Portfolio Update for July 2023

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This will be a relatively short post, just to update on the transactions for the month.

For the month of July, it is a rather muted month.  After the release of the better than expected June CPI numbers in early July, the markets had a short burst, and it kind of fluctuate around, waiting for more directions from the earnings of the various top companies.  To start the ball rolling, JP Morgan released an impressive earnings report for the quarter that boosted it's share price to near term highs.  Last week, the big Techs also released positive earnings, especially Google, that is lagging others like Microsoft and Apple.  Generally, the earnings brought about a slight run up, with the exception of Microsoft which saw it's share price corrected after a huge rally earlier.

In addition, we have to deal with another rate hike this month.  Will this really be the last, it's anyone's guess.  Personally I do hope that it is the last, as any higher interest rates in future may start to crack more REITs, and more personally, cause the 3-month SORA rates to increase even further.  That is going to make my mortgage shoot through the roof after the lock in period ends next year.

Closer to home, it is also the period where REITs release their earnings.  As usual, my top holding Parkway Life REIT released a stable and superb set of results, showing the prudency of the management and resilience of the healthcare REIT.  In addition, Mapletree Logistics Trust also reported a stable set of results with slight positives.  Performances of Mapletree Industrial Trust and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (MPACT) continued to remain under pressure due to the high interest rates, and for MPACT, the performance of its overseas properties are still unsatisfactory.  The two digit decline in distribution per unit truly makes me doubt the recovery and the synergy of the merger, because so far, it is nothing short of disappointment.

Nonetheless, I am still going to be a happy dividend investor collecting my dividends in the upcoming months.  Early next month, the other stocks and remaining REITs in my portfolio will release their earnings results and some will announce the dividends.  I shall sit back and relax, and enjoy this period to collect dividends and ignore the volatility that is beyond my control.  When the time and price is right, will continue to reinvest the dividends.

Overall, my portfolio is positive for the month.  The overall value increased to a new high as the capital injected increased, and credit goes to the performance of the banks, namely Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and JP Morgan, and also the biggest winner of this quarter, Google.

For this month, I injected approximately SGD 4.9K capital buying the following shares:

SGX:    Hong Leong Finance

             Mapletree Industrial Trust

             Mapletree Logistics Trust

             Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation

             ParkwayLife REIT

             Singapore Technologies Engineering

US:       Google-C

In addition, I have also reinvested dividends on the following shares:

SGX:    Mapletree Industrial Trust

             Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation

Total Portfolio Value has increased by approximately 2.6% to an all time new high of around SGD 505K including capital injection.  Finally the portfolio has gone above the half a million mark!  Definitely exciting for me as it is a new milestone reached!  Every small step counts!  I will continue to remain patient, slowly DCA into the market, and also reinvest the dividends back into the market to compound my portfolio.  Moving ahead, interest rates will continue to remain elevated through 2023.  I shall continue to stay positive but remain cautious, while collecting my dividends in the upcoming months!  Hopefully by 2024, inflation will be subdued and pressure from high interest rates can be alleviated.

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