Tea with AK71: Something from Hong Kong.

This is really funny. Took it off an English newspaper in Hong Kong. Didn't Wikileaks reveal that MM Lee said something about Kim Jong Il being attention seeking or something? ;-p

Golden Agriculture: Testing 100dMA support.

Back in Singapore. So nice to be back home! Although I am still feeling a bit unwell from the trip, I am sure I will be OK after a day or two. If I had stayed another day or two in Hong Kong, I would have been utterly miserable. It's the weather, I'm sure. I will have a blog post on this trip in my Travel Photos and Videos blog later this evening or tomorrow. Look out for it. ;)

A week ago, I said that "We could very well see the support provided by the 100dMA tested at 70c in the next session. If it should break, next support could be found at 66c where the rising 200dEMA would be approximating soon. The 200dEMA, being a long term MA, should be able to provide a much stronger support in case of further decline in price."

Well, price did not test the 100dMA in the following session but it did yesterday. In TA, it is hard to have exactitude but if we could get rough estimates right, that's not bad. OBV has gone lower which suggests continuing distribution. The 20dMA is about to complete a dead cross with the 50dMA. All eyes are now on the 100dMA and whether it could hold up as support. If it breaks, price could sink to 63c, the support provided by the flattening 200dMA. I might add to my long position then.

Related post:
Golden Agriculture.

CapitaMalls Asia: Black hammer day.

Feeling somewhat under the weather, I think the very cold and dry weather here is getting to me. No drinking session for me. I came back to the hotel, took a warm shower, drank herbal tea I bought from a convenience store and I am feeling so sleepy now. Looking forward to going back to tropical Singapore early tomorrow.

In a quick post last evening, I mentioned that CapitaMalls Asia's share price "closed below the trendline support today at $1.89. I would not advise buying more at this price since the uptrend is compromised. I have turned cautious."

If I were not informed by TA, I could have bought more as price plunged today. Look at the high volume. I believe that the price weakness has brought out some shortists.

I received emails and comments regarding this counter. It is interesting that the counter is generating so much interest. To me, it is clear that many market participants are keeping an eye on the counter and waiting for clearer signs to go long here. Fundamentally, it is a strong company and technical weakness would offer opportunities for investors.

So, what am I doing here? Like I said, I have turned cautious and I am not adding to my position. I am waiting to see if the low of $1.83 would hold up as support. If it does hold up as support, I could add to my position. If $1.83 breaks, I would wait to see where is the next low.

Is there a chance of a reversal in the next session? A black hammer formed today as price gapped down at $1.88, touched a low of $1.85 before closing at $1.87. The bears won the day but the candlestick suggests some fierce fighting back by the bulls. So, although the black candle was formed on the back of much higher volume, there is some support.

Even if we know that a company has good fundamentals, waiting for the technicals to give clearer signs before going long is the way to go.

Related post:
CapitaMalls Asia: Closed at $1.89.

CapitaMalls Asia: Closed at $1.89.

Price closed below the trendline support today at $1.89. I would not advise buying more at this price since the uptrend is compromised. I have turned cautious. However, notice that the trading volume is, once again, very thin on a black candle day. It looks to me to be a continuation of a low volume pull back pattern.

Does low volume mean that price could not weaken further? Definitely not but if we look at the OBV, it is obvious that there isn't any distribution activity. In fact, if you ask me, the OBV has gone up slightly in the last 4 sessions which suggests mild accumulation. This is consistent with what I said in my last blog post that there are bargain hunters out there who are waiting to buy at lower prices.

So, what am I looking out for now? The previous low was at $1.87. This was formed earlier this month. Will price form a higher low at $1.89 and recapture the uptrend later on? Of course, we might have to draw a gentler trendline support too. Or will the price go down further to test $1.83? No one has the answer but with the very low volumes as price pulled back, I do not think there would be any drastic sell downs in the near future. I would wait for the situation to become clearer before making my next move.

Related post:
CapitaMalls Asia: Doji at $1.91.

SoundGlobal: The former E-pure.

I was vested in E-pure when it was 20c a share thereabouts. This was back in early 2009. 

I was convinced that China's drive to keep its economy humming in the wake of the Lehman Brothers crisis would benefit the water infrastructure businesses. 





I was also heavily vested in Hyflux Water Trust at that time from 30c for the same reason.  

Read related blog post here.

E-pure was a Chinese company and was likely to be favored over Hyflux in China while Hyflux Water Trust was a business trust with zero gearing treating water for Chinese industrial estates and had a yield of about 17% at a unit price of 30c. 





I divested E-pure completely by the time it neared 60c a share and watched dumbfounded as the share price went on to form new highs, almost doubling from my sell price of close to 60c. 

Hyflux Water Trust was, of course, privatised a few months ago. 

Read related blog post here.





I have been wondering if I should re-invest in E-pure which has been renamed SoundGlobal for some time now. 

It remained on my watchlist but I simply refused to buy any of its shares at prices higher than 60c. 

That's just the memory effect working and, in this case, it seems to have paid off. Related post here.





I just told myself that if the price did not come down to more reasonable levels, there are always other investments out there.

Since hitting a high of $1.04 on 7 April 2010, this counter has not formed a higher high. It is currently hugging the lower Bollinger band as it fast approaches the lows of early September 2010 at 70c a share. 

The obvious difference is that the low of early September 2010 was part of a bottoming process and the MACD was getting ready for a bullish crossover with the signal line. 





The MACD is now declining rapidly in negative territory as its distance with the signal line widens. This is very bearish.

Having said this, both the MFI and RSI are in oversold territories and 70c, being a low that was the price of a successful bottoming process could provide some support. 

Whether it would hold up is another question. I would not speculate on the strength of the support here.





When to accumulate? 

We want to look out for possible positive divergence between price and the momentum oscillators or volume. 

We want to look out for the downtrend halting and clearer signs that price is breaking out of downtrend. 

I like to use Fibo lines in such an instance to see how low price could go in case support breaks. Support is, of course, at 70c. 





Looking at the chart, the three golden ratios are at 62c, 59.5c and 57c. Buy some at those levels? 

I might if the other signs are encouraging.

CapitaMalls Asia: Doji at $1.91.

CapitaMalls Asia broke the trendline support today with price reaching $1.89 at one point before pushing back up above the trendline at $1.91 where it closed. For those who have been following my analyses so far, the question is how are things looking now?

Well, the weakness in price today brought out the bargain hunters as they pushed price back up to $1.91 and volume expanded modestly in the process. This suggests to me that at lower prices, buyers are waiting. However, it is quite obvious that the descending 50dMA is a strong resistance and people are probably just waiting to see if it could be overcome convincingly in future sessions. Breakout traders are waiting, I am sure. The 50dMA is currently at $1.94. Expect a wave of buying if resistance is taken out.

Volume has remained thin as trendline support is tested. Although I remain optimistic that price could move higher in the near future, that's just me. We really have to wait and see. I am no longer accumulating at the current support as I already have a sizeable position. We could very well see the counter trading sideways too.

Related post:
CapitaMalls Asia: Closed at $1.90 support.

Suntec REIT: Broke resistance.

I was just having a chat with Nick in LP's cbox not so long ago regarding REITs and their fair values. Nick mentioned that REITs with high gearing have little growth prospects and therefore will not see their unit price go up (i.e. yield will not compress). I think he mentioned that the stock market is rather efficient when it comes to REITs.

In theory, I agree with Nick. However, I mentioned that it is hard to be sure since how much a REIT should trade at is very often a matter of sentiments, this is the same with stocks. Certain REITs are small and are not covered by analysts. They could also be too small to interest institutional investors. Their unit prices could continue to languish even if they provide decent yields with relatively safe gearing. Certain REITs are obviously overvalued and give very low yields with relatively high gearing but they continue to enjoy much attention. For example, I would not bother buying into CMT. The yield is so unattractive.

Nick used Suntec REIT as an example of a REIT with high gearing and therefore it did not see its yield compress much. However, the last session saw Suntec REIT's unit price close at a high of $1.61, forming a wickless white candle, on the back of heavy volume. Yield is compressing and quite significantly too. The last time this REIT was at $1.61 was in Jun 2008!

Could we see this REIT's unit price move higher? A wickless white candle coupled with heavy volume is bullish. So, expectation is for price to move higher. However, the MFI is nearing overbought territory. In case of a pull back, it would be interesting to see if $1.58 could be resistance turned support.

Mr. Market is always right and he enjoys his hat tricks.

AIMS AMP Capital Industrial REIT: 3QFY2011.

My first night on a working trip in Hong Kong and I am having trouble sleeping although I was feeling quite tired earlier. So, I went to the reception and purchased a card which allows me to have internet access for 3 hours for a fee of HK$40. Quite reasonable, I think.

First thing I did online was to check on results announced by AIMS AMP Capital Industrial REIT. Its unit price touched 21c with 8 lots changing hands at that price in 4 transactions. Almost all of last session's trades were at 21.5c.

The recent weakness in this REIT's unit price could be attributed to some heavily vested investors anticipating a lower than expected DPU which came in at 0.51c, payable on 15 March 2011. The guidance was for 0.52c in a circular dated 22 Sep 2010. I am not at all surprised since I had expected a lower DPU of 0.5c myself when I revised the DPU and fair value of this REIT on 11 Dec 2010. Read my blog post here.

So, a DPU of 0.51c is rather pleasant for me. This could be due to the fact that "I did not take into consideration the other positive developments in the Market Update which is the 100% occupancy achieved for 15 Tai Seng Drive (85.7% as of 31 March 2010) and 23 Tai Seng Drive (84% as of 31 March 2010).  Conservatively, this should add about $400,000 to the REIT's annual rental income."

In its report, the management also said that the newly acquired property of 27 Penjuru Lane only contributed 78 days of rental income, being only acquired on 15 October 2010. So, could we expect next quarter's DPU to be marginally higher when the property contributes three month's worth of rental income to the REIT? Perhaps.

This REIT is still a strong proposition for anyone looking for a reliable stream of passive income. I have put in a BUY order at 21c in case the selling continues in the next session although I do not think anyone in his right mind would want to sell at that price.

Annualised DPU: 2.04c
Gearing: 32.7%
NAV/unit: 27c

See presentation slides here.

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CapitaMalls Asia: Closed at $1.90 support.

CapitaMalls Asia closed at $1.90 support today on reduced volume. My overnight BUY queue at $1.90 was filled. Lowering volume as share price consolidates at support. Nice.

MFI formed a higher low suggesting firm demand. Higher lows on the RSI suggest positive buying momentum. It is not clear yet if share price would break out of resistance next.  Immediate resistance is now provided by the declining 50dMA at $1.95 while immediate support is at $1.90.

If price should weaken and close below $1.90, I would turn cautious and stop accumulating. If the low at $1.83 were not compromised in such an instance, I would buy more as another uptrend forms. If the low at $1.83 were taken out, we would want to wait for selling pressure to peter out before venturing back in. What would be the new low then?

If price moved higher and took out resistance at $1.95 convincingly, expect resistance at $2.00, $2.04 and $2.09. As we can see, CapitaMalls Asia is not just a long term buy based on FA but one that is based on TA too. The wall of worries is a tall one indeed.

I will be going on a working trip from tomorrow and would be kept busy. I might not be able to access the internet conveniently. Although I will try to log in and update my blog, I cannot guarantee that I would be able to do it. I will be back in Singapore this Saturday. Good luck to everyone in the meantime.

Related post:
CapitaMalls Asia: Borrowing on the cheap.

Saizen REIT: Divestment of K1 Mansion Morioka

It has been some time since Saizen REIT sold any building from its YK Shintoku portfolio. It divested K1 Mansion Morioka to an independent private investor for a cash consideration of JPY 55,631,452 (S$0.9 million). This building, located in Morioka, was built in August 1995 and comprises 6 residential units and 6 parking lots. The sale is at a discount of approximately 6.7% to valuation.

Referring to the annual report, as of 30 June 2010, K1 Mansion Morioka was 100% occupied and brought in a total annual rental income of JPY6,900,000. This means a gross yield of 12.4%. A good deal for the buyer.

Following loan repayment from sale proceeds of this divestment, the remaining balance of the YK Shintoku CMBS is about JPY 5.4 billion (S$84.6 million). Considering the cash reserves of JPY 0.5 billion (S$7.8 million) maintained by YK Shintoku under the loan agreement, the net outstanding loan of YK Shintoku is about JPY 4.9 billion (S$76.8 million).

Tea with AK71: Interest rates and inflation.

A topic on interest rates seems serious enough. Why have I put it under "Tea with AK71"? Well, it is because I want to talk about it in a more informal tone. It gives me an excuse to ramble and not be too careful in the way I write.

In the last one year, many have been talking about interest rates and how the low interest rates won't last and would go up in time. It seems to be a relatively safe prediction and, in general, I agree but when would it go up and by how much? That's the difficult question.

What goes up must come down one day and what is down would go up too. It is how things in the world achieve equilibrium. There could be exceptions but let's ignore these to keep this chat going.

I might have mentioned this in my blog before. I cannot remember. Think of China and what they are doing. They have increased interest rate more than once in the last few months due to inflationary pressures. Is increasing interest rates the only way to fight inflation? Well, there are many tools available and interest rate is just one tool. Like all tools, it has its limitations.

China has also increased bank reserves requirement in an attempt to reduce money supply. Interest rate and money supply are useful to a point in controlling inflation which are domestically created. They have little impact on exogenous factors.

The Chinese have a huge problem with inflation and much of that is imported. Remember that only a third of the Chinese economy is driven by domestic consumption. This is very different from Indonesia's 60%. How much of the inflationary pressure in China is due to rampant domestic over-consumption, therefore?

Raising interest rates won't help much and could make things worse. The more effective way to reign in inflation is what the Singapore government did: allow its currency to appreciate. Singapore too has a small domestic economy. The Chinese know that they have to let the RMB appreciate and they are just delaying the move.

The RMB is way undervalued and it is the main culprit in causing rampart inflation in China as the booming Chinese economy is heavily reliant on many imports just to keep its industries humming along. Its energy needs is just one such example.

The Singapore government does not use interest rate to control inflation. It uses the Singapore Dollar which floats against a basket of currencies of its major trading partners. If the MAS should hike interest rates (which it can't) to combat inflation, it could have a bigger problem on hand. Why?

Many Asian countries already have a problem of hot money flowing in, money looking for better returns. This money is usually from developed countries which are doing quantitative easing in the hope of jump starting or keeping their economy above water. In these countries, interest rates are more likely than not close to zero.

Money will go to where it is treated best and so, although the interest rates are pretty low in Singapore, a lot of money still find its way to our small island. For example, a 0.8% interest rate plus the prospect of  a 5% appreciation against its country of origin is very attractive for such funds.

The inflows have to be put to productive use and lenders (banks) will mostly offer relatively low interest rates to entice borrowers. More cheap debt and inflation continues. So, combating inflation is not a simple matter of increasing interest rates. If only it was that simple.

Now, one day, when the Chinese government decides to float the RMB more realistically, what would happen to companies with investments in the PRC? What would happen to CapitaMalls Asia?

Another point, since the Singapore government does not use interest rate to control inflation and if an increase in interest rate could be a bad thing instead as it encourages more hot money inflow, what would be the interest rates be like in Singapore for the next 12 months?

To both sets of questions, I have answers. However, seeing that my formal education in Economics ceased at "A" Levels, I shall not reveal what I think. I could be wrong, of course.

I think I need something bracing after this heavy blogging. Tieh Kuan Yin, anybody?

CapitaMalls Asia: Borrowing on the cheap.

On 6 Jan, this was reported on Channel News Asia:

"...CMA will issue $200 million worth of retail bonds.

It aims to raise $100 million by selling one-year bonds, which will pay 1 per cent interest.

The remainder will be raised by issuing 3-year bonds, which carry an annual interest rate of 2.15 percent.

The minimum sum that a retail investor needs to invest is $2,000.

...... Experts say bonds of highly rated corporates are an attractive investment, compared with government bonds.

One-year Singapore government bonds currently yield 0.4 percent annually.

Wilson Liew, an investment analyst, said the bond issuance should have little influence on CMA's performance.

"If you look at the quantum of the bonds, it is not large compared to the total size of the business," said Mr Liew.

CMA has retail properties worth $21.6 billion in its portfolio.

"They are making use of low interest rate environment to raise some money but they are lowly geared anyway so raising money isn't so difficult," added Mr Liew."

On 21 Jan, it was reported that the offer was approximately 1.82 times subscribed. Read report here.

Cheap debt is a good thing for a growing business. I am sure the management of CapitaMalls Asia will put the money to good use. Fundamentally, this company is in a net cash position and has predictable cash flow from its management business while divesting mature shopping malls to the REITs it manages could result in attractive gains periodically. I am looking forward to stronger numbers in the future.

Technically, I have not looked at the weekly chart for this counter before. Let's take a look:

The candlesticks are detaching from the lower Bollinger and we could see price moving towards the 20wMA which is currently at $2.06. There is still a downward bias but I like the higher lows on the MFI and RSI. Both momentum oscillators are still in oversold territories and this situation could be corrected sooner than later. 

We cannot say that we are surely seeing a reversal at this stage but a rebound to the 20wMA is not unattainable and could result in some decent gains for anyone buying at the trendline support which approximates $1.90 currently. I am, of course, vested.

A Chinese government think tank has forecast the nation's economy will grow around 9.8 per cent this year, with inflation likely to come in at 3.7 per cent, state media reported Sunday. Experts at the Chinese Academy of Sciences also predicted that gross domestic product would rev up in the latter part of the year, and would be driven largely by domestic consumption, the official China News Service said. Read article here.

Related post:
CapitaMalls Asia: Pulling back on low volume.