HLChin's Blog

99.05

HLChin — Mon, 06 May 2013 22:10:13 GMT

14th July 2009 -- this was when I referred to the 99s CAPs club as the holy grail. Below is my amatuerish post:

http://caps.fool.com/Blogs/of-lynch-and-the-95-ratings/227964

Since then, almost 4 years has gone by before I even had a...

Lessons learnt of the last 7 years, among other things

HLChin — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 13:13:59 GMT

a) Passionate management is great to have, but may not be able to execute. It's very hard to find a combination of passionate management who are good operators in a huge potential market.
b) A strong moat tends to lose its meaning if your customer is essentially broke i.e. sometimes, a good moat may not be enough.
c) There is usually a very good reason why a stock is tradi...

Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler

HLChin — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 01:55:08 GMT

“The market itself is very volatile. We've had 95 years completed this century. We're in the middle of 1996 and we're close to a 10 percent decline. In the 95 years so far, we've had 53 declines in the market of 10 percent or more. Not 53 down years. The market might have been up 26 finished the year up four, and had a 10 percent correction. So we've had 53 declines in 95 years. That's once every two years. Of the 53, 15 of the 53 have been 25 p...

Should you end all your picks?

HLChin — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 05:38:33 GMT

Not suggesting that one should do it per se -- but from time to time, this serves as a great mental experiment -- especially when you are in the heat of battle, and may occassionally lose sight of the big picture.

Nygren continues, "Perhaps Steinhardt’s most interesting tactic was selling his entire portfolio when ...

Timeless Quotes from Graham and Dodd

HLChin — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 00:30:15 GMT

Security analysis cannot presume to lay down general rules as to the "proper value" of any given common stock ... The prices of common stocks are not carefully thought out computations, but the resultants of a welter of human reactions -- Ben Graham and David Dodd, 1940

Philip Fisher: some of the best quotes from Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits

HLChin — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:38:51 GMT

Philip Fisher, Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits:

“There is a complicating factor that makes the handling of investment mistakes more difficult. This is the ego in each of us. None of us likes to admit to himself that he has been wrong. If we have made a mistake in buying a stock but can sell the stock at a ...

Turning over more stones

HLChin — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 00:26:05 GMT

In general, my approach is to identify the company which I would like to own (without looking at the price ;-)), and then figure out the right price to pay.
Some clues which I look at (and they shouldn't be too revolutionary):
a) Good Management - I find myself referencing Jim Collin's level 5 leader guideline and my own per...

Of Lynch and the 95+ ratings club - Part 2

HLChin — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:32:09 GMT

Continued:
My diverse reading has bought me to think on how my CAPs ranking can turned from good to great. If memory serves me right, I have been hanging around the 90+ level up till May which in my eyes was "good". But I want more - I want to be great in CAPs.
This is where Lynch comes in.
How does this guy Lynch manage to deliver a 29.2% annualized return from...

Of Lynch and the above 95s club - Part 1

HLChin — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:12:48 GMT

It's really been a while since I last posted.
One of things that I have learned about myself during this Great Recession stock market downturn is that I am better at not getting excited during rallies rather than buying during downturns. My buying record and patience could have been better throughout 2007 to 2009.
Anyways, the simple trick I use is simply that I read while markets experience upturns. I find that it dis...

The long climb back to the 90s club and I intend to stay!

HLChin — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:40:55 GMT

It's been a long climb back to my position of the CAPs 90's club and apparently, I have gone several steps better and ... I am alive and kicking at 98.11 position.
Life is sweet at the moment.

The current crisis of sorts has taught me several lessons:
1) Never underestimate the extent of human fear. The illogical rise of the cost of rice in the wake of the rise in corn is cas...

Wiping the slate clean

HLChin — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:42:47 GMT

I have read about a hedge fund manager who suggested "wiping the slate clean" i.e. selling all your stock positions for the benefit of gaining clarity in mind. I think that this method was radical but also did not discount the fact that embracing such a process just in thought was worth a try.
Philip Fisher spoke of the irrational stockholder behaviour in holding on just to not lose a few pennies or not being able to accept selling at a los...

The Facebook ATTACK network game: a "thesis"

HLChin — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:39:03 GMT

It's my "thesis" that companies that do well in the future do it by choosing carefully where it enters.
The emergence of China and India is re-storing balance to the overall economy to it's old equilibrium where China and India control 40% of the global economy. This also means that cost pressure will be on for several years to come and US/Euro companies will have limited resources due to moderated cost control which in effect means that the co...

Temptations!

HLChin — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:34:12 GMT

I just came off reading a pretty interesting interview by Bill Mann on the topic of investor bias. Pretty entertaining stuff. Goes to show that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
So I thought I would share some thoughts on what was one of the better books that TMFTomG has recommended in Hidden Gems titled Value Investing with the Masters by Kirk Karanjian.
Prior to reading it, I have to admit that I was unaware that I...

It's good to be back in the 90+ rating club again.

HLChin — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 15:10:43 GMT

A week after my rant in my blog, I managed to re-enter into the top 90 ratings club again. As mentioned before, my meddling and experiment with the trading style investing failed miserably.
The recent downturn and TMF's recommendation has provided fantastic oppotunities like DLB, VLCM, BWLD and IIVI. I am confident that at the prices that I am able to snag these businesses, I should be able to ride and outperform the S&P with fair amount ...

The Magnificently Awful and the Eternal Optimism

HLChin — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 13:52:40 GMT

I have again concluded that I am absolutely poor in timing the market. Me bad (part un) ...
From being in the top 50 of CAPs, my naive-ness led me to totally screw up my score. My standing now stands at a humbling 6000+ position with a unforgivable 37th percentile in accuracy. I really fussed up the accuracy score because I thought I could conviniently double down and not be punished by ending the stock pick. Me bad (Middleby (MIDD)
Reasoning: Business
• Good set of metrics measurement by management
• Proven capability in keeping up with the latest trends of casual dining in multiple areas. Business friendly technologies (emphasis on shared metrics and joint development) which encourage joint partnership and strategic customer growth: o Packaging for home takeaways
o Trans-fat reduction legislation
<...

IIVI

HLChin — Fri, 04 May 2007 17:09:18 GMT

Two Eleven (IIVI) Reasoning: Business Shareholder friendly observations: Lead by Carl Johnson for 35 years now. Marvelous 20% insider ownership.Puts earnings and return on equity as their first few charts in their yearly report and posts 10Q as part of their yearly report – Brilliantly open! 40% sales done internally; provides insulation to declining USD. Current sales is at USD 232mYear end 2006 report shows that IIVI has a good hand...

My US Stock Market Portfolio

HLChin — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 07:17:49 GMT

I have recently put up my real US market portfolio on Icarra.com. Very cool site indeed. This portfolio is what I consider as my real-life test of the combination of my business sense and my valuation techniques learned from the Motley Fool.

http://www.icarra.com/viewPortfolio.php?id=1035

My Daily matra

HLChin — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 16:21:38 GMT

My approach is to check my stocks every day. But I do so from the standpoint of a lifelong investor -- literally, right up until they carve my plot in the churchyard.

With that perspective, I find myself always on the lookout to LEARN more now so that I might EARN more later. Stocks down for the day, week, month or year ... well, what can I learn from that?

When all is said and done, none of us will r...

Asset Allocation - a journey with a reflection

HLChin — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 07:23:32 GMT

Much has been written already asset allocation and how it affects 90% of your overall portfolio earnings. I will not attempt to reproduce that.

But I wanted to record my thoughts as I move along in my investment journey.

So here's some thoughts which I have as a two-year investor:
1) Stay in the market long term. More importantly, surround yourself with like minde...