Den of The Lion Investor

This Saturday, there will be a seminar organised by ShareInvestor. The speakers and topics that will be covered are as follows:

• Swing Trading Using Intraday Chart Analysis by Binni Ong, Chief trainer of TerraSeeds Market Technician
• Invest the World by Wong Sui Jau, General Manager of Fundsupermart
• The Growing Role of ETFs in Managed Investment Portfolios by Christine Huang, Vice President of Societe Generale - Lyxor ETF
• How to Trade Warrants Successfully by Christian Lamprecht, Associate of Deutsche Securities Asia
• Fine Wine Investment - A Profitable Indulgence by Charles Tan, Wine Director of Premium Liquid Assets
• Trading CFDs in Market Volatility by Henry Pek, Business Development Manager of CMC Markets Singapore
• Taiwan Warrants Investment Gateway - The Dawn of a New Age (Chinese) by Angus Chen, Manager of Derivatives of Yuanta Securities

The event will be held in Rock Auditorium at Suntec City Mall from 9am - 3:30pm. Early bird tickets (until 8th May) cost just $5 per person and you can register using this link.

I won’t be going as I will be at the Steven Molnar property seminar instead.

Another speaker during the SMART Expo that pulled in the crowd was Mr Wong Sui Jau, the general manager from Fundsupermart iFAST Financial Ptd Ltd. Here are some pointers from his presentation as well as his recommended sectors for 2008.

US Economy

In the next 12 months, US will fall into a recession. Consumer sentiment is going to get worse. A large portion of these consumers are still spending on credit and paying mortgages.

High Oil Prices

• Oil prices hit US$110 on 13 March 2008.
• The previous two oil shocks were artificially created and the extent was greater.
• OPEC now only produces 36% of the world’s oil and has less influence over the pricing.
• China and other emerging market growth in economic leading to a higher demand.
• Falling US$ also contributes to the rise in oil prices.

Star Ratings (on a scale of 1-5, 5 being overweight)

• Emerging markets 3.5
• Asia ex-Japan 3.5
• US 2
• Japan 2.5
• Europe 3
• India 2.0
• China 3.0
• Singapore 3.5
• Hong Kong 3.0
• South Korea 3.5
• Taiwan 3.5
• Thailand 4.0
• Malaysia 3.5

Asset Allocation

• Neutral on equites versus fixed income
• Underweight on Japan and US
• Overweight on Thailand (PE at 8.6 and 8.0 for 2008 and 2009) and Singapore (PE at 13)
• For contrarian play, Singapore financial stocks can be considered as they have been beaten down quite badly due to the US subprime crisis even though their fundamentals are quite strong.

Is cash the best alternative for investors?

• High inflation
• Bear markets do not last forever
• Our emotions cause us to buy high and sell low
• Choosing to sell out of markets will only make it harder for investors to re-enter the market later

Tips for handling volatility

• Markets cannot drop 5-10% every day.
• Focus on long term investing
• Diversify