A Newbie Guide to Investing

(06-10-2016, 11:49 AM)Dreamhigh Wrote: Hi investors,

May I ask where and how do you get information on a company other than annual reports? Annual reports always wrote on the good side of the company only. How can I get more in-depth information on a company?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Dreamhigh

ARs and quarterly statements are a great place to start. I usually treat the company as though it's a private company that I suddenly inherited, and start asking questions to understand the company. The questions I come up with, would lead me to the sources for more in depth information.
For eg, if it's a manufacturing company, you'd want to find out stuff like what's the market demand for it's products, who are, if any the distributors for the products, who are the competitors and what's the company's competitive edge. All this info isn't in the AR, but can be easily researched online. 
From data in the AR, you can work out other relevant data such as the cash conversion cycle, how efficiently the company utilises it's factories or manufacturing plant etc

If it's a construction business, I'd ask questions like what space within the construction business is it in. Is it mostly a main con or sub con? Developer or construction or both? What licensing does it have? That'd lead me to say the URA or the BCA websites to search for data.

So in short, there isn't 1 single source. Think of the tough questions, then your quest to find the answers will lead you to the sources.
Sometimes if you're lucky, a good analyst would've done the work for you and put it in a nice report. I'd still verify the data in it though.

Always good to see guys starting out, all the best.
Happy hunting for value

Hello, friends! I want to ask you, how do you choose what to invest, on what basis? I want to start investing in some interesting startups, in some interesting idea, but don't know what it could be. What would you advise? Thanks in advance.

Hi,

I think for most, how does one choose to invest will heavily depend on each individuals circumstances, risk appetite, ability to tolerate risk and skill set. It helps if you have a clear objective in mind when investing and can then look for an approach that best meets your investment objectives.

For your second question, correct me if i am wrong but it seems that you are interested in the area of angel investing or venture capital. When making such investments, it is important to note that most of such ventures fail and your returns will be heavily dependent on a few big winners. There is also an adverse selection problem in that it is very difficult to get your money into the most promising ventures unless you bring something else to the table. Unless you have significant experience in this area, I think the best way to invest in venture capital is to be a limited partner in a venture capital fund run by professionals.

(07-10-2016, 03:07 AM)melissa_summers Wrote: I want to start investing in some interesting startups, in some interesting idea, but don't know what it could be. What would you advise?

Well, I'm not going to spend my hard earn $$$ in any startups for a simple reason.

Of course, I know what you're thinking, there is always exceptions.

And, you're right. If it's really in my area of competence and someone that I can trust.

Why not.

So, who can we learn from?

What about our highest authority in IT singapore?
I mean *really* *really* Tok3 Kong3, biggest big shot...

drum rolling....

watch the video first:


For those who is not aware of why KBH is so tok3 kong3?
Read this: his vision on Singapore Infocomm Media 2025

No joke... he really is the man who presented Singapore vision on IT (start up included lar).

Don't play play, FYI, I first met him during my Uni recruitment talk, ok?

I think, if you really keen in investing in start up company, why not check him up?

hi guys! newbie here.
i actually came from dividends investing in singapore
its a female magazine but i guess does not matter what gender the investor is right?

anyway, read that, like what i saw and googled a bit.
found this forum some weeks ago, joined and read up on many existing threads, including value investing and dividends investing and growth investing

still like what i read so far on dividends.
2017... will slowly embark on dividend investing in stocks!

please guide me all shifu!

(17-01-2017, 02:13 PM)dividendangel Wrote: hi guys! newbie here.
i actually came from dividends investing in singapore
its a female magazine but i guess does not matter what gender the investor is right?

anyway, read that, like what i saw and googled a bit.
found this forum some weeks ago, joined and read up on many existing threads, including value investing and dividends investing and growth investing

still like what i read so far on dividends.
2017... will slowly embark on dividend investing in stocks!

please guide me all shifu!

ooo btw, i am new in SGX, but have been buying bits and pieces of Amazon, Google and Apple in USA markets. and tesla too.
just never really realised dividends can be a centerpiece of investment.

now also learnt that SGX has NO TAXES on local stock dividends!! (usa has 30% tax)

Do you live in Singapore or usa ? The usa tax jurisdiction is worldwide and US residents will have to pay tax on income from overseas sources .

Why are you calling yourself dividendangel ? Angels have a magic wand which they wave and deliver the dividend to value investors like us. Where is your wand ?

(17-01-2017, 09:08 PM)soros Wrote: Do you live in Singapore or usa ?  The usa tax jurisdiction is worldwide and US residents will have to pay tax on  income from overseas sources .

Why are you calling yourself dividendangel ?  Angels have a magic wand which they wave and deliver the dividend  to value investors like us.  Where is your wand ?

i live in singapore. but the dividends from USA stocks that is added to your stock broker account is already minus taxes to the US govt =)
soooo... 30% paid to uncle sam.

i lost my wand. 

nowadays NLB is full of ebooks on investments. I'm already reading a few of them right now. the collection is quite up-to-date.

(23-01-2017, 10:57 PM)jenson Wrote: nowadays NLB is full of ebooks on investments. I'm already reading a few of them right now. the collection is quite up-to-date.

I actually use this as a mkt indicator. Now we are in bear mkt and that's why the library is full of investment books. Come bull mkts all those books will be off the shelf n you will need to reserve for the books you want.

Having said that there are some books worth buying for keeps n continue to reference them in future.