Hi bro,... I don't convert out anymore from my RM. I have built a sizeable portfolio outside of MY. Hence, I use whatever I generate from my investments to invest more or to pay for my props overseas.

I don't put much into their FDs,... FD rates of developed countries today are very low. They were low earlier except for Australia and NZ,... but today, even Aust and NZ's rates have dropped badly.

I go after stock and REIT dividends and HY yield bond fund coupons. At times, I do leveraged speculations onto currencies too when the conditions are right.

But having said the above, I do have amounts inside the SSB and some FDs too.

Whole day on this thread, bros,... 

Tq for the great discussions,...

Morning bros,...

SSB = Singapore Savings Bonds. I look at it as a form of,.. ASNB products, SG-version,... but, as new issues are released, the interest rate kept dropping, and today,.. I saw somewhere the int rate has dropped below 1%. Bt well,... I guessed interest rates are dropping everywhere in the world today, even our Amanah Saham FP products and EPF dividends are not spared too.

If you look at my earlier postings,... I have mentioned this trend to take place many times years earlier.

Looking at investing from an income perspective, I'm afraid ADR may cause taxation costs. But,... well,... one has to do some research in order to buy the right ADR which has zero WHT. And then even if one has found the right American Depository Receipts to buy, there is no guarantee that the IRS rules may chg later, or may chg a bit later,...

I hold financial product assets in a few countries,... I get a lot of impromptu tax slips even after I have paid the necessary taxes where due.

JMHE...

Saw this in my email today, from DailyWealth.

[attachmentid=10498522]

For starters, buy gold when the ratio is >15 and sell gold when it is <5 sounds good to me looking at historical data as a guide.

Your view?

Cheerio.

I think the 15 and 5 are the author's benchmarks. I will analyse and come up with my own numbers if I adopted that approach. A good and simple idea, I have to say.
Oh dear, Sifu says not a good idea!

Too much noise in the trend. Noise can be reduced. Imagine seeing that graph with a smoother line going up and then down. Adopting what I used in recession analysis, moving averages (15, 30, 45, 60 etc days) crossover with daily data can be used as the alert, for the top and bottom turning points. Yes, I will then miss the real top and bottom. Not a concern to me as I am not after maximum profits. Just plan to get in the after the new wave has started, either up or down.

Instead of just Dow and gold data, adding volume analysis will further strengthen the alerts, I think.

By the way, I tried to get some Dow/gold ratio historical data. Saw a few graphs, I want actual numbers. One site has it but I need to pay for it. Anyone here has that numerical data?

Thanks.

TS, another side of the argument on market valuation. Maybe you could check it out.

https://brockvalue.com/

The theory seemed solid, so it kinda offer me a new perspective on the overall market valuation now. Maybe it could help you on your decision as well

Tq CL,...

I preferred to call the 3 categories as Sovereign Bonds, IG Bonds and Junk/HY Bonds. Treasuries are US Sovereign Bonds. In Msia, we have the MGS, and in SG, we have your ABF and the SSBs. Yes, aware of the different bond-types and credit ratings.

Then we have funds out there composed of a combination and make-up of these instruments,..

On my side,.. talking abt sovereign bongs which are safer, I have SSBs, but I look at SSBs as something outside of my portfolio because there is no risk and excitement in this. Yield abt 2.0x%, bought-up two years ago !

I also applied for IPO of and bought-up more of the Astrea IV PE Funds by Temasek. Average Price = $1.036. Average Yield = 4.20%, paid twice a year.

We can only diversify to even out the performance at different time-periods of the economy.

For individual investors, single bonds are usually buy and hold till maturity. Usually only institutions actively trade single bonds.

But nowadays, with ETFs, both institutions and investors can trade bonds rather effeciently and realize capital gains. ETFs like TLT and HYG in the US are popular with institutions and retail.

I also hold single bond, which I intend to hold till maturity. But since last year I started to diversify and invest into bond etfs to take advantage of the falling interest rate trend. So I got decent capital gains. It's not a get rich product tho..

U probably got it at a premium. Nominal value 100, but banks sold to you at 101. So at maturity, u only get back 100. It's like the banks hidden sales charge.

Morning bros CL and ab,...

I guessed I'm not too much into ETFs because of the returns vs risks that I think I'm bearing,.. but that's just my opinion. I'm more into shares and REITs,.. normal shares too and not preferred shares. I'm a buy-and-holg investor though,.. and will only sell if one of t a few events matched-up. Otherwise,.. I'll keep investing if have time to study,... or, at during times like now, in a crash, going full throttle.

In the last few weeks simce Mar 23rd,.. I sold all of Netlink and Vicom ONLY,... taking strong profits in both. I cutloss on Lendlease,... but holdings were small.

I buy my bonds thru FSM and Phillip-Secs all these years.

Hmm,... the bank need not talk to you if they called back the bonds on maturity date at the agreed par value,... but then, they would also not pay you back below par value,... it's important to remember what they said,... never heard of this before.

Good talk on bonds, bros,.. too many things to write with too little time in hand,... 

Need to finishing on another thread before go celebrating Father's Day today,... kids wished me today from Australia,...