Recent Sale - Prada Spa, Chow Tai Fook, CNOOC, Vanguard FTSE AS

I take the opportunity by selling into strength today. I continued to reduce my exposure to consumer discretionary and cyclical stocks to manage my portfolio downside risk.

Sold 1000 shares of Prada Spa @ HKD 28.15. For a holding period of 2 years 5 months, it gave me a CAGR of 5.43% including dividends. I really need to work on when to sell!

Sold 5800 shares of Chow Tai Fook @ HKD 7.02. For a holding period of 2 years 7 months, it gave me a CAGR of 23.23% including dividends. I like Chow Tai Fook as it rewarded its shareholders with pretty decent dividends.

Sold 4000 shares of CNOOC @ HKD 14.5. For a holding period of almost 3 years, it gave me a CAGR of 23.24% including dividends. CNOOC is a stock in the energy sector that I considered cyclical. I still have BP PLC & Royal Dutch Shell PLC-B which I plan to hold and possibly add when there is good buying opportunity.

Sold 4000 units of Vanguard FTSE AS @ HKD 20.45. For a holding period of 3 years 5 months, it gave me a CAGR of 1.95% including dividends. I plan to rely less on ETF and construct my own portfolio.

Portfolio equity allocation is now reduced to 31.98%, while bond & cash allocation is now increased to 68.02%.

Recent Sale - iShares MSCI World

Sold all 230 shares of iShares MSCI World @ USD 53.9 to continue reducing my equity allocation.

iShares MSCI World gave me a 9.72% CAGR for a holding period of 3 years. iShares MSCI World has 61.85% of it's holding in US stocks. Instead of MSCI World, I'm considering Berkshire Hathaway Inc if I want US exposure next time.

Blood in The Street & Recent Sale

I added BT PLC on Tuesday (read here) as I felt smart money was switching to defensive play to prepare for blood in the street. I wasn't expecting the blood shedding to happen almost immediately on the next day. Dow lost around 800 points on Wednesday and 500 points on Thursday. Looking at the longer horizon, we need more sell off for value to emerge.

When market recovered slightly on Friday, I took the opportunity to sell some of my shares that were more "cyclical" or shares that I didn't intend to hold for longer term:

• 3000 shares of Sinopec Engineering @ HKD 8.05. I first bought it in August 2016 with average price of HKD 6.64. Both capital appreciation and total dividends received gave me a CAGR of 11.25%
• 180 shares of BHP Billiton PLC @ GBP 15.844. It was a good ride for me as I bought it around GBP 9.65 in August 2016. With all dividends received, it gave me a CAGR of 33% per annum. I like BHP Billiton PLC and I will definitely look at good opportunity to reenter.
• 320 shares of British Land Co PLC @ GBP 5.744. I wasn't sure what the impact of BREXIT towards UK property prices and rental incomes would be. The 10% tax slapped on the distribution was also the second factor for me to exit the position.

Aside of selling equities, I also sold all my holding of United SGD Fund Class A (short term bond unit trust). My equity allocation is now a lighter 40% vs bond/cash of 60%. I'm looking forward to increase my equity allocation again when STI broke below 3000 psychological support.

Recent Buy - British Telecom (BT PLC)

Bought additional 1200 shares of BT PLC @ GBP 2.276 yesterday.

This purchase brought my total holdings to 1780 shares with average price of GBP @ 2.837. At GBP 2.276 and the last dividend of GBP 0.1540, it gave a yield of 6.766%. It was trading around 11.2-11.3x PE. On 5th October, David Einhorn said "BT Group shares were cheap" according to CNBC news on 5th October. Link to news here.

On a bigger picture, I observed that telecommunication sector seemed to strengthen as a whole. This might just be a rotational play as this sector was battered rather badly recently, OR it could be smart money switching to defensive play in preparation for blood on the street. My view is more inclined towards the later.

Recent Sale - M1

Sold all 1600 shares of M1 @ $2.1

While there is a likelihood for a bidding war on M1 to happen, I think it will take some time and there is a possibility that things to develop against my favour.

I feel it's best for me to free up cash and deploy it for another investment opportunity.