Den of The Lion Investor

The ATM application for the $50 million second tranche of OCBC preference shares opens from 9am today until noon on 28th July. You can apply for them through the ATM of the 3 local banks - DBS, UOB and OCBC.

Each application requires a minimum subscription of 200 shares priced at $100 each. Additional shares are in multiplies of 100.

Unlike the first tranche which was on a first-come-first-served basis, this ATM tranche will be allocated by balloting if the total subscription exceeds 500,000 shares. That means you do not need to rush down to an ATM machine to apply at 9am today.

However, if you are interested in applying for the shares, it is wise not to wait too long as OCBC might close the tranche anytime if overwhelming demand is received.

The CPF board will be organising a talk to provide some tips for homebuyers on the selection of a home and the use of CPF monies for the financing of their home purchase. Details of the talk are as follows:

Programme Highlights:

(Registration starts from 9am)

09.30am - “Selecting A Suitable Home”
10.30am - Tea Break
11:00am -“Buying A Home with Your CPF”
12:00pm - Q&A
12.30pm - End

Date : 26 Jul 2008
Time : 9:00am to 12:30pm
Venue : 79 Robinson Road, Conference Room Basement 1,
Registration Period : 9 Jul 2008 - 23 Jul 2008
Registration Fee : S$10.00
Contact Information : events@cpf.gov.sg

You can register at this link.

I had a good chuckle as I watched Ron Paul asks Ben Bernanke questions pertaining to the devaluation of the dollar and trying to expose the ugly truth behind inflation.

On both accounts, Ben evades answering the question. Note that the sessions were recorded quite a few months ago.

Here’s the first video:

And here’s the second video:

The consolidation of REITs in Singapore have started with the sale of Allco Commercial REIT and the manager, Allco (Singapore) Limited to Fraser and Neave.

Frasers Centrepoint Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of F&N, will buy over 17.7% of Allco Commercial REIT and 100.0% of Allco (Singapore) Limited from Allco Finance Group.

Based on the offered price, Allco REIT is valued at $0.83, which is a discount of 42.3% to the unaudited NAV of $1.44 as at 31 March 2008, and a premium of 16.9% to the closing price of $0.71 on 7 July 2008.

With the purchase, Frasers Centrepoint Limited will terminate the planned listing of their commercial REIT and will instead use Allco REIT as a vehicle for its further commerical property activities.

Upon completion of the purchase, Allco REIT will be renamed Frasers Commercial Trust.

The sale of Allco REIT at such a huge discount to its NAV is probably due to the need of their parent, Allco Finance Group, to raise funds. This sale takes place before the proposed strategic portfolio focus of Allco REIT mentioned a few months ago can be completed.

Macquarie has just launched their 2nd Macquarie Warrant Hotshot Competition. This stimulated live warrants trading contest starts on 14th July 2008 and will run for a period of 8 weeks.

There are four categories you can sign up and compete in:

• Dealers
• Investors
• Media
• Students

Each group of participants will compete for the weekly prize of $200 and category prize of $3000. There will also be a grand hotshot prize of $20,000 for the overall winner.

Click on this link to register for the competition.

Generally speaking, trading for a competition requires a different set of strategy compared to trading your own portfolio.

In the former, the aim is to generate the highest possible percentage gains (in a short time) while taking on the corresponding downside risk.

In the latter, consistency of gains over time is much more important.