Towards Lower Risk Investing and Passive Income

I have been investing on the stock market for some years now. As presently I have less time to monitor my stocks, I have decided to transfer gradually my equities to those managed by regular fund managers. So far I have moved about 70% of my portfolio values to PNB related unit trusts, selected REITS and a hedge fund.

I am happy to note that the unfortunate "financial opportunity loss" on the so-called capital- protected CIMB structured fund (2008-2011) has been compensated by the sterling performance of my selected hedge fund within a year! I still can recall the letter from the CIMB Islamic fund manager who wrote upon the fund's maturity date...... " We are happy to report that the fund has managed to protect your investment's capital...." What audacity I thought! My 100k was dormant and lay wasted for three years and some foreign fund managers must have made money on it especially when market recovered in 2009 surely. I am avoiding this kind of fund like the plague.

It is exciting to make money on the stock market especially with your stock's dizzying rise in capital but the time has come for me to cut down the excitement and the fun and let the passive income take over. I used to have 18 portfolios and now I am left with seven. I am not given to frequent trading as I tend to hold my stocks for a longer period but emerging market volatility after 2008 and the current Eurozone debt crisis as well as the US's slow economic recovery are causing the strategy to be unsustainable and  have subsequently altered my investing behaviour for now.

A Raging Bull

I am working towards a passive income of 240k annually  and continue with my profession for the love and joy of it as well as  for a monthly pocket money.  My journey towards financial freedom has been and still is  educational and challenging. The most memorable was when the bull was raging with the bear nowhere in sight. What a time it was!

And despite all these, remaining caring and yet carefree has always been my wish.

Felda Global IPO - Acquisition through portfolio restructuring

Details on Felda Global IPO are still hazy at this stage though it has apparently been slated for listing on 10 May 2012. Investors are waiting for analysts to run through the offer and share their findings. As it is people do not appear as excited seeing that it would be joining  the already crowded plantation counters on Bursa. Nevertheless the IPO is touted to be the biggest so far this year.

Biggest IPO so far in 2012

While waiting for the prospectus, I am already making preparations to apply for the IPO. As usual the fund would come from my savings and the sale of my current stocks which have appreciated in values. I am now thinking hard which one of them to dispose off. Among my favourite holdings are Axiata,TM and Pchem, the first two have meteorically appreciated over the last couple of years. I am into that mood again, being in love with the performing stocks. I am rather sad to part with them. May be I could just sell a small proportion of shares of each stock? The problem now is the IPO price for Felda Global has not been announced yet for me to ensure I only sell the needed number of shares.

I have other stocks like Faber,MRCB and BSDReit. The first one has appreciated from 1.52 to 1.78. I am losing on MRCB purchased at 2.20 and now is at 2.01, quite a sizable amount! BSDReit, bought in 2009 at 1.40 has now risen to 1.72 and am highly reluctant to part with it as its annual dividend at more than 9% is rather attractive.

I might sell all of my Faber shares instead and spare TM because my relentless aim is to own 100k shares of the blue chip. Was elated beyond measures when I sold off all my Maxis  shares at 5.42 and acquired additional TM shares at 4.30 and which later climbed up to 5.19! But as my luck would have it, the minute I sold off Maxis,  its price sky rocketed  to 6.00 within 10 days! My only consolation is that TM's rise is bigger for a lower unit price.

Have to make the decision soon while the market is still in an exciting mode following Dow Jones reaching 13000 points last week, the highest since 2008. I might miss the boat otherwise.

 This portfolio restructuring would be fruitful if I were to be a successful applicant of the IPO. I am itching to own one plantation stock because I had sadly disposed off all of them back in 2010 at great losses which fortunately have been compensated by my new telco stocks. I have noted though that the prices of my old stocks like SwkPlant,THPlant,MHC,UNICO  and Kwantas  have all since recovered from their lows during the 24 months' period  (2008-2010)..... can't help looking back at old stocks and unconsciously emit that veritable sigh and then snap myself out of it.

I hope for a better luck with Felda Global.

Herb and Heart - Another Case

A 54 year old lady has been my patient for the last two years and on treatment for her hypertension. I normally carry out blood investigations for my patient on an annual basis. Her first blood picture was within normal limits but the second one about five months ago showed that her fasting blood sugar had gone up to near  diabetic level.

Having determined her haemoglobin, I did a test to determine her glucose handling capability through glycated haemoglobin or HbA1c. Sure enough the level was at the limit of 6.5%, indicating that she is experiencing an impaired glucose tolerance state. Having explained to her about the condition she is now facing, she has asked that she be put on a diet to control her sugar intake. After two months the fasting sugar level had slightly decreased. She was encouraged.

On the fourth month, the sugar level seemed to have  stabilised  but  still at the impaired tolerance level  but I noticed her pulse rate had gone down to 54 beats per minute. She also admitted of being increasingly tired and listless. Her blood pressure was,  however, normal.

 From my experience with patients when there is a decrease in pulse rate to this level what we term as bradycardia (Pulse rate lower than 60 beats per minute ), the patient must have taken something which is cardioactive (affecting the heart) like some drug or foods containing such agents.

The lady denied taking anything besides the medication for her hypertension. I was not satisfied and kept gently asking her to think of what she had been taking the last month or so which was not in her normal diet. After some cajoling and patience on my part, she revealed that she has been taking an ulam ("salad" in English) twice a day in increasing amount to reduce her sugar level in the body!

I immediately knew what it was and mentioned it to her, yes, it was the same herb/fruit called "jering" in Malay  or its botanical name Archidendron Jiringa  It has a bitter taste and the local people believe it reduces the sugar level and cure  diabetes! 

"Buah Jering" tree

"Buah Jering" Pod

I told her to stop taking the fruit/herb as somehow it has an effect on the heart. She stopped it and after about two months her heart rate had returned to normal but her sugar level had again increased and I decided to put her on an anti-diabetic medication as unsupervised diet control and use of herbs could be detrimental to her.


It is sad that people are taking herbs which they think are not chemically active and end up having adverse effects on their organs such as the heart and liver.


The problem is these so called herbs are not properly researched and no one knows about what dosages people need to take to have desirable effects and control of side-effects. A lot of experiences are anecdotal in nature and no one could say for sure that their disease status became better following all these herbs ingestion. I have seen more negative effects on the users of these herbs. But then of course these are clinic patients, that kind of statistics are not valid.

A concerned doctor has cautioned over the use of this fruit here

The  doctor's letter was in response to an article on buah jering's purported medicinal properties in the same news portal this link   The lack of information on the use of this herb/legume could cause undesirable medical conditions in some patients who are out to prove that they can do away with western medications.

Gong Xi Fa Cai 2012 -Lunar Year of the Water Dragon

A Year Full of Hope and Accomplishments

Wishing all my blog visitors a healthy,happy and prosperous new year of the Dragon. May this year be healthier for all and fruitful for my stock market friends.  The Dragon is a symbol of good fortune and the year ahead is envisaged to be filled with color,drama,lavishness and unpredictability ( just like any other year I suppose!).

Anyway it is good to feel that the year is somehow blessed and that whatever we do with determination and goodness in our heart, is going to be successful.

While continents like Europe is facing the worst economic crisis in their recent history, we in Malaysia is not that badly off though our economy is sure to be affected by the lack of demands for our exports by the EU countries. 

I read about how countries like Spain, Italy and Greece have to restructure their labour laws to enable an increase in productivity like lessening the number of annual holidays and firm policy on workers' retrenchments. It's unheard of before but is happening now due to inability to pay their huge debt, too much borrowing and spending, poor income generation and lack of saving.

Good Fortune to All

 

On a personal level, I feel sad reading about those who are declared bankrupt at so young an age and apparently there are 41 people who are declared as such daily in our country. I really feel that financial knowledge and a culture of saving  should be introduced when you are at the primary school level. A young mind is easier to impress.

 Let's hope that  the Dragon year will live up to its reputation of bringing in Good Fortune to us all. Though I must say we must not forget to make efforts to work harder and not leave things to just luck.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all my blog visitors a Merry and Blessed Christmas. It is that time of year again for us to count our blessings and be grateful that we are still here to join in the fun and festivities.

The management staff of my husband's company  gave us a delicious Christmas fruit cake. Here it is:

The Box

The fruit cake

The Greeting

The decorative art

The cake was big and we were not likely to finish it so I brought pieces of it to the clinic to be shared by the staff. It was nice to be able to celebrate an occasion where everyone join in and have fun. Christmas is such a special period that the waiting is actually more exciting than the actual day. Days of shopping and gift wrappings are the most enjoyable part. Giving makes one humble when looking at the joy on the faces of the receivers. If only we have more such get-together occasions!

Failure to Thrive and Recurrent Diarrhea in an Infant

Two weeks  ago a young mother brought in a seven-month old baby who looked alert and active and constantly smiling, however, she was small and light for her age. The presenting complaint was that she had been having recurrent diarrhea since the introduction of an infant formula feeding at the age of four months.

According to the mother the child was born within the normal birth weight of 3.1 kg and was fully breast fed till the age of three months and gaining weight well. The problem started when the mother gave her cereals and cow milk-based infant formula. The baby started having loose foul-smelling stools,passing lots of wind,bloated abdomen,appears constantly hungry and always crying. As expected she has not gained any weight for the last three months.She weighs at six kg, well below her weight for age which should been about eight kg .

The mother who is young and only received primary education, is at her wit's end trying to grapple with the problem. She has changed the infant formula brand once but the problem has not resolved. I noted down the name of the brands. Interestingly her first child also has suffered from the same condition, namely "intolerance" to infant formula. As a result the elder child is rather growth-stunted and slow in her milestones. I cannot help but feeling sad despite trying to be professionally detached. I wonder about the child's brain development. this condition is so preventable that it is a dereliction of duty on any health staff who look after these children  and  yet missed the signs,symptoms and most importantly the history!

The tragedy is the mother has been bringing both children to the local Mother and Child Services and has been told time and again to prepare the milk "properly". Without specific help and advice how does this lowly-educated woman know what to do? She doesn't have enough milk so she claims and the child needs to be fed.

Having listened to her history and description of the signs and symptoms and on physical examination of the child, I immediately made a diagnosis of cow's milk allergy in this infant. She cannot tolerate cow's milk due to possible genetic abnormalities in her gut. Looks like her elder sibling also has the same condition. The two infant formulas that she mentioned are cow's milk-based. She is subsequently advised to switch to  a soy protein-based infant formula.

Cow's milk products- A good source of protein

The mother comes today with a broad smile on her face holding her contented baby who has finally recovered from the diarrheal condition. The weight should start to pick up soon. Unfortunately the woman is from a different state and will return home at the end of the week and so I would not be able to get the joy of following her infant up.

The family came here for the school holidays and decided to try our clinic. They are very grateful to have come to us.  I advised her to continue attending regularly the Child Health Clinic in her State to monitor her child's growth. Moreover her child might outgrow the cow's milk allergy by the age of two or three. After which cow's milk products could be gradually reintroduced.

I feel  relieved  for the family.Imagine their months of anxiety and stress! Helping them to solve the problem  is yet another invaluable feeling of satisfaction for me.

Stomach pain, headache and anaemia - A triple Whammy

I have observed among my female patients in their late thirties and mid-forties who suffer simultaneously from  these conditions, namely an epigastric pain (stomach pain), headache and malaise and weakness which is found , upon blood investigation, to be anaemia (  haemoglobin  lower than 12 g/l ).

Their description of the recurrent headache is not unlike the migraine features. Most of them have suffered from these stress-related malady from their teens. Some have aura prior to the headache while others do not report any such event. Most of these patients have such a bad attack that they self-medicate. As they are not properly followed up by a doctor, they just keep buying those painkillers over the counter (OTC), at times from various pharmacies. In Malaysia, there is no stringent control over the use of these drugs.

And so over the years they gradually suffer from the effects of these drugs, referred to as  non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as mefenamic acid and ibuprofen. These drugs have an erosive effect on the stomach mucosa (lining) and causing gastritis and later peptic ulcers.

Unremitting stomach ulcers gradually leads to recurrent bleeding and over time the chronic blood loss leads to anaemia.

And so such a patient has the three medical conditions simultaneously. And the history is almost always similar.

I have made it my practice to really educate those young girls who come to me with recurrent headache or recurrent stomach pain to avoid the unnecessary use of pain killers to prevent this triple whammy later in their life. It is traumatising for these people to finally end up coming to the clinic/hospital  frequently at the peak of their life.

The cliché,  "prevention is better than cure" cannot be overemphasised. A simple knowledge on how to manage your sentinel medical condition will help a long way in maintaining your quality of life.