Sunday 28 February 2021

Gamification and how it has changed investing/banking

Welcome back to another episode of SingaporeanTalksMoney. I will be talking about how investing has changed into something so accessible and kinda into gaming and how it is going to affect the future of investing.

Gamification of investing and digital banks

Let’s talk about gamification first, gamification is the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts. Early gamification strategies use rewards for players who accomplish desired tasks or competition to engage players. Another approach to gamification is to make existing tasks feel more like games. Making the rewards for accomplishing tasks visible to other players or providing leader boards are ways of encouraging players to compete.

Let’s take for example Tiger Brokers, they have a rewards system by making you log into the app daily to earn points which you can redeem for different rewards. Another thing they have added is to have accomplishments like referring a friend or to get you friends to open angbao for you.

Many platforms have been slowly integrating gamification in as it helps to retain current users and even help attract a substantial amount of new users to join in.

Fintech and Digital Banks

As more fin-tech emerges which is where technology is used to enhance or automate financial services and processes, a great way to onboard people would be through the use of gamification. One such platform is google pay where you are rewarded by transferring money and also by referring people in. Recently, they have launched a HUAT PALS campaign where you can complete tasks like transferring money, referring you friend to download google pay and also to use it for payments. This will in turn generate a huge amount people to download the app because people know that they can earn rewards and get cash.

Shameless plug for Gpay (my referral): v89ph61

As many of Singaporeans are aware, digital banks in SG will be appearing soon with mainly 4 digital banks where Grab-Singtel and Sea will get digital full bank licences. These digital banks will not have a physical presence and all banking services will be done online. How then will they be able to attract people to use their banking services? One way would be through gamification.

Is gamification really attracting the right audience

So definitely having some kind of rewards system to attract referrals will improve the sign ups but what you want is to ensure that the audience you are attracting is going to be using your application in the long run. You do not want them to be just signing up for the rewards and that's all.

One very successful platform I would say is Tiger brokers, in Singapore we do not many zero-commission or very low commission brokerages unless you have a certain amount of assets. This has made many of my friends afraid of starting to invest as they are scared of chalking up high commission rates which will eat up into their profits or add on to their losses. With Tiger Brokers, many of my friends are willing to onboard onto it and even start putting money in as one of the incentive is a stock voucher depending on how much you put in. In turn, I have a couple of friends who have started investing as the easy navigation and quick approval has attracted them over. Including the many stock vouchers.

Shameless plug for my Tiger Brokers referral: NI8KKM

As many different platforms emerge, it will be important for them to differentiate themselves from one another. Gamification might be one way to attract the audience but to make them stay on involves many other factors for example is the app easy to use? Is the UX interface smooth? Are the merchants or audience using them as well. Do you like having rewards and tasks in your apps to complete? Comment down below. Thanks for staying till the end and do remember to hit the like button and subscribe!

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 References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/banking/mas-awards-digital-full-bank-licences-to-grab-singtel-and-sea-ant-gets-digital

Friday 26 February 2021

What have you added to your portfolio these past few day? | What I added to my portfolio

Last night was another correction where we saw a drop of in the stock market. This is definitely a good time to be adding companies that you have on your watch list especially so when their prices have been too high or you felt that they have been overvalued.

So why is this correction happening now? I have seen videos from MeetKelvin and also Graham Stephan, they both pointed out that surge in US Treasury yields is hurting the stock market. For me, I am not a finance student and haven't really went in depth in this so do pardon any mistakes or if I am not able to do deep analysis.

So first, let's define our terms, treasury yields are the total amount of money you earn by owning U.S. Treasury bills, notes, bonds or inflation-protected securities. Government bonds, which are largely viewed as a lower risk, lower reward investment than equities, tend to garner more demand during times of economic uncertainty. And with US treasury yields remaining well below historic levels, in recent times, a rapid move up has analysts warning of a quick end to the rally in U.S. equities.

From the diagram, you can see the grey line as the Treasury yield and periods with an inverted yield curve (below 0) are reliably followed by economic slowdowns and almost always by a recession.

There might also be other factors involved for this correction where maybe people are thinking that stocks are currently overvalued. For me, I have added a few positions namely:

  • Tesla
  • Ether (Crypto)
  • Palantir

In dollar amount, I did not add much but I hope to be adding more positions over time if prices continue to dip. I also have my regular saving plan which will buy in on 8th of every month, having Tesla in my portfolio does see it fluctuate quite large as the drop and gains from Tesla is pretty huge. But I am currently comfortable with it and would in the next few months add more if I do have the capital to do so. Just a short update on what has been happening. Today is the last day of CNY, Happy 元宵節!

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References:
https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/surging-us-treasury-yields-threaten-stock-market-rally-62723454

https://www.livemint.com/market/stock-market-news/us-treasury-yields-surge-past-1-6-why-stock-market-investors-are-worried-11614308632036.html

https://www.moneyowl.com.sg/articles/can-we-use-the-yield-curve-to-predict-a-stock-market-crash/

Wednesday 24 February 2021

The Art of Frugal Hedonism | Positioning your life the right way

I originally wanted to do a video on the five things that I do not buy to save money but I found that to be a bit too generic and kind of a topic that can be found in YouTube commonly. So I decided to do a more interesting topic in my opinion that is how you should be living your life with some inputs from this book called "The Art of Frugal Hedonism". Definitely everyone has a different style of living and for me I am trying to adjust and find a lifestyle to match me. So I hope that you guys enjoy this video and subscribe to my channel.

Being conscious of your spending

The original idea was to let you guys know about the five things that I absolutely will not spend my money on. But the main gist I wanted to bring across was that you have to be conscious of what you’re spending on and this is why a lot of people advise that before you buy something you should give yourself some time to think about it. So first conscious spending is the mindful money habit that encourages you to think critically about all your purchase making sure you really need whatever it is you’re thinking of buying.

For examples before getting an Apple Watch maybe you can think about whether Will it improve the quality of life are and what benefits are there to these purchase that you’re making.

Conscious spending and happiness

Mindful spending can bring about happiness to you because you would be able to have more enjoyment from your money and you understand more about your emotions and the need to monitor your budget so when implemented properly and consistently you're able to find out what you really need in your life.

Being in the present and practicing mindfulness

Being in the present is a very important aspect of how we live as it can determine how you feel. Many of us think about the past and the future and this in turn can affect our emotions and well-being. By being able to be in the present and focus on what is really important that we are able to do now and not worry about what is going to happen. Focusing on what is on hand will not give you as much stress as you slowly tick off the tasks that you need to complete currently, it is really easy to start thinking about the future for example, you would think that you have lots of work later on and that your current mood will be affected making you unable to enjoy being in the present.

Consume less = more money to do what you want and option of doing less paid work

By being conscious of your spending, you would be able to differentiate between what you really want/need and in turn be able to have a sum remaining. By being more conscious about your spending, when you slowly go into retirement or the later part of your career, you can have the option of doing less paid work due to a lower spending rate or still chase after your paid work that you really want to do.

"The self-restrained of tempered consumption may seem at odds with current cultural urgings to 'live in the moment' however the dominent modern angle on this philosophy seems to advocate 'live in the moment' rather than the very impulse spending compatible ' living for the moment'.

Beware of Fake Frugal (From The Art of Frugal Hedonism)

If it is cheap to buy but at the expenses of someone/something else, it is fake frugal.

Some examples include clothes made by tired workers who are exploited in far away countries or value pack items like razors or disposables that end up polluting the environment. This will lead you to spending more money in the long term eg buying a cheap piece of furniture and realising that it doesn't serve it's purpose or is easily spoiled. This extends to a wide spectrum like your health where eating cheap and processed food can in the long term damage your body and you will have to spend more on medical fees.

Don't be selfish (From The Art of Frugal Hedonism)

Not over-consuming is being polite to the world as it is a shared effort to manage resources for the people on Earth and definitely the generations to come. In the bigger picture, companies and countries can make effort to reduce carbon emissions to save our already dying planet. On our end, we can be more sustainable and not waste things eg not to over-order when eating out and reducing the disposable we are using. Collectively, if we are able to make small changes to our lifestyle, the world will be a better place. Although the pandemic has reduced flying but more disposables are being used due to increased usage of delivery platforms. This is really something that we can look into to improve on.

Build good habits and cope with obstacles the right way (From The Art of Frugal Hedonism)

Ending it off with something I really like from the book. Habits really shape your lifestyle and just a tweak in it can give you a change.

"We humans are creatures of habit, mental processes burn up a heck lot of energy and evolution has designed us to to favour even flawed automatic behaviours over repeatedly using time and energy to think about what would be good in every situation"

The art of frugal hedonism mentions that your willpower functions like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes but using willpower alone might not be enough, instead to notice the urge and then put a different behaviour in response.

For example, you just had a shitty day at work and usually you would have a beer and pizza plus watching the television all evening. To counter this habit, you can use another behaviour like drinking soup while re-reading a book or to go for a walk with headphones on. This would produce a better habit/coping mechanism against a lousy day at work.

Conclusion

With all the above, I hope to slowly integrate them into my lifestyle and live my life consciously. Definitely, change will slowly take place over time as they always say motivation helps with the change but determination/perseverance keeps it going. Are there any changes that you are implementing in your life?

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Sunday 21 February 2021

Why emotions can kill your gains from investing | I bought AMC and Apheria at a high | Losses so far

Today, I will be covering how emotions can kill your gains and how I also went wild with my emotions while investing. Hope you enjoy today's video. GameStop, AMC, Tilray, Canopy Growth and Aphria, these are the few stocks that have appeared in WallStreetBets where weed stocks seems to be the hype recently. But definitely, you need to have an exit plan or else the stock prices will drop even before you can sell it. Reddit have seen some people still holding onto GameStop even though they bought it at it's highest point and currently as of 19 Feb 2021, the price is at US$40.59.

Locally in SG, DollarTriumph wrote a very good 2-part series article that I hope everyone will read, I will put the link in the description below. He was very honest which I feel that most people including myself sometimes only post about profits/good news but actually it is the losses that make you learn the most. In his 2nd part, he wrote about how he got burnt buying GameStop. For me, I bought into AMC and then Aphria although at very small amounts, they are both currently in the red.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC)

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. is an American movie theater chain and they were impacted by the pandemic as closure of all of its theaters was required. They faced many difficulties due to restrictions and that they might deplete all their cash by end 2020 or 2021. During the 2021 GameStop short squeeze, AMC's stock experienced rapid price increases.

As mentioned in my previous video, having a plan when investing is important. For me, I will have to admit that I went off-course for a moment and put some of my money into reddit stocks to make money. But my purchases into them have proved to be losses so far. One stock that I bought into was AMC, what made it worse was that I bought it in when it was around it's highest, I remember opening my reddit app and reading up on what they were going to buy next and when I saw AMC, I went on to buy 2 units each at a price of US$19.90 through tiger brokers. Then things started going downhill as markets open and currently as of 19 Feb 2021, AMC is priced at US$5.70. Currently having quite a loss but since I only bought 2 shares, the most I would lost is about US$40.

Aphria (APHA)

Another stock that I bought in based on reddit was Aphria, I first heard of weed stocks and saw that Tilray and Aphria might be merging. Tilray is a Canadian pharmaceutical and cannabis company, incorporated in the United States while Aphria Inc., headquartered in Leamington, Ontario, is an international producer and distributor of medicinal and recreational cannabis. Hearing that Aphria is one of the largest cannabis companies in the world as well as being listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, I was naturally interested in it. With news as well on the merger with Tilray in December 2020, I did see a lot of hype on it on reddit. But I went in when it was at it's high.

I saw a comment by a redditor and it really jolt me up. He said something like once its big on reddit, it is either people are ready for a pump and dump because if it isn't big yet, it wouldn't be on reddit. I would have to say that also because I was chasing after returns by not even checking the things I am buying into. Also, due to the no comission trades on Tiger Brokers, I just recklessly put my money in. So I bought 1 unit of Aphria at US$30.96 and currently it is valued at US$20.25.

Gambling? Too focused on short term gains, get rich quick method

As I hold on to the 3 units which I thought was a small amount, it slowly added up as I felt like I was aimlessly putting my money into random stocks that I thought would go to the moon. It was definitely different from my plan and I should not be continuing on. I have to admit that when I bought these 2 stocks, I wanted to get rich quick and flip my money and get it to a 10X or maybe into a 100X. I was so consumed with getting the quickest growth that I was just reading through reddit and so many supporters were roaring for the growth that I was too swayed by emotions. I let my emotions take over and just press the 'buy' without much thought.

I was so engrossed in reddit about these stocks that I had to log on a few times each night hoping to catch the news. Eventually, I realised that this defers so much from my original plan of investing which is to have a regular savings plan and with the extra cash aside, continue to buy stocks that I am familiar with and have conviction that over the long term, they will grow.

With that said, as always invest with a plan and appreciate if you subscribe to my channel and like my video if you enjoy the content that I am putting out!

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Would appreciate a like or subscribe on my YouTube channel if you have enjoyed my videos and articles!

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphria_(company)
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tilray-stock-loses-steam-as-analysts-say-company-not-compelling-as-stand-alone-business-look-to-aphria-deal-11613674314
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Theatres

Saturday 13 February 2021

Tesla has put $1.5 billion into BITCOIN! | Should you get in now?

After watching Meet Kelvin's video, I found it really informative where he talked about Tesla putting in US$1.5 billion out of their US$19.38 billion in cash and cash equivalents into Bitcoin to maximise their returns on cash that are not required for operating activities and also to expect to start receiving Bitcoin as payment on certain products and depending on laws. I find some points that he mentioned very informative in that they used maximise their returns on cash, is this to mean that putting your cash into bitcoin is a way of generating high returns as well.

Also, imagine if Tesla really accepts payment in the form of Bitcoin then their holding of BTC will slowly increase even without them actively buying more. Tesla also announced that they will be holding these assets for the long term, which is huge because it is here to stay. From the #bitcoin to dogecoin to GME, Elon Musk has really been breaking everyone's perception of how a CEO of a company should be. To the many, he is really disruptive with whatever he says making an impact. Some might see it as fresh while some might find him too volatile, in my opinion, I find that he is really interested in new things, things that will cause a disruption or make processes even shorter which will in turn improve our lives.

If Tesla is putting money in, are other institutions also putting money in as well?

$1.5 billion is not a small amount and for them to put it in during Jan 2021 could also mean that more institution will be putting any excess cash in or have already bought Bitcoin. As mentioned by Wealthdojo, many companies are sitting on huge heaps of cash and if they choose to put an amount into Bitcoin, imagine the impact/price volatility that will follow.

With him mentioning that Bitcoin can also be used to purchase Tesla cars/products means that it will slowly be adopted and with more people being able to use it, adoption rate will increase. Cryptocurrencies are currently not under the regulations of government and so Elon can tweet whatever he wants unlike in 2018 where he was fined by the SEC for tweeting that he might take Tesla private at $420. Wow, $420 price before the 5 for 1 stock split, currently Tesla is trading at about $800 plus after the stock split.

Apple may be the next big company to enter the cryptocurrency market, both by allowing bitcoin to be exchanged on its Apple Wallet service and investing some of its own reserves in units of the cryptocurrency said Mitch Steves, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. apple holds a payment platform which they can integrate cryptocurrencies into hence many feel that it will be beneficial for them and especially so since they hold a substantial amount of cash as well.

Huge jump in prices? Should I get in now?

With Tesla announcing it's US$1.5 billion pump into Bitcoin, the price has went up like a rocket. Is it then still okay to put money into Bitcoin now? As always, Bitcoin is still a very volatile asset and your investment could very well drop by 30% or even more the next day. To ensure that you are comfortable with the amt of volatility is one thing, do also ensure that you are using money that you do not need in the short term and should not take up more than 10% of your total investments. There are many people out there who really stand by cryptocurrencies and say that by 2021 Bitcoin will hit US$60,000. Whether or not that happens, no one know, but if you are really risk adverse or have no extra money on hand, I would say to wait and build up first but don't FOMO. But if you are able to take on more risk and volatility, do go ahead as Bitcoin is definitely still in it's early stages and lots of changes/adoption might happen, to be part of it's growth is already so interesting, what more if you own some!

 References: 

MeetKelvin's Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtS9c0BSZSA&t=403s
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/bitcoin-soars-after-elon-musks-tesla-buys-us15b-of-digital-coin-plans-to
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-bought-15-billion-of-bitcoin-could-apple-or-amazon-follow-213826552.html

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Sunday 7 February 2021

Why having a plan when investing is important!

Hi Guys, welcome back to another episode of SingaporeanTalksMoney! The recent run up of stocks have been phenomenal judging by the environment we are in and unemployment numbers.

"Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy" Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett once said that it is wise for investors to be “fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.” Since the price is what you pay, and value is what you get, paying too high a price can decimate returns. Judging by the current prices, particularly tech and stocks that have build momentum due to future predictions, many are really at a very high price. People are still debating if they should enter now as they feel that the stock market might just go even higher in 2021.

Increase cash holdings

With the soaring prices, some people have chose to take profits to keep some cash on the side in case of any market crash, to take the opportunity to scoop shares up at a more reasonable prices. I think that’s a really good approach and

Even with the market at all-time high I would still continue with my regular savings plan to continue to stay invested in the market and at the same time maybe save a bit more. I understand that having a higher income would allow me to invest more and that we should focus on increasing our income instead of trying to pinch and save but judging by the environment currently it is not easy to find another job and I would think that on my side I would be trying to cut down on expenses.

What if the market crashes in 2021?

Well this question is on everyone’s mind. For me I would be disappointed because all my gains from 2020 would be reduced and even though my previous portfolio was also at a loss of about -2000 to 3000 getting it up to a profit of currently $7000 was amazing for me. I would definitely like you to remain that way of having at least a profit and staying in the green for my portfolio.

Investing in the stock market is all about managing your emotions I’m glad that I’m not swayed by my emotions easily, at times definitely I will think about the time when I should have bought more or when I should have sold off my holdings.

Declining Prices

In the past few weeks/days, prices have been dropping as Gamestop and AMC goes up, some have said that it could be the hedge funds selling off stock holding to cover their losses and investor selling off to support WallStreetBets by making purchases of Gamestop through selling of their current stock holdings. No matter what, it has been a sea of red for my current stock holdings. Presently, things have kinda stabilised and recovered in a sense but GME and WallStreetBets will definitely go down in history.

Having a plan

If you are anticipating a market downturn, it is very important to have a plan in place so that you can action on it immediately if anything were to happen. For me, my plan is the same which is to continue with my regular savings plan. My plan kind of sounds boring because it is very consistent but I hope that in the long term you prove to be what makes me profitable because I follow a very disciplined investing style. After experiencing the crash in March 2020 I realised that what you say right now might be different from what your actions will be and so having a plan in place will enable you to put into action.

I did not have a plan back then and did not buy any stocks except from my regular savings plan. I do regret not having a plan and in 2021 and moving forward I hope I have spare cash on the side to be able to deploy it when needed.

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Saturday 6 February 2021

Transferring Crypto from Binance SG to Ledger

 

*Not too sure if Binance SG is MAS regulated as mentioned in video (my mistake), understand that Binance SG is backed by Vertex Venture Holdings Ltd, the venture capital arm of Singapore-based Temasek Holdings Pte.

Currently under The Payment Services Act, Monetary Authority of Singapore will bring cryptocurrency firms into the regulatory fold, the law will hand MAS formal supervisory powers for cybersecurity risks and controls on money laundering and terrorism financing. 

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Wednesday 3 February 2021

Portfolio Dissection EP 2: Far East Hospitality Trust and Far East Orchard

Here is the second episode of Portfolio Dissection and today, I will be talking more about Far East Hospitality Trust and Far East Orchard who is the sponsor. In Singapore, Far East Organisation is definitely not foreign to us as they hold many major property developments and own quite a huge amount of land.

Before we deep dive in, let's have an overview of the stocks in my portfolio, so I covered Nikko AM STI ETF and SPDR STI ETF in my previous video and in this week, Far East Hospitality Trust and Far East Orchard.

Far East Hospitality Trust

So let's first start with Far East Hospitality Trust, I bought Far East Hospitality Trust before the pandemic happened so with Singapore being a tourism/medical hub, I definitely saw a lot of potential in the hospitality sectors as our numbers for tourism has always been substantial. Far East HTrust provides hotels and serviced apartments in SG. Their portfolio consist of 13 properties, 9 hotels and 4 serviced apartments.

Taken from http://www.fareasthospitalitytrust.com/overview.html

With many of it's properties being centrally located, demand would definitely be there as tourists would like those centrally located. However 2020 proved to be a tough year as travel takes a halt.

We can see that the total returns from 1st half 2020 compared to 1st half 2019 is worse by about 61% as gross revenue has also fallen.


Cash holdings have also dropped quite significantly as asset enhancement work were carried out at Village Hotel Changi, Orchard Rendezvous Hotel and Village Hotel Albert Court. As of 30 Jan 2021, I currently hold about 1800 units bought it at an average price of $0.61.

In the short term, Far East HTrust will most likely not see much improvement as tourism will still remain in low numbers but I will still be holding on to it.

Far East Orchard

So after purchasing Far East HTrust, I came across Far East Orchard which is the listed subsidiary of Far East Organisation in SG. Far East Organization is the largest private property developer in Singapore besides property, FEO is also a major shareholder (49.5% stake) of the Asian food and beverage group, Yeo Hiap Seng Limited.

One point that I like about FEO is that their dividend payout has been very consistent.

Taken from dividends.sg

In terms of their portfolio, besides the hospitality arm, they also have residential projects, medical centers and also student accommodations. I would think that the medical centers and student accommodations might be affected due to the pandemic but of course, depending on the location of the property, it might differ. As of 30 Jan 2021, I have holdings of 2500 units at an average price of $1.18.

Considering the current price of $1.10, I would think of adding more units but with no spare cash, I would still not buy in yet. I like SG stocks because of the dividends and Far East Orchard is one that I would hold on to.

TBH I hold a lot of different SG counters because when I first started, I was like on a shopping spree and just bought whatever I like, depending on the dividend yield or whether I thought the company was good, it was really random but for Far East Orchard, having so many properties on hand for them is an advantage and I believe in the long run, this is a good counter to have in my portfolio. Most of the positions in my portfolio are for the long term except for a few which I will cover in future. Hope you guys enjoy today's video, don't forget to subscribe and hit the like button!

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