Wednesday 28 October 2009

Past Market Movements: Trends Not Consistent

Examination of Past Market Movements of Malaysia KLSE
What can we learn from the history of overall market movements in the Malaysia KLSE?

1.  Generally Upward Trend
2.  Trends Not Consistent
3.  Irregular Price Patterns
4.  Prices Can Be Very Volatile
5.  Prices Move Volatile Upward
6.  Big Booms Are Irregular

----

2.  Trends Not Consistent
It is very difficult to draw trends to fit stock market movements. 

The main problem is determining the starting point of the trend. 

While it is true that statistical programmes can be used for trend determination, one still has to rely on subjective judgement to determine the beginning and ending point of a trend.  The trend lines shown in charts are drawn based on the best available projected knowledge.

Past Market Movements: Generally Upward Trend

Examination of Past Market Movements of Malaysia KLSE
What can we learn from the history of overall market movements in the Malaysia KLSE?

1. Generally Upward Trend

2. Trends Not Consistent
3. Irregular Price Patterns
4. Prices Can Be Very Volatile
5. Prices Move Volatile Upward
6. Big Booms Are Irregular

-----


1.  Generally Upward Trend

We can see that although there are peaks and troughs, the overall tendency is for the market to be moving upwards.  From 1970 to 1981, the Malaysian market was growing at an annual rate of about 12% (Singapore market 15%).  From 1981 to 1987, the trend appears to be much less, around 4% per annum for the Malaysian market (6% for Singapore market).  The reason for the slowdown in the growth trend from 1981 to 1987 was deflation and the negative growth experienced during the first half of the Eighties. 

These trend lines may be regarded as equivalent to the intrinsic value of an individual share for they mark the inherent value of the market as a whole.  The market seems to fluctuate around these trend lines. 

In the future, the upward tendency of the market is most likely to continue although we are not sure what will be the actual growth rate. 

However, by projecting a trend which is conservatively drawn we can have some idea where the market is heading.  If we buy our shares when the market is at a reasonable level (that is when the index is around the trend line or below), we can rely on the long term rising trend to obtain our gain from the market. 

Unless we buy shares near the top of the peaks, we should be able to profit from buying shares after a few years.  It is therefore important to go for the long run.

Past Market Movements: Malaysia KLSE

By using an index, we can very quickly have an idea of how much the market has moved within a noted period. 

For example, if the index stood at 800 and it is now standing at 1200, we can say that the market as a whole has moved up 50%  [(1200-800) divided by 800)].

Click: http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=%5EKLSE#symbol=%5EKLSE;range=my
This figure shows graphically the movements of the KLSE for the years 1999 to 2009. 

What can we learn from the history of the overall market movements in the Malaysia stock market?

RM149 billion KLSE losses in 5 days


RM149 billion KLSE losses in 5 days

http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2007/03/06/rm149-billion-klse-losses-in-5-days-pmministers-not-stock-market-consultants/

What is a stock market index?

A stock market index is a measure of the average price level of the shares traded in the market.  Its use is analogous to the use of degree of celcius to measure the temperature.  It is constructed by comparing the current price of a sample of shares with their prices at some earlier date. 

The organization which is setting up the index (e.g. KLSE) has to make two decisions regarding the design of the index. 

First, what are the companies to be included in the index?

Second, what is to be the starting point of the index?

Both decisions would involve a certain degree of compromise.

In general, 30 companies is a good compromise to represent the actual situation at the stock market.  KLSE Indices have the starting date of 1st January 1970.  The KLSE Indices are given the base value of 100 as at 1st January 1970. 

There are various ways of computing an index but the easiest way to understand is probably the one using the market value of the companies included in the index. 

The KLSE Industrial Index has a based value of 100 at 1st of January 1970.  It stood at 700 at the end of August 1988.  This means that the market value of the companies chosen for the index had increased their total value by 600 per cent since 1970 (an average annual increase of 11.5 per cent). 

It is worthwhile to remember how indices are calculated and remind ourselves how much the market has gone up in the bull run.  When the market is next in a manic phase, we have to ask ourselves if it is feasible for the market to continue its performance in the future.

Click:
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=%5EKLSE#symbol=%5EKLSE;range=my
FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index (^KLSE)



http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2007/03/06/rm149-billion-klse-losses-in-5-days-pmministers-not-stock-market-consultants/
RM149 billion KLSE losses in 5 days

Market Timing

The fundamental approach to investment requires one to work out the intrinsic value of a share before its purchase. 

"Why don't we just wait until the whole market is low enough and then go in and buy a wide selection of shares?" 

This question suggests that one invests by means of "market timing". If practical, it will surely save us a lot of time and effort. 

  • Is it possible to carry out consistently correct market timing? 
  • How easy or difficult is the art of of market timing?

KLSE 1994 to 2009

http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=%5EKLSE#symbol=%5EKLSE;range=my

Is there a correct time to buy and sell?

Tuesday 27 October 2009

Insiders' actions in 3-A Resources


The share price of 3A rose rapidly to a high level recently.  What actions did the "smarter" insiders in 3A take?

Click here:
http://www.klse.com.my/website/bm/listed_companies/company_announcements/changes_in_s_holding/index.jsp

Type of transaction Date of change No of securities Price Transacted ($$)
Disposed 15/10/2009 2,448,002
Disposed 16/10/2009 2,300,000

Always INVESTigate before you INVEST


The recent budget introduces a mandatory basic insurance coverage

Insurance

A basic insurance and takaful scheme will be offered to provide mandatory basic insurance coverage for third party bodily injuries and death. The scheme is expected to be introduced by mid-2010.

Positive for insurance companies (Kurnia (NR), LPI (NR)) and banks with major insurance subsidiaries such AMMB (AmAssurance)

http://malaysiainfoedgezone.blogspot.com/2009/10/market-strategy-after-budget-2010-full.html

http://www.box.net/shared/uj9jmp9h63

Nestle 27.10.2009


Valuation
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tdjqbDNEEF54lSn6z6yORcw&output=html


Comment:  Recent price has climbed faster than earnings.

Monday 26 October 2009

Business model of Parkson Retail Group

PRG operates the Lion group's department store business in China.

The Hong Kong-listed PRG is sitting on cash reserves of RMB 3 billion (RM 1.49 billion).  The retailer is a 51.6% owned subsidiary of Parkson Holdings Bhd, in which Lion group boss Tan Sri William Cheng holds a 21.9% direct equity stake and 32.5% indirect stake.

After stripping out debts of RMB 2.3 billion, PRG is in a net cash position of RMB 667.5 million.

The retail giant is in a cash-generating business and its department stores are ringing up good sales.

Business model of Parkson Retail Group

PRG's growing cash pile is also due to its asset-light strategy.  It does not own many properties while its business model of letting out space to branded names does not tie up its cash with unsold inventories.

For instance, if John Master or Bonia has an outlet in Parkson, the inventory is held by the manufacturers themselves.  Parkson lets out the space and gets a commission from sales.  This way, it keeps its balance sheet light. 

Lingering Concerns

Local fund managers do buy into PRG's growth story.  It certainly does not take rocket science to figure out that China's robust growth augurs well for retailers such as PRG.  However, there is always a lingering concern because of the state of other companies within the Lion group. 

The concerns of investors are not entirely unjustified, going by the track record of other companies within the Lion group stable.  For instance, Lion Corp Bhd and Lion Industries are in net debt positions.  Further, Amsteel Corp Bhd, once the flagship of the Lion group, and Silverstone Corp Bhd were removed from Bursa Malaysia for failing to regularise their financial positions due to debt problems.

That explains why Parkson Holdings' share price on Bursa Malaysia has been lagging that of PRG's in Hong Kong.  The stock does not command the premium it deserves despite its exposure to the sizeable consumer market in China plus Vietnam - another booming emerging economy. 

PRG does not have a dividend policy

According to its managing director Alfred Cheng, PRG doesn't have a dividend policy.  However, the group has been paying out almost half of its earnings as dividends since it was listed in November 2005.  In the last financial year ended Dec 31, 2008, PRG paid out total dividends of RMB 405 million versus RMB 332.5 million in FY2207.

Paying regular dividends isn't a norm among the companies in the Lion group; PRG is probably the first to do so.  And PRG needs to keep it up to maintain its status as the group's cash-generating jewel.

Ref:  The Edge

Parkson's venture into Vietnam and Indochina

Revenues of Parkson at present are generated as shown:
75% from China
20% from Malaysia
6% from Vietnam

Parkson Holdings' total revenue for FY 2008 ended June 30 was RM 2.35 billion.
RM 1.55 billion from China
RM 718.9 million from Malaysia
RM 80 million from Vietnam

The growth in China is impressive. 

It is equally exciting in Vietnam too.  While small compared with the operations in China and Malaysia, Vietnam's contribution has nearly doubled from RM 41.9 million in FY 2007.

Vietnam is the stepping stone for Parkson Holdings to capture the market in Indochina, consisting of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.  Parkson plans to open its first store in Phnom Penh in 1H2011.

Whether Parkson's success in China can be repeated in Vietnam and greater Indochina will depend to a large extent on how it utilises its first-mover advantage to fend off competitors.

Vietnam:  Total retail sales in the first 8 months of this year rose 18.4% y-o-y to US$41.67 billion (RM 141 billion), according to the country's General Statistics Office.  The growth was recorded in a year that the global economy was in turmoil and the dong (the Vietnamese currency) devalued.

Ref:  The Edge

Parkson 26.10.2009



Valuation
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tDwhvs3JG3I9fvO-aI9Z5Gg&output=html

Sunday 25 October 2009

New KLCI 30 counter (July 2009)

New KLCI 30 counter (July 2009)


1066 "RHB Capital" FBM30

3786 "Malaysia Airline System" FBM30

4162 "British American Tobacco (Malaysia)" FBM30

6888 "Axiata Group Bhd" FBM30

3182 "Genting" FBM30

2445 "Kuala Lumpur Kepong" FBM30

1155 "Malayan Banking" FBM30

2194 "MMC" FBM30

4065 "PPB Group" FBM30

4197 "Sime Darby Bhd" FBM30

1961 "IOI" FBM30

4715 "Resorts World" FBM30

4863 "Telekom Malaysia" FBM30

5347 "Tenaga Nasional" FBM30

1015 "AMMB Holdings" FBM30

1562 "Berjaya Sports Toto" FBM30

1023 "Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings" FBM30

5819 "Hong Leong Bank" FBM30

2267 "Tanjong" FBM30

4588 "UMW Holdings" FBM30

4677 "YTL Corp" FBM30

6033 "Petronas Gas" FBM30

6742 "YTL Power International" FBM30

6947 "Digi.com" FBM30

5657 "Parkson Holdings" FBM30

5681 "Petronas Dagangan Bhd" FBM30

5052 "Plus Expressways" FBM30

3816 "MISC" FBM30

1295 "Public Bank BHD" FBM30

5076 "Astro All Asia Networks" FBM30

Differences between investment and speculation

Differences between investment and speculation

1.  Investment:  Investment is rationally based on the knowledge of past share price behaviour.  From such knowledge, it is possible to compute the probability of future return. 
  • A common method of investment analysis is to study the past range of PER or DY of a particular share or a class of shares. 
  • From this study of its past price range, we can predict the likelihood of its price being out of this range in the future. 
  • By comparing its current price with the expected future price range (future price = future PER x future earnings) we know whether the current price is too high or too low and take the necessary action accordingly.
Speculation:  Speculation is purely based on the HOPE that the future price will be higher rather than on anything tangible.

2.  Investment:  Investment requires an investor to do some work before hand and decisions are made based on known facts and figure. 
  • Such work typically may consist of estimating future level of Earnings Per Share and computing the past range of the PER. 
  • By multiplying the future EPS with the likely PER, we have an estimate of the future level of price. 
  • If the present price is very low compared with the future price, we buy and vice versa.
Speculation:  Speculation is usually based on wild rumours and unsubstantiated hearsays which cannot be checked for accuracy.  Undoubtely, speculation is a lot easier than investment but one tends to reap what one sows.

3.  Investment: Investment is made for the long term (i.e. two years or more) based on the idea that one is much more certain when one is trying to predict the cumulative results of many daily movement.  Once invests with the knowledge that over the long run, the real investors will always make a gain.

Speculation: Speculation is usually for the short run (i.e three months or less unless one is caught whence a speculator is then forced to become an investor), based on the idea that certain events may result in a rise in price (bonus, rights, takeovers, and others).

4.  Investment: Over a long period of time, true investment tends to produce a positive result.  Based on many years of research in the US and Europe, Long Term Investment consistently produced much higher return than fixed deposit or the inflation rate.  The Malaysian experience has mirrored the Western experience.

Speculation: Since speculation is not based on anything concrete, its result is not at all predictable.  Speculation can occasionally produce very high gains just as it can produce very high losses.  Over a long period of time, speculation is most unlikely to produce better return than true investment. 

5.  Investment: True investors can sleep soundly at night since they have a fairly good idea of the possible extent of their loss and gain before hand. Besides, since they are investing for the long term, they can forget about short term movements and ignore the market most of the time. 

Speculation: Speculation is likely to lead to many sleepless nights and anxious days since its result is so uncertain.  The speculator will have to be always on the alert to take the necessary quick action to catch the right moment. 

"Sure lose (gambling)" situations in investment

There is only one real difference between investment and gambling.  In investment, one can expect to make a profit over the long run but gambling will always result in a loss over the long run although the gambler may not know it.

There are certain situations in the world of investment which resemble gambling and investors are well advised to keep clear of them.

1.  To buy shares when the market is at its "hottest" is definitely gambling because like all bull markets, once everyone interested has been sucked in, there are no more lambs left and the market can only go down.

2.  To sell shares which have been held through a long period of decline is also a gamble because the market is cyclical; it will recover after a long period of decline. 

These are among the many examples of the "sure lose" situations in investment similar to gambling.

Probability of Return in Investment, Speculation and Gambling

The main difference between investment, speculation and gambling is the "ex ante probability of obtaining a reasonable return which is known at the time when each of these three activities is carried out".

Ex-Ante Probability of Return

Investment -  Good
Speculation - Uncertain
Gambling - Negative

What this means is that we are fairly confident that we can make a reasonable amount of money by making a true investment; we are uncertain as to whether we can make money from speculation but we are sure that we will lose money by gambling. 

The sidetracking of investors into speculation and even gambling is the worst enemy of good investment.

We must be ultraconservative and maximise the odds in our favour.  If a stock analyst warns you that there is only a 10 percent chance that prices would rise above this level, you should avoid buying shares at that level.  On the other hand, if he says that there is a 90 percent chance that share prices would not fall further, we should certainly grasp the opportunity and buy. 

Maxis May Raise Up to 12.4 Billion Ringgit in IPO

Today’s price range for the shares values Maxis at 36 billion ringgit to 41.25 billion ringgit. That compares with Maxis’s 2007 market value of 40 billion ringgit before it was taken private. The 2007 valuation includes the company’s overseas operations, which are now excluded.

-----

Maxis May Raise Up to 12.4 Billion Ringgit in IPO (Update2)

Share | Email | Print | A A A

By Soraya Permatasari

Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Maxis Communications Bhd., Malaysia’s biggest mobile-phone operator, may raise as much as 12.4 billion ringgit ($3.7 billion) in the country’s largest initial share sale, according to an e-mail sent to investors.

The Kuala Lumpur-based phone operator’s shareholders will sell as many as 2.25 billion shares at 4.8 ringgit to 5.5 ringgit apiece next month, lead arranger CIMB Investment Bank Bhd. said in the e-mail. That would value the company as much as 41.25 billion ringgit.

The sale, more than double Petronas Gas Bhd.’s record 1995 offering, would give billionaire Ananda Krishnan funds to invest in faster-growing markets as wireless demand slows at home, where mobile subscriptions exceed the nation’s population of 28 million. The shares are being offered as equity markets from Malaysia to China to India climb back to levels preceding the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

“As it will likely be added into the benchmark index, fund managers would have no choice but to look at Maxis and to add it into their portfolio,” said Pankaj Kumar, who manages about $540 million of assets as chief investment officer at Kurnia Insurans Bhd. “It will help boost the market in terms of the depth, being such a big cap stock.”

Institutional Investors

The indicative price range values the stock at 16 to 18 times estimated earnings, making Maxis expensive relative to rivals such as Digi.com Bhd, according to Scott Lim, chief executive officer of MIDF Amanah Asset Management Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur. Stocks on the MSCI Asia Pacific Telecommunication Services Index trade an average of 13 times estimated earnings.

“The offer is also a bit pricey compared with regional valuations,” Lim said. “Foreign fund managers may not be interested and they would rather buy a similar stock somewhere else.”

The stock will be priced on Nov. 10 and start trading on the Malaysian exchange Nov. 19, according to the e-mail.

About 2 billion shares, or 91 percent of the total, are being offered to institutional investors, while about 150 million, or 6.7 percent of the total, will be sold to the public, according to the e-mail. Maxis will start marketing today in Hong Kong, followed by Singapore on Oct. 26 and Oct. 27, and Kuala Lumpur from Oct. 28 to Oct. 30, it said.

Europe, U.S. Presentation

Presentations of the sale in Europe and the U.S. will be from Nov. 2 to Nov. 9. Malaysia’s biggest funds, including the Employees Provident Fund, may take up almost half of the stock offering, a person with knowledge of the matter, told Bloomberg this week.

Lembaga Tabung Haji, which manages about 23 billion ringgit of Islamic pilgrim funds in Malaysia, is considering the offer as long as the price doesn’t exceed 5.20 ringgit a share, Chief Investment Officer Mohd Noor Abdul Rahman said yesterday.

The phone carrier will only include local operations in the sale, potentially discouraging foreign investors because Maxis already controls 40 percent of the Malaysian market, in which handsets outnumber people.

Maxis was among the country’s four biggest companies by market value before billionaire Krishnan, 71, took it private in 2007 in a 16 billion ringgit transaction.

Mobile-phone penetration in Malaysia exceeded 100 percent in March, according to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

Mobile Subscribers

Maxis had 11.4 million mobile-phone subscribers as of June 30, according to the initial prospectus. The company reported 4.24 billion ringgit of revenue in the six months to June 30.

Today’s price range for the shares values Maxis at 36 billion ringgit to 41.25 billion ringgit. That compares with Maxis’s 2007 market value of 40 billion ringgit before it was taken private. The 2007 valuation includes the company’s overseas operations, which are now excluded.

Krishnan is Malaysia’s second-richest person, with an estimated $7 billion of wealth, according to Forbes magazine.

Krishnan, whose family originated from Sri Lanka, was born April 1, 1938 in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur. He also owns Astro All Asia Networks Plc, Malaysia’s biggest pay television operator, which this month secured a three-year agreement with the FA Premier League for exclusive rights to broadcast Barclays Premier League football matches in the country.

Krishnan took Maxis private in 2007 in a 16 billion ringgit buyout deal in a bid to accelerate expansion in India, where it owns Aircel Ltd., and in Indonesia, hoping to seek growth outside the maturing Malaysian market. He promised to re-list Maxis in there years.

The decision to re-list Maxis this year came after Prime Minister Najib Razak in July said Maxis should re-list to attract investors to the Malaysian stock exchange.

To contact the reporter on this story: Soraya Permatasari in Kuala Lumpur at soraya@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 23, 2009 02:42 EDT

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aifzm6xbxmlA

SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Prev Close Pct Move
Singapore 2715.34 2681.97 1.24
Kuala Lumpur 1267.10 1260.02 0.56
Bangkok 708.76 716.35 (closed)
Jakarta 2467.95 2433.18 1.43
Manila 2932.99 2888.72 1.53
Ho Chi Minh 615.68 624.10 -1.35

Change on year
Market Current End prev yr Pct Move
Singapore 2715.34 1761.56 +54.14
Kuala Lumpur 1267.10 876.75 +44.52
Bangkok 708.76 449.96 +57.52
(closed)
Jakarta 2467.95 1355.40 +82.08
Manila 2932.99 1872.85 +56.61
Ho Chi Minh 615.68 315.62 +95.07

Stock Market Volume (shares)
Market Current Volume ... Average Volume 90 days
Singapore 273,457,500 ... 370,578,304
Kuala Lumpur 110,653,800 ... 156,325,598
Bangkok 2,982,748 ... 4,575,457
Jakarta 4,462,989,500 ... 5,809,227,300
Ho Chi Minh 137,061 ... 56,606