Recently i've upgraded and jailbreaked my iPhone 3G, but I need to load in free apps. To my surprise, I cannot find Installous program unlike in my iPhone 4. So you will need to manage the Cydia repository sources manually. Here's how to get Installous in iPhone 3G:
Go to Cydia. then manage then sources. Then press edit (top right). then press add (top left). Type in http://cydia.hackulo.us/ . when that is done just press continue anyway because it will pop up a message. then search for installous and bam its there! ;)
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Understanding SGX warrants
I decided to write about warrants because I want to explore other options on the stock market. It's always good to read up more and how the financial markets works. On the contrary, warrants are extremely volatile and unsuitable for the average investor. There is a lack of information available on warrants investing in the SGX context, so I'm here to share what I've gathered so far.
Firstly, the Definition:
Warrants give the holder the right but not the obligation to buy an underlying security (either a stock or an index, e.g. STI index) at a predetermined price (known as the strike or exercise price), on or before a predetermined date (known as the expiry date).
However, most of the warrants traded on SGX are European style warrants, which means that the warrants can only be exercised on the expiry date, and not before.
And then there are two different kinds of warrants: a call warrant and a put warrant.
Some of of the Common Terms associated with warrants:
Layman Explanation:
Warrants are actually a substitute for shares, except that they allow you to buy a certain amount of shares for less capital. The fact that you can trade warrants for a fraction of the price of the underlying security and yet gain the same exposure (the same amount of gain or loss) to the security, makes warrants behave like super charged shares.
As such, if you invest $1,000 in a warrant, your money could potentially either (1) double, or (2) decline to zero, within a month. It could even happen in just one day or even over a few hours. If you were holding a stock instead, that kind of price action would probably take years.
Warrants in the SGX context:
In SGX, the majority of the warrants traded are called structured warrants, or covered warrants. Whereas normal warrants are issued by the companies themselves and gives the holder the right to buy or sell the underlying stock upon the expiry date, structured warrants are not issued by companies.
Instead, they are issued by the financial institutions, and upon the expiry date, the holder does not get to buy or sell the stock. Instead, if the warrant is in-the-money (ITM) at the expiry date when the current price of the underlying security is higher than the exercise price, then the warrant will have some value. But if the warrant is out-of-the-money (OTM) or at-the-money (ATM) at the expiry date when the current price of the underlying security is lower or equal to the exercise price, then the warrant will have no value, i.e. it becomes worthless.
How to Read a Warrant Name:
Index Warrant: STI2850SGAeCW70329
STI - the STI index is the underlying security
2850 - the exercise price
SGA - the name of the issuer (financial institution)
e - european style warrant
CW - call warrant
70329 - expiry date in year, month, day format. In this case, 29th March, 2007.
Warrant Settlement:
Using the STI 2850 call warrant as an example, if the STI ends at 3000 on the expiry date (29th Mar 07) and the conversion ratio is 0.003, then the warrant is in-the-money, and the settlement is as follows: (3000 - 2850) x 0.003 = $0.45.
Hence, the warrant has a value of $0.45 per warrant.
Accordingly, if the STI ends at 2850 or below that, then the warrant has no value.
I hope that helps to explain how warrants work somewhat, especially on the SGX. I used these following websites for reference, and you can visit them to get further detailed information on warrants.
Investopedia definition here.
Sg warrants website here.
Firstly, the Definition:
Warrants give the holder the right but not the obligation to buy an underlying security (either a stock or an index, e.g. STI index) at a predetermined price (known as the strike or exercise price), on or before a predetermined date (known as the expiry date).
However, most of the warrants traded on SGX are European style warrants, which means that the warrants can only be exercised on the expiry date, and not before.
And then there are two different kinds of warrants: a call warrant and a put warrant.
- A call warrant represents a specific amount of shares that can be purchased from the issuer at a specific price at the expiry date, and they tend to move in the same direction as the underlying security.
- A put warrant represents a specific amount of equity that can be sold back to the issuer at a specific price at the expiry date, and they tend to move in the opposite direction of the underlying security.
Some of of the Common Terms associated with warrants:
- The Strike or Exercise Price is the amount that must be paid in order to either buy the call warrant or sell the put warrant. The payment of the strike price results in a transfer of the specified amount of the underlying security.
- The Conversion Ratio is the number of warrants needed to buy or sell one of the underlying security. For example, if the conversion ratio is 0.5, this means that the holder needs two warrants to buy or sell one of the underlying security. Except in the case of an index warrant, an index multiplier is used instead (which I will show the calculation later).
- The Premium is the difference paid between the exercise price of the warrant and the current market price of the underlying security. Hence typically, the premium will decrease as the price of the warrant rises, and / or the time to the expiry date decreases.
- The Gearing or Simple Gearing is calculated by dividing the original share price by the original warrant price: e.g. $1.50 / $0.50 = 3. The 3 is the gearing factor, and the larger the gearing factor, the greater the potential gains (or losses).
Warrants are actually a substitute for shares, except that they allow you to buy a certain amount of shares for less capital. The fact that you can trade warrants for a fraction of the price of the underlying security and yet gain the same exposure (the same amount of gain or loss) to the security, makes warrants behave like super charged shares.
As such, if you invest $1,000 in a warrant, your money could potentially either (1) double, or (2) decline to zero, within a month. It could even happen in just one day or even over a few hours. If you were holding a stock instead, that kind of price action would probably take years.
Warrants in the SGX context:
In SGX, the majority of the warrants traded are called structured warrants, or covered warrants. Whereas normal warrants are issued by the companies themselves and gives the holder the right to buy or sell the underlying stock upon the expiry date, structured warrants are not issued by companies.
Instead, they are issued by the financial institutions, and upon the expiry date, the holder does not get to buy or sell the stock. Instead, if the warrant is in-the-money (ITM) at the expiry date when the current price of the underlying security is higher than the exercise price, then the warrant will have some value. But if the warrant is out-of-the-money (OTM) or at-the-money (ATM) at the expiry date when the current price of the underlying security is lower or equal to the exercise price, then the warrant will have no value, i.e. it becomes worthless.
How to Read a Warrant Name:
Index Warrant: STI2850SGAeCW70329
STI - the STI index is the underlying security
2850 - the exercise price
SGA - the name of the issuer (financial institution)
e - european style warrant
CW - call warrant
70329 - expiry date in year, month, day format. In this case, 29th March, 2007.
Warrant Settlement:
Using the STI 2850 call warrant as an example, if the STI ends at 3000 on the expiry date (29th Mar 07) and the conversion ratio is 0.003, then the warrant is in-the-money, and the settlement is as follows: (3000 - 2850) x 0.003 = $0.45.
Hence, the warrant has a value of $0.45 per warrant.
Accordingly, if the STI ends at 2850 or below that, then the warrant has no value.
I hope that helps to explain how warrants work somewhat, especially on the SGX. I used these following websites for reference, and you can visit them to get further detailed information on warrants.
Investopedia definition here.
Sg warrants website here.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
What Makes Lucky People Different from Unlucky People
What makes a person lucky? Often it's less about actual luck than it is about a person's general outlook. Here's why.
Entrepreneur Jonathan Fields, in his personal blog, points to a fascinating study by a psychologist Richard Wiseman. Wiseman surveyed a bunch of people to find out who considered themselves lucky or unlucky, then performed a very interesting test:
[Wiseman] gave both the "lucky" and the "unlucky" people a newspaper and asked them to look through it and tell him how many photographs were inside. He found that on average the unlucky people took two minutes to count all the photographs, whereas the lucky ones determined the number in a few seconds.How could the "lucky" people do this? Because they found a message on the second page that read, "Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper." So why didn't the unlucky people see it? Because they were so intent on counting all the photographs that they missed the message.
So what does this mean? From the article:
"Unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. They go to parties intent on finding their perfect partner, and so miss opportunities to make good friends. They look through the newspaper determined to find certain job advertisements and, as a result, miss other types of jobs. Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there, rather than just what they are looking for."
People who we often consider lucky are more relaxed and open to what's going on around them. They're not focused on a single task, blocking out everything else so much that they miss something important and unexpected. What this experiment demonstrates is that luck may not so much be luck, but whether or not our mindset leaves us open to opportunities we would otherwise miss because we're so absolutely sure of what we want.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Before making your first investment
Know your investment objectives, net worth and risk profile.
Two years ago SGX lowered the minimum age to open a trading account to 18, a reflection of the growing number of young investors.
For those already dabbling in investments, to take stock of where you are headed.
What are your investment objectives? What is your investment horizon?
Investment objectives are set by balancing your current and future financial needs. Youth is on the investor's side. Each person's investment objectives are shaped by the stage of the life-cycle he or she is at. This is important because it affects the time horizon, his/her risk appetite, and objectives for potentially higher returns.
But people in their 20s would range from those still in tertiary education, to fresh entrants to the workforce, to others who may need to factor in support for ageing parents. So, age is not the sole determinant - lifestyles and personal financial commitments shape investment goals too. Other points to consider include whether big-ticket expenses such as a wedding, a car or a house are on the cards, and whether you intend to save for and finance your children's university education.
Will upkeep of a certain lifestyle retirement suffice, or do you aim to attain spectacular investment success Warren Buffett-style (and give most of it away)? Why you intend to amass wealth will help determine where you decide to put your money into and how.
What is your financial situation/ net worth?
It's also worth having a clear idea of how monthly income and expenses affect how much you can invest. A simple gauge of how much you are able to put to work in the markets is to figure out your (Keynesian) money demand in transactionary, precautionary and speculative terms. In other words, cash for day-to-day needs, cash for the rainy day and cash available to invest and grow.
Invest only with money you can comfortably spare both now and in the foreseeable future, he says. 'It also does not hold you hostage to having to sell assets at very low prices under adverse market conditions, very frequent these days, so that you can sleep well at night.'
What is your risk profile?
Most people can instinctively say if they have a good appetite for risk, or a tendency to shy away from risks. But that is only a subjective type of risk profiling.
It is a common myth that a risk profile is just about how much risk an investor is willing to take - risk taking versus risk aversion. If a risk profile is to be used in asset allocation, it needs to be supplemented with an objective risk profiling. In other words, not just how much risk you think you can take, but how much you can actually afford to take.
The litmus test of an investor's capacity to take risk is whether he would suffer a significant loss in quality of life if a complete loss of the investment occur. If so, he should then view himself as
owning a lower risk profile, even if behaviourally, he is a risk taker.
How much do you know about investing?
'An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest,' Benjamin Franklin once said, a phrase just as well applied to investing for financial gain. While money management is a lot of common sense, investing entails products and strategies that are not always easy to understand. On top of researching thoroughly any investment product or strategy, the basic rule which bears repeating, going by the fallout post-Lehman's collapse, is to ask till you understand, and if you still don't, avoid.
Some oft-mentioned strategies include:
Two years ago SGX lowered the minimum age to open a trading account to 18, a reflection of the growing number of young investors.
For those already dabbling in investments, to take stock of where you are headed.
What are your investment objectives? What is your investment horizon?
Investment objectives are set by balancing your current and future financial needs. Youth is on the investor's side. Each person's investment objectives are shaped by the stage of the life-cycle he or she is at. This is important because it affects the time horizon, his/her risk appetite, and objectives for potentially higher returns.
But people in their 20s would range from those still in tertiary education, to fresh entrants to the workforce, to others who may need to factor in support for ageing parents. So, age is not the sole determinant - lifestyles and personal financial commitments shape investment goals too. Other points to consider include whether big-ticket expenses such as a wedding, a car or a house are on the cards, and whether you intend to save for and finance your children's university education.
Will upkeep of a certain lifestyle retirement suffice, or do you aim to attain spectacular investment success Warren Buffett-style (and give most of it away)? Why you intend to amass wealth will help determine where you decide to put your money into and how.
What is your financial situation/ net worth?
It's also worth having a clear idea of how monthly income and expenses affect how much you can invest. A simple gauge of how much you are able to put to work in the markets is to figure out your (Keynesian) money demand in transactionary, precautionary and speculative terms. In other words, cash for day-to-day needs, cash for the rainy day and cash available to invest and grow.
Invest only with money you can comfortably spare both now and in the foreseeable future, he says. 'It also does not hold you hostage to having to sell assets at very low prices under adverse market conditions, very frequent these days, so that you can sleep well at night.'
What is your risk profile?
Most people can instinctively say if they have a good appetite for risk, or a tendency to shy away from risks. But that is only a subjective type of risk profiling.
It is a common myth that a risk profile is just about how much risk an investor is willing to take - risk taking versus risk aversion. If a risk profile is to be used in asset allocation, it needs to be supplemented with an objective risk profiling. In other words, not just how much risk you think you can take, but how much you can actually afford to take.
The litmus test of an investor's capacity to take risk is whether he would suffer a significant loss in quality of life if a complete loss of the investment occur. If so, he should then view himself as
owning a lower risk profile, even if behaviourally, he is a risk taker.
How much do you know about investing?
'An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest,' Benjamin Franklin once said, a phrase just as well applied to investing for financial gain. While money management is a lot of common sense, investing entails products and strategies that are not always easy to understand. On top of researching thoroughly any investment product or strategy, the basic rule which bears repeating, going by the fallout post-Lehman's collapse, is to ask till you understand, and if you still don't, avoid.
Some oft-mentioned strategies include:
- Diversification and asset allocation
Spreading the wealth you wish to invest across a variety of investments helps reduce the risk that the failure of any single investment wipes out the value of your entire portfolio. Different products react differently to the shocks which rock world markets more frequently these days, and diversification can be undertaken by asset classes but also by sectors and geographies. Think about the composition of your portfolio methodically. The mix of assets in your portfolio ought to help reduce your overall risk, while the exact allocation depends on your investment horizon and risk tolerance.
- Dollar-cost averaging
Some advocate invest set amounts on a regular basis over a certain time horizon, whichever way the market heads, as a useful way to invest amid volatility. The idea behind this is that since investors are unlikely to be able to 'buy low and sell high' or 'time the market' all the time, it is preferable to buy a smaller amount each time but do so regularly. While no shield against market fluctuations, dollar-cost averaging is supposed to lower the average cost of investments over time compared to that of a one-off investment. This is because, in theory, regular investing will mean buying more shares when prices are low and fewer shares when prices are high.
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