Month of July 2026

The kick off to the second half of the year had been furious. It felt many things happened and the days were compressed especially at work. Maybe it's due to a sense of urgency since business had been rather muted. I spent a week in Jakarta for a work trip, met new faces and enjoyed the local cuisine. My last visit was four years ago and while most things remained the same, the noticeable change was the airport. It seemed to have been upgraded with new flooring and many retail shops in both the public and departure areas. Even on the route towards the boarding gate, there were plenty of options along the way. That's even more than what Changi airport offers.

A friend recently went jobless after selling his shares in the company he co-founded. We met for lunch and I was keen to find out more. Citing differences in opinion on the company direction, he sold out in order to focus on a side line dealing in car parts. He asked whether I have space in my office or home to help store of the parts he recently acquired. I thought these items were traded and mostly for immediate use, eliminating the need for much inventory. Then he revealed an interesting bit of information. As his clients are the car repair shops, there will be standard items to keep but this time, he received an order for a particular part of a certain Chinese EV brand vehicle. As he couldn't find locally, he contacted his China friend for help. The price was about $1500, including delivery. Instead of buying this, he decided to ask the friend to buy a brand new car and strip down to its bare bone, harvesting all the various parts. So instead of a box, now there were a few pallets of goods to ship and store. Was it worth it? After selling the car body and tyres, his net expense was about $7000. Cheekily, he mentioned an accident that requires a battery or motor change would be enough to justify this cost.

Tip: Yamakawa Mitsuo 2023 Spring, fruity dry, refreshing to pair with oily fish

Finance Investment Movement 71

There was satisfaction in the half year update of my portfolio. For investments, it's been flat, taking into account gains for Singapore equities that was negated by a mark to market loss of a Silver position. I'm using options premium to try cover some losses while waiting for a price to dispose. Good thing is dividends grew alongside savings. A mini milestone was achieved after four years of accumulation; the SSB allocation has now reached its limit so I'm thinking to start the same for my wife. While I continue to utilize T-bills for idle cash, some amounts were used to do VHR. That resulted in 50% CPF contribution increase, as compared to the same period last year. The Aud holdings also went up, partly to lock in favourable exchange rate, partly to qualify for higher tier interest earning. Cryptos declined badly, by about 40% as compared to January last year but the consolation is full amount constitute less than 1% of the portfolio. Now that the needle of the annual target has reached 4.5%, it looks possible to achieve full year 8% growth. I intend to keep expenses under tight control, buff up the war chest and explore global market instruments. The strategy is to wait for a stock market sale but in the meantime, collect steady income and keep things humming along.

Dividends as of June 2026: $5300.52 (avg $883.42 per month)

Tip: Domaine du Tariquet Sauvignon 2024, straight up, a little lime and acidity, delightful afternoon drink