Controlling the Controllable

Just a very short post.
Instead of focusing on when the market will have a correction, or will the rally last, we should focus on our own risk and expectation.
We could not control the direction of market but we can control our risk and our expectation.
It's all about Controlling the Controllable!

Mamee ! Double Decker, Double Decker

After scanning through the Putra Brand Awards 2010, I would like to announce my winner for Xabi Branded Stock Award 2010....

The winner is..... Mamee Double-Decker Bhd !

Reason 1 - Good Earnings vs Price

Reason 2 - Good Balance Sheet (almost zero borrowings) although not comfortable with the investment.

Reason 3 - Dividend policy of distributing 50% of net profit. (Calculate the DY yourself)

Reason 4 - Good Mission and Vision

Reason 5 - I really like their snacks and drinks... yummyyyy

Happy Investing!

Branding

A brand is a name, sign, symbol, slogan or anything that is used to identify and distinguish a specific product, service or business. (Wikipedia)

Branding is used in businesses and organizations of all sizes and types. Some companies allocate a large sum of money just for the branding purposes.
Why is it important? Because Branding separate one from their competitors.
When we (consumers) think of certain product, we will unconsciously associate it with certain brand and preference will  be definitely given to the brand.
Since branding is so important, I try to search for good businesses with good branding selling at fair price. From the below list of winners in Putra Brand Awards 2010, do we able to find it?

                                             Source: AAAA website

For full list, you can visit,
Putra Brand Awards 2010

When you have nothing to do, read books!

As the market going higher, it is getting tougher to find undervalue stocks. For the time being, I would try to gain more knowledge by reading more books.
For those who thinks that books are expensive, you can try to visit BookXcess (Amcorp Mall). You could get at least 50% cheaper than those found in other bookstore. The only downside is that the choice is limited. Recently, they moved to a larger store which is much more comfortable and significant increase of books selection as well.
Before visiting their store, you could check those title available through their website.

                     I purchased this hardcover book for only RM24.50.

I learned the hard and expensive lesson of going to sharemarket without any knowledge. Please do not follow my footsteps. Instead of paying the expensive 'tuition' fees, you could purchase tons of books for your own knowledge.
Even if you think that those books are worthless, at least you have tons of paper to burn rather than few pieces of worthless Contract Note. :)

Palm Oil - Basic Information

When we look into the reports/news/website of palm oil plantation companies, we come across of terms like Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB), Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and Palm Kernel (PK). They will even produce their monthly production statement for FFB, CPO and PK from the example below taken from IOI Corp website.

                                            Source: IOI Corp website

FFB, CPO and PK

                                          Source: FAO Documents

The photos above are self-explanatory of the terms FFB, CPO and PK. Basically, Palm Oil will be extracted from the mesocarp (pulp) while Palm Kernel oil will be extracted from the kernel. The difference between both types of oil is that Palm oil normally used as cooking oil, while, Palm kernel oil mainly used for soap manufacturing. The prices for both Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil are different as well, though they have direct correlation.

                                           Source: MPOB website

The point to note is that some companies do directly sell part of the FFB produced to third party instead of processing it themselves.

                                            Source: TDM AR2008

Hope this is informative for the readers.

Dissecting TDM Bhd

Earnings

TDM Bhd net profit still largely depended on Plantation Division which mean their earnings still depended much on the Crude Palm Oil (CPO) price and Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB) production. Please do not mistaken the FFB with CPO though. I will post some palm oil information in my next post.

Shareholders

                                                Source: TDM AR2008

As you can see from the list above, almost 70% of the share been tightly held by the state government ,thus, explaining the low daily volume of this share.

For all the readers, this is not a buy or sell call. Please exercise your own judgment or seek advise from your investment adviser.
I shall not be held liable if your share become like this...

or like this

                                       
Enjoy your weekend! :)