Dividends Collected: August 2024

 

Another $30k+ month. This time, its the turn of Singapore stocks like STI ETF and the banks to pay out.

$30k in CPF-OA but CPF Millionaire

 The title of this post sounds like a typical clickbait title used by influenzas so sorry about that, I couldn't resist 😹

I had a look at my CPF holdings  (CPF balances + CPF investments) and discovered that I am now a CPF Millionaire 💸💰

Stock market returns plus attractive T-bill interests rates helped to push my CPF holdings over the one million mark. My two biggest "investments" using CPF money are T-bills and STI ETF. I refunded my housing loan I think just before COVID, which was ok, because I could use the CPF money to buy STI ETF when it crashed below $3 during COVID.

SGX Portfolio Sector Composition

 

As the existing methods of scraping SGX price data for google sheets no longer works, I have been trying to figure out alternative ways of getting the valuation of my SG stocks. I tried entering them into stockscafe which is ok for the time being but there is a transaction limit for free accounts (i.e. I will not be able to add additional transactions as I have hit the limit), but for now, this is what my SG stock portfolio looks like. Basically, STI ETF, REITs+Capitaland, Three banks, Sembcorp+Comfort, and Singtel 😎

Cashed in NKE on Friday

I closed my NKE position last Friday. The object was to learn trading which is not only a good time to buy but also a good time to sell. Given the quick run-up in price and the weakness in the sector (Underarmour, Lulu, Onon were clearly not doing as wellas NKE), I decided this was a good time to take profit. So I netted myself US$2250. Not bad for a weeks' 'work.'

My next step is to see whether there is a re-entry opportunity to try to trade NKE again, or whether I should be looking at other counters.

Retirement Goals: v0.1 of my checklist

I was playing around with graphics design online and decided to create a Retirement Goals checklist using an online template as an experiment. This is only version 0.1 and I will continue to iterate and improve it, and at the same time, learn something about designing graphics.

When I was thinking of what my retirement goals were, I basically only had one financial goal, which is to ensure that passive income exceeds current and expected standard of living. I use the term 'expected' standard of living as my retirement standard of living may involve more travelling expenses versus my current standard of living.

On the other hand, since Health=Wealth and I really want to retire healthy and fit in order to enjoy retirement, I have a lot more health and wellness goals to track.

My most recent cholesterol test unfortunately had a result of 210 though previously, I was always under 200 (though admittedly too close to 200 for comfort). Based on diet changes, I'm pretty hopeful that my next test will be under 200, so for now, this is just 'pending'.

For stress levels, I just go by what my watch says, which is generally low stress, which is pretty much accurate. Obviously there are stressful situations in life, but the key is not to bring it home with you. If you go home after work to rest and relax and continue to be stressed, that is not a good thing.

 

August 2024 Strategy

 

Markets crashed hard on Monday, on what was essentially no news. CNBC of course offers explanation for all market movements but correlation is not causation

This was followed by a bounce back on Tuesday. Today (Wednesday), it seems that the market hasn't figured out whether to continue crashing or whether to continue rising as if nothing happened.

I did my DCA of VUSD on Monday, then proceeded to pick up some PRU, LGEN and NKE. Yes it seems that I am accumulating quite a bit of Nike. 

As influenzas are not really part of Nike's marketing strategy, you don't get a lot of positive press about Nike products. The youtube channels on running and fitness that I watch seem to be sponsored by certain brands who have adopted the 'influenza' strategy.  On the other hand, actions speak louder than words and for the numerous youtubers who document their training journey to Boston or London marathon, a lot of them wear Nike shoes though they don't announce the fact too loudly.

So I do like their products and I am long Nike, but I will set an exit price and sell once it is reached. I am also looking at Lululemon and OnOn, but from a value investing standpoint, Nike has better value metrics which Lulu and OnOn are supposed to be 'growth' stocks. But I am doubtful of 'growth' athleisure stocks. Basically, LuLu and OnOn are in the same position that UnderArmor was a few years ago and 'analysts' claiming it will continue to grow and grow.  I'm sure they will survive and find a niche, but to increase their growth? Doubtful.

And speaking of fitness, my App tells me that I have moved from top 15% to top 10% which is good. More importantly, since I'm no longer young, the app also measures training load so I can take care not to overtrain and risk injury. Slow and steady is the best.

SCB National Day SGX promo

SCB is holding its annual NDP week promo of 0% commission for BUY transactions on SGX listed stocks (the commission will be rebated). Seems like a good time to look at my SG portfolio and decide what I want to add (my focus is still on global ETFs). So far I've added some Capitaland 9CI. 

Dividends collected: July 2024

 

July is usually a slow month for dividends.