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What do I do when everyone is talking about the market?
By Derek  •  August 23, 2015
The STI has breeched the 3000 point mark and everyone is dishing out their views and opinions. I too was caught up in the excitement - nibbling at stocks and watching in 'awe' as my watch list and portfolio continue to head south. The weekend is a good time for many of us to plan our investment strategy when the market opens on Monday. However, I decided to take a step back and with my "trusty" companion (the beer of course!), I sat down to review my Asset Portfolio instead. Photo Credit and for another Asahi Super Dry Beer Girl: An Eternal Thought in the Mind of Godzilla It has been almost 9 months since I blogged about my Asset Portfolio.  While there was no major change in my income, I made minor adjustments to my lifestyle, future plans, investing strategy etc.  I have also opened the OCBC 360 account and it would be interesting to see how all these small changes add up. [caption id="attachment_124166" align="aligncenter" width="622"]Asset Portfolio-Aug vs Jan 2015 Asset Portfolio 2015 - Aug vs Jan[/caption] Shares (42.48% vs 41.69%) Trading Account: SCB, UOB Kay Hian and POEMS, I was surprised because I was expecting a drop due to falling share prices. Two actions kept the number pretty much the same - my monthly employee stock options and stock nibbling. Although SCB Online Trading has given me a few problems during the recent rights exercise, it is now my primary trading account because I nibble in 100 share size and no other brokerage can offer me such a low commission. War Chest (12.90% vs 17.60%) Account: UOB Savings, SCB SGD and USD trading account A 5% drop and a even bigger drop in absolute figures. I don't think the market has bottomed yet and at this rate, I will run out of ammo soon. To keep my itchy fingers in check, I will look at creating two war chests. I don't have a name for them yet so lets call them A and B. War Chest A will be my main war chest and I will think about a key (trigger point) - maybe when STI hit 2,500 points or OCBC hit $6? War Chest B is for my itchy fingers to take advantage of 'minor' corrections or speculative plays. I believe many readers will have much to say about their war chest and I would love to hear from them. Future Fund  (20.74% vs 17.88%) Account: OCBC 360 and SCB XtrSaver No surprises here. The fund is increasing steadily as I reach the next milestone in life. The only pet peeve is that SCB is now imposing a fee for fall below balance and account usage. I will still need a cheque account and will look at other alternatives. Emergency Fund (16.73% vs 17.44%) Account: OCBC 360 A fall in percentage terms but a slight increase in absolute figure. At my current phrase in life, I do not see a need to increase my emergency fund further. I will look into it again when I start my next phrase. For readers with family, do you plan your emergency fund as a family, an individual or have two funds for both? Bills & Expenses (5.26% vs 3.10%) Account: OCBC 360 After opening OCBC 360, I decided that it will be easier to combine both Bills and Expenses together to earn the maximum interest rate. The increase is due to a change in lifestyle from singlehood and contributing more to my family expenses. Bills have been pretty much the same although I am tempted to upgrade my Internet connection. Luxury Fund (1.91% vs 1.15%) Account: OCBC Starter’s Account In my last review, I mentioned that I have been consistently blowing this budget and I have increased it moderately. So far so good and I am trying out a personal financial software You Need A Budget (YNAB) to see how I can manage this better. Blogging Fund (NA) I made a one time contribution and created a separate account to track it. By doing so, I hope to better track my blog expenses and achieve my aim of self funding.
Several bloggers and readers shared their asset portfolio earlier this year and I wonder how their portfolio look like now?
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By Derek
Derek is an investor who follows Peter Lynch style of investing. He prefers to use simple and straight forward information for stock analysis. He started TheFinance.sg with the intention to bring together all bloggers and professionals who are interested or already in the area of Finance and Investing, and to create a community where everyone is free to write and to share their articles, experience and opinions.
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4 Comments

4 responses to “What do I do when everyone is talking about the market?”

  1. Given the recent volatility in the stock market and global currencies, I thought that you would have bought gold bars and coins, which are viewed as safe haven? Anyway, I have liquidated all my stocks two years ago and strengthened my war chest. Just don’t see any value in SGX stocks for the past few years.

    Regards,
    SG Wealth Builder
    http://www.sgwealthbuilder.com

    • Derek Lim says:

      Hi Gerald,

      I have a small position in Silver ETF but I prefer derivatives that can generate income.

      You must have build up a sizeable war chest. How do you evaluate when it is time to go back into SGX stocks e.g. PE ratio etc?

  2. Derek,

    Asahi beer never “looked” so good ;)

    Thanks!

    That perked me up!

    Cold beer and a pretty girl, what more can a man of leisure ask for?

    LOL!

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