 which is 1.4 points ahead of last year.

This figure represents the labour and investment freedom in the country that overshadows any small monetary and business freedom decline. Singapore has been ranked as being second among 42 countries in the Asia Pacific region.

In the index’s 20 year history, Singapore has successfully surged up by 3 points owing to limited government and market openness that has advanced in the past years in double digits. 

Singapore’s competitiveness has been powered by high trade freedom levels and the regulatory efficiency that contribute largely to the ensuring of a resilient growth of the country’s economy. With a record of continuous high achievements from the past consecutive four years from 2010, it is now in 2014 that Singapore has achieved its highest ever index score.

Singapore also holds a strong minimum tolerance tradition from corruption which is institutionalized within a judicial frame work that is efficient and sustains the rule of law for this ever dynamic economy.

Economic Freedom Promotes Prosperity

As you can see from the ranking of the world by economic freedom-ness, many of the small countries are high up in the top 10. 

Perhaps thats why many countries would like the small countries like - Singapore, Switzerland, Hong Kong to shed some light on how to manage their countries!

All said, Singapore achieved S$60,410 per capita income, S$56.7 billion FDI flow, 4.6% inflation and 2% unemployment for the year 2013, a feat we Singaporeans can be proud of!

Why Investing is like Playing Dota

P.S. If you don't know what Defense of the Ancients (DotA) is...well, you're probably not reading this post.

Many people (esp girls) i think, will exclaim at this title.. What!?! How can such an important thing like investing be linked to  playing a game!

That said, i would like to state first that i am both an investor and avid dota gamer. And i thought of the similarities while waiting for the game to start... Lol.. Here goes:

#1 Begin with the End in mind

Dota: you have to take down the enemy towers..

Investing: this is really dependant on each individual (some may aim to be billionaire?) but generally it is to retire rich and have a comfortable retirement.

#2 Steps to achieve it

Dota: you farm creeps/minions (for gals who don't understand - they are little creatures that drop money) and slaughter enemy heroes to build up ur inventory; so that you are stronger than ur opponents to achieve your goal (mentioned previously).

Investing: you have to slowly build up your wealth through the power of compounding and your preferred  investment strategy. Killing heroes is like getting a bonus from multi-bagger stocks...

#3 Teamwork

Dota: No matter how great you are as a solo hero; it doesn't mean you can win against a team of five alone. Tournaments has shown that teamwork is crucial - carry, tanker and supporter.

Investing: same goes for investing.. When you dip into the investment world for the first time, many will feel overwhelmed.. (I have many friends asking me how to start, how to value or see whether stocks are good buys or not)

The key point is here: history has proven that every successful person has a mentor and why should you be different?

Find a mentor, financial adviser, stock-broker and books/seminars (yes, they are impt!) to be your team to HELP you... (Many are just there to earn ur $$ so be careful)

Conclusion

All in all, it also depends on your mindset. More often than not, people give up on Dota games when they see no hope to win right at the start.

If you bring this mentality to stocks investment, you are "doomed" (by doombringer lol!). Okay cold joke aside, investing in stocks as well as dota, are easily done; but not easy to be mastered.

There you go - the reasons why investing is like dota. There is one real big difference though, u can earn kaching $_$ by investing wisely but not dota! So, kickstart on your investment journey today!!

A Stable Dividend Stock worth looking at

China Merchants Holdings (Pacific) Limited (SGX: C22) reported a solid first quarter results yesterday, with net profits rising 14% to HK$222.67 million from the corresponding quarter last year.

Listed in August 1981, China Merchants Holdings (Pacific) Limited (SGX: C22) ("CMH" in short) was originally a hotel operator under the name of Hotel Tai-Pan Pte Ltd. However, according to this quarter results, the company has announced the disposal of its property development business on 16 April 2014. The sale is a positive sign since the segment has not been performing well and with that, CMH can now focus on its profitable and growing toll road division.

Currently, the company owns and operates four toll roads totalling 367 kilometres. They are located in Zhejiang province , Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guizhou province in the PRC. These roads form the main component of the national and provincial road networks.

Some basic numbers

While group revenue for 1Q2014 increased 6% to from HK$436.4 million to HK$464.4 million, net profits edged up 14% due to several components in the income statement.

• ·   Other operating income swelled 199% from HK$4 million to around HK$11.9 million mainly due to recognition of deferred income and effective interest on other receivables relating to compensation granted by local governmental authorities
• ·    19% and 39% fall in admin and finance expenses. The former is because of lower professional fee incurred by the Company and lower administrative expenses incurred by Beilun Port Expressway while the latter is due to repayment of certain long term bank borrowings
• ·    Share of results of jointly controlled entities also inched up 10% with higher contributions from the group's two toll roads, namely Gui Liu Expressway and Gui Huang Expressway

Financial Position and Valuation

If you zoom in on the liabilities area, you would have noticed that it is slightly on the high side at HK$3.38 billion as net profits only amount to HK$222.67 million for the quarter. On the other hand, cash and cash equivalents stands at HK$1.64 billion, and capital expenditure remain at a bare minimum - HK$5.05 million for the quarter.

Executive Chairman and CEO Mr Luo Hui Lai said, “The Group delivered strong results in 1Q2014, continuing the good momentum from FY2013. We expect our toll road business to continue to deliver positive results in light of the economic growth in the provinces where they are located and the continued growth in vehicle ownership.”

CMH last closed at S$0.96 and trades at a Price-earnings ratio of 7.28. It also offers a juicy 7.29% dividend yield, which may attract the attention of many income investors since its underlying toll road businesses can support the dividend pay-outs through stable, recurring cash flows.

Why SMRT and SBS Transit Prices increase/surge?

If you haven't notice, the prices of SMRT and SBS Transit soared to S$1.205 and S$1.315 respectively, up almost 20% from wednesday (23 Apr) closing prices!!

SGX has also launched an investigation/query to investigate on the unusual trading activity.

But what actually happened... I received an analyst report stating 2 possible reasons:

Scenario 1 

Railway Financing Framework in place - Highly possible – The house believes that SMRT is making inroads with regulators regarding the accounting of asset transfers under the new rail-financing framework. This is assume to be very close to a conclusion. 

In short, the end result will be a predictable cash flows and a more sustainable financing model, which will alter the fate of the company. Under the new rail financing framework, LTA will collect a licence charge that the operator will pay for the right to run and generate returns from the revenue service. The monies received will be pooled together to replace and enhance operating equipment such as trains, signaling systems and other operating assets for operating the Railway Transport System (RTS). 

The licence charge comprises fixed and variable components. The fixed component is calibrated to take into account factors such as the viability of the line, its long-term operational and maintenance needs, and the benefits and costs that the line is likely to bring to/impose on the rest of the railway network. The variable component ensures the appropriate level of risk-sharing between government and the operator. 

CIMB modelled in significant amount of service enhancement works that would be completed within the next 24 months, related costs would taper, leading to margin recovery in FY15F. As such, the house sees a 36% yoy improvement on core net profit (FY15 net profit S$84m).

The shift/change in business model (to cost-plus model, if indeed this happen) will would also go a long way into reversing SMRT’s bus losses 12-18 months from now and significantly improve margins, earnings and cash flows. This should help mitigate the incremental costs required to improve the other related opex, which are currently causing severe the cost-revenue misalignment.

Scenario 2: Nationalization of SMRT 

- Lower possibility – Though not ruled out entirely, is the possibility of nationalizing the company. CIMB however do not think it is in the interest of the government to “own” back the company, and subject itself to further abuse from disgruntled commenters whenever trains breakdown, or fare increase is necessitated. 

Investment/finance App (why moolah) review

Tried out one financial planning app yesterday which depicts your life from 24 (as you start working) to when you are around 33.

Unbiased review here since i am not paid or whatsoever..

The app is quite fun and enriching for those who are not so familiar with personal finance. Whole process only last 1hr+ but can give you knowledge for your entire lifetime!

Playing the game brings light to certain important financial decisions you would have neglected/missed out in your busy course of work.

For one instance, the wedding preparations do add up! My "dream" wedding costs ard $50+k and still may be insufficient for my partner (she want a europe tour :O)

On the other hand, the app may be too optimstic. It does not take into account many little things as well. For instance, a pub outing and giving of a "red bomb" only occurs twice per year? I think at my age where everyone is getting married, my ang paos amt and qty will soar..

Furthermore, it teaches about investing and how liabilities like a car can eat into your savings so quickly!

All said, Overall it can be quite enriching for ppl who are new to financial planning and interested to find out more. Playing and increasing your financial knowledge makes it a win-win situation!

QT Vascular IPO - upcoming IPO

Recently, the IPO fever seems to heat up again. While there are 2 upcoming IPOs, QT Vascular and PACC Offshore Services Holdings (POSH); the former seems to be down-played due to the lack of advertising and significantly smaller size.

Introduction

QT Vascular produces devices to treat diseased arteries in the heart and elsewhere, aims to develop new products and enhance its existing ones. The company, which operates out of California and Singapore, registered revenue of US$1.5m for FYSep12, and doubled to US$3m in FY13. 

Current flagship product is a balloon catheter known as the "Chocolate" PTA balloon device, which is implanted to treat peripheral artery disease, or blocked arteries in the leg. It is the first Singapore-designed device to win approval from the US FDA. 

The company counts multi-national pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, the Economic Development Board's Biomedical Sciences Investment Fund, and homegrown Juniper Capital among its major shareholders. QT Vascular is working with UOB Kay Hian and Prime Partners for the IPO.

Details of IPO
The company will list on the Catalist, with a placement of 196,429,000 new shares, at S$0.28 each. This translates to about S$50 million in proceeds, less fees. The offering is not made public and only Each of Three Arch Partners, BMSIF and J&JDC intends to subscribe for Placement Shares in the Placement.

QT Vascular will use S$5 million for commercial expansion and marketing purposes, while S$15 million will be used for new product development. The rest of the proceeds – S$30 million, will be used for general working capital purposes.

The IPO Prospectus can be found here.

Opinion of IPO

Since you are not able to buy it before it list in Catalist, should you buy after the IPO? IMO, it's a no-no. Just look at the continued losses it has been making.

Secondly, It doesn't even have a website!? Maybe it's only me who cannot find it though. Lastly, Biomedical technology companies similarly like Biosensors tend to fluctuate a lot based on the Patents and successful breakthrough next time. While it may work in the U.S. due to strong coverage, it may not bode so well for a rather small Catalist company like QT Vascular.

Why Money comes Later in Life...

If you have taken a chance to look at what my Fool.sg colleague, Ser Jing has mentioned in his post, You would kinda change your mindset on looking at how huge fortunes can be manifested with one word - Dream.

In the post, he talked about how many companies concentrate with a big dream be it like facebook (creating a social network for the world) or Apple (building great products with creative designs) and money will automatically flow into their pockets.

On another article by the Straits Times correspondent, Jonathan Kwok, he then mentioned about how some people should avoid following their passion if it does not equate to you making it big (something along the line). He concluded by saying that you should try to balance your personal interests and earning ability and you will be satisfied if you are good at something.

IMO, I will follow the mantra by the leaders of past eras to create the future ahead for me.

Like what Steve Jobs say, "would you want to regret living your life doing what people expect of you or doing what you love?"

Which one do you find meaning in? I have heard of many success stories from the newspapers where they started off part-time and eventually generate lots of money while doing something they love as well.

Body Shop is one famous example too where the founder wanted to make natural body soaps/lotions without chemicals that harm the earth. In the process of selling to millions of people, she became very wealthy as a result, a by-product from pursuing her passion. 

Hope this post will set you thinking for your good Friday tomorrow! I hope one day I will pursue my dreams & passion of educating the masses on how to get rich too! Cheers!

Why You should take Brokers' Analyst Reports with a Pinch of Salt

Conflicting Interests

If you have watched the "Wolf of Wall Street" Movie, the most significant takeaway is that people (not only stock brokers) are usually there for their own interests. When you know that a stock broker earns his pay-check by the commissions when you trade, you would have jolly well know that they will try all means to entice you to trade stocks in and out actively for their commissions to be as fat as possible.

Furthermore, they have the tendency to be slightly biased when the company is doing business with the bank they are working in too. That said, you cannot say that all of them are bad apples too. Some of them provide us with valuable and relevant stock information that are only available/accessible to them. My stock broker is one of them, everyday he sends me the forecasts and various reports.

However, ultimately I have to make the final judgement and decide whether to invest, according to my investment style. What he is doing is just to provide the information for me as a platform to filter through the stocks i want to look at. Thus, when you make money through their recommendations, you are happy and they will be happy too. However, if things turn for the worse, you cannot blame them as they are only providing recommendations - its up to you if you want to follow; and they are protected with disclaimers.

No crystal ball

When you see two different banks' analysis on a stock with different views, one say SELL, one say BUY, which one should you listen to? The following example below depicts the question relatively well...

Well, while analyst can do a detailed analysis of the firm using the same data set, different assumptions can lead to different results/outcomes. Neither one of them is wrong down here - they are just providing their viewpoint about where the stock price is going, a target price they say.

All in all, the lesson here is to educate yourself if you wish to be successful in stocks investment. And there is the slogan that goes - there is no free lunch in this world. You cannot expect to just buy into all the stocks recommended and think that you will become a millionaire at the end.