Month of May 2021

Updated finance page.

https://drinkingspot.blogspot.com/p/finance-sharing.html

The dominant theme of this month was "Be Grateful".

Things that happened:

1) Entered ICT, prepared for impending exercise and government announced heightened measures. Exercise got cancelled and had to stay home for remainder of ICT which is unheard of.

2) Insurance bill arrived for wife's specialist consultation with hospital observation overnight. Claim was approved and had to pay co-deductible portion which I'm fine with. Medical issue was not deemed serious fortunately and hopefully she stays healthy.

3) Increased my stock exposure for dollar cost averaging during a month where some quarters would advise selling and staying away. Experienced see-saw price movements in crypto assets but at peace with what's going on, hence just left things to be.

4) Celebrated my birthday with the last dining out opportunity at Robertson Quay's Shunjuu Izakaya before restaurants closed.

5) Bought some nice wines at a promotion.

6) Finished reading a book and commencing on the next one.

7) Picked up an Edusave award for son's effort in school.

8) Bade farewell to a company intern who's enlisting for NS.

Tip: Tenuta San Guido Le Difese 2018, lovely bouquet of blackcurrant, cherry and oak

To Success

About a month ago, I was at Popular bookstore making a purchase when I came across a book by author Malcolm Gladwell. Somehow, I was rather intrigued by the book's title and gave it a second look. I'm someone who's always up for a good deal and it was newly released so I thought I'll wait a while.

That afternoon, I looked up for more information about the author. Turns out he's quite accomplished as a news reporter covering a range of topics. Now, he's also an author of six books while writing for the New Yorker for last few decades. His books can't be that bad, I thought. So, I decided to borrow one of the books, Outliers.

The setup was simple. Several chapters of factual examples of people's lives who were successful. They were singled out for being super smart in the eyes of many which led to their envied outcome. But the author countered that a person's success was not down to having high IQ but a confluence of many incremental factors that contributed immensely. That is similar to a Chinese saying 天时地利人和. The underlying message for anyone seeking to be successful was simply work hard, grab the opportunity when it comes and good luck in the circumstance you live or born into.

This book was engaging and made me curious to look inwards on how to make my life a success. Things within my control are effort and focus. I hope this spurs me on.

Tip: Ornellaia 2002, somehow I got cheese on the nose then smooth berried fruits on taste. Great drink.

Finance Investment Movement 9

I think the market is starting to retreat into cautious territory with seemingly unabated Covid cases. This is in spite of an explosive earnings reporting season although to be rational, this is the result of a low base to begin with. I was tempted to start a new trading account specifically for US market but decided to hold back due to insufficient cash for any meaningful trade.

Instead, my focus was on STI and managed to pick up ST Engg shares at $3.81 for averaging and long term holding purpose. The day after, the price dropped to $3.73 and while no regrets, it served a good reminder of not rushing to buy in when market is trending downwards.

As for crypto assets, I will hold put on current portfolio and continue earning staked interest in the meantime.

Tip: Domaine De Chevalier 2009, nice perfumed aroma followed by a berried medium body experience