List of must read Investment books

Hi everyone. I decided that I had to include some of the books that I read when I was starting out investing. I’m sure it would help you get a better understanding from the knowledge in those books and from the wise men that wrote those books. There’s a wealth of information there and experience that we can otherwise never obtain.

Here are some that I personally recommend to begin with:

The intelligent Investor – Benjamin Graham

Benjamin Graham was widely regarded as the father of investing and was also the mentor of Warren Buffett. It was said that he averaged an annual return of 20%. Great read for his insights and timeless advices.

Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill

They say that there is a secret to success. And that successful people leaves clues. Always. A truly inspiring book based on research of over 40 millionaires.

Beating the Street – Peter Lynch

Peter lynch, one of the greatest investors explains his strategies for pick stocks and investing. As legendary money manager averaging a 29.2% annual return, his books are a must read.

One Up on Wall Street – Peter Lynch

Peter lynch again. This book describes the advantages an average investor has over professionals and how to use it to your advantage.

The essays of Warren Buffett: lessons for Investors and Managers

Warren Buffet. I am sure this man needs no introduction. A collection of Buffet’s letters which contains business and investment wisdom.

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator – Edwin Lefevre

Journey together with the securities trader, Edwin Lefevre as he describes his learning experiences. Great insights to the art of trading and speculation

Contrarian Investment Strategies – David Dreman

Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful. A good read for the contrarian investment approach.

Placing Trades

Standard Chartered Online Trading Platform

After setting up your Standard Chartered Online Trading account you should see something similar when u log in.

Securities Settlement Account (SGD)
Before making a trade, you would have to transfer money from your e$aver account into here.

e$aver Account (SGD)
This account is where you transfer money in from other banks(POSB,MayBank etc)

FCY Securities Settlement Account (USD)
Before making a trade with shares in USD currencies, you would have to transfer money here.

Securities Trading Account
Shows the combined value of your investments

Placing Trades

An example of an trade. Note the commission involved.

Client commission= 0.2%

Sg clearing fee= 0.0325%

The same commission applies again when u sell.

What happens after placing a trade?

Well, you wait till your order gets filled. Sometimes it may get partially filled as well (5 out of 10 shares). How long it takes depends on trade volume and volatility. When your trade order gets filled, you automatically receive a sms notification. Pretty handy if you’re outside.

Useful trading hours in Singapore time (+8 gmt)

Source: https://www.poems.com.sg/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=130&Itemid=322

Guide to start investing in Singapore

I'm sure you have heard of advice from people saying that investing should be done early to take advantage of compounding interest. I wouldn't go into too much details about compounding interest, here's a quote to think about.

Compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn't, pays it. - Albert Einstein

When I was a teen I wished I had read upon such posts about how to get started about investing. I had always wanted to try it out, but thought it too much of a hassle to get started. Moving on years later, I decided to help people get started on investing. Now that I have taken the time to research and gather the information, lets get our feet wet.

The first thing you would have to do is of course open an broker account. But which bank?

Options available:

Kim Eng Maybank

DBS Vickers

Poems

Standard Charted Bank

After comparison of several brokers, the choice was to start with Standard Chartered Online Equities Trading account for the main reason:

No Mimimum Commision

This is one of the main reasons for choosing SCB over the rest of the options. With no mimimum commision, you save money on trades. Lets demonstrate with an example:

Case: 1 lot of Starhub at $4

Standard Chartered commission fees(0.2%):

         

$4 * 1000 * 0.2% = 80 cents

Other Brokerages with $25 minimum fees:

$4 * 1000 * 0.2% = 80 cents

80cents < $25 = $25

Furthermore, shares can now be bought in 100 units so there would be more savings for smaller investors.

Too good to be true?

Well if its so good, why isn't everyone using SCB?

1) Shares purchased are not deposited into your CDP account but instead held in a custodian account under Standard Chartered Bank

What this means - SCB owns the stocks for you, no annual reports, shareholder voting forms etc.

Also, in the unlikely event that SCB falls, your stocks would most likely be gone. Not likely, but just for your information.

2) Inadequate Trading platform

The platform does not provide much tools compared to the other brokers, and there are no prices are delayed

One way to workaround would be to open accounts with other brokerage and use their tools, or use free tools online. Google finance and yahoo finance are quite good places to start.

Application

You can apply either online or physically at the bank, and I would recommend going to the bank itself as you still have to submit the forms anyway.

Requirements:

• Minimum age 21

• Fulfill Customer Assessment Review (CAR)

Basically CAR checks if you have any relevant experience or qualifications.

I possess investment experience in listed specified investment products (SIP) and I have transacted at least six (6) times in listed SIPs in the last three (3) years.

Now this is tricky, how can you trade if you do not even possess an account? One possible way to get around it is to do the sgx quiz.

There I hoped I have helped you out in taking your first step towards investing.

You don't have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step. - Martin Luther King Jr.