CDP (Central Depository) is a subsidiary of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) that provides electronic safekeeping for your securities. Think of it as a central "vault." When you buy shares through a CDP-linked broker, those shares aren't held by the broker. Instead they are moved into your personal vault at the CDP. This keeps your assets … Continue reading SGX CDP – Moving shares out of POEMS without moving anything
Review of 2025 and Year Ahead in 2026
This is very much delayed, but still very much needed as an annual checkpoint, just to take stock of 2025 and upcoming plans in 2026. I’ve been doing this yearly and the past editions are 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021.I will start with the usual notable highlights of 2025: Decoupled from the 99:1 arrangement we … Continue reading Review of 2025 and Year Ahead in 2026
Gathering dust and accolades?
Ardent followers have started asking if this blog is still alive. I am barely surviving amidst the mountains to-do lists on various fronts and have had to scale down on my reflections quite a bit, despite having quite a number of things happening for 2025. It is most certainly not for lack of things to … Continue reading Gathering dust and accolades?
Decoupling
Decoupling has been making the news in recent months, particularly in the Invest section of the Sunday Times. Taken from 2 Aug Straits Times Taken from 10 Aug Sunday Times But before I dwell further on this, a quick explanation.The 99-1 property ownership arrangement is where a couple purchases a property with one party holding … Continue reading Decoupling
The Trump Tariffs
It’s been a few months since my last update in February. Since then, we’ve witnessed what some dubbed "Liberation Day". Trump's tariffs hit, and the markets responded in kind, diving into a selling frenzy. Negotiations followed. Then came the classic tit-for-tat with China, pushing tariffs into the triple digits. And just recently, a 90-day pause … Continue reading The Trump Tariffs
The Ultimate SG-JB Geo Arbitrage: Petrol
The long queues at the Johor-Singapore Causeway are a familiar sight, especially during weekends and public holidays. But these traffic jams aren't just about geography—they’re driven by one key factor: the massive difference in petrol prices between Singapore and Malaysia.It helps to understand why this has been the case for decades.Singapore's Petrol Pricing PolicyNo article … Continue reading The Ultimate SG-JB Geo Arbitrage: Petrol
DeepSeek AI and Market Timing
The latest rage in AI/tech news is the launch of DeepSeek AI, sparking a selloff in tech stocks. The TLDR explanation (ironically by ChatGPT) is that DeepSeek revealed new, advanced AI capabilities that could disrupt existing market leaders. Investors feared that this innovation might outpace or overshadow major players like Google and Microsoft, causing uncertainty … Continue reading DeepSeek AI and Market Timing
2024 Year in Review and Looking Ahead to 2025
In the blink of an eye, 2024 has passed and we are now in 2025. As with previous years, I would do a review, normally before the year end but this time round it was busier than usual. This was a practise I started since 2021, and I will definitely not miss it because it … Continue reading 2024 Year in Review and Looking Ahead to 2025
SRS -> Endowus
It's been a while since my last post because I've just been bogged down by one thing after another. There's a couple of things that I wanted to pen down my thoughts on but I just couldn't find the time for it.So while I still can, I thought to get back to a decision that … Continue reading SRS -> Endowus
Why We Are And Will Continue To Only Rent In JB
In just one blink of an eye, we're approaching the end of our 1-year tenancy in our JB place. The reminder came when the landlord's agent sent an innocent text asking about whether we were intending to renew our lease.We decided to rent from the outset mainly because there were too many uncertainties about a … Continue reading Why We Are And Will Continue To Only Rent In JB
Making Cents 