As the market turmoil hit a peak last week, we asked Robert Stone, a familiar name to regular readers of NextInsight, to share his views on the market and what he had been doing in recent times. Early this week, he obliged with the following interesting article:

 

200roberstone
Robert Stone, who has a multi-million-dollar portfolio of stocks, is among the top shareholders of several Singapore listed companies.

I RECENTLY READ an article with a table that indicated the real interest rates in various Asian countries. Singapore had the distinction of having the highest negative rates on the list. With negative interest rates here of -5% savers are really getting hammered.

I think this situation is likely to continue for some time. MAS policy of strengthening the exchange rate does little to contain domestically generated inflation which is the major component of inflation in Singapore.

At present I’m cashed up, having sold what I think are overvalued shares in Indonesia and having completely exited the Sri Lankan market for the same reason.

For people with cash it is presently a losing proposition to keep it in the bank. It’s not my inclination to keep cash in the bank in any situation but I feel an even greater incentive now to invest it. I’m not interested in buying over valued property here in Singapore or the current hot favorite, commodities and precious metals. The alternative is to buy into businesses that I think should grow in the future regardless of the short and medium global economic outlook.

That means I’m still actively buying shares of S-chips which in Singapore is where I perceive the best value to be. It’s a strategy that I’ve been pursuing for the last 3 ½ years. If I could sell all the shares I’ve bought during that time at current market prices I’d be in the red. This might seem discouraging but during my 35 years of investing its been the pattern for me to spend several years accumulating positions in unloved companies before something triggers the market to suddenly wake up and notice the company.

An example is my largest holding with a business in China, Hong Kong listed Dawnrays Pharmaceutical Holdings. I spent 4 ½ years accumulating shares of that company. In Singapore dollar terms I paid almost exactly the same price per share for the first lot I bought in September 2004 as the last lot in January 2009.

frankie_stone
Anwell chairman Frankie Fan (centre) and CFO Ken Wu chatting with Robert Stone (right), who owns 5.2 million shares of Anwell and is listed in the annual report as being among the top 10 shareholders. NextInsight file photo

I stopped buying at that point as the share price started escalating and topped out with a 600% rise by the end of 2010. The price has since come down about 30% from the peak but the profit I’d make if I sold it now would just about pay for all the purchases I’ve done of S-chips in Singapore since 2008.

As of now I have never sold a share of Dawnrays but as the price of the company has fallen and its business has improved I’m considering buying again. 

Buying Viet shares with high yields

Besides buying S-chips in the last few months I’ve also started buying in Vietnam. This is a change in strategy as I almost completely sold out of Vietnam in 2007 when I thought shares prices were greatly overvalued.

Vietnam is currently suffering from high inflation but I’m betting that the government will get that under control as they have in the past. Valuations of many companies are also becoming very attractive. One feature of Vietnamese listed companies that I particularly like is their propensity to pay generous dividends. It’s now possible to find companies with good track records of growth paying dividends of 15 % or more. The managers of most S-chips could learn something useful from their Vietnamese counter parts in this regard.

On the macro outlook whether there is a world wide recession or not in the near future it won’t affect my investment plans.

It seems likely that inflation world wide is likely to increase. Even so buying gold and commodities now as a hedge is not a strategy I intend to follow. News of central banks buying gold and other precious metals may be a sign of a market top, historically they have proved to be terrible market timers.

The last investment I made in the USA was shorting dotcom stocks in the late 1990’s. I’ve been negative on the American economy for at least 25 years. Now the negativity is so great and so commonly believed that it makes me wonder how much worse it can get.

It seems that the American political system has become totally dysfunctional with no real willingness on either side to address the problems they must correct. However compared to China I am more optimistic in the longer term on the political situation in the US than I am about China.

To my way of thinking, the risk of investing in China is not so much the chance of individual companies going bust, it’s the inherent risk of a one party state becoming unstable. I think it’s a very low risk at present but it’s not one that I ignore.

Previous articles by Robert Stone:

SUNMART: 'Why I became a substantial shareholder'


ANWELL: "My take on its solar biz prospects"


ROBERT STONE reaping the rewards of 3 decades of investing


You may also be interested in:


Comments  

#16 LYLE JONES 2021-08-04 14:34
Bob if u get a chance resend me yr cell #. I deleted my contact list by mistake. Not sure even how I did it.
#15 LYLE JONES 2021-08-04 14:32
Quoting LYLE JONES:
Hello Bob - following your career with interest. Tried calling, number I have is wrong.
Lyle Jones. 65 94575177

Bob, pls send me your phone # as I managed to delete my entire contact list. CNBC interviewed Michelle, like to forward to you.
#14 LYLE JONES 2020-04-27 11:29
Hello Bob - following your career with interest. Tried calling, number I have is wrong.
Lyle Jones. 65 94575177
#13 GOODMAN 2015-02-02 13:33
Good afternoon, Alexandra.

i was involved with Darco a couple of years ago. It would be nice if you can contact me.
#12 Vijay Sirse 2014-07-31 17:39
Hello Mr. Alexander,

Greetings from Vijay Sirse / Founder Chairman and CEO of vTrium Energy Group Companies in Singapore.

Red Dot Power Pte Ltd, a unit of vTrium Energy business plan is to develop a portfolio of Distributed Power Generation projects for ASEAN region. The portfolio will have combination of Solar (for Singapore only) and Combined Heat & Power (CHP) solutions projects. We have established a healthy pipeline of leads in Singapore and Malaysia. Red Dot Power is seeking investment by like minded persons with a vision to grow this DPG business. I would be happy to share details of the business plan, road map of project implementation and financial projections at your convenience. Appreciate if you could revert back to me with a meeting date.

Best regards.
#11 Chris Blank 2012-07-10 08:47
Hi Robert,

I am Chris Blank at HCMC Securities Corporation (HSC) in Vietnam. We are the largest broker by market cap in Vietnam. I just saw your announcement on WSB. I would like to get in touch with you, if you don't mind. Please contact me at
#10 Robert Stone 2011-09-06 04:32
You are right Lukas, the shares I accumulate are typically very illiquid. I mostly buy the shares as they are offered by sellers in the market. Unless you are very patient and willing to take large paper losses during market downturns it is not a good strategy to follow.
#9 Lukas 2011-09-05 17:29
Hi Robert,

Thanks and I really appreciate your sharing. Just curious, i have take a look at the S-chips you owned, but it some of it does not seem really liquid, do you accumulate the stocks by buying on the counter or Off The Counter?

Regards,

Lukas
+1 #8 Robert Stone 2011-09-05 09:42
Lukas I'm always ready to share with anyone what I'm buying but I don't recommend anything. I've been buying WSB, HAS and DHG recently. Only WSB has a historical yield above 15%. These are all companies I've long had an interest in. A good website to research companies in Vietnam is vndirect.com
#7 Lukas 2011-09-05 06:55
Hi Robert,

Would you share what Vietnam stock that you are recently buyed or hold which has good dividends?

I am planning to allocate my portfolio in Vietnam since they have a huge inflation recently.

Thanks,

Lukas
#6 Kleen 2011-09-03 16:57
I see Anwell is in Robert's portfolio. I have just come across a New York Times article headlined:

China Benefits as U.S. Solar Industry Withers

Essentially, China is becoming a dominant producer of solar cells becos of government support/$ and low production costs. Loans at very low rates from state-owned banks in Beijing, cheap or free land from local and provincial governments across China, huge economies of scale and other cost advantages have transformed China from a minor player in the solar power industry just a few years ago into the main producer of an increasingly competitive source of electricity.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/business/global/us-solar-company-bankruptcies-a-boon-for-china.html
#5 7557 2011-09-03 09:30
For S-chip, worth looking at Eratat, Sino Grandness and maybe Qingmei as well.

Eratat and Sino Grandness shld continue do well regardless of the macro economuc changes in the short and medium term.

Qingmei and Fuxing also can look at too. Qingmei got good dividend yield. Only thing to look out for is increasing labour costs in China, which may affect profit margins.
#4 Joy 2011-09-03 04:33
Thank you Robert for your reply. U may wish to consider high-growth, low PE S-chips such as Qingmei, Eratat, Fuxing, Foreland, etc. Or perhaps you already have an opinion about them.
#3 Robert Stone 2011-09-02 04:59
No problem with your question Joy. I've been buying Anwell, China Sunsine, Darco, Dutech, Singapore Windsor and Sunmart. Darco isn't really an S-chip but it's major asset is in China.
#2 Jeremy 2011-09-01 16:15
Try qingmei which has been giving 2.4 cts div.
#1 Joy 2011-09-01 12:17
What S-chips are you buying in recent weeks/months, Robert? Donch worry, I won't just jump on your bandwagon or even comment (negatively) on your picks. Just curious what a high networth and savvy + patient investor like you have put money down on.
 

We have 781 guests and no members online

rss_2 NextInsight - Latest News