Showing posts with label MER. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MER. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Pick of the Week updates

I'll make it a practice to review my picks 4 weeks back always, since Ive made it a point since Q4 last year to stay with my picks normally at a month's horizon.


It's nearing harvest time for the picks of the weeks.
--in wk8 (GTCAP)... Im at 5% now, will be considering to sell at 8% tops.
--wks 9 and 10 (TEL)... on top of the hefty dividends in PLDT, we might get some cherry on top, probably +3% in the coming few days.
--wk 7's MBT, where I profited already (with MEG) substantially, I still have some position remaining in my nimbler port at +4%. We'll probably sell all at +5%. (My bigger port still has substantial MBT, remnants of last year, at -2%).
--Wk 11, the dividend-paying-company-nearing-exdate-announcement that I chose is MER. It is showing +1.97% for me today, but I placed only a small bet. I'll sell at +4 or 5%.

These target sell prices are based on the premise that PSEI will correct again once it reached 6650. As most retail investors, Im hoping that the PSEi will have momentum until 6800 in a few days; after all, it's rare to see a net foreign selling day since beginning Feb. But Im already willing to take some profit at 6600-6700.

Good luck with the possible jump up in the next few days.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

JGS, SMC, and MER

Whichever way you look at it, this news does not bode well on the short-term price of MER


I would say that MER will be saddled inside 250 - 260 range in short-term. Why?
  • Gokongwei will not buy at current market price without any discount. 10% off is a reasonable expectation for JGS or the deal is off. Now, who's more desperate, the buyer or the seller? 
    • RSA seems desperate to divest, so SMC will have some money to pay off short-term debts. (Important to read this). I can picture SMC's Finance trying to find ways to make a better picture off its current balance sheet. 
    • JGS's own interest probably lies only with Gokongwei's current thrust to keep holdings that pay-off consistent dividends. He will not hope to get control of MER today or on long-term. MVP's hold in Meralco is cemented at this point.He wont hope to get immediate synergy from adding MER inside JGS. 
    • So, it's SMC who's more interested to sell at this point. 
I unloaded all my MER shares at an average 8% loss.

Unless a player will jack-up the price of MER back to 300 PhP level before applying say a 10% discount to JGS's buying, this whole deal is not good for MER. But who has the incentive to do jack-up price? 

In any case, any MER price down will only be temporary. The merits of MER as a company--which has solid revenue growth and even planning to establish power plants of its own--will prevail in the long run. 

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Formulate your action plan for longer, say the next 4 weeks

My suggestion is to change trading time frame and go 4-6 weeks. Suspend for the mean time the day-trade or 3-day time period. Choose your favorite companies, perhaps those that steadily gave you profits last May-June. Remember, their earnings remained steady as they are--except the banks that lost big in trading (after foreign money pulled-out en masse) and the companies that borrowed heavily in dollars early this year.

There's a theory that the stocks that were not as affected and not too up-and-down shaky during the down turn will also become the first ones jumping in the upturn. PGOLD, JFC, AGI, are three of these stocks. I placed my bet on AGI. If you want to align with this theory, do a quick look at the graphs of all the PSEi stocks and some second liners. Find the one which did not dip too low and did not oscillate too wide.

MEG, although dumped by foreigners in July-August,was heavily bought up again yesterday. It can become the reliable stalwart again. In fact if this becomes a steady hand , the whole index would also be comfortably steady in its upturn. MEG is now moved on the first page of my watchlist, a candidate for adding-up.

AC and MER were also steadily-increasing index stocks before the QE tapering news. They also deserve some focus.

The banks are being bought up by foreign funds again. Search a bank of your own if you still have funds to allocate. Also dont forget dividend paying and those with low P/E, remember those metrics are also being looked at by fund managers.

Half of my holdings in MBT was hit at previously-set 88.5, all remaining GTCAP was also hit at 840 (previously set), as well as tranches in VLL, even before I got the chance to open FMS or BPITrade. Im suddenly 50% cash when I started checking the market. I bought one tranche in JGS and AEV to release some cash. Only AEV was the bad pick, but Im betting this will recover today.

By the way, thank you GTCAP for being a good pick of the week. Although youre not a favorite by locals, you gave me profit 3 times around.

I don't agree with the early profit taking done by our fellow locals late in the morning and late closing. (My own mistake was in not taking time opening PC at home to cancel all sell orders before the market opened). The FED tapering was the most important concern, since we were relieved by that then our market will probably be allowed its "natural" trend, which should be up given the rosy corporate earnings and braggable GDP growth. Im not privy though on the emotions of our fellow pinoys that sold big yesterday (see COL selling figures). They might be shell-shocked new investors  that want to just want exit out unscathed or recover some of the losses.

And yes, the "relief" is only good until November 1.The FOMC will meet again Oct 29-30. By the time we go back on trading again on November 4, there could be a firm announcement on the amount of tapering that will happen within the year.

But at least Ben Bernanke now  laid out more certainty. He said that tapering will not start if US unemployment wont go down below 6.5%. So that's also a number to watch out in the news for.

Now, how would we know when to sell?
1) check the trend. If still going up or above the SMA lines, let your profits run, and MACD histogram trending up or stable.
2) but i'll be comfortable selling at 12% gain. (My current MEG and MBT are already showing 8%)
3) sell when you see the  US unemployment improve to way below 6.5%
4) sell before All Saints day break.
(strong sell if there's combination of the 4 conditions)

And dont forget to read news daily. For instance, you would not know there's another bacman bad news in EDC if you dont read the news for a few minutes.  

Monday, September 9, 2013

On the upcoming adjustment and re-weighting of PSEi


Not much is being written on tips/newsletters and forums yet on the upcoming PSEi adjustment (effective MOnday), but this could be very important and impactful in the next two weeks. We might have something short-term (in days) to take advantage of. And since we're still in that type of market where we're just riding the wave of volatility, hoping to time the right entry and get  +5% in one upswing, and then quickly hit sell, the possible effect of this re-weighting deserves particular attention.

BPI, Philequity, and supposedly some foreign funds (not immediately visible to us) hold billions in the index funds that they manage. These uitf and mutual funds have to re-allocate their capital accordingly by [ideally] Sept 16, probably [latest] Sept 30. There are also foreign funds (which again are not readily available to us) that are also basically (if not completely) anchored on the PSEi. They also have to adjust according to the charter of the particular.

1) The addition of GTCAP and LTG would have immediate positive impact on these two issues, since the funds would be forced to add them based on a deadline date rather than price. I already profited 15%+ on GTCAP recently. Explaining the gain--presumably some of the funds did already some proactive adjustment immediately after the announcement. Some funds would add more. Further, since it went down, Im readying to enter again [hopefully] at 750 which served as good support for GTCAP in the past. If not 750, Im thinking whatever price below 800 on Thursday.

Im not favoring LTG, mainly because I dont trust its management. Not even Lucio's broods now managing the conglomerate have good credentials to me. LTG also made considerably big loans in USD recently. Similar to SMC and JGS, they have to make provisions for forex losses soon.

But for both LTG and GTCAP, the immediate positive jump can go as high as +10% (but Ill be comfortable selling at +5%).

2) The disclosure does not include yet the weight changes among the incumbent blue chips in the PSEi. We have to watch out which increased/decreased. Im assuming JFC, AGI, and AC would have more weight, and SM less, SMC less and less (less than 0.5%?). TEL could also probably shed some of its weight (which is warranted, I think; we have more and more companies heavily traded, more so contributing to our GDP). The one assuming more weight of course should be the one to enter in on short term, but Im only speculating at this point which ones are affected. We have to wait for the real data. The %weight is also important. If a stock will have +0.5% or more to be added as contribution in the index, that would substantial.


Now on to the two which will be removed:

3) MER has only a 1.63% weight in the index. It might go down -5% in the next two weeks, but not for long. Considering the high average volume it trades historically in the past few months (prompted by extraordinary transactions like the selling of SMC shares, among others), it will not stay down in one week. Those divested by the funds will be chomped up by retail (including me) and other funds for sure.

I still have considerable holdings in MER showing -5% paper loss at this time. Im willing to hold out the short-term negative even up to -15%, keeping in mind that this is respectable-paying in terms of dividends. Moreover, MER used to be one of the most resilient issue and was gunning for 400 PhP just a few weeks ago--it was only pulled down by SMC's need for cash. Its forward P/E is also only at 15 to 16--which is cheap for a steady cash cow and monopoly company by MVP.

BEL, on the other hand, shouldn't have been in the index on the first place. By 2014, yes, but not this year. Anyway, its weight is only at 0.8%. It might have already gone down to reflect the removal, and might not go down further. But if it flirts with 4.0, I will buy add a substantial position, preparing for its definite jump by latest mid-year 2014. Other unique merits of BEL also mentioned here. 

Monday, August 12, 2013

Pick of the Week for Week 33: Still Cash, but anticipate the upcoming earnings reports...

The low volume and possible announcement of QE tapering (although I think Bernanke will pass the burden to decide on his successor) makes me hesitate to buy new positions. The volatility is also  a hindrance to me this week, since I know I won't have time to watch price action (busy with day job).

But, sans QE tapering announcement, the volatility can offer you a good range-trading opportunity that Ive mentioned in previous post. These are good candidates for range-trading: 

1) better to bet on companies nearing earnings announcement. If you believe that MEG (announcing this week), for example, will disclose more than +20% increase in bottom-line, year-on-year, then bet.    
2) CPG seems to have strong support at 1.2; although I dont like this company (and I dont trust its top managers), I think price at 1.2 has good reward/risk opportunity. Personally, I will not enter though. 
3) if SM reaches 810, I think it's good to purchase already. If it continues to slide down, need to add at price when P/E will breach 20. 
4) MBT also still at a low price. This may  go up big, suddenly, one day this week, but banks in general are still weak (study and get a feel further before establishing a positionin MBT or any bank).
5) GERI is also exhibiting some thick bid side, with strong foreign buying. Are these funds positioning early for a surge up?
6) MER is also probable to increase this week. If it fails to surge up,  there's about +1% margin of safety offered by upcoming dividends. (In case price goes down, take the dividend as a consideration/cushion before cutting losses.)

But again, Cash is still the best position during Ghost month. Only if you have time,. anticipate the earnings announcements and give special attention to toward MEG and MER, then, probably enter if 1) price action or 2) earnings report tells you to. And do not forget the guideposts we've posted regarding range trading. (One is: do not aim for too much profit at this environment).

It could also be good to consider buying bond-based UITF's (I added in mine), and hold it for, say, 1.5 months, just in time for equities to go up again (or "hoping to go up" in September)  BPI has an bond index-based uitf with small mgt fee and no holding period. 

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Update on pick of the week for Wk 32


Although it may just be random walk in the end, it is still better to study ahead, plan, and follow that plan.

Would like to write for posterity my own progress from when I posted my plan from last Monday. 

"MPI is also worth watching and betting small bets in if it flirts with 4.93 - 4.96 again." 

I entered MPI at 4.9 and 4.85, and sold all at 5.08 (posted yesterday, triggered today) for a good 4-digit gain. Not bad for 2 day's 'work.' Although, this stock might continue to go up (I should have stuck to my original sell post at 5.14), it's always good to profit in a market that is not in a clear uptrend.

"I was about to choose a pick of the week from SCC, MER, MBT, and MEG, betting that at least one will make a substantial bounce in the coming days,"

I bought MEG last week and sold early at 3.23 this week for a small coffee-budget gain, but MEG continued to go up to 3.26. Added MBT at a low 102.5 and then it recovered and now trading sideways at 106-107. Both are good moves, bottom-line.

Did not do anything with SCC and just retained my holdings in MER (although I should have added). SCC increased marginally and MER increased considerably. So all four 'pick candidates" practically did well.

My mistake was entering AEV at 46.1. This was not in the list but I thought that the conglomerate is too cheap at current price, regardless of the unimpressive  earnings report. Although price today is at 47, this will gap down on Monday. I'll closely observe AEV if I need to cut loss or cut at breakeven (damage is brokers fee). Either way no regrets, a bet's a bet. Do not enter in a market that is not in a confirmed uptrend if you want to have all your moves come out right (with greater probability).



In the end, Cash, as recommended, proved to be the safest and rightest bet. There's still a dangerous number of previous-favorites-but-now-diving-down this week. Also, imagine if one veered to a Sy stock , he/she could have lost more than 5% in a couple of days. It just happened that we intended to devote time on the market, and it's good to make picks (stocks that you studied ahead for a good entry price) and place small bets since we're focused any way. Let's just remember to continue to keep a big cash position, during a non-uptrend-market and in a ghost month at that!


Watch out also for news and updates about FED stimulus in the coming week.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Pick of the Week for Week 32: Cash; Watch on the sidelines with focus on AGI and MPI

The proverbial Ghost month has probably started; it's not worth the risk to fight it. The volume today is thin, and it might be smaller moving forward making it less ideal even for range trading. This was profitable to us in the past few weeks, but would be more risky this month. The best option is to hold on to cash in the next two weeks, and watch on the sidelines.


I was about to choose a pick of the week from SCC, MER, MBT, and MEG, betting that at least one will make a substantial bounce in the coming days, but the current swings and waves of volatility combined with the small volume trading are not ideal to dive in to... unless you have time to be fully focused on the price movement. In this case, and indeed if you itch to participate still, then make small bets on any of the four or those that you perceive as bargains  and have reached bottom (Sy stocks BEL, SMPH, SMDC, SM have dived big and should be studied).

But if a downtrend is continues, it might be more profitable to reserve your cash, so we can get the likes of AGI when it reaches very attractive  price levels at 22 - 23 range. This stock is one of the most resilient this year, a clear favorite even of foreign funds (Ive attended a Bloomberg seminar recommending it as a better-diversified conglomerate with big room for growth). Also, AGI should be announcing dividends soon.



MPI is also worth watching and betting small bets in if it flirts with 4.93 - 4.96 again. Mentioned in a previous post why MPI is solid as a conglomerate. The recent addition to the Morgan Stanley index also should also have some bearing. Some big funds are still intact and should protect the stock strongly at 4.9.


I have entered small bets last week  on AC, ALI, MEG, BDO; have cut all of them, while the negatives are small.

I have substantial positions on MBT and MER from averaging down, will probably keep all even if loss reaches -8%, due to the "margin of safety" offered by upcoming dividends.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Lookout Monday (Hope it's not a Panic Monday)


I make my stock pick on a Monday to get a feel first of the week's atmosphere, but this is not foolproof and only semi-rationale. Any news that comes out within the week can trounce any trend.

For tomorrow though, it's important to note that our index breached below several short-term moving averages. Another close-to-2% negative will make a Panic Monday. TA believers (Chartists) will unload big automatically.

We should hope that the big red candle last Friday was just temporary over-reaction over SM's private offering. It was not an opportune time to do top-up offering last week (SM should have waited when we're on a clear uptrend again), but we dont know when they need the money for upcoming projects, so we have to let that be.

MEG, MPI, SCC, FLI, MBT, TEL, and MER will be the stocks on the first page of my Watchlist, with the objective entirely just for range trading. The downtrend last week firmed-up my strategy not to hold issues for long, and not to aim for gains in double digits. Minders:

1) Hold 4 weeks tops.
2) +8% gain is heaven already, +5% realistic. Set sell price, immediately after buying.
3) Think of cutting losses at -8% as a general rule, but
4) but consider averaging down on
a) fundamentally very sound companies
b) leaders in their industry
c) <10 P/E price
d) high-dividend paying companies (consider the dividend yield as margin of safety)
(at least 3 of the four must be met before averaging down).

6) Still treat with suspicion companies that appear to breakout of resistance. Until the uptrend for the general market is very clear, it can go down -3% the following day.

This should be the guideposts until Moody's releases their report.

Other notes for the beginning of the week:

  • TEL and ALPHA are involved in this important news. Tsupiteros will scramble over ALPHA, but remember that insiders are already positioned days ago. Dont aim for too high a profit if you decide to join in.
  • Some index issues are due to announce earnings for first half this coming week. It can inject some energy to these individual issues and our market. Buy at least a day before if you believe that the income report will be staggering or very rosy.
  • Foreign buying and selling are swinging daily. On some individual issues, foreign funds even appear fighting with each other fiercely. Better to stick to analysing the per-week values instead? 
  • If a big negative at higher volume strikes us in the morning, consider cutting losses together with the Technical Analysis (TA) believers. 
Let's go!

Monday, July 22, 2013

Market Skim Through: July 22

MER is still negative contrary to expectations that it will be green today, given its supposed 'bargain' price at present. It was a a mistake for me to reenter MER at 319 then 300, ignoring the premonition that someone was bringing down the price, perhaps with the intention of lowering SMC's asking price further. Or make it appear that the discount SMC is offering is actually slimmer. (300 vs 270 = 10% looks less desperate for the seller than 330 vs 270 = 20% )

In any case, I added more and intend to pour cash if it nears 270. MER still is a minimum-4%-dividend-paying company.

SMC continued to go down, perhaps deservedly so. TOP 6 of the horror roll today. I think price will threaten to go below-80 again.

#Stock CodeLastChange%ChangeValue
1PMPC5.2100-1.1900-18.59%1,563
2JOH6.5000-0.5000-7.14%109,250
3YEHEY1.2000-0.0900-6.98%24,000
4H2O6.5100-0.4600-6.60%21,094
5BCB8.7000-0.6000-6.45%51,645
6SMC83.0000-4.5000-5.14%38,179,447
7FFI15.0000-0.7000-4.46%81,450
8ACE1.1500-0.0500-4.17%57,500
9LTG22.5500-0.9500-4.04%94,544,940
10MRC0.1000-0.0040-3.85%135,520
11ION0.5400-0.0200-3.57%17,060
12SUN0.5900-0.0200-3.28%59,000
13SLF1,219.0000-41.0000-3.25%1,839,380
14PAX1.9100-0.0600-3.05%190,390
15SPM1.6500-0.0500-2.94%14,850
16AAA3.0100-0.0900-2.90%24,270
17VMC1.7900-0.0500-2.72%210,000
18CAL3.5900-0.1000-2.71%527,020
19MB0.7300-0.0200-2.67%135,730
20COSCO10.5200-0.2800-2.59%22,314,280