Outlook for 2013: Recap and Stock Take

This is a look at the various stocks that were previous listed in one of my previous postings on investment outlook and stock picks for 2013.

Most of the stocks have risen except for CMT, City Developments and UOB.

	Closing Price on 31 Dec 2012	Closing Price on 8 Feb 2013
Biosensors	$1.205	$1.330
CMT	$2.130	$2.130
CMA	$1.940	$2.100
City Developments	$12.870	$11.460
DBS	$14.840	$14.980
Ezion Holdings	$1.690	$1.805
Keppel Corp	$11.000	$11.530
M1	$2.710	$2.740
SembCorp Marine	$4.600	$4.670
Starhill Global REIT	$0.785	$0.850
UOB	$19.810	$19.040
Venture Corp	$8.060	$8.480
Capitaland	$3.700	$3.860
SIA Engineering Company	$4.390	$4.740
Pan United	$0.775	$0.975

Nam Cheong - Poised to Breakout?

Have been liquidating many of my stocks and entered into short term trading positions. Nam Cheong is one of those stocks that I entered into. I have a target price of 30 cents for this stock.

From a TA point of view,  the stock also looks like it can move higher. Nam Cheong last closed at 25 cents..  Its IPO price was 21 cents.

Nam Cheong has seen its orders rising and prides itself as the leading builder in Malaysia of OSVs.

Investment Outlook and Stock Picks for 2013

What better way to start the new year then to give an outlook on what 2013 ought to bring?  And what better way to know what 2013 will bring by looking at what the experts think will happen.

OCBC Research will be sticking to the strategy of overweighing in the oil & gas, banking, healthcare and selective property sub-sectors.  Their stock picks for 2013 include Biosensors, CapitaMalls Asia (CMA), CapitaMall Trust (CMT), City Developments (CDL), DBS, Ezion Holdings, Keppel Corp, M1, Sembcorp Marine, Starhill Global REIT, UOB and Venture Corp.  Despite strong gains in 2012, they expect further upside for these sectors/stocks.

For Phillip Securities Research, their top picks include SIA Engineering Company, Capitaland and Pan United.  Thematic plays will be dividend stocks and construction stocks.

Here are the closing price of all the stocks on 31 Dec 2012:

	Closing Price on 31 Dec 2012
Biosensors	1.205
CMT	2.130
CMA	1.940
City Developments	12.870
DBS	14.840
Ezion Holdings	1.690
Keppel Corp	11.000
M1	2.710
SembCorp Marine	4.600
Starhill Global REIT	0.785
UOB	19.810
Venture Corp	8.060
Capitaland	3.700
SIA Engineering Company	4.390
Pan United	0.775

Stock Picks for 2011

At the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010, I posted some of the stock picks by analysts/brokerage houses for the year 2010.

To check out the various stock picks by these analysts for the year 2010, you can look at the following links:
1. DBS Vickers Small/Mid Cap Strategy

2. Stock Picks by Terence Wong (co-head of research at DMG)

3. Stock Picks by Janice Chua (head of research at DBS Vickers)

4. Stock Picks by Carmen Lee (head of research at OCBC)

Were there any stock picks that you followed and made a profit from?

For the year 2011, some of the analysts have also begun to publish their stock picks:

1. OCBC's Market Strategy for 2011

2. Phillip Capital Market Strategy for 2011

What are your stock picks for 2011?

First REIT again?

I have been monitoring First REIT for sometime after exiting it for a tidy profit a while back. First REITs had been consistently giving out good dividends. Its yield was relatively high compared to the other REITs and it also had a very low gearing of 15%. During the recession, the price dipped quite a bit but slowly recovered and I decided to lock in some profits and sold my entire stake in it.

The reasons for exiting it are mainly twofold. While it is a healthcare REIT, it does not really have a parent company to back it up. That is unless u consider Lippo to be its parent. The other thing that weighs heavily on my mind is that majority of its assets are based in Indonesia. There are thus country risks involved. And that is perhaps the reason why it is trading at a seemingly more attractive valuation than the other REITs counters. Personally, I did not want to hold something that was overly exposed and narrowly focused. And that was why I decided to exit it. A stock is cheap for certain reasons and the same applies to First REIT. It reminds me a bit of various s-chip shares I had held over the years because it was cheap when compared to its peers. Remember Unifood and Pfood?

The decision I took then was to start investing in blue chip companies and avoid stocks that were of a higher risk. And that will remain my strategy at least for the time being. I hope to liquidate my small cap stocks slowly and transfer them to bigger and better blue chips. Of course, we are in the midst of an expansion right now so I will perhaps wait a little longer before I start refocusing my efforts.

Though I was tempted to enter into First REiT recently, I shall resist it for the moment.

Consolidated Stock Picks for 2010

It will be perhaps difficult to find good bargains for 2010 as we will probably not be seeing broad based sector price rises for the stock market. "Pockets of Strength" is the keyword here.

I have consolidated a list of the stock picks for 2010 for your viewing pleasure. It includes those from Analysts and might not be very comprehensive. Nevertheless, it is a good starting point.

Another point to note is that when people are buying again, it is perhaps time for us to start selling. The best time to buy stocks were in 2008 and 2009. Now, it will be hard to get the gains that we are looking for and we should stick to the leaders in each sector.

Anyway, here are the stock picks for 2010:

Telecos
1. StarHub
2. SingTel
3. Mobile One

REITs
1. Ascott REIT
2. CDL Hospitality Trust
3. Ascendas REIT
4. MapleTree Log Trust
5. CapitaMall Trust

Property
1. SC Global
2. Kepland
3. UOL Group
4, Bukit Sembawang

Shipping
1. Sembcorp Marine
2. Ezra

Commodities
1. Noble
2. Olam
3. Wilmar

Others:
1. Hyflux
2. Genting
3. Midas
4. SMRT
5. Keppel Corp

What Are Your Stock Picks for 2010?

Everybody who invests in the stock market definitely has their favorite stocks for the year.

Reading the Sunday Times today, I read on how the various investors and managers were giving their stock picks for 2010.

I realised that I have not picked out my top stocks that I would like to acquire for the year 2010. In fact, if there are any, it will most probably be the same stocks that I acquired during 2009.

What are you top stock picks for the year 2010?

To start the ball rolling, mine would include these stocks
1. First REIT
2. Ascott REIT
3. Suntec REIT