STE's Stocks Investing Journey

 Wow ! my last blog post was on 23rd Jan 2022, almost 4 months ago, time flies. I am really lazy to write recently and have been busy lately as my mum passed away last month at the age of 88. It was peaceful, calm, and dignified. My mum was wheelchair-bound for almost 8 years but she was strong and healthy until last year during the lockdown when her conditions deteriorate. Much regret that I was not able to go back during the two years+ lockdowns period and only be able to make contact through video call. Before the lockdown, I try to make a trip back every month to see my mum and also catch up with my siblings. I think most of the elderly (including my mum), don't think you need to buy expensive things for them, just a simple meal will make them very happy ( can see from her smile when I go back and bring her out for dinner every time I go back). What they need are just someone to accompany them and talk to them and a listening ear. I am really glad that I could spend more time w

 Time flies, we are now at almost the end of Jan 2022. Did 2021 turn out to be what you expected or did you achieve the targets set for yourself in 2021? The Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect and has impacted all aspects of our life and working environment, on and off we see some good news on relaxing the social distancing rules but life is yet to return back to normal as we have in pre-pandemic. The Covid-19 virus continues to mutate and our mood swings also change together with these mutations, from "Delta " to "Omicron" and chances are pretty high that we might have a new one coming in near future. How many "booster jabs" we will really need it? Could "Omicron" be the last variant we have and this will be time we end this pandemic and "live with the virus", treating Covid-19 as an "endemic" and trying to return our life back to normal? Fingers crossed! Europe considers new COVID-19 strategy: Accepting the virus   <so

                                                         < Image Credit : Azquotes.com > STI up by 9.84% in 2021, basically if SG banks and REITs are performing well, STI should be OK as more than 60% of STI weightage are bank stocks and REITs.  For me, STI is more for dividend and passive income, slow and steady but good for retirees like me. :D SG REITs are almost flat in 2021 but with dividends, the total returns should be around +5.8%. Of course for individual REIT, performance varies from sector to sector, data centre and logistics perform better than office and retail and the worst is still hospitality.  HSI is one of the worst index performances in the world. It had been dragged down by the continuous crackdown by the government on property/education and tech anti-monopoly issues in 2021. Moving towards 2022, the regulatory risk is still the main issue but hope with the more accommodative and loose monetary policy, the market would rebound from here on. Valuation looks a