LOLLYTALK - NEW FLAVORS TASTING (250413)

Special thanks to the owners of LollyTalk for inviting me to their shop to try out the 6 new acquired taste collection handmade candies made with natural ingredients before their official launch.

I have rated the flavors based on my personal taste bud. My favourite is the Menthol Grape (purple). It is refreshing and has a cooling sensation.The Menthol helps to relieve minor throat irritation.

My second favourite is the Menthol Honey Lemon (blue). It is made with real honey and natural lemon extract. I just love the menthol taste!

My third favourite is the Plum Guava (green). It tastes like eating guava with real bits of plum powder.

My fourth favourite is the Honey Lemon (beige). It soothes your throat will real natural honey and lemon extract.

My fifth favourite is the Chilli Lime (red). It tastes like eating sambal chilli and squeezing a bit of lime on it.

My least favourite is the Spicy Mango (orange). It has the taste of eating mango dipped in dark soya sauce with chilli padi. The flavor should appeal to Malaysians.

The Acquired Taste Collection is selling at S$4.90 for a bottle of 50gram.

After the candy tasting session, I also have the opportunity to view the live demonstation of making THANK YOU rock candy! The whole process took approximately one hour but shows the love and commitment the staff have in the candy-making process.

LollyTalk is located at 68 Orchard Road, Plaza Singapura B2-20. Fans of rock candies are strongly encouraged to visit LollyTalk Facebook Page or WEBSITE for their latest updates!

BECOME IRON MAN 钢铁侠 - MEDIA INVITE (180413)

It has always been my dream to be a superhero and I finally have a chance to be one ... even if it lasts for a few minutes! I am lucky to be among the first few in Singapore to take on the role of legendary comic book and movie hero Tony Stark to test the new Mark 42 armour before the upcoming release of Marvel's Iron Man 3 movie on 260413. This event is held at Bugis Junction (in front of Hotel Intercontinental Level 1).

As it is a tough job to protect our world, I need to replenish my energy first. We cannot fight evil enemies on an empty stomach, can we?

Superheroes must not only eat well but must rest well too! Time to do some window shopping before I become Iron Man. Play Imaginative has also unveiled a few of Iron Man Super Alloy Collectible Figures.

After all the warmup has been done, I am ready to become Iron Man, using ground-breaking motion-sensor technology! On arrival, I am greeted by Stark Industries technicians and guided by Tony Stark's computerised personal assistant, Jarvis. Look at how I assemble the armour and test the repulsors and flight system.

For all those Iron Man fans out there, do not miss the chance to be your favourite superhero. BECOME IRON MAN is open to the public until 050513 (10am-10pm). For more information please check out https://www.facebook.com/TheAvengersSingapore

Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust: More than meets the eye

•        A best-in-class portfolio of commercial assets 
•        Resilient cashflow with strong organic growth drivers 
•        Recommend BUY with TP of $1.18 

A portfolio with scarcity value. Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust (MGCCT) offers investors an attractive opportunity to own iconic, best-of-breed commercial assets - Festival Walk and Gateway Plaza - through a capital efficient platform. It offers investors both attractive yield and total return derived from strong and resilient operating cashflow with inbuilt organic growth drivers which will underpin earnings and NAV expansion. 

Strong and resilient cashflows with multi-layer embedded growth. MGCCT is expected to enjoy strong organic earnings growth from the reversion of a sizeable amount of under-rented leases over the next 3 years. We expect these renewals to be reverted positively amid a robust growth environment and favourable supply/demand dynamics. Upside from planned asset enhancement works will provide a further boost to our existing numbers. In addition, whilst initial gross gearing is about 43.0% (net gearing 40.1%), organic income growth will underpin asset value growth and provide upside to NAV in the medium term. This will reduce MGCCT’s gearing over time. Furthermore, the trust can benefit from its Sponsor Mapletree Investments’ wide and deep industry knowledge and network to tap on acquisition growth in the future. This provides another driver to earnings expansion in the medium term. 

BUY with TP of $1.18.  MGCCT currently trades at 5.1% FY13 annualised and FY14 yield and 1.14x P/bk NAV. Our DCF-backed TP of $1.18 translates to a 17% total return for MGCCT.  We like the trust for its resilient prospects with strong organic growth potential. 

Far East Hospitality Trust: Rendezvous in town

•        Value accretive acquisition in Rendezvous Grand Hotel Singapore and Rendezvous Gallery 
•        Capital structure remains at sustainable level, FY13-14F DPU raised by 1-2% 
•        BUY, TP raised to S$1.21 

Proposed acquisition of prime hotel in downtown Singapore.  Far East Hospitality Trust (FEHT) announced the proposed acquisition of 298-room Hotel Rendezvous Grand Singapore Hotel and Rendezvous Gallery, its accompanying retail wing. The combined acquisition price is S$264.5m (all in cost of S$268m) for a 70-year leasehold interest in the property and represents a c.2-5% discount to the appraised valuation by independent valuers. 

Value accretive deal for unitholders.   Given the hotel’s prime location, we believe this is an attractive deal and will cement the trust’s position as one of Singapore’s largest hotel owners. Post acquisition, FEHT will sign a master lease arrangement with its sponsor Far East Organization (FEO), who will manage the hotel. FEHT will earn a return that is pegged to underlying hotel performance but with a fixed rent that offers earnings protection.   

New equity issued to vendor; capital structure remains sustainable.   FEHT will issue new equity (S$136m or 51% of total acquisition price) to the vendor, Straits Trading Company Limited (STC) and FEO to part fund the purchase, which will result in its gearing level remaining fairly stable at c.32%, which we believe to be a sustainable structure going forward. We view that the willingness of the vendor, STC, taking a stake in FEHT as part payment consideration as signal of the group’s positive stance in the sector going forward.   

BUY, TP S$1.21 based on DCF.  Our DPU estimates are raised by c.1-2% to account for this acquisition. TP is raised to S$1.21, offering a total return of 11%. Maintain BUY. 

MEDIA INVITE - Singapore Dance Delight Vol.4 (130413)

Presented by F&N Sparkling Drinks and organized by O School, Singapore Dance Delight Vol. 4 is  Singapore ’s largest street dance competition and the ASEAN segment of the international street dance competition, Japan - Dance Delight.

Even though the event started at 7pm on the stage of the Kallang Theatre, the audiences are already eager to have a piece of the action!

Singapore Dance Delight Vol. 4 will be judged by a panel of world renown dancers Loose Joint, Ryan, Tony Tzar, Madoka and creator of Japan Dance Delight and the leader of the legendary break dance team ‘Angel Dust Breakers’, Mitsuhiro Harada a.k.a Machine.

The host for the event is none other than funny man Sheikh Haikel.

I managed to get a rare shot of Sheikh Haikel showing us his august fifteen!

After 3 hours of dancing performance by over 20 teams, the champion goes to team Megamint from Singapore with members Amin Alifin Bin Alias, 23M and Magdalene Koh, 27F. They will receive a four days, three nights' round-trip to compete in Dance Delight Vol.20, which will be held on September 1, 2013 in Osaka, Japan.

Please check out https://www.facebook.com/FnNFuN for the latest details and updates on F&N Sparkling Drinks.

When are the best times to use the Piranha Scalping strategy?

The Piranha strategy only works in a ranging market. If you trade using this strategy, you need to stay away from trading during news releases. However, you can trade before and/or after news releases. There is no specific time gap to wait before taking the next trade after a news release. It all depends on each individual trader’s assessment on market volatility. If you see that there is market volatility around a news release, I suggest you refrain from trading at that time.

This strategy also works well during the Asian market sessions since volatility is generally low, making the Bollinger Bands relatively flat.

Asia Pacific REIT Markets Reach New High in March, Driven by Japan and Recent IPOs

The Asia Pacific and Asian REIT markets leapfrogged the US$250.0 billion and US$150.0 billion thresholds during March to scale new highs of US$265.0 billion and US$162.0 billion respectively, according to the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA).

In its latest Asia Pacific REITs monthly report, APREA said that regional REIT markets have had an excellent start to the year – a welcome change from 2012 when concerns over the eurozone debt crisis kept markets depressed.

“The issues with eurozone debt have not disappeared; but they have been with us for more than a year now. Investors have had time to adjust their expectations and consequently much of the concern has been priced into markets,” said Peter Mitchell, CEO of APREA.

“The strong performance of J-REITs (Japan) and recent large and successful IPOs are fuelling the current rebound,” he added.

Buoyed by the expansive economic policies of the new Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, Japan’s REIT market has been the star performer in the first three months of 2013, returning 35.8 per cent. It is followed by the Hong Kong REIT market with 9.8 per cent, the Australia REIT market with 5.5 per cent, and 2012’s poster Singapore REIT market with 5.2 per cent.

Also, volatility across the three markets with the exception of Japan is trending down.

Meanwhile, the market has seen some of the biggest REIT listings recently. The new IPOs include Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust in Singapore, which with US$2,239.0 million is the largest REIT IPO in the citystate.

Other listings include Nippon Prologis REIT Inc and Comforia Residential REIT Inc which listed for US$1,315.0 million and US$447.0 million respectively in Japan, and Asia Pacific Data Centre Group which listed for US$92.0 million in Australia.

At the beginning of this year, the market capitalisation of the Asia Pacific REIT market was US$231.9 billion, with a total of 201 REITs. Excluding Australia and New Zealand, there were 144 REITs with a market capitalisation of US$134.0 billion.

The largest Asia Pacific REIT markets are the Australia REIT (37.6 per cent), Japan REIT (27.3 per cent), Singapore REIT (17.8 per cent) and Hong Kong REIT (9.2 per cent), which together account for 91.9 per cent of the Asia Pacific REIT market capitalisation.

Without Australasia, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong account for 88.6 per cent of the Asia REIT market capitalisation.

Meanwhile, real estate transaction volumes in Asia Pacific as at 31 December 2012 jumped 35 per cent from the end of third quarter to US$144.4 billion.

The increase was driven primarily by land sales, which rose 42 per cent. Commercial transactions also contributed with 22 per cent higher activity, while apartment and hotel transactions dragged at -57 per cent and -16 per cent respectively.

Stripping out land transactions, Australia led in regional sales volume, accounting for 29 per cent of sales in the fourth quarter. This was followed by Hong Kong with 20 per cent and Japan with 19 per cent.

Cross-border entities were net buyers during the quarter, with a marked 57 per cent increase in acquisition volumes relative to the previous quarter. This brought their share of purchases to 30 per cent in 4Q2012, up from 20 per cent the previous quarter.

Alongside the increase in cross-border acquisitions, local buyers also upped their purchases slightly to make up 60 per cent of acquisition volumes. National buyers’ share of acquisitions declined.

Major transactions in the quarter include Tsuen Wan W Station in Hong Kong, Gome Shangdu Project in Beijing, and 55 Haimen Road in Shanghai.

The Evolution of Expenses in Singapore

Inflation is a fact of life. You must learn how to invest or you will grow poorer as every year passes! At 5% inflation, every dollar you have now will only be worth 60 cents in just ten years. If you’re not investing and growing your money faster than inflation, you are facing an uphill battle just to afford the same things!

Goal Setting Mistakes, Blunders and Bloopers

Two guys are on an airplane,
and one guy asked the other,

"Does your stock broker
give you objective advice?"

"Yeah, his objective always
is to sell me something."

Of course that was meant to
be a humorous jab on brokers
whose intent is to sell stocks
instead of giving objective
advice.

However, it gets me thinking
about how lots of people do
NOT have a clear objective
when they begin their day,
run a meeting, go on a sales
call, and for just about any
area of their life.

Unfortunately most people
are vague and ambiguous
when it comes to their goals
and objectives.

For example, when I ask people
for their goals and objectives
I hear such things as:

"I want to get in better shape."

"I'd like to get a better job."

"I need to pay off some debt."

Granted, these are all good
intentions, but make no mistake,
these are not goals nor are
they objectives.

They are broad, ambiguous
statements that have very little
chance of ever being achieved.

Each is lacking the three
necessary ingredients of a
successful goal:

I - A SPECIFIC RESULT

You must be precise when it
comes to your goals and
objectives as your mind
operates to it maximum
efficiency when programmed
and focused on exact
coordinates and outcomes.

II. A METRIC TO MEASURE

Each step along the path to
a goal involves actions and
outcomes.

Each action must advance
you closer to your goal, and
measuring and monitoring
your performance is the ONLY
way to know if you are doing
the right things.

If you are off target, a simple
measurement will notify you
to take corrective action.

The greatest area of abuse
when it comes to goal setting
is NEGLECT.

For some bizarre reason, most
people neglect the importance
of consistent measurement and
behavioral adjustment, and they
wonder why they don't make
any progress.

THIS IS WHY!

III. A DATE OF COMPLETION

No deadline means no
commitment - PERIOD!

Without a committed deadline
to your goals and objectives
there is no sense of urgency,
no fire in the belly, and no
chance of you having a long
successful track record of
achievement.

MOMENT OF TRUTH

This message might be boring
and ho hum to some, but it is
a requirement for success.

Before dismissing the relevance
of this message, I advise that
you look at your year to date
results (25% of the year is over)
and benchmark it against this
question:

"If I continue to operate the rest
of the year in the same manner I
did for the first quarter, will this
be the best year of my life?"

If YES, Bravo!

If NO, you need to do something
different and you need to do it NOW.

CMA - Poised for sustained earnings growth

CMA is seeing the benefits of scale, with an extensive retail network to drive core earnings growth. The group will try to have an 80/20 asset split between completed and properties under construction to help drive sustainable return on equity. Asset recycling will happen only if it makes financial sense.

Impact
Road map for core earnings growth. CMA expects core earnings growth of between 30-40% based on announced projects this year. This is from full year contribution of The Star Vista and Bedok Residences in Singapore, contribution from 7 new China malls that were opened in 2012. For FY14, additional contribution will come from Bedok Mall and WestGate Retail, expected to open in 4Q13. For FY15, CMA expects to see higher net property income (NPI) from leases to be renewed from the 2011 malls opened in China.

Asset recycling re-think. The group believes third party acquisitions by its listed REITs will better help expand its extensive leasing network as well as fee income. Any asset recycling to its listed REITs will only be considered if it makes financial sense.

Conservative cap rates. CMA thinks the cap rates used for China of 6.75% to 7.50% is conservative relative to peers. Book value growth since 2009 was driven mainly by higher NPI and not on cap rate compression.

Dividend policy. CMA expects to see 7-8% growth in DPS over the next few years. Its dividend policy is at least 20-25% of reported net profit.